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chapter 21
Honk, honk.
A flock of geese flew across the clear sky above the docks.
‘Heartless bastard.’
Seeing how the duke had neither blood nor tears, Alice felt as if even her own heart were drying up.
If you’re human, you’re supposed to have some emotional capacity!
This novel wasn’t some redemption story about reforming a cold, bloodless duke.
If she stubbornly refused to leave, she would definitely end up tied together with Karina in ropes.
That was why Alice had long since given up on clinging to the duke and instead carefully laid out her plan.
In the middle part of <The Tyrant’s Mentor Flower>, there was a scene where Michael escaped from Edwin.
After barely slipping out of Edwin’s grasp, Michael was lucky enough to settle safely in a kind, quiet rural village.
Alice slowly went over the list of people who had helped Michael.
The blacksmith Müller’s family, Felice who ran the bakery, and Adeli from the fruit shop.
If she acted like a pitiful but well-mannered child in front of them, she wouldn’t starve to death on the streets, at the very least.
She knew all of this because she had reread this part countless times.
‘Once enough time passes and I’ve saved up some money, I shouldn’t buy a house—I should keep it saved.’
In the long run, opening a shop would’ve been the safest way to settle down somewhere unfamiliar, but considering the original story, that plan was impossible.
‘Because the village gets destroyed.’
Edwin’s obsessive fixation eventually led to the complete destruction of the village of Heiden, where Michael was hiding.
Everyone living there died—of course, by Edwin’s hand.
There were two reasons.
First, retaliation for Michael daring to run away from him.
Second, Edwin’s scheme to bind Michael entirely to himself by leaving him utterly alone, without anyone else around.
‘If Michael escapes to Heiden later on, I’ll have to evacuate the villagers first.’
Revisiting the original story from the perspective of a supporting character felt like a horror novel.
Alice patiently waited for the ship bound for Heiden, pulling a black hood low over her face.
The events at the duke’s castle had spread far and wide, and her face had become known.
Bwoooong—
A loud ship’s horn echoed across the docks, signaling docking.
Because she was a child, they wouldn’t sell her a ticket, so she had no choice but to pay a scalper a large sum for one.
Now she was ready to board the ship.
As she silently bid farewell to the Elgar brothers and Edwin and was about to step onto the ship—
She heard murmuring behind her.
“Why are there suddenly knights here?”
“Looks like someone committed a serious crime. Tsk.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t live committing sins.”
‘This isn’t about me… right?’
She had a bad feeling, but ignored it and took another step forward.
Yet instincts like this rarely missed.
One of the knights approached and blocked her path with his sword.
“Eek!”
Alice let out a shrill scream as the blade was suddenly thrust toward her neck.
In a stiff tone, the knight asked,
“Are you Alice Garnet?”
This place truly defied common sense. Do they normally pull a sword on someone before asking a question?
“Ali… what? No, I’m not.”
She denied it reflexively.
The boatmen nearby all wore expressions that said, ‘I don’t know what’s going on, but that poor kid.’
Seeing that, there was no way she’d go along quietly.
Keeping her composure, Alice looked at the knight with a frightened, innocent expression.
Her natural performance made even the knight hesitate.
He alternated his gaze between the paper in his hand and her face.
“Messy, curly blond hair. Blue eyes. The description matches, but…”
“You think that’s me? I’m not this ugly. Oh? I’ve seen this before—in the newspaper. That Alice Garnet?”
Anyone could tell the drawing on the paper was her portrait.
Alice deliberately maintained a brazen, offended attitude.
“And do you know how many blond, blue-eyed people there are around here? Hey, that man over there is like that too.”
She pointed at a man boarding the ship.
The man, suddenly singled out, panicked and bolted deeper into the ship.
“Don’t label innocent people as criminals just because they look a bit similar.”
Her words were rude and bold for a child.
After staring at her for a moment, the knight once again looked down at the paper.
“……”
A subtle ripple passed through the previously expressionless faces of the knights.
“Are you really saying it’s not you?”
“I’m telling you, it’s not.”
Alice smiled inwardly.
This might actually work.
‘But why are they looking for me?’
That was the problem.
Was it to tie her up alongside Karina and send her back after all?
Alice’s expression stiffened.
If that was the case, she had to deny it no matter what.
“She is Alice Garnet.”
At that moment, a clear voice that hadn’t yet broken cut in.
It was a voice she recognized.
Alice instinctively looked up.
There stood a beautiful boy with brown hair and cool gray eyes.
On his wrist was a green bracelet shaped like a dove.
That was—
‘The crest of the Ertmann Marquess family.’
She immediately realized who he was.
A boy destined to become the family’s knight commander, Michael’s close friend, and someone who would volunteer to guard him.
A boy fated to die later while standing in Edwin’s way to protect a fleeing Michael.
‘Pitiful supporting characters.’
Why were the side characters in bleak stories always cursed with such tragic lives?
Seeing another of those pitiful lambs made Alice let out a deep sigh.
Meanwhile, Alois felt something strange as he looked at her.
‘Who’s pitying whom here?’
At first, she’d looked at him with resentment—then, once their eyes met, she gazed at him with sympathy.
Unable to grasp her intentions, Alois frowned.
She was definitely stranger than she had been three months ago, when she’d done nothing but cause trouble.
Bang!
The door to the duke’s office flew open.
It closed again just as quickly, but in that brief moment, knights could be seen collapsed on the floor.
The duke’s gaze turned cold at the rude intrusion.
After recognizing who it was, he slowly spoke.
“You acted like you’d never leave that hole again. What is this about?”
A sneer formed on Duke Esteban’s face.
For someone whose biological son—previously unknown to him—had just appeared, his tone was excessively dry and cold.
Uninterested in his words, Edwin stared straight at him.
“Find Alice.”
“She left of her own accord. There’s no reason for me to look for her.”
The duke replied lazily, leaning back in his chair.
At that sight, Edwin’s lips twisted into a chilling smile—one he had never shown in front of Alice.
His cold red eyes locked onto the duke.
‘Should I kill him?’
Sensing Edwin’s dangerous aura, Duke Esteban reached for an object on his desk.
It was a magic orb used to summon knights.
Crunch!
Already reading his move, Edwin snatched the orb from his hand and crushed it.
It was made of mana stone—something that couldn’t be easily destroyed by ordinary people or even monsters.
Yet the duke spoke calmly, as if he’d expected it.
“You have bad manners.”
“…If I kill you, I’ll become the master of this place, won’t I?”
After that, he could use the subordinates to find Alice.
Having finished his calculations, Edwin’s red eyes flashed.
He leapt forward.
Landing on the desk, he reached out, his chilling gaze fixed solely on the duke’s neck, as if he were about to snap it at any moment.
Though it was a child’s small hand, it had the grip strength to tear chains apart and crush a magic orb.
If caught by that hand, a human neck bone would be pulverized.
Duke Esteban quickly reached for the sword at his waist.
But he never drew it.
Edwin suddenly froze.
Now standing back in front of the desk, Edwin turned his head and stared intently at the door.
A small sigh was heard from outside.
It was Alice.
‘What is all this?’
The knights had brought her back to the duke’s castle without explaining anything.
Like master, like servants—both were equally silent and cold.
That made her think of Edwin.
‘At least Edwin is cute.’
Remembering the last time she’d seen him, a fond smile formed on Alice’s lips.
By now, he must’ve fully returned to his original self under the family’s care.
‘I left without even saying goodbye.’
It wasn’t that she couldn’t—it was closer to choosing not to.
Karina’s crimes had been exposed, and as her daughter, Alice could only be seen as an accomplice.
She was afraid Edwin might think the same.
If Edwin looked at her with resentment and hatred—
‘It would hurt… but I’d be fine no matter what expression Edwin makes.’
What Edwin thought of her didn’t really matter.
What mattered was how he felt about Michael.
But if her life was at stake, that changed things.
Yes.
Alice had fled without saying goodbye because she was afraid Edwin might kill her.
‘Holding that chain in one hand…’
His strength had been extraordinary from the very start.
He could probably subdue a grown man with ease.
She didn’t want to use her own life as proof of just how different he was from ordinary people.
In the end, though, Alice had been brought back to the duke’s castle by the knights.
Saying the duke had summoned her, they led her to his office.
“This is…?”
The corridor leading to the office felt strange.
Knights were strewn across the floor.
Judging by their battered faces, they’d been beaten senseless.
The knights accompanying her tensed and went on alert.
“There are no signs of resistance.”
Alois quickly surveyed the situation.
At his words, the knights nodded.
“So it’s not an intruder.”
If there had been an intruder, there would’ve been signs of a fight.
This looked like one-sided domination.
“Go inside.”
Alois told Alice to enter the office.
She hesitated uneasily.
But his gray eyes never left her face, urging her on.
With a sigh, she knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
Alice opened the door at the response.
The moment she saw who was inside, her pupils widened uncontrollably.
‘Edwin.’
She’d heard he was at the tower—so when had he come here?
