TPRA 08

Chapter 8
He Misjudged the Person (7)

Soon after Leoni’s words, a response came from inside telling them to enter. She opened the door and let Ireine and Cedric in.

“May the glory of Pleta be everlasting… Ireine Ediope Chainte of House Chainte greets Your Majesty.”

Ireine greeted in a quieter voice than usual.
She kept her head deeply lowered, pretending she could not meet his eyes, not forgetting to act fearful.

“Sit.”

Kilian gave Ireine a brief once-over, then took his seat first and offered her a place. She sat hesitantly opposite him.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you like this, I think.”

It sounded like a casual remark, but it carried weight.
In just a few years, his presence as emperor had grown far more oppressive.

“I-I’m sorry. I’ve been in poor health and my recovery took a long time.”

“That’s not what I asked you to apologize for, but I’ll accept it anyway.”

‘He’s as obnoxious as you’d expect from an emperor.’
As Kilian smiled lazily, Ireine inwardly gritted her teeth, finding him irritating.

“I heard you had a chronic illness… something from a severe fever you had when you were young?”

“Yes. I’ve had aftereffects and complications from that fever.”

Ireine realized these were questions asked after already completing an investigation, just to confirm details.
Kilian studied her closely after hearing her answer.
She looked nothing like what one would expect from a war hero.
Her eyes were bloodshot, and even her gaze lacked the clarity she had at the engagement ceremony.

“So the rumor that you recovered was false.”

“It was my first time leaving the estate since the engagement ceremony recently… I thought I had recovered somewhat, but it seems I still have a long way to go.”

After her clumsy answer, silence fell.

Ireine stole a glance at Kilian. He was deep in thought, not even looking at her.
She began to feel irritated.

‘So I guess he’s lost interest because I look weaker than he expected.’

She couldn’t blame him. At the engagement ceremony she had looked slightly unwell due to alcohol, but her appearance had still been perfect thanks to her formal attire.
Now, however, her face and the deliberately loose clothing made her look thin and frail, hiding what was actually a lean but trained body.

Thinking she might be able to leave safely, Ireine inwardly rejoiced and took a sip of tea from the cup in front of her.

“Ho.”

Then Kilian let out a languid exclamation.

Startled, Ireine looked at him. He was smiling faintly, his red eyes gleaming.

“Everyone leave except for the Marquis of Chainte.”

In an instant, Ireine sensed something was wrong.

There was little information about Ireine.

She had suffered a severe fever as a child and had been unable to leave her territory due to worsening health ever since.
Occasionally she would appear in the estate’s commercial district, but always looking extremely frail.
Even when asking the locals, all they said was that she “looked unwell.”

The woman in front of Kilian now matched those rumors perfectly.
She looked like she might collapse at any moment, barely holding herself up while leaning on a guard twice or three times her size.
Up close, there was little resemblance between her and Esy Ahil except for her eyes.

Kilian fell into thought.
The feeling he had when he first met Ireine was still vivid.
Even now, although her eyes were not as clear as that day, they were not entirely different either.

He looked at her again.

At that moment, he noticed her hand reaching for the teacup.

“Ho.”

Was he careless?

A relaxed smile like that of a predator who had found its prey appeared on Kilian’s face.
Ireine flinched slightly and set the teacup down.

“Everyone leave except for the Marquis of Chainte.”

At the sudden command, Ireine’s gaze wavered slightly.
Experience told her that kind of smile appeared only when someone had found another’s weakness.

The imperial guards left first except for Leoni, but Cedric, sensing something was wrong, stayed close behind Ireine.

“You intend to disobey an imperial command?”

Kilian’s heavy voice pressed down on them like it was choking the air.

“My lady.”

Unable to act either way, Cedric called out worriedly to Ireine.
Before leaving for the imperial palace, Rachel had told him that Ireine had been weak since childhood and fainted often.
So he had tried to stay by her side no matter what, but the situation had become complicated.

Sensing the atmosphere turning dangerous, Ireine gave a slight nod to signal that it was fine for him to leave.

In the end, Cedric also left the reception room with Leoni.

“…Why are you doing this?”

Ireine asked calmly.
Her demeanor was completely different from when she had first entered, and Kilian let out a mocking laugh.

“I thought we might have a lot to talk about—just the two of us.”

“I don’t have much to say to Your Majesty. What could someone like me, who has been confined to her territory, possibly talk about?”

“Your hand. For someone who has been ill for so long, there are too many scars and calluses.”

Kilian pointed at her hand.
When she had first entered, he hadn’t paid attention to her hands while examining her face.
But when she reached for the teacup, the scars and calluses had become obvious.

“My mother wanted me to train in swordsmanship once I became healthy. So I began training after I recovered a bit.”

“Your mother… you mean the late Emperor’s personal guard commander, Marquess Vanessa Chainte.”

The “late emperor” Kilian referred to was not Gridial, but his own mother, Tess.
He did not recognize Gridial as emperor, so for him, the late emperor was Tess.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“I see calluses in the same place on your left hand as well. Do you use a sword with your left hand too?”

“In House Chainte, we are trained to use both hands equally when learning swordsmanship.”

That was partly true.
House Chainte used longswords, but trained so there was no difference between left and right hand usage.
It was a method developed long ago in case one arm became unusable.

“There was a war hero a few years ago who caused a stir in the Empire. Do you know of him?”

To anyone else, Kilian’s question might have seemed random.
But to Ireine, who understood his intent, it was a difficult question.

“I’ve heard of him in passing. But why suddenly bring up that war hero…?”

“That war hero used dual daggers, one in each hand.”

The technique Kilian referred to was something Ireine had learned from the leader of an assassin guild.
When she operated as Esy, she also used a longsword, but she preferred daggers more often.
It was simply because she had grown more accustomed to the dagger techniques taught by Blen, the boss of “The Secret.”

“…I see?”

Ireine feigned ignorance, acting as if she didn’t understand why he was bringing it up.

“And he had blue eyes, just like you.”

Kilian spoke as if he were certain.
But to Ireine, it seemed more like a guess than certainty.
If he had solid proof, he wouldn’t be probing so ambiguously.

“You can’t possibly think I’m that war hero, can you? Haha… surely not. Aside from my eyes, I’m completely different in every way.”

‘If there’s no proof, then I won’t be caught.’
Both she and Kilian knew it was difficult to confirm anything based only on her eyes and the traces on her hands.

So this was a war of words.
An invisible battle of spear and shield.
When Kilian attacked with questions, Ireine had to defend with plausible excuses.

“There are indeed many differences from that war hero. Hair color, speech, even the scars on the face.”

Kilian lightly stroked the sword at his side, then drew it from its sheath.
The diamond embedded in the hilt gleamed red, as if soaked in the blood of those it had claimed.

“However…”

The blade slowly tilted toward Ireine and stopped right in front of her eyes.

“That gaze. That gaze is irritating.”

Even with the blade poised to pierce her eyes, Ireine did not flinch.

“So you don’t avoid a sword. Yet you looked like you might collapse when you came in.”

“People of our house do not avoid swords. No matter the situation, no matter the opponent.”

“Do not avoid swords, huh…”

Repeating her words, Kilian sheathed his blade again.
The killing intent faded somewhat, replaced by an unreadable smile.

“According to reports, your father once served as advisor to the late Emperor.”

“Yes… that is correct…”

Marquis Chainte and his wife had met while serving under Emperor Tess as personal guard commander and advisor, respectively.
After their marriage, Ireine’s father, Arthur, stepped down from his advisory role and moved into administration, but he had been highly regarded.
Ireine knew the advisor position to the current emperor was vacant.

So when her father was mentioned, she had a bad feeling.

“I will appoint you as my advisor.”

As expected, the words she had feared slipped directly from Kilian’s mouth.