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Chapter 16
“Lillian! I was trying to save you—!”
As Kartan stepped closer, Lillian screamed and curled up in on herself. Only then did Kartan look himself over. He was drenched in blood; even to himself, he must have looked like a monster. In the end, Kartan gave up on approaching her.
“Okay. I won’t come any closer.”
But it was already too late. Lillian lost consciousness and collapsed. Kartan fell into despair. He had thought he had escaped that horrific terror, only to lose the most precious person to him.
He had become a “monster who killed a beast.”
He sank to the ground and wailed.
When news spread that the Emperor was dead, the entire Empire was thrown into turmoil. Instead of becoming Emperor himself, Kartan placed his young nephew on the throne. He had no particular hunger for power, and he did not want to be accused of usurping the crown.
Once the incident was settled, Kartan went to see Lillian. She was living with the parents who had sold her off. As he waited for her, he repeated the words he had prepared all night long.
“I’m Kal. Back then, I really was trying to save you. I’m sorry.”
“I’m Kal. Let’s live together again like before. You won’t have to go hungry anymore. I’ll give you anything you want.”
“Um… so, come with me.”
But when he finally stood before Lillian, he couldn’t say a single word.
“Who are you?”
“You don’t recognize me? It’s Kal.”
The confusion on her face wasn’t an act. Lillian didn’t recognize Kartan at all—as if she had completely forgotten him.
“I don’t know who you are, but I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”
“What are you saying, Lillian?!”
Is it because the clothes I’m wearing are too extravagant for her to recognize me?
In a panic, Kartan stripped off the clothes he was wearing. Startled, Lillian sank to the ground. Over her face, which looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment, flashed the image of the man who had shouted that he was a monster.
“Lady Lillian!”
At that moment, a neatly dressed man appeared and helped Lillian to her feet.
“Baron Jeffrey!”
Lillian’s face brightened instantly as she hid behind Jeffrey’s back. Wrapping an arm protectively around her, Jeffrey asked,
“Is this someone you know?”
“No, he’s not. I don’t know him.”
The instant he heard Lillian’s answer, Kartan was plunged into despair. Only a hollow smile slipped from his lips. For some reason, his eyes burned.
Supporting Lillian, Jeffrey turned to look at Kartan. He recognized him.
“Could it be… Your Grace the Grand Duke?”
Kartan could only turn away in emptiness. With every step he took, it felt as though he were being dragged down into a distant hell.
From that day on, he no longer went to see Lillian. He realized that his visits would only cause her more pain.
It’s better this way. It’s better for her to forget such horrific memories.
Instead, the leaf of the World Tree he had received as a token of their friendship had to belong to him alone. So that no one would dare covet it, he transplanted the entire World Tree into his estate. This was one thing he could not yield to anyone.
Time passed as he lived on in resignation, telling himself that it was enough that they were both alive. Then one day, Lillian was hired as a gardener at the imperial palace. Kartan’s heart raced. He would be able to see her, even if only from afar—every single day!
Kartan moved his office to a place overlooking the garden. He was happy every day. That is, until he discovered a confession note tucked among his documents.
I have liked you for a very long time.
I’ll be waiting in the plaza in front of the fountain until you come out.
—Lillian Dante
Bang.
Kartan slammed his desk, consumed by jealousy. The expression with which she had looked at him in disgust wouldn’t leave his mind. At the same time, the face that had forgotten him—and then the image of Lillian smiling at another man, not him—rose up together, and his blood boiled.
“Why not me?! Why—why is it not me?!”
At that moment, the desire that had long lain dormant within Kartan reared its head and gradually began to devour his thoughts. There was no recipient’s name on the note. And Jeffrey hadn’t seen it yet. That meant he still had a chance!
Kartan immediately used an imperial order as a pretext to drive Jeffrey out of the capital. Then, shamelessly donning a mask, he went to the meeting place. Even if it was only for a moment, he didn’t care. If he could get even a little closer to Lillian, he felt he could do anything.
“My lord, what has you thinking so deeply?”
At his subordinate’s question, Kartan looked at Lillian beyond the window of his office.
“There’s something I’ve always wanted.”
“Even you, who possess the entire Empire, have such a thing?”
“I do. I’ve had it for a very long time.”
The Lillian reflected in Kartan’s eyes looked somehow downcast. It seemed she still hadn’t managed to correct the misunderstanding about the confession.
“Then you should simply take it. If you set your mind to it, my lord, what is there that you cannot have?”
At that, Kartan let out a short, bitter laugh.
“That’s why I’m going to take it. I finally know how to have it completely.”
No matter how much she tried to escape him, he had no intention of letting her go. Perhaps it had been better when she was out of sight. Now that she was close, he kept seeing her—and so he wanted her. Once he grasped her in his hand, even if every joint in his fingers broke, he wouldn’t be able to let go.
Maybe I really did take after Father completely.
In his sunken eyes, obsession with Lillian had melted deep within.
“Wheaton, how are things going with Lillian’s parents?”
“As you instructed, we’re continuing to give them money.”
“Good. Give them everything they want.”
“Yes, sir.”
Just as Wheaton, the head of the bank, finished his bow and was about to leave the office, Kartan—who still hadn’t taken his eyes off Lillian—spoke again.
“Oh, and look into Lillian’s health condition as well. Something about it doesn’t sit right with me.”
No matter how frightened of him she was, nearly collapsing again was far too strange.
