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Chapter 15
“Damn it! Hey, Eden, we’re completely screwed, right?”
Unable to enter the imperial palace, Henner and Eden were burning with anxiety.
There was no way the Grand Duke would have sent his knights without preparation. The Emperor was obsessively wary of the Grand Duke’s people. That meant he had deliberately withheld permission for them to enter the palace.
“Completely screwed.”
“Ugh, I don’t know! I don’t know! It’s because His Majesty didn’t approve it! If someone that high up blocks us, what are we supposed to do? Right? I’m right, aren’t I?”
Unlike Eden, who leaned against the wall with a grave expression and puffed heavily on his cigarette, Henner bounced in place. Then he shot a murderous glare at the unfortunate gatekeeper.
“Hey. Let us in. Don’t you know who I am? Even after seeing this?”
The gatekeeper deliberately pretended not to see Henner pointing at his knight’s uniform. There was no way he didn’t recognize it. How could anyone fail to recognize the Ranied Knights, said to be a gathering of lunatics? Still, the gatekeeper was firm.
“No.”
“Come on, man. Don’t be so rigid. Huh?”
“If His Majesty’s approval comes through, I’ll let you in.”
“If you keep this up—hey! I won’t stay quiet either!”
The Grand Duke had ordered them never to leave the Grand Duchess’s side. Excuses about lacking approval wouldn’t work.
Eden and Henner didn’t want to be expelled from the knight order. Being dismissed from the order was practically a death sentence.
The gatekeeper stared at the strange knight—who alternated between anger, pleading, persuasion, and threats—with fearful eyes.
But he did not open the tightly shut gate. Letting in someone without authorization could endanger not only himself, but his entire family.
The Emperor was always meticulous about security.
He knew well how the previous guard—who had accepted a bribe and let someone in—had died a few months ago.
“Absolutely not.”
“Ah!”
Frustrated, Henner kicked a stone. Apparently still not satisfied, he paced back and forth before plopping down on the spot.
“Henner, have some dignity.”
“Dignity? When our lives are on the line? You just want to die, don’t you?”
“It’s not like there’s no way at all. We just have to do it without anyone knowing.”
Eden, who seemed to be thinking seriously, crushed out his cigarette and stood up.
Henner wasn’t small by any means, but Eden was enormous by comparison. Eden stepped in front of the gatekeeper.
“Tch, showing off again all by yourself.”
Eden slipped his hand inside his jacket.
Gulp.
The gatekeeper swallowed hard.
He’s not going to kill me here, right?
If that happened, the Grand Duke of Ranied would be guilty of treason.
Killing someone in charge of imperial security was tantamount to rebellion.
But wasn’t the Grand Duke of Ranied someone who wouldn’t care about something like that?!
The gatekeeper’s face gradually turned pale, and the next moment, he collapsed to the ground.
Eden grabbed the gatekeeper’s hand and pressed a pouch into it. Completely unaware of what the man had been imagining, Eden made his proposal seriously.
“Alter the documents. Make it look like we came and went with Her Grace the Grand Duchess.”
They weren’t so much worried about the Grand Duchess being in danger inside the palace as they were about their own safety.
More precisely, they feared their lord, who would hold them accountable for sending the Grand Duchess into the palace alone.
Behind Eden, who was waiting earnestly for an answer, Henner burst into loud laughter.
“Puhahaha!”
“Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress.”
Meanwhile, Schwenn belatedly followed Jenis in paying her respects to the Empress. This wasn’t the first time she had encountered the Empress in front of the Princess’s Palace.
She had been surprised by the unexpected meeting, but she didn’t dislike it.
The Empress slowly studied Schwenn. The robe Schwenn had been wearing was already off—the moment she saw the Empress, she had taken it off.
“I see. You’ve come to see the princess?”
The Empress smiled kindly at Schwenn.
Strictly speaking, Schwenn had only been passing by. But she chose the easier route of skipping the explanation.
“…Yes. But I have business elsewhere, so I’ll stop by after Your Majesty leaves.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
Unlike the Emperor, the Empress wasn’t frightening. She had never once looked at Schwenn coldly.
Her disposition was so gentle that she always smiled warmly even at her daughter’s maids, putting them at ease.
Ever since Schwenn was young. That was why Schwenn was actually glad to meet her.
When she was very young, Schwenn had felt comfortable around the Empress, though as time passed, she had begun to feel more distant.
“No, really. I need to stop by the library.”
“You’re lying.”
“…Pardon?”
Especially when she struck so precisely.
How did she know?
Her plan to brush it off with a random excuse had been completely seen through, leaving Schwenn flustered.
How should she handle this? Deny it? Beg for forgiveness?
Just as Schwenn was seriously turning it over in her mind—
“Pfft…”
The Empress let out a low laugh. Above the fan covering her mouth, her eyes curved deeply.
“Come closer.”
“…Yes?”
“Hurry now.”
Though sudden, Schwenn obeyed. The Empress briefly glanced at Jenis following behind Schwenn, then frowned.
“Why are you here?”
Jenis answered at once, as if expecting the question.
“I was ordered by His Majesty the Emperor to accompany Lady Schwenn of House Berg to the North.”
The Empress’s expression darkened further. She gestured vaguely with her fan toward a distant spot.
“Wait over there.”
“Yes.”
Only then did Schwenn realize that the Empress had business with her.
Her Majesty has something to say to me? Even sending the maid away?
Was she going to scold her for lying? Should she make excuses now?
The Empress quietly took in Schwenn’s tense profile.
Suddenly, Schwenn startled as something touched her cheek. She turned her gaze from where Jenis had gone—
And stared wide-eyed at the Empress gently stroking her cheek.
“Your Majesty?”
“You really resemble her.”
“…Pardon?”
“When I look at you, I feel happy. It’s because you’ve grown up so beautifully.”
“…I don’t understand.”
Schwenn couldn’t grasp the meaning behind the Empress’s enigmatic words, no matter how much she thought about them.
“Schwenn, you are a very beautiful child.”
“…You honor me.”
“…I heard you’re going to the North in Titiana’s place.”
“Yes. We leave today.”
“So soon.”
The green in the Empress’s eyes began to hold a different emotion—something sorrowful, perhaps, or apologetic.
“When I heard that you would be the one marrying the Grand Duke of Ranied in my daughter Titiana’s stead, my heart was not at ease. And it still isn’t.”
Only then did Schwenn understand what the Empress was feeling.
Guilt.
Unlike the Emperor, who had issued the order as if it were only natural.
Schwenn, who had known the Empress for a long time, knew how soft-hearted she was.
When Schwenn was still a trainee maid, the Empress had cried after seeing her nearly bitten by a ferocious beast.
At the time, Schwenn hadn’t understood why—until she later learned that the beast was the Empress’s own pet.
The Empress had been beside herself with guilt over nearly harming someone because of her pet.
She was born kind and gentle. Surely she had heard the rumors surrounding the Grand Duke of Ranied as well.
“I’ll be fine. And… His Grace doesn’t seem as frightening as people say.”
At least, not yet.
Though only a single day had passed since the wedding, it was true—Esselian hadn’t done anything.
After a long silence, the Empress withdrew her hand from Schwenn’s cheek.
“Please forgive me for not attending your wedding.”
“No, Your Majesty. Please don’t say that.”
Still troubled, the Empress lingered, simply standing there. After a moment, she smiled faintly.
“Go safely. And do visit the princess before you leave. I don’t feel up to seeing her today, so I should be on my way.”
Schwenn bowed to the retreating figure, but the Empress didn’t turn back.
Was coming to the palace a mistake…?
Schwenn couldn’t imagine how the Empress must have felt—coming to see her daughter and instead encountering the substitute being sent off to marry a madman.
It couldn’t have been pleasant.
I didn’t really have a choice—if I didn’t come, I’d have gone straight to the North. Still… it weighs on me.
The Emperor had forced this; the Empress had nothing to do with it.
No. There’s nothing to worry about.
Shaking off her thoughts, Schwenn started to pass by the Princess’s Palace—then sighed and turned back.
She couldn’t bring herself to leave just like that.
“Baby… no, Your Highness, please wake up.”
Someone gently shook Schwenn’s shoulder. When she cracked her eyes open, she saw uniform trousers.
Blinking blankly, she slowly lifted her gaze—past crossed legs, to a finely shaped hand resting carelessly atop them. And then—
“It seems you were very tired.”
Esselian’s face looked down at her impassively as he leaned against the wall.
“…Gasp!”
Schwenn let out an involuntary scream as she sprang up and bonked her head against the wall.
Sophie startled and gently rubbed the spot Schwenn had hit.
After a moment, Schwenn finally realized she was inside a carriage, traveling north.
“How long was I asleep?”
“An entire day.”
“That long?”
Sophie nodded repeatedly.
Schwenn searched her memory. She had definitely met the Empress on the way to the Princess’s Palace. After that, she met Titiana.
By Titiana’s side stood the maid who would replace Schwenn. Seeing Schwenn arrive without warning, Titiana had jumped to her feet in surprise.
Schu? I thought you already went to the North?
I’m leaving today. After today, we won’t be able to see each other for at least six months…
Schwenn hadn’t come to the palace to argue or demand answers. Nor had she come simply to forgive Titiana and see her face.
She just wanted to know.
Titiana, like you said—we really were friends who spent our entire lives together.
What Schwenn truly meant to her. Whether she mattered so little that all those years could be discarded at once.
Schwenn stared at the maid who had taken her place for a long while, then looked back at Titiana.
But… couldn’t you have told me first? If this was how it would be, you should’ve left when I asked you to leave the palace with me.
Schwenn, I just…
Be honest.
Schwenn cut her off—rude, no matter how close they were.
Honestly, Titiana, I’m disappointed in you. I don’t want to hear any more.
…
I’m leaving.
Titiana did not stop Schwenn as she left the palace.
