Chapter 14

Eileen. I’m getting engaged.

…to that guy.

Reading the letter of just two lines, Ayla swallowed hard with tension. The inevitable had finally come. If she answered yes here, what would her father’s unpredictable reaction be? Would he storm into the imperial palace to tear up this letter and nullify the engagement? Or would he beat up Damian?

Surely he wouldn’t beat her up too, right?

“Ayla.”

“Y-Yes?”

Ayla stuttered without realizing it. Calion’s gaze towards her turned cold. In his mind, he was drawing a sword against Damian. Perhaps he should have gone straight to the imperial palace after all. But he needed to assess the situation.

For instance, if there was any coercion from the royal family.

Judging by his daughter’s flustered reaction, it must be coercion. Calion gritted his teeth.

“Is it Damian?”

“Pardon?”

“I see. So that bastard threatened you. What did he say?”

“Pardon?”

“Did he suddenly start liking you now? Ha. This is absurd. Not only did he reject you, but now he’s trying to use his position as Crown Prince to manipulate you?”

“Pardon?”

Ayla could only give the same response. It took a moment for her to process her father’s thoughts, which were heading to an extreme. At least he wasn’t trying to beat her up. But one thing she had expected was certain. Her father, now a ball of emotions, was ready to beat up Damian at any moment.

Ayla found herself in a dilemma for a moment. Should she tell him to go ahead and beat up the annoying Damian…? But she gave up the thought, considering the ten years of history. She needed to stop her father first.

“Father. Please calm down first.”

“Calm down? How can I calm down when he’s mocking you like this? Ayla, don’t tell me…”

Calion’s face started to fill with shock. The scene of young Ayla crying her eyes out replayed in his mind. No way. It can’t be. It shouldn’t be. His precious daughter couldn’t still be… That bastard, still…!

Calion prayed it wasn’t true. However, the words that came out of his beloved daughter’s mouth were impossible to wrap with love.

Although Ayla hadn’t discussed it with Damian, she blurted out words she felt were necessary to rationalize the excuse she had thought of.

“I’m sorry, Father. This time, Damian confessed first.”

Calion froze, unable to utter a word. He couldn’t believe it. From his old memories, he recalled Duke Daikerd’s reaction when he said he would marry Lilia.

“We love each other.”

At that time, Duke Daikerd had collapsed, clutching the back of his neck, saying he would never give his daughter to him.

But now, Damian wasn’t in front of Calion. He couldn’t draw his sword against his own daughter. Calion stood up abruptly and shouted at his daughter.

“No. Even if I die, absolutely not!”

* * * 

Damian von Lancaster. Born as the noble Crown Prince of the empire, his life hadn’t seen many trials. And he thought it would remain smooth sailing except for one big challenge. But now, the beginning of that one big challenge just passed before his eyes.

Duke Dürman.

Behind the Duke of Dürman, who was striding down the corridor, Damian saw the roaring lion in the Dürman family crest. It looked ready to devour him in one bite if it caught him.

Only after the Duke had completely disappeared did Damian release his invisibility spell. In front of the Chancellor’s office stood Ayla, like a knight gloriously defeated in battle. Ayla let out a deep sigh and buried her face in one hand. Damian cautiously approached Ayla, patting her shoulder as he asked.

“Are you okay, Ayla?”

“…Would you be okay if you were me?”

Damian discreetly rolled his eyes to avoid Ayla’s sharp gaze.

“What did the Duke say?”

“For now…”

Ayla swatted Damian’s hand off her shoulder, then grabbed his collar and looked around before leading him somewhere. To a corner behind the main building where the Chancellor’s office was located. A place where no one was around.

Ayla checked their surroundings again and made Damian lean down to whisper.

“Listen carefully. We like each other.”

“…Huh?”

For a moment, Damian’s eyes wavered. His heart raced quickly. Even though he knew it couldn’t be true, a vain hope surged within him.

“I mean, we’re pretending to like each other. Pretending. I’ve thought about everything, and that’s the only thing that seems to work. It worked on Serina, at least. So we like each other, and that’s why we’re engaged, okay? You confessed first. Got it?”

“…”

Of course, it was like this. It could only be like this. He had already missed his chance once.

“I told Father the same thing. He said it won’t happen even if soil enters his eyes. Should we actually put soil in Father’s eyes?”

“…”

Sometimes her thoughts would fly off in such strange directions. Surely she didn’t mean to actually put soil in his eyes.

“Hey, Damian. You’re listening to me, right? Why aren’t you answering?”

“…Did the Duke say where he was going?”

Damian asked, trying to appear nonchalant. In his mind, he imagined the Duke having a gloomy private audience with the Emperor at the imperial palace.

“He said he’d see me at home for now.”

Damian was puzzled. Judging by the atmosphere he observed in the corridor, it didn’t seem like the Duke would back down so easily. It looked like he was ready to storm into the imperial palace at any moment. But to meet at home? Home probably meant the townhouse in the capital. Since there were no afternoon classes today, did it mean to come to the townhouse right away?

“But…”

Ayla trailed off. A dreadful thought crossed Damian’s mind.

Damian’s prediction was spot on.

“…You come too.”

“…”

“At least it’s fortunate. We’re not going with Father.”

Just imagining the atmosphere in the carriage sent chills down her spine. Ayla shook her head, pushing the thought far away. Now that they had overcome one hurdle, hunger was setting in. The academy cafeteria had good food. Although today’s plans had gone a bit awry.

[“Oh, right. Come to think of it, all those times you went to Caelum, those were dates?”]

She could have gone to Caelum alone, leaving Damian behind. So she was absolutely not going to let even the slightest hint of a ‘date’ happen.

“I’m hungry. Let’s go get lunch.”

Ayla spoke casually, as if she had already shaken off everything. Following behind her, Damian summoned a memory from when he was seven years old. A private audience between the young Crown Prince and the Duke.

Though it was hopeless, he decided to hold onto hope in the midst of despair. After all, he was the Crown Prince; surely the Duke wouldn’t try to kill him. Probably…?

* * * 

Ant was born in the slums.

His father was lost to alcohol and gambling, and left home never to return when Ant was eight years old. There were rumors that he had been sold into slavery while fleeing from loan sharks, or that he had fallen into the river while drunk. Nothing was certain. Such occurrences were common in the slums. But for Ant, it wasn’t common. After all, he was his father.

His mother sold her body at a tavern. Even before he was eight, his mother told him that his birth was a mistake. Then one day, she packed her bags and left, never to return.

From then on, he was alone. There were many boys like him. It was then that he met his only friend.

Though it couldn’t be entirely joyful, those were days when he managed to get by somehow. One day, a loan shark came to the house looking for his father. The woman smoking a cigarette said it wasn’t profitable to leave empty-handed, so she’d take Ant instead of the debt. She told him to work until the debt was paid off. Perhaps it was the woman’s pity towards a child, but if it was fortunate for him, it was fortunate. At least he wasn’t sold into slavery.

The woman really did put him to work. She paid him regularly too. Of course, most of it went towards paying off the debt, but he could sleep comfortably and eat. He no longer had to scavenge the streets.

Ant was happy. However, there was always someone on his mind. It was his friend who had refused when he asked him to come along. He visited his friend whenever he had time, and sometimes gave him gifts with the money he saved. He constantly urged his friend to come with him, saying he’d ask the woman. But his friend refused every time. Still, Ant didn’t give up. Life here was much better than life in the slums.

Then one day, Ant heard from his friend that he had found a good sponsor. He said he might be able to enter the Academy. Ant remembered that his friend was smart enough to go to the Academy. Ant sincerely cheered for his friend.

On the day his friend entered the Academy, Ant brought a large bouquet to congratulate him. For Ant, that day became a huge regret. He should have thoroughly questioned who the sponsor was, and shouldn’t have let him enter the Academy. He should have done whatever it took to bring him to his side.

A body surfaced in the Hudson River. It was Gilrota. Like Ant, Gilrota had no family. There was no one to claim the body, and it was Ant who took care of his remains.

The cause of death he heard from the investigator was an accidental incident that occurred in a state of diminished capacity due to drinking. Ant didn’t believe it. He requested a reinvestigation, but the police force wasn’t generous or idle enough to reinvestigate an already closed case of accidental death of a commoner student. Would it have been different if Gilrota had been a noble?

Others might say why cling to a finished case, but Ant could be certain. Gilrota didn’t drink. Earlier this year, they had planned to drink to celebrate becoming of age, but Gilrota had passed out after just one sip and hadn’t drunk since. He had a constitution that couldn’t handle alcohol.

It didn’t make sense that Gilrota, who didn’t drink, would drink until he was unconscious and fall into the river.

Ant could be certain. It wasn’t an accidental death. Someone must have killed Gilrota.

In his frustration, Ant thought of Gilrota’s sponsor. There must be clues in the letters exchanged with Gilrota.

Ant hurriedly headed home.

* * *