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Chapter : 25
Switching the Male Lead This Time
My gaze collided with Aiden’s.
“Lady, mind your manners before the Saintess.”
I smiled sweetly at the face openly brimming with hostility.
“Did I say something wrong?”
Silence stretched on—until,
“…What is this?”
A cold voice cut through the air.
“What’s going on?”
When did he arrive? Hyperion was leaning against the doorway, watching.
“My lord. You’re here.”
Aiden, startled by his appearance, quickly bowed.
“I will explain everything.”
“…”
“Just as Her Holiness was about to treat the lady’s injured foot,
a strange flash occurred.”
“…”
Hyperion’s expression as he listened was eerily calm.
So he can look like that…
The unfamiliar sight put me on edge as well.
“I don’t know how it happened, but the Saintess is not well.”
“No, I’m fine. Truly.”
Phoibe’s trembling voice, Aiden worrying over her, Hyperion staring between them.
I watched the too-far, too-close distance among them.
Aiden…
Especially the man named Aiden Vale.
In the original story his role was minor—just one of Hyperion’s closest aides.
It wasn’t until coming here that I learned his mother and the late empress had been dear friends.
“Her Holiness tried to bestow grace out of kindness…”
Aiden spoke as if lamenting.
“She must have been terribly startled by the sudden incident.”
Taken at face value, it sounded like I was the one at fault.
I could roughly guess what he felt toward Phoibe.
But why did he seem so determined to guard against me?
“I’m truly fine. The lady must have been more surprised…”
“…”
Only then did Hyperion step all the way in.
Of course he goes to the Saintess first.
Watching him walk toward Phoibe stung more than I expected.
Well… they did grow up together. It makes sense he’d fuss over her first.
I was about to turn away, when someone grabbed my foot.
“Hyperion!”
“My lord.”
Thinking it was Bavil, I looked down— but it wasn’t.
“…Rion?”
Golden hair radiant as sunlight entered my vision.
Hyperion had knelt on one knee, scowling at my foot.
Ah—because of the ointment.
The ointment Phoibe had been holding earlier was now in his hand.
“It’s fine. I’ll do it.”
“Stay still.”
The strong herbal stench from the ointment, the horrified stares—everything felt suffocating.
But Hyperion wouldn’t let go of my foot.
“How did you—”
“…”
Even his closest aides froze, stunned by this unfamiliar sight.
Bavil looked oddly troubled, and Phoibe had gone ghost-white.
“It’s gotten worse.”
Hyperion murmured, examining my foot undisturbed.
There was a fairly deep gash on the top—apparently from the flash.
“Aah!”
When his hand brushed the wound, my shoulders jerked involuntarily.
“Ointment won’t do.”
His touch was gentle—but his eyes were colder than ever.
“Which lunatic bastard…”
He tossed the ointment to the floor and stood.
“This is what happens when the Crown Princess is dumped on a mere academy.”
“M-My lord!”
Aiden immediately fell to his knee.
“But Madame Elin is renowned—!”
“Aiden Vale.”
Hyperion kicked aside a shelf blocking his way— vials and labels scattering.
“I told you not to make me say something twice.”
The pungent odor twisted his brow in disgust.
“Or was this deliberate?”
“M-My lord, that’s not—”
“I’ve been generous enough with a mutt who doesn’t even know his master.”
“…!”
“You’ve done more than enough.”
His voice had sunk to something chilling when—
“Rion. It was my fault.”
Phoibe rushed between them.
“Aiden kept telling me not to come to the office— I insisted!”
“…”
But Hyperion only stared down at her, irritated she dared block him.
“You know how loyal Aiden has been to you. I don’t want something so trivial to ruin your bond.”
“Step aside.”
A freezing command.
“Rion…”
Phoibe’s lips trembled violently.
“How—how can you be so cold to me?”
“Saintess. Step back.”
“Phoibe, calm down.”
Her frail voice rose; Aiden and Ayle quickly restrained her.
“How—after everything I’ve done to stay by your side!”
But right now she saw no one but Hyperion.
“…”
Hyperion looked down at her with eyes devoid of even a spark of emotion.
“You need to understand. No— I’ll make you understand.
You can’t live without me.”
She bit her lip until it nearly bled.
“Everything I’ve done all these years—just to stay beside you—!”
“The time—oh, look at that.”
As Phoibe shouted, I rose to my feet.
“I should get going now.”
Not to flee, but to keep her from losing all sanity.
Still, her eyes—full of resentment—swung toward me.
That expression, that stare…
I knew it well.
How dare you wedge yourself between us, it screamed.
—How could you do this to me?
You know how hard I worked! Father!
—Who are you calling father.
—…!
—Leave quietly.
Nothing in this house has ever belonged to you.
Right. None of it was mine to begin with.
Seeing her, I couldn’t help remembering my past self—
so I chose not to mind.
But still…
“Oh—Hyperion.”
I couldn’t leave too unfairly.
“I almost forgot what I came for.”
I walked casually toward him.
“That handkerchief you lent me.”
I slipped it neatly into his shirt pocket.
“…”
His eyes flickered oddly, but I had no choice.
If I didn’t do this quietly, everyone would hear.
“That medicine— the one called Laviel.”
I dipped my head, whispering so only he heard.
“Don’t take it.”
“…What?”
I motioned subtly to the Laviel Phoibe had brought.
“It feels… wrong. I’ll explain later.”
It was strange.
—I asked for sleeping pills! Why bring that thing again?
—You sleep fine after you take it, don’t you?
Sleeping pills are bad for you. Please just take it.
—What kind of stinking medicine is this?
—Oh my, ‘stinking’? This is a secret recipe I learned from the most famous clinic in Seoul. Hurry and swallow.
—…Urgh.
—Only three balls. Too many herbs are poisonous.
Laviel—said to contain holy power—smelled exactly like that.
Like the herbal pills the nosy housekeeper made.
The only person who ever cared for me, because I was my father’s daughter’s age…
even though I wasn’t treated like a human in that home.
She had all sorts of bizarre skills—
always making things out of nothing, and somehow they worked.
“These shoes—I’ll return them soon.”
I needed time to check things properly.
“See you later.”
I turned to leave—
“Veritas.”
Hyperion lightly caught my wrist.
“…!”
He stepped closer—far too close.
“When are you coming back?”
His red eyes searched mine relentlessly.
Did he mean the shoes?
“I’m not sure I can wait anymore.”
Or…
“If you don’t come, I’ll go to you.”
That smile—
absolutely against the rules, again.
