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Chapter 49
“……In what way?”
“Well, you could fall in love sincerely, or you could seduce him so he clings to you… nothing wrong with either, right?”
“If he stays here, I won’t be able to take control of the southern region.”
“This little piece of land? I can give it to you if you want.”
“No. I mean, I don’t just want the title of Grand Duchess—I want to be the owner of this land entirely.”
“You want this land more than Floanne? I can’t understand that. If you have Floanne, you’d also have the south by default.”
“It’s different for me.”
“I don’t know what makes it different—but well, that’s a condition I can meet. My goal is simply that Floanne doesn’t leave abroad to gain her freedom. If you want, I can even grant you the title of Duke of this south. And Floanne could fake her death or leave the south by any means, wouldn’t that work?”
“…….”
“That actually works in my favor. I was worried that you were genuinely attached to Floanne and would be scheming about how to call her to the palace. If our contract goes through, I’ll fully support all your endeavors and even take the lead in removing any obstacles in your way.”
“And if the contract doesn’t go through?”
“Then… well, I guess there’s no investment. And since I’m a bit spiteful, I might even interfere.”
“You’re surprisingly petty.”
“The world has always been unfair, hasn’t it?”
Is this revenge for yesterday?
To return my words in this way?
A hollow laugh escaped.
Eden thought it over slowly—but not too slowly—and then returned to the mansion first, leaving behind a playful twist of words.
Aelin, left behind, clutched her forehead from the pounding headache and let out a deep sigh.
And now he wants me to seduce Floanne?
“I’m going crazy, really…”
Meanwhile, Floanne, having finished breakfast, left the castle to attend to state affairs.
She seemed particularly anxious today, as if she felt uneasy leaving Aelin and Eden behind.
Dalton immediately spoke, noticing that Floanne wasn’t holding back her strength as usual.
“Your Highness, why so rushed? There’s no fire on your feet; take it easy.”
“Sp-s-spar- spare me! Just a moment, I—I must apologize to the Crown Prince—”
With a sudden crack, the man’s desperate plea stopped abruptly.
Floanne, with an iron grip, covered the man’s mouth and stared at Dalton.
“I said, don’t talk while working.”
“Sorry, Your Highness. You just looked so urgent I thought you might make a mistake.”
“Have you ever seen me make a mistake?”
At his words, the people tied up and awaiting death trembled and whimpered.
Floanne, having done this many times, calmly wiped the blood off his hands.
He gestured to the black-masked men behind him, and they quickly dragged away the collapsed men.
“…Ah, but I was just saying something, Your Highness~”
Floanne frowned at the blood splattered on his shirt, then slowly began unbuttoning it.
Nearly naked, he used water brought by the black-masked men to wash off the blood and dirt.
After changing into fresh clothes, he slowly moved to leave the cave.
“Handle the rest yourselves.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Floanne glanced back at his masked subordinates. As soon as the order was given, they began taking the lives of those still bound.
No knives or guns were used.
Only bare hands.
Even using bare hands, they avoided leaving marks.
As much as possible, it looked like the victims had been attacked by beasts.
In other words, it was brutal enough to not look human.
“Murders! You’re murderers!”
A bound man, his eyes bloodshot and bulging, shouted in a last desperate outcry before collapsing into silence.
“Murders? The ones betraying the Empire and selling information don’t get to live.”
A masked subordinate, setting down a blood-stained stone, laughed and brushed his hands.
All the people killed today were high-ranking Empire officials and their families.
The fathers, having lived comfortably off the Empire’s money, suddenly—or perhaps always—betrayed their country, delivering military and strategic information to the enemy, the Etni Empire across the northern border.
Naturally, expecting death, they had hidden in the cave.
Those who didn’t get eaten by beasts or die from accidental falls were simply eliminated.
At least that’s what the world would think.
If no one discovers the bodies in the cave, they might just be considered missing.
This was Floanne’s work: secretly eliminating dangerous individuals of the state.
Previously under the Emperor’s orders.
Now under the orders of the Crown Prince, inheriting the Emperor’s authority while he lies ill.
Like someone shouted earlier, he might be a group of murderers.
Those who flinch at words like murderer or monster had already been killed long ago.
Floanne chuckled at the thought, ready to move on.
“Sir, what about this child?”
Dalton stopped Floanne.
The traitor had a young child, and yet he had committed such deeds and fled in the middle of the night.
Dalton had been protecting the child, but the child still trembled from fear.
“Follow protocol.”
“But Your Highness, what could this child possibly know…”
“You mean to say we should remove the sprouts of a traitorous family?”
“They were at fault, not the child… if we don’t mention it, the child will grow up unaware…”
“Right, if no one mentions it, they’ll grow up oblivious. Just say they were an orphan picked up from somewhere.”
“…Your Highness, that’s not what I meant…”
“Follow protocol, Dalton. Don’t let misguided sympathy ruin things.”
Floanne was about to leave but stopped.
He closed his eyes, exhaled deeply, and returned to Dalton.
Dalton released the child with a bright expression.
It seemed that the one who needed to avoid letting sympathy ruin things was Floanne himself, not Dalton.
“Well, I’d feel guilty killing a child, but it’s unexpected from you. I thought after all these years you’d be completely cold-blooded.”
“Seems I was different in front of a child.”
“Indeed, this must be the first child you’ve ever encountered this young.”
Eden had arrived at some point and seemed surprised, noticing the situation.
“White, soft, harmless—like a pure crystallization.”
“Enough. If you want to decide the child’s fate, give the order again.”
“I’m done. I said deal with the traitor, and the traitor is dead. This child is your responsibility, not mine.”
Eden shrugged, and Floanne looked at him with a slightly uneasy expression.
“Does looking at me change my decision? Or yours? You already saved the child; I have no intention of killing them. I’m not angry. Do I seem like someone who gets angry or sulks over this?”
“You came yesterday all angry and sulking, didn’t you?”
“Why are we going back to that story?”
“What did you say to Aelin?”
“What did I say?”
Eden, like an eel, had a natural talent for twisting the point of a conversation.
“What you said clearly made a perfectly fine woman unable to meet your gaze and leave abruptly. What did you say? You weren’t really here just for a pure investment, were you?”
