Chapter 10

Damian, rubbing the back of his head, walked over, gave Ayla a glare, and then picked up Herdin in his arms. As if sensing he was in his brother’s arms even while asleep, Herdin wriggled his hands and gripped Damian’s sleeve tightly.

Damian put Herdin down on the bed, carefully detaching the small hand that was still holding on. Herdin whimpered a little but soon fell back into deep sleep.

Ayla, who had already stood up, rubbed her legs and then walked out of the room, muffling her footsteps. Damian followed behind her.

As soon as they were outside and the door closed with a click, Damian’s intense gaze flew back to Ayla.

“That was mean.”

“It happened.”

“What if I get a bump?”

“Can’t be helped, I guess.”

“So you’re going to be like this, huh?”

“What are you saying? You should have been more alert, Damian.”

“…”

Damian couldn’t find words to refute. Whether it was because it had been a long time since he’d played with his brother, it seemed more tiring than he expected. In fact, he was also preoccupied with other thoughts.

Death was inherently a sad affair. Gilrota’s death was no exception. But he was the Crown Prince, and he couldn’t just be consumed by mourning. Finding Gilrota’s killer was important. It wasn’t a simple death. Perhaps they could root out the entire shadow of this empire.

And this engagement he had orchestrated was important in that process. No matter how he thought about it, there was no better pretext to protect her in this empire than being the Crown Prince’s fiancée. The name of ‘friend’ had its limits.

He didn’t know how long the engagement would last. He intended to do his best to turn her heart towards him during this period. But the biggest problem still remained. The fact that the Emperor knew meant that her father, Duke Dürman, would soon know as well.

Duke Dürman. Who was he? Duke Dürman, who possessed absolute power said to be able to make even birds fall from the sky, was also called the ‘Iron Duke’. It meant he was a man without blood or tears. The Duke, who seemed like he would be cold even to his family, was actually a family fool. Despite hearing it was a political marriage, his eyes dripped honey when looking at his wife, and he had as many as three children. He had heard belatedly about how the Duke had held banquets for his children’s first birthdays, and it was said that even the Crown Prince’s birthday celebration wasn’t as grand.

In any case, that was the kind of Duke he was. It had been an enormous decision for the Duke, who seemed like he would keep his children close forever, to send Ayla to the Academy. And the memory of seven-year-old Damian’s private audience with that Duke was still vividly etched in his mind.

Having seen countless people as a member of the royal family, there was no one as noble and cold as Duke Dürman. That’s why it was a problem. He couldn’t predict how the Duke would react. Surely he wouldn’t try to kill him? With Duke Dürman, it was entirely possible.

If that was the case, there was only one thing Damian could do. Hide in Ayla’s arms.

“Ayla.”

“What?”

“I’m protecting you, so you’ll protect me too, right?”

“Huh?”

Ayla asked back a bit stupidly, wondering what he meant. But soon, looking at his teary eyes, she realized what he was trying to say. They had exactly the same thought. They were thinking about Duke Dürman.

Ayla tried to put her hands on Damian’s shoulders to encourage him, but Damian had grown much taller. Unlike before, she would have to stand on her tiptoes, so she gave up.

“Damian.”

“…Yeah.”

“You’re still the Crown Prince, so surely he won’t try to kill you. And well, you’re not the Emperor yet, so it’s not treason.”

“…”

“That’s how it is.”

“…Aren’t you going back to the Academy? Want to create a scandal right now?”

At Damian’s words, Ayla’s open lips closed. Such a threat. But she was too weak to protect him from her father. Her father had said he wouldn’t leave her a penny if she didn’t graduate on time. She had no way to win against that.

“…I’ve already written a letter, you know?”

“To whom? The Duke?”

“No. Eileen.”

“…”

“It’s a bit awkward to write to Father. Eileen will probably explain things well…”

Ayla trailed off, avoiding Damian’s gaze.

“If… if worse comes to worst, escape using magic.”

“…”

Damian swallowed hard and buried his face in one hand.

* * * 

With a pop, Ayla arrived in her dormitory room. At times like these, magic was truly convenient.

Turning on the light in the dark room, Ayla sat at her desk and gazed out the window. In the deep night that had settled over the Academy, only the distant sound of insects could be heard in the stillness.

After briefly closing her eyes to appreciate the insect sounds, Ayla took out the folded letter from her pocket and opened it. The letter paper with the imperial crest seemed incredibly ornate now that she looked at it. She wondered if it would be okay to send it as is. From the start, the quality of the paper was different, and it had the emblem embossed on it.

But anyway, it was a letter to Eileen.

“…I don’t know. It’ll work out somehow.”

Maybe the whole family would come up from their territory. It was an engagement to none other than the Crown Prince. Above all, he was the protagonist of the embarrassing history that the whole family knew about. After all the complaining she had done to Eileen. What would Eileen think? Plus, she would surely ask probing questions. Asking what kind of engagement this was. Why she had gotten engaged.

She could never reveal anything about Soledina. She didn’t know how deep the magician, or whoever killed Gilrota, had infiltrated this empire. They might even form an organization. And they were bold enough to enter and leave ruins managed by the magic tower without leaving a trace, and to display a corpse in such a showy manner.

If so.

To whom did they want to show Gilrota’s death, and why? What do they desire, and why did they have to kill Gilrota?

The magician harvested Soledina from the tomb, and an apothecary makes the drug. How far has this drug spread, and why was it made? Why did it have to be Soledina?

Ayla folded the letter and put it in the small mailbox on her desk. It was a mailbox that Eileen had insistently given her to use for sending letters when she entered the Academy. She thought she wouldn’t use it much, but it did come in handy occasionally. For complaining about Damian, that is.

Opening her notebook, Ayla quickly turned her attention away from the letter and continued her thoughts, writing them down one by one.

Soledina → Harvesting banned 3 years ago. Can only be harvested once a year from the king’s tomb

Only tiny amounts used in strong painkillers for moderate severity, highly addictive

Illegal drug compounding and distribution, illegal trade → Money? Securing funds?

Gilrota → Customer? Apothecary?

Ayla marked an X over the word “apothecary” she had written. Gilrota was a literature student. Of course, if he had learned to compound drugs by getting involved with them, it could be possible, but customer seemed more plausible than apothecary. Besides, killing an apothecary wouldn’t be an easy choice. A customer, maybe.

Customer, apothecary. What else could there be besides these two?

Suddenly, something flashed through her mind. There were things left that could link these two. For the drug to spread, it needed to be distributed, and distributed drugs needed a seller. Then, perhaps Gilrota was…

“…A distributor, or a seller.”

He could also have been a customer at the same time.

If he had played the role of a distributor or seller, and if he had tried to make some kind of deal with them because of that. If that’s why they killed him?

But there was still an unsolved question here. The reason for choosing Soledina. Thinking about it now, there was also something odd about the reason for displaying Gilrota’s corpse. Damian said it was to set an example, that it was a warning. Is there a reason to give such a warning even to someone on the same side? Is it to say they’ll kill anyone who betrays them at any time?

If so, it means that those on the same side aren’t completely on the same side. There’s a separate leading force.

Now she understood what Damian meant. And guessing, this leading force probably includes the magician. As well as the person who killed Gilrota. Maybe the person who killed Gilrota and the magician are the same person.

What kind of deal was Gilrota trying to make with them? Was it simply a deal related to money?

She needed to reschedule with Damian the date they planned to go to the back alleys to investigate the drug. And it seemed necessary to learn more details about Soledina. She had no information other than what she heard from Michael.

Ayla put down the pencil she had been nodding with over her notebook. Now one of the most important challenges she faced remained. She needed to plan this fake engagement.

Surely they wouldn’t believe it was just a momentary escape plan. It wasn’t an engagement arranged by the Emperor and the Duke in agreement, nor was it an engagement arranged by just him and her. The Emperor might have laughed it off, but her father was by no means an easy person to deal with. She needed an explanation that would be acceptable.

What kind of excuse should she make? That despite all her complaining, she had developed feelings for him?

Or that Damian had confessed and she had accepted?

“Would they believe this…?”

She was doubtful. For now, she’d have to talk to Damian tomorrow. Ayla got up from her seat and headed to the bathroom to wash up. And while washing, she thought. Now that things were somewhat organized, tomorrow she really needed to study.

* * * 

Eileen unfolded the letter with a listless face, as she did every day. The letters from her only older sister, Ayla, were usually full of complaints about ‘that guy’ and her sister’s lamentations. It was always like this, to the point of being tiresome now. Moreover, she couldn’t even keep her sister’s letters. If one were to speak of irreverence, these letters were scorchingly irreverent.

‘That guy’ in her sister’s letters was none other than this country’s Crown Prince, Damian Lancaster.

In the end, every letter was burned in a candle flame or fireplace, and she thought today would be no different. But this letter was something she could never have imagined. It was beyond imagination.

She had hoped for new content, but this was shocking rather than just novel. Eileen immediately passed the letter to her father, and the household was thrown into such an uproar it nearly turned upside down.

Eileen. I’ve gotten engaged.

…To that guy.

* * *