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Chapter 7
“L-Lottie…”
I didn’t know how Minabel interpreted my expression while imagining a peaceful future, but suddenly she burst into tears and hugged me tightly from the other side.
Before I knew it, I was sandwiched between two women like jam inside bread.
More than touched, I was honestly having trouble breathing.
“You worked hard too, Bell. Without you, this would never have gone so smoothly. I was really nervous.”
“What are you talking about?! For someone nervous, you handled that insanely well! Even if you got dragged into a street fight, you wouldn’t lose.”
I had no idea what exactly she meant, but hearing praise directed at me still made me happy, so I smiled weakly.
Though the road ahead was still incredibly long.
***
“But, you know…”
Once we boarded the carriage to return home, Minabel cautiously started speaking.
I couldn’t help letting out a small laugh.
Why was she acting so hesitant?
“I was wondering when you’d finally ask.”
“But since there’s no original story left to follow anymore, every single action feels even scarier now!”
“I get it already. So what is it?”
She’d been looking like she wanted to ask something for a while now. Her face suddenly brightened.
“I think you really are extremely pretty, Tie.”
“Huh? Suddenly?”
I prided myself on never losing when it came to reading situations, but this completely caught me off guard.
What was she even talking about?
“You’re breathtakingly beautiful. Seriously, the treasure of the empire. Ah, of course Sister Rphina is pretty too.”
“I still don’t know why you call me Rphina, but Pina is fine too. Anyway, Tie’s beauty is already famous throughout the empire. At her debutante ball, the line of people wanting to ask her for a dance stretched outside the ballroom.”
Apparently my sister couldn’t hear compliments directed at her at all, because she immediately started bragging about me instead.
“But after dancing three times, I ran out of breath and fainted…”
Ever since that day, I decided dancing definitely was not suited for me.
“It really was a dazzling debutante.”
Minabel nodded with a smile as if remembering it fondly.
Well, we had already been friends back then too.
“Maybe that’s why His Highness fell for you too? My countless years of reading romance novels are telling me so.”
“What?”
The color drained from my sister’s face.
Mine probably looked just as bad.
“No.”
I immediately denied it firmly, making Minabel tilt her head in confusion.
Anyway, absolutely not.
There was no way. I would have noticed.
No means no!
***
Lucian Aedvain returned to the imperial palace feeling strangely detached from reality.
Flotie Rosena.
The moment her true appearance was revealed, her pink hair faded away like bleached color and shimmered silver instead.
Her green eyes turned into cold violet eyes.
Lucian could not forget the feeling from that brief instant when she transformed into what felt like an entirely different person.
His heart pounded wildly on its own.
His mind felt shaken.
“It felt as though that lady had grabbed my heart with her gaze and shaken it violently. Like being pierced by a sword.”
If there had been anyone around qualified to teach him such things, they probably would have explained that the feeling was called love at first sight.
Unfortunately, there was nobody around Lucian knowledgeable enough about romance to tell him that.
“Your Highness, you’ve returned?”
When he arrived at the prince’s palace, Heston greeted him with a displeased expression.
A precious attendant, knight, and friend who had remained by his side since childhood.
Lately, though, he had started speaking without any respect whatsoever.
Still, Lucian had generously decided to let him live for a little longer.
He just hadn’t expected that “little longer” to become ten whole years.
“Yeah.”
“Couldn’t you at least tell me where you’re going? “Don’t follow me, and if anyone tails me, I’ll kill both of you.” You really shouldn’t say things like killing so casually.”
“Then I’ll say I won’t let them go so easily in a more elegant way.”
“If you truly intend to live quietly, then you should be even more careful with your words. Recently there have already been rumors about Your Highness frequently visiting shabby taverns, and it’s making this humble Heston’s heart tremble with anxiety…”
“I did go to shabby taverns, so what’s there to be anxious about? They reported exactly what they saw.”
Say one thing to him, and ten come back.
He had always been talkative, but instead of becoming calmer with age, he had only gotten worse.
“That’s exactly my point! I’m begging you not to go to places like that. Why does the person who should understand the meaning behind this loyal servant’s words the best pretend not to understand?! Those places are full of dangerous people. Today there were even assas—”
Heston abruptly stopped before finishing the word “assassins” and coldly scanned the surroundings.
This imperial palace had more listening ears than the outside world.
“It was already getting noisy there anyway, probably because rumors spread. It was about time I stopped going.”
Originally, that tavern had been a place where Lucian bought information.
But seeing assassins planted there meant the information broker had either betrayed him or died.
Their methods had been so sloppy, openly mixing poison and drawing blades, that Lucian had almost been dumbfounded watching it all unfold.
And then suddenly, the variable called Flotie had appeared.
“Anyway, do you know anything about Flotie Rosena?”
Ignoring his loyal subordinate’s worries completely, Lucian immediately got to the point.
“The youngest daughter of House Rosena?”
“I heard she’s not married yet.”
“Yes. She turned seventeen this year. It’s already well-known that Duke Rosena treasures his daughters dearly. I’ve heard marriage proposals arrive constantly, but because her health is weak, they keep postponing them. Especially after she gave up the heir position.”
“There seem to be quite a lot of bold people.”
Lucian spoke sarcastically, sounding strangely displeased, making Heston stare at him in disbelief while taking his coat.
When had this prince ever cared about any noble in the empire?
“And how much do you know about House Rosena itself? Don’t tell me strange rumors. Only the truth.”
“The truth?”
At this point I’m starting to think you’ve finally gone insane, Heston thought as his lips twitched slightly before giving up and answering.
He explained everything.
How Serphina, whom even the Magic Tower desired, inherited the heir position.
How she shut herself away inside the duchy just to remain beside Flotie.
But after all that effort explaining things, it seemed the prince only cared about the relationship between the sisters.
“So the sisters are close.”
“Close? It’s almost frightening. Since Lady Flotie has always been physically weak, everyone already knows they spoil her terribly. Those rumors calling Lady Serphina some madwoman who bullies her younger sister are complete nonsense.”
“Flotie is sickly?”
“Yes. She was apparently born weak. She suffered from constant illnesses, and when she was younger, people even said she might not survive past ten years old. She spent nearly every day bedridden. Though recently, I hear she’s improved somewhat…”
At some point, Lucian stopped properly listening to Heston and instead recalled Flotie’s appearance.
Certainly, the moment her disguise magic disappeared, all color had drained from her face.
Not merely cold-looking.
Excessively pale.
“She did look weak.”
He also remembered how desperately she endured when he released his aura earlier.
Ordinary people didn’t tremble and suffer to that extent.
Most merely froze under the pressure.
But Flotie had looked like she might collapse unconscious at any moment.
She seemed so fragile that Lucian had unconsciously restrained his power afterward.
“Now that I think about it, the protection magic that Guard used wasn’t ordinary either.”
If they casually spread ancient magic over the entire duchy, then the people inside it were probably extremely skilled as well.
Thinking about it further, even Lucian, who intentionally ignored most political information, had still heard countless things about House Rosena.
That alone showed how powerful the family’s influence was within the empire.
Of course, he had heard stories about Flotie too.
That she was cold.
Sharp.
Picky about the people she associated with.
But the Flotie he actually met was completely different from those rumors.
“Heed the will of the gods, owner of the red eyes.”
Her eyes lingered in my mind.
Eyes that claimed they only desired peace for themselves.
Yet Rosena was not some weak family member desperate enough to risk everything merely to meet him privately.
If the imperial family ever fell, Rosena was powerful enough to seize the next ruling position for themselves.
“Honestly, if divine punishment destroyed the imperial family, it would probably be easier for them to take power themselves. Calling herself selfish after that… how ridiculous.”
