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CHAPTER 46:
A Strange Plan
The capital’s streets were bustling with people no matter where you went.
Gabrielle and Hariel had long abandoned the idea of returning to their estate.
They were still furious over the humiliation they had suffered from Celia in Écléan, and both found it infuriating that only Celia was living comfortably in the Imperial Palace.
Perhaps because they had spent so recklessly, their money quickly ran out.
“Mother, why don’t we just go to the palace while we’re at it?”
“I’d like to, but we’re not one of the Three Dukes. What right do we have to just enter the palace?”
“We’re Celia’s ‘family,’ aren’t we?”
Gabrielle continued to persuade Hariel relentlessly.
Hariel, left with no choice, eventually brought Gabrielle with her to the Imperial Palace.
At the entrance, the palace guard scanned them up and down.
“What business do you have here?”
“We’re Celia’s family. We figured she must miss us, so we came to see her.”
Gabrielle said with a bright smile.
The guard pulled out a list from his coat.
“May I have your names?”
“This is my mother, Hariel Brillion, and I’m Gabrielle Brillion.”
The guard flipped through the list for a while before speaking.
“Your names are here. You may pass.”
Gabrielle and Hariel were shocked—it was far easier than they’d expected to get into the palace.
As they passed through the gates, they exchanged meaningful glances.
“Had I known we’d get in this easily, we should’ve come sooner. Celia’s finally come in handy.”
“You said it.”
They entered the palace, visibly delighted.
However, it didn’t take long for them to sense that something was off about the palace atmosphere.
“Doesn’t it feel different from the banquet day?”
They looked around the palace in the broad daylight.
The golden-covered castles were grand, ornate, and beautiful, but the roads were so wide it was hard to tell where they led.
They had hoped someone might offer to guide them, but not a single maid, knight, or even gardener seemed to pay them any attention.
Eventually, Gabrielle approached a gardener.
“Excuse me, may I ask for directions?”
The gardener, trimming a mulberry tree, slowly turned his head.
“I haven’t seen you before. Who are you here to see?”
“…Celia Brillion.”
The gardener paused his trimming and replied:
“She’s not here. She disappeared overnight, and His Highness the Crown Prince is currently searching for her.”
Gabrielle frowned at the unexpected news.
“Do you happen to know where she might have gone? We’re worried.”
“Where she might’ve gone?”
The gardener thought for a moment and then pointed toward a fountain with lion statues.
“Keep walking that way and you’ll reach Duke Calypso’s estate. For some reason, His Highness seems convinced that she’s there.”
Gabrielle’s expression hardened.
Out of all places, why Duke Calypso’s estate?
She could feel anger bubbling inside.
Without so much as a thank you, Gabrielle and Hariel left.
As they disappeared from sight, someone emerged from the nearby garden.
It was Illeon.
The gardener bowed his head.
“Just as you predicted, my lord.”
“Lower your voice, and keep watching.”
Illeon said in a soft tone, flicking his white sleeve.
From within the large sleeve, a golden mask glinted in the sunlight.
“I have to go soothe the Crown Prince now.”
Knights in armor had surrounded Dietrich’s estate in a circle.
Celia was sick of Jeremy, who just wouldn’t give up on her.
‘Should I just snap his neck with my powers?’
But if she did that, all the effort she’d put into her plan would be wasted.
The true targets of her powers were the Three Dukes.
When they all gathered in one place—that would be her golden opportunity to take them out all at once.
So, Celia decided to go along with Dietrich’s “strange” plan.
“I just have to go out and do what you told me, right?”
Dietrich nodded in response to her question.
As the doors to the estate swung open, sunlight poured down on them.
Though the knights had come under Jeremy’s orders, they hadn’t really expected Celia to be at Dietrich’s estate. They were visibly shaken.
One of the knights cautiously called out.
“Duke Calypso.”
Dietrich naturally slipped an arm around Celia’s waist.
“What’s the matter?”
The knights were momentarily speechless. The gesture was so natural.
“What business do you have with me?”
As Dietrich asked again, the knights snapped out of their daze.
‘What is going on here? A love triangle?’
Their eyes darted toward Celia.
Celia, half-embraced by Dietrich, was breathtaking.
Her silver hair sparkled like freshly spun silk, her emerald eyes gleamed with an otherworldly light, and her delicate white face held features so flawless they seemed sculpted.
Long lashes framed her gaze; her nose was like it was crafted by a god, and her full red lips curved gently.
She was so beautiful it made their hearts ache just to look at her.
The Angel of Brillion. Everyone’s first love.
Even those legendary nicknames felt meaningless compared to her actual presence.
The knights swallowed hard.
“What’s your business?”
“His Highness ordered us to bring his concubine to him.”
The knight who finally spoke felt like he was choking, his breath shallow.
The shame of the words weighed on him.
To think someone so ethereal could be the mistress of that hideous Crown Prince…
“Concubine?”
Surprisingly, the response came from Celia herself.
“He forced me to become his concubine, even though I refused.”
She looked up at Dietrich, her voice softening.
“The one I truly care for is…”
Celia’s gaze met his, her emerald eyes glowing affectionately, her lips curving in a sweet smile.
“Duke Calypso. No, Dietrich, right here.”
She rose on her toes and, without hesitation, kissed his cheek.
The knights gasped.
No matter how beautiful she was—this was Dietrich.
Dietrich, who had never once been swayed by any woman.
At balls, when women asked him to dance, he always declined.
Even noblewomen, curvaceous beauties, wealthy heiresses, clever ladies—even foreign princesses couldn’t get his attention.
Everyone thought he would push Celia away.
Even when his hand rested around her waist, they thought he’d remove it.
But Dietrich defied every expectation.
He looked down at Celia with a tender smile.
There was no doubt.
The cold, expressionless Duke Calypso was gazing at someone with affection.
The knights were shaken.
They looked like a perfect couple.
But Celia was the Crown Prince’s concubine.
To have her as a lover was a direct challenge to the Crown Prince’s authority.
It was practically treason.
Dietrich could read what they were thinking.
And so, he spoke first.
“His Highness made Celia, who was accused of murdering the Emperor, his concubine against her will.”
“But if he finds out, surely—”
Dietrich cut him off.
“Is a man who harms the innocent really your lord?”
He looked at each knight in turn.
“He takes lives, cripples knights who live by their swords… He’s like this as a Crown Prince. What will become of Avalon if he becomes Emperor?”
The knights were struck silent.
Dietrich had voiced what they’d only dared to think.
Given his loyal service to the late Emperor, they thought he would never betray Jeremy.
But they were wrong.
“I, Dietrich Calypso, as Commander of the Imperial Knights, give you this order.”
His words carried authority—power that made others follow.
It was that power, not privilege or wealth, that brought Dietrich to where he stood now.
In that moment, the knights made their choice.
“You will bring my concubine before me today. If not, you’ll end up just like him.”
That was what Jeremy had said after cutting off a knight’s leg earlier.
If this was the price of loyalty, they would rather choose another path.
“When something is wrong, it’s my duty to correct it. Hurting the innocent over a ruined face is a crime so vile I can’t even put it into words.”
In the solemn silence, Dietrich continued:
“From this moment on, I, Dietrich Calypso, no longer recognize Crown Prince Jeremy Basilisk as a royal.”
As his declaration ended, the knights—almost in unison—dropped to one knee.
Among them were those who had once served Dietrich and others who had long been under Jeremy.
“We pledge our loyalty to you, my lord.”
The man once called the Mad Dog of the Emperor had now defied the Crown Prince.
In the name of restoring the royal family.
Though in truth, it was to protect Celia—a truth the knights could not know.
With his arm around her waist, Dietrich headed for the Crown Prince’s palace.
At that moment, two pairs of eyes witnessed the scene.
“Mother, what on earth am I seeing right now?”
“…”
“Mother? What is this? Why is she—who’s supposed to be the Crown Prince’s concubine—there with Duke Calypso?”
Gabrielle felt like she couldn’t breathe.
“Calm down, Gabrielle.”
Hariel shook her head.
“That little tramp must’ve seduced him. Don’t be too upset.”
“Mother! I’m so angry! That wretched b*tch—I wish she’d just die!”
Gabrielle cursed, trembling with rage.
Hariel gently tried to soothe her.
“Don’t worry. Before sending her to the palace, I slipped something into Celia’s food. It would be troublesome if she started babbling about what happened at our estate. So I gave her something… special.”
“Really, Mother? What was it?”
“Well…”
Hariel grinned darkl
