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Chapter : 06
Click—the door shut.
“That’s why men are such a problem. And men who wield swords, like the young Duke of Lekaten, are even worse.”
Marchioness Kal personally poured a cup of warm tea and handed it to me.
Up until the very moment the door closed, Evan was glaring at me, but I didn’t care.
“They’re not exactly delicate, are they? All they know how to do is try to forcibly keep someone in place.”
Even from my perspective, the effect of raising loyalty was incredible.
I’d noticed at headquarters how characters’ attitudes could flip so suddenly,
but experiencing it firsthand was on another level.
“By the way, what business does His Majesty have with the young duke?”
“Oh, it seems His Highness the Crown Prince is gravely ill.”
See? Anything related to the imperial family carried the weight of gold.
And yet the marchioness was confiding in me as if entranced.
“I heard that his symptoms resemble the illness the young Duke of Lekaten suffered from as a child. That’s why His Majesty personally sent us.”
Theo Misellr Yekaterina, Crown Prince of the Elvenard Empire.
He’s one of the five male leads, too.
The Yekaterina imperial family was a lineage passed down only by survivors—those who won the competition.
They selected only the superior among the superior,
and among those, only the most superior competed again to carry on the bloodline.
In other words, Theo was a victor in a world ruled by survival of the fittest.
And yet, after rising to the position of Crown Prince, to fall ill with an incurable disease of unknown cause!
If the stress-stricken emperor were to die first, well—that wouldn’t even be strange.
Though all of this is just groundwork for the heroine’s appearance.
“I understand His Majesty’s desperation, but whether Duke Lekaten will reveal that information…”
Marchioness Kal let out a shallow sigh.
As she feared, the relationship between the imperial family and noble houses moved strictly according to利益—benefit.
You can tell just from the fact that the duke hid Diel’s healing powers to the very end.
If the duke were truly loyal to the emperor, things would have gone differently.
The moment Diel healed Evan, she would have been sent straight back to the imperial palace.
But instead, the duke hid her in a detached palace to avoid the emperor’s eyes. That alone was answer enough.
“We came because His Majesty would be furious otherwise, but my heart feels heavy.”
“I know how Evan Lekaten’s illness was cured.”
“What?”
Marchioness Kal’s eyes widened.
She would believe anything I said, so no explanation was necessary.
“I know how to treat His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Through the window, I could see the Kal family’s carriage.
That carriage—the one lavishly bought with money.
“So please take me to the imperial palace, my lady.”
My eyes were now completely fixed on it.
“That’s not possible.”
Evan frowned.
I’d never seen such an openly displeased expression, not even at headquarters.
“Why not, Young Duke? This concerns none other than His Highness the Crown Prince’s treatment.”
Even the Marchioness Kal, with her life on the line, was no pushover.
“Do you truly believe what the princess says? She’s a madwoman. If you take her to the imperial palace and it turns out everything was a lie, what will you do then?”
“Well, that—”
Even the marquis couldn’t refute that.
Alright, the stage was set. Time for me to step in.
“Why would I lie? If it’s exposed as a lie, I’d be the first one to have my head cut off and displayed.”
“That’s right! Exactly!”
Marchioness Kal cheered enthusiastically for me.
“Above all, His Majesty is my father, and His Highness the Crown Prince is my younger brother.”
Did Diel really think that way? Who knows.
When people are desperate, words they don’t mean come out easily enough.
“The duke treated me sooo well. Why would I leave this comfortable place, risking my life, for no reason?”
“Exactly! That’s right!”
Evan bit his lip tightly and stared at me.
If the condition were still anger, I’d have opened the control window ages ago.
What a waste. Truly.
Since the condition had changed to sympathy, it seemed impossible now.
“Besides, wasn’t the princess originally recuperating in my—this duke’s—detached palace? Returning to the imperial palace poses no legal or procedural problems.”
“That’s—”
“In other words, Young Duke, you have no authority to refuse.”
Marquis Kal was right.
The duke hadn’t formally adopted Diel. She should have been free to leave whenever she wished.
This simple truth had merely been denied for years.
“I may be acting head of the family right now, but this isn’t something I can decide on my own.”
Perhaps choosing to evade the issue, Evan stood up.
“Once my father returns, we can discuss it again.”
“That won’t do, Young Duke! His Highness the Crown Prince is on the brink of death! When will the duke even return?!”
But the marquis clung to him faster.
“If you say you couldn’t bring her because you lacked the duke’s permission, what do you think His Majesty will say?”
“Let go of me, Marquis.”
“Do you think His Majesty will spare not only House Kal but House Lekaten as well?!”
Persuading, threatening, even begging someone much younger than himself—
Marquis Kal looked truly desperate.
“Ha…”
Evan finally let out a sigh.
It doesn’t show on the surface at all, but—
I, who could see the emotional values in the control window, knew he was in a very complicated state.
“Marquis Kal. Could you excuse us for a moment?”
“Pardon?”
“I have something I need to discuss privately with the young duke.”
No point trying to open Evan’s control window anymore.
I’d have to persuade him directly.
“Hey, Evan Lekaten.”
“Tch! You really—”
The moment the Kal couple left, I grabbed Evan by the collar.
“Are you crazy? Let go of me!”
“Listen to me carefully.”
I didn’t have time to be held back by something as trivial as Evan’s permission.
“I will never let the imperial family find out that I have healing powers.”
“Find out? Your healing power disappeared ages ago.”
Evan brushed my hand away and smiled crookedly.
“In short, you’re useless. You should’ve been grateful we didn’t kill you and kept you around all this time.”
What a loudmouth to the very end.
“It didn’t disappear. It just weakened a bit because I saved you.”
It sounded pathetic, but it wasn’t wrong.
That was a canonical fact.
The reason Diel couldn’t use her healing powers now was because she had exhausted too much at once.
Another reason was that she never learned how to control that power when it first manifested.
In other words, Diel’s healing ability was still dormant.
“Or do you want to die? Is that it? Do you really want to die?”
Evan suddenly asked.
“You barely have any healing power left. How exactly do you plan to cure the Crown Prince?”
“There’s a sure method.”
The Aliyan fruit.
It was actually a hidden item meant to be discovered by a transmigrator later.
But there was no choice.
I’d use it first and pay it back later.
“I’ll keep my promise to the duke.”
The reason Duke Lekaten—and the others—were obsessed with Diel was simple.
If it were revealed that Diel had, or once had, healing powers?
Lekaten would be accused of daring to covet the power of the imperial family.
So as long as that issue was resolved, the duke had no reason to keep Diel confined.
“Everything between you and me. Everything that happened in this detached palace. Once I enter the capital, I’ll forget it all. So don’t worry.”
But Evan only looked at me silently.
Why was that?
I felt as though I could read more emotion in his eyes than in the control window.
“Will you come back?”
“Huh?”
“Will you come back?”
“Come back where?”
I had no idea what he was talking about all of a sudden.
“You said you’d keep your promise.”
“Yeah.”
“Then come back alive.”
Surviving would happen one way or another, so that didn’t matter.
But coming back?
This world wasn’t my original one, so there was nowhere to return to.
“No thanks.”
“Fine. If you’re going to keep your promise, then go to the capital with the marquis.”
I flatly refused, but Evan turned away, covering his ears.
“I’ll follow you later.”
Ah, seriously—what a leech…
