🔊 TTS Settings
chapter 56
Seeing me frozen in place, forgetting even to breathe, Mei looked at me with a worried expression.
“Unnie?”
“Uh… huh?”
“Unnie, you don’t look well. Did you have a bad dream?”
“It’s not that… you just…”
I think I heard her say, Jiwoo…
I swallowed the words that rose up in my throat.
“When did you wake up?”
“Not long ago, either.”
Of course.
There’s no reason to watch someone sleeping for a long time.
Besides, it’s five in the morning. Thirty minutes earlier than Mei usually wakes up.
“Phew… yeah.”
I exhaled.
Was it a nightmare? Whatever it was, it was an extremely unpleasant dream.
A dream where the person I killed passionately confessed their love to me.
Even the unreal has its limits.
Of course, the “Jiwoo” she loved was probably not Chae Jiwoo, but her younger sister, Shin Jiwoo.
“Seems like stress piled up more than I thought.”
Even if I usually feel nothing, yesterday I killed someone for the first time.
It could have left some impact in my subconscious.
I didn’t expect it to manifest as a nightmare and even auditory hallucinations.
“I’ll get used to it.”
The first time is always the hardest.
…Although, I did kill rather easily, but still.
I dragged my tired body over and picked up the letter on the windowsill.
“It’s from Larissa.”
Opening the paper, there was a simple report on how she intended to handle this money.
“I didn’t expect it to be this method.”
It included details I hadn’t considered, and I found myself a little impressed.
“Unnie, who’s it from?”
“Larissa.”
I answered Mei, who was peeking at the letter, and wrote a brief reply to hand over to the messenger pigeon.
I could teleport the letter, but unlike parcels, there’s no warehouse-like space where the whole family receives letters.
So, it had to be teleported directly into Larissa’s room.
“If it ended up inside her body, it wouldn’t be funny at all.”
There was no way to waste such a valuable resource.
“Go.”
Flap!
Opening the window, I released the pigeon. It flapped its wings vigorously and took off.
I watched it for a moment, then turned and laughed.
“Shall we sleep a little more, Mei?”
“What, already up?”
“……”
“Sigh… this guy again.”
Felix clicked his tongue at Aiden, who was ignoring him as usual.
He had been odd during group assignments, but wasn’t Aiden always like this?
‘Wait a second.’
Felix tilted his head.
‘The quiet guy suddenly talks a lot in front, goes first for group work, goes to Hwangdo alone with someone but not me?’
Counting on his fingers, it got suspicious.
At this point, it wasn’t suspicion—it was nearly certain.
‘Why did he go to Hwangdo alone?’
Felix, living a simple life, started to notice the detail that had initially seemed trivial aside from mild annoyance.
Finally, he was sure.
‘It’s a date!’
If two adults go to Hwangdo until evening, it’s definitely a date.
Moreover, the girl was none other than Canis Escliff, who kept a cold attitude toward almost everyone since the second semester began.
There was only one reason unsociable people would go to Hwangdo alone together: romance!
“Aiden.”
Felix, intoxicated by his own deduction, called out to Aiden with a gleeful expression.
Aiden remained silent.
Of course, that fact was irrelevant to Felix at the moment.
“Are you dating Canis?”
Thunk.
The sword Aiden was handling dropped.
Felix’s deduction was far from the truth, but objectively, there was reason to think that way.
Anyone unaware of the details might assume the two had a special relationship or were on the verge of one.
And there was someone else caught in the same trap.
“…He spent the whole day in Hwangdo with Princess Escliff?”
Her name was Nadezhda Irene Grace.
The Empress, mother of the Crown Prince, of the Crocus Empire.
“It’s confirmed.”
A man bowed in front of the noble woman.
“People we placed saw the two at multiple locations today.”
“What happened to the ones hired from the Assassin Guild?”
“Well…”
The man spoke hesitantly at the Empress’s question.
“They didn’t return by the expected time, and there’s no way to contact them.”
“Were they caught?”
“Seems like it. Even if it were the third prince, considering the princess’s abilities—”
“She could kill a veteran assassin without problem.”
She tapped her finger repeatedly while speaking.
“Even so, remarkable.”
“Excuse me?”
“In such a short time, in crowded places, she took down two well-trained assassins without being detected… without leaving any trace of a body.”
The man lowered his head at the Empress’s summary.
Indeed, Princess Escliff’s actions were nothing short of miraculous.
Hwangdo had the best security in the Crocus Empire. Even minor alley violence was quickly handled by guards.
If even ordinary violence was quickly addressed, murder was even more impossible to hide.
“Even with the spatial magic of Viscount Icart… no, even he couldn’t manage this.”
In other words, erasing people unnoticed within Hwangdo like Princess Escliff did was impossible without help.
“The princess is clever, and has the skill and courage to take out the people I sent.”
“……”
“That’s why she’s annoying.”
The Empress then fell into thought.
Aiden Grace.
Currently the thorn in the Empress’s side.
What could annoy her even more?
If asked, she would answer fiercely:
“Him getting involved with the heir of a powerful family.”
It was natural.
Even if he was in a lowly state, he was still a prince.
If he married the heir of a noble house, his influence would naturally rise.
And any children from that union would still carry royal blood.
The current Emperor was only in his mid-forties.
One day, that child could compete for the throne.
This was a choice the Empress wanted to avoid at all costs.
To prevent it, she had two options:
-
Threaten or eliminate the princess.
-
Win the princess over to her side.
The Empress pondered briefly.
“Bring me paper and a pen.”
She quickly reached a conclusion.
“Letterhead suitable for an invitation would be best.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
Princess Escliff, the eldest daughter of the Duke, was a talented and promising individual.
If she could be won over, it would be reassuring.
So, the Empress began writing gracefully with her quill.
“Hey, isn’t that your pigeon?”
During a survival skills assignment submission.
Felix, sitting next to me, pointed out the bird outside the window.
“No way.”
I had sent my pigeon to the Duke’s house that morning.
Even if these messenger pigeons flew faster than Earth pigeons, a reply this fast was impossible.
Seeing my indifferent reaction, Felix frowned.
“What do you mean no? I’m telling you, it’s coming for you, not the one you raised!”
“What…”
I frowned too and then noticed the bird flying straight toward me.
“It’s real?”
“Is there a fake?”
“Right.”
The pigeon carrying the letter landed in front of me.
‘Good, lecture hasn’t started yet.’
If this happened during class, it would have drawn unnecessary attention.
I breathed a sigh of relief and took the luxurious letter from the pigeon.
Felix, curious about the sender, tilted his head.
“Who’s it from… gah!”
“Wow.”
[Empress Nadezhda Irene Grace]
A letter arrived from someone I never expected.
