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Chapter 36
“Why didn’t you eat more slowly? If you want more, please don’t hesitate to say so. Since today is the first day Ulrich has come to visit, I’ll treat you. It must have been exhausting coming all the way here from the Imperial Palace, right?”
“Lady Liese….”
Ulrich’s blue eyes, which had been trying to calm his excitement as he drank water, grew moist.
“How can you be so angelic? It’s amazing that a devil like the commander managed to know Lady Liese.”
“Pardon? A devil…?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
At Alina’s question, Ulrich awkwardly cleared his throat again.
“I meant that the commander absolutely needs Lady Liese. Lady Liese, please, please come to the Imperial Palace.”
“Let’s talk about that another time. Would you like another bowl?”
As Alina smiled awkwardly and took away the empty bowl, Ulrich replied seriously.
“This time, I’d like a bigger bowl, please.”
After closing the shop for the day, Alina organized the dishes and sat down on a chair in the kitchen.
Because Ulrich had eaten the beef stew with such gusto, other customers who saw him began ordering beef stew one after another as well.
Thanks to that, the entire pot of beef stew she had cooked sold out before the sun even set.
Even after that, the steady stream of customers left Alina no time to catch her breath.
Right after the market, customers usually crowded in like this.
Answering customers who asked how they could eat the pizza sold at the market and directing them back to Marlon’s shop was also part of her job.
Some customers even insisted that she sell pizza here instead, but Alina politely declined.
Pizza wasn’t even on her menu, and more importantly, she never wanted to interfere with someone else’s business.
“Today’s customers were especially persistent.”
With a sigh, Alina leaned back against the chair.
As she stared blankly at the ceiling, a black box she had placed on the counter came into view.
Alina straightened up and picked up the box.
Click—when she opened it, a brilliantly shining magic stone revealed itself.
To Alina, who had no magic power, the oval-shaped blue stone looked like nothing more than a sapphire.
But according to Ulrich’s message, it was a magic stone imbued with high-level magic.
“To give something this expensive and beautiful and call it a guard dog that protects its owner.”
At the explanation, which somehow felt very much like Rihardt, Alina smiled faintly.
As she fiddled with the jewel, Alina recalled a stone of about the same size.
A fragment of a gravestone she hadn’t been able to take with her before leaving the Imperial Palace.
“The shape seems similar, too.”
Alina recalled the appearance of the gravestone fragment, which had looked like a transparent shard of glass.
At the time, everything had been so chaotic that she hadn’t been able to take the fragment with her.
By the time she realized that fact, she had already left Solk.
She had considered going back to retrieve it, but the risk had been too great.
In any case, to anyone who wasn’t of the Genotat royal bloodline, it would have looked like nothing more than an ordinary stone.
It was bound to be thrown away naturally once her lodgings were cleared out, so she had forgotten about the fragment ever since.
Clink—.
While she was lost in thought, she heard the sound of the shop door opening again.
“Did I forget to put up the ‘closed’ sign?”
Holding the jewel in her hand, Alina hurriedly stood up to greet the visitor.
“I’m sorry, but we’re closed for today.”
“Closed? What a coincidence.”
“Pardon…?”
“Because my patience has just about run out as well.”
When Alina came out of the kitchen, she froze upon seeing the man who had entered the shop.
A slender man with blond hair spoke, his sharp black eyes gleaming.
“Well? Isn’t it an incredible coincidence?”
Alina stood before him as if she had forgotten how to breathe.
When he curled the corners of his mouth upward, she barely managed to move her lips.
“Kineric….”
The upturned eyes and angular jaw reminiscent of King Ransel, and blond hair so pale it was almost white.
Though it had been a long time, Alina recognized him instantly.
For the past six years, she had feared this very moment every single day.
The moment she let her guard down after being excited over her reunion with Rihardt, Kineric appeared as if it were a lie.
It felt as though she had been caught completely off guard.
Gripping the kitchen door with trembling hands, Alina spoke.
“…You were alive.”
“Of course I was alive.”
Kineric shrugged at her words, as if she were saying something utterly ridiculous.
Twisting his thin lips into a smile, he stepped toward the kitchen.
“But is that all? I thought you’d be more moved after such a long reunion.”
Alina stood in place, gripping the jewel tightly. As she watched Kineric warily, her gaze automatically dropped to his feet.
“He’s wearing boots again today.”
Kineric always wore boots—leather boots with hard toes.
When he kicked someone with them, the pain reached straight into the bones.
“Is he going to hit me again?”
Alina clutched the kitchen door tighter. She never knew when Kineric might kick her again. She had to run before that happened.
But fear made it hard for her body to move.
“It’s okay. I’m not a child anymore. Kineric won’t just hit me recklessly like before.”
Taking a shallow breath, Alina spoke, hoping her voice wouldn’t tremble.
“Why did you come looking for me now?”
“‘Now,’ you say. Were you waiting for me?”
“Of course not.”
“What a shame.”
Kineric shrugged again. Pulling the black leather glove he was wearing down over his wrist, he spoke casually.
“I thought you’d cut off your connection with the Second Prince. I figured you’d just get in the way of my plans, so I was considering killing you sooner or later.”
After fastening the button on his glove tightly, Kineric smiled chillingly.
“But he’s still coming in and out of this place.”
At his words, the color drained from Alina’s face.
Kineric had seen Rihardt.
Rihardt, together with Alina.
“No.”
Alina swallowed dryly, cleared her throat, and spoke slowly.
“You must have been mistaken.”
“Mistaken? You think I’d mistake a member of the Malehark imperial family for someone else? Do you take me for an idiot?”
Snorting at her denial, Kineric’s eyes gleamed.
“I saw him clearly with these two eyes. Stop denying it, Alina Jasinder.”
When he lowered his voice, a shiver ran through her body. She cried out reflexively.
“So what if you did see him? What about it? Can’t an imperial family member buy a meal at a restaurant?”
“A customer, huh.”
Kineric narrowed his eyes at her retort.
“Just wait a little until I come back.”
“…!”
“What kind of customer speaks so affectionately to the shop owner?”
Imitating Rihardt’s tone, Kineric rubbed his hands together.
“I heard everything, so don’t try to deny it. Actually, this is very good news for you. Thanks to this, you’ll have the honor of contributing to my grand plan.”
“I don’t need that kind of honor. Get out.”
“I don’t like your tone. You should be trying to stay on my good side.”
“Why would I?”
“You want to find your maternal grandfather, don’t you?”
Kineric reached into his clothes and pulled out a necklace.
A necklace with a fan-shaped emerald surrounded by densely set small diamonds.
Alina’s eyes widened when she saw it.
“That’s…!”
Kineric lifted the necklace slightly and shook it as he smiled viciously.
“It’s your mother’s keepsake. You could ask shop customers a hundred times while claiming you’re looking for Count Elsberg, but you’ll never find him by name alone. You need a clue.”
“Give it back. It’s mine.”
Alina reached out toward Kineric with the hand not holding the magic stone. From tension, her fingertips felt as cold as ice.
Staring at her, Kineric twisted his lips into a smile.
“I’ve had it longer. Doesn’t that make it mine?”
“What, did you eat something bad? Is it something to brag about, keeping someone else’s belongings for a long time?”
“I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but you really are as troublesome as ever.”
Clicking his tongue, Kineric raised one eyebrow.
“You were always different from the other bastards back when you were in the palace. You never knew how to behave yourself.”
That talk of “bastards” again.
It was something Alina had grown sick of hearing from Kineric ever since she went to the Genotat Imperial Palace.
At first, his words had shocked her.
But not anymore.
Because now, Alina had things far more important than the blood of Genotat.
She stared straight at Kineric.
“You think you’re something special, but you’re not. With Genotat already fallen, royal legitimacy doesn’t mean anything anymore.”
The moment she finished speaking, Kineric’s eyes flashed. He strode forward and grabbed her chin with one hand.
“Watch your mouth. How dare a bastard prattle on to the Crown Prince?”
“Don’t be mistaken. Do you think this is the Genotat Imperial Palace? The days when you could torment people with your status are over.”
“You’re awfully confident. Why? Did that ‘customer’ say he’d back you up?”
When Alina didn’t waver despite his threat, Kineric let go, making his own assumptions.
“I don’t even want to deal with you anymore.”
Removing the glove that had touched Alina, as if it were contaminated with filth, Kineric spoke.
“Seduce the Second Prince and steal the Knight Commander’s seal. Then I’ll give the necklace back.”
At his command, Alina let out a small breath. Her heart, which had felt frozen from the moment she saw him, began pounding violently.
The very situation she had feared most was unfolding.
“Stay calm.”
Alina bit her lip.
She had to get a grip. She couldn’t let Rihardt get entangled in Kineric’s filthy scheme.
“Rihardt is absolutely not an option.”
She had left the Imperial Palace to protect Rihardt from Kineric’s machinations. And she had lived in hiding for over six years in this small town far from the capital.
She couldn’t let all that effort be in vain now.
Stepping back from Kineric, Alina spoke.
“How do I know what you plan to do with that seal? What exactly are you plotting?”
“Just answer me. Say you’ll do as I say.”
“No.”
“No? I must have been far too lenient.”
Kineric slowly reached out toward her. The sight of the black shadow closing in was eerie.
“If you don’t obey my orders, I can make sure you part from the Second Prince forever, right here and now.”
“Ghk—!”
A large, black hand clamped around Alina’s slender neck.
