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chapter 14
It was very late at night.
Celestine rode in a carriage, finally returning to the Winsel estate.
“What on earth happened?! You should explain this to me too, you damned girl!”
This was what Greg said the moment he saw his daughter, having been anxiously waiting for her.
“Grace… no, Miss Celestine… I was really worried too…”
This was what Melcy said, her face pale as a sheet.
“Hah… I’m exhausted…”
Celestine sighed in response to their nonstop questions.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much more she could tell Greg.
By morning, the whole empire would be buzzing with news, but for now, no nobles knew that George was dead. At most, people like Devaltin, Hella, or George’s mother Yeriel… that was it.
She couldn’t even mention Devaltin’s bloodline.
So Celestine decided to only tell them what she could.
“I don’t know.”
“What? That’s it? Are you joking?”
“Well… it’s true that Crown Prince Devaltin said he would grant Father a duke title, but not right now. He said he would do it after he becomes emperor.”
“Hmph. So Devaltin finally realized it. He sees how useful I am to the royal court!”
Celestine frowned slightly. Really?
“I wish he also recognized that I’m a decent person as a subject. How on earth did you manage to convince Devaltin?”
“Sorry, but I don’t think I’ll ever do anything like that again. It wasn’t really convincing him—it was that Princess Asha said she wanted someone to keep her company, and then he said he’d grant the title.”
“Keep her company… but didn’t you dislike Princess Asha?”
“Well… for the glory of the family, of course. And now I don’t dislike her.”
“So you’ve finally grown up, Celestine. I thought you’d live your whole life being reckless.”
Celestine wanted to grab Greg by the collar for saying that, but even so, she held back. Some things were just too scandalous to do.
“Right. Then why did you bring that blasted prince here?! Do you know how worried I was?!”
“I’m not exactly sure, but I think Prince George was planning some trouble at the banquet. He mentioned it to me, saying today would be very interesting.”
“So that’s why you hid your identity?”
“Yes. I just thought I needed to help Crown Prince Devaltin. But how could one person fail to catch such an idiot?”
“Well… he’s surprisingly agile.”
Greg shook his head.
“Really, he disappeared in the blink of an eye. I didn’t even have time to grab him.”
Even so, his agility didn’t matter much—George wouldn’t have been able to dodge Devaltin’s sword anyway. Thinking of all the disgusting nonsense George had said made it even less important.
“Anyway, I have to go to the palace from tomorrow to keep Princess Asha company. So please, stop bothering me today. I need to sleep.”
“Wait, wait, Celestine!”
Greg followed her, bombarding her with all kinds of ridiculous questions: whether Devaltin appreciated her talents, or if he was secretly interested in her. Celestine, annoyed, slammed the door shut, ending the farce.
Lying in bed, Celestine replayed the day’s events in her mind. There had been many incidents, but strangely, the thing she kept remembering was Devaltin’s expression when he had grabbed her collar.
Trying to erase that image from her mind, she finally drifted into a tired sleep.
And morning came.
News that Prince George had been found dead reached the Winsel estate within half a day.
Greg panicked. “What is going on?” he exclaimed, briefly regretting that he hadn’t stopped George earlier.
But Greg’s compassion was shallow, like a puddle after rain. Soon, he changed his expression and shoved Celestine into the carriage.
‘Asha must have heard the news too.’
Looking at the palace that appeared ahead, Celestine let out a short sigh.
‘She must be shocked too. Wait… did she meet Devaltin yesterday?’
She should have. But Celestine, unaware that everything had already gone wrong, rubbed her tired eyes.
“Miss, we’ve arrived.”
Shortly after, the carriage driver spoke. Celestine checked her reflection in the mirror once more, seeing how Melcy had carefully prepared her appearance.
After all, she was the princess’s companion… or friend. Looking shabby wouldn’t be good.
“…Celestine Winsel?”
Lost in thought as she stepped into the palace, a guard frowned and addressed her.
How does he know me? My face hasn’t been exposed to the guards… has it?
Celestine tilted her head in confusion, but guessed that Asha might have told them in advance.
“Oh, I came to see Princess Asha…”
“You’ve come at just the right time.”
“Huh?”
“Celestine Winsel herself has come! This way, please!”
…Huh?
Celestine was stunned by the sudden commotion, but it was already too late.
As soon as the guard shouted her name, knights rushed over, as if waiting for her.
“We sincerely welcome you, young lady.”
Celestine’s gaze fell on the emblem on the knight’s chest.
‘It looks similar to what George was wearing yesterday…’
Could it be…?
“You must have heard that Prince George passed away.”
“Yes… but…?”
“Of course, it was concluded to be an accident due to drunken misstep, but when he left the banquet with Lady Yeriel, he said something…”
Huh?
“A woman with pink hair down to her waist and emerald eyes, hiding her identity, took him to Lethe.”
Ah… my bad feeling never fails…
“Lady Yeriel has requested to speak to you directly, young lady.”
The truth was obvious. Yeriel probably already knew that Hella or Devaltin had killed George.
But she couldn’t say it openly, so she probably intended to interrogate Celestine, get the whole story of that day, and turn the situation around.
Especially if George had spoken about Celestine and revealed that Devaltin wasn’t royal blood to Yeriel… all the worse.
Either way, this wasn’t good news for Celestine.
“No, wait! I didn’t hear anything! I just came to keep the princess company!”
“There’s nothing more to hear. But you do have something to say.”
“What is that?!”
“First, you will be taken to the underground prison. If you have any grievances, speak to Lady Yeriel directly.”
There was no time to resist. Bound, Celestine was dragged away by the knights.
She was about to face an unexpected stint in prison.
