Chapter 121
A look like he was staring at someone who’d lost their mind.
At that gaze, Alice realized her doting feelings for Kylus were plainly written across her face.
Ruyd hurriedly avoided her eyes. The swift movement suggested avoiding a mentally unstable person was the wisest choice.
Alice cleared her throat in embarrassment and said, “Don’t worry. I’m not crazy.”
“…Crazy? I would never dare think something so disrespectful.”
Why the delayed response though?
Alice gave Ruyd an irritated glare as he smiled awkwardly, then stopped walking.
They had reached the room where Lady Viscount Rosetta was staying.
Proving Kylus’s assurance that Lady Viscount was safe, two knights from the Duchy stood guard at the door.
The knights bowed respectfully to her. Alice acknowledged their greeting with a light smile.
Sir Ruyd, standing beside her, knocked gently on the door.
“Lady Viscount, the Duchess is here to see you.”
Footsteps sounded from within, and instead of a verbal response, Lady Viscount opened the door herself.
Alice was slightly surprised, not expecting her to open the door in person.
After telling Sir Ruyd to wait, she entered the room with Lady Viscount.
Click—
The moment the door closed, Lady Viscount dropped to her knees before Alice. Alice’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Your Grace, I know you saved my life. I’m truly, deeply grateful from the bottom of my heart.”
Before Alice could say anything, Lady Viscount bowed her head and pleaded.
“But please… couldn’t you send me back to the Viscount house? I have nothing I can do for you.”
Alice approached Lady Viscount and answered.
“Nothing you can do? Your child is the Second Prince’s child. That’s more than enough.”
“…What?”
Lady Viscount slowly raised her head, looking at Alice with a face drained of color.
Violet eyes filled with fear. Only then did Alice realize her words had come out strangely.
In her haste, she’d blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
The most important thing for future events—Lady Viscount and the Second Prince’s child.
Originally, she’d planned to persuade Lady Viscount to work together to bring down the Second Prince to protect that child.
But Lady Viscount’s sudden action had flustered her, causing her to speak bluntly without context.
And those words, reconsidered, sounded… truly villainous.
Like a villain who knows the vulnerable heroine’s secret, demanding she hand over everything while she still has the chance.
That wasn’t her intention. Alice had unintentionally become the villain.
As she approached Lady Viscount to explain, the woman wrapped her arms protectively around her belly with resolute eyes, as if shielding her baby from Alice.
Alice sighed softly. She’d clearly started off on the wrong foot.
“I think my strange wording caused a misunderstanding. Lady Viscount, I have absolutely no intention of harming you or your child.”
Alice stayed where she was and spoke.
“If I meant you harm, I wouldn’t have saved you in the first place. Nor would I have provided you with this nice room in the Duchy.”
Alice blinked her harmless golden eyes, asking Lady Viscount to believe her sincerity. The woman’s wariness eased slightly.
“But… how did you know I’m carrying the Second Prince’s child? Only my husband, the Second Prince, and I knew…”
“Well, House Dearrut’s intelligence network is better than most information brokers.”
Alice approached Lady Viscount with her smooth lie.
“And regarding the child, not just our Duchy but the Empress and the Prince’s close associates already know. That’s why they tried to quietly dispose of you and your child. Please stand up. This will be a long conversation, so let’s sit down.”
Alice extended her hand. Lady Viscount hesitated before taking it and rising.
Alice smiled faintly, leading her to the sofa. She seated the still confused and frightened Lady Viscount first, then sat opposite her.
Seeing Lady Viscount’s anxiety, it seemed Kylus had somewhat forcibly kept her at the Duchy without much explanation.
But he couldn’t have explained properly. Alice had been unconscious, and Kylus only had suspicions about the situation.
He couldn’t have spoken carelessly without certainty. So this was probably the best he could do in his position.
Alice calmly began.
“First, let me explain why we can’t send you back to the Viscount house. It’s because if you return now, the assassin from yesterday will certainly try to kill you and your child again.”
“…Assassin.”
“Yes. And that assassin was sent by the Second Prince yesterday. To kill you… and your child.”
Though it was actually the Empress rather than the Second Prince, without capturing Hasis and having agreed to overlook the black magic, they needed to pin everything on the Second Prince.
They had to bring down at least the Second Prince through this incident.
Lady Viscount wasn’t greatly surprised by Alice’s words. Rather, she seemed unsurprised, as if she’d expected it.
“So it was him… Actually, when I faced the assassin, the Second Prince was the first person I thought of. As soon as His Highness learned about my pregnancy, he avoided all contact with me. As if refusing to acknowledge the child.”
“That’s right. His Highness will never recognize the child. An illegitimate child from an already married noblewoman would clearly block his path to becoming Crown Prince.”
Alice continued, watching Lady Viscount’s expression.
“He’ll try to eliminate you and the child by any means. Even if he fails to kill you and the child is born, he’ll never acknowledge it. He might even exile the Viscount house from the Empire.”
Lady Viscount’s face turned pale again at Alice’s words.
The Second Prince was exactly the kind of person who would do such things and worse.
She could easily envision the terrible future before her.
But since Alice wasn’t merely trying to frighten Lady Viscount, she quickly continued.
“But there is a way to escape the Second Prince’s attacks.”
“…What?”
“Attack the Second Prince first. If we strip His Highness of his power and gain the Emperor’s recognition that the child in your womb is imperial blood, both you and your child will be safe.”
Lady Viscount’s violet eyes trembled pitifully.
“But how could I possibly…”
“I’ll help you. Lady Viscount, you didn’t… conceive this child because you truly loved… the Second Prince, did you?”
“…”
Lady Viscount nodded silently as a tear fell, emotion welling up in her.
That bastard deserves to die. Alice wanted to shout curses at the Second Prince.
She took a deep breath to control her emotions and spoke calmly.
“So our House Dearrut will become your backing. Together with us, let’s expose every vile and cowardly act the Second Prince committed against you. For the future of you and your child.”
She meant it sincerely. Though she hadn’t told the complete truth, she truly wanted the innocent Lady Viscount and her child to be safe.
Alice quietly offered a handkerchief to Lady Viscount, who had begun shedding tears.
After wiping her tears with the handkerchief, Lady Viscount eventually looked straight at Alice with newly determined eyes.
A gaze different from before. She carefully placed her hand on her belly and said.
“Although this child came from an unwanted relationship… this child is innocent. I want to raise the child to be completely different from the Prince.”
“You’ll be able to do that.”
“Yes. So if it means protecting myself and this child, I’ll do anything, Your Grace.”
“I’ll do my best to help you.”
Alice held Lady Viscount’s trembling hand firmly with a gentle smile.
After the successful persuasion, Alice heard detailed accounts of the Second Prince’s atrocities from Lady Viscount.
Alice planned to use Lady Viscount to accuse the Second Prince of abusing his power to force her into becoming his mistress.
For that, she needed to know exactly how the Second Prince had pressured the Viscount house, to gather evidence.
Lady Viscount calmly revealed everything.
From first meeting the Second Prince at the opera theater, to his one-sided pursuit, and when she wouldn’t comply, how he cut off the Viscount house’s business funding, crushing them with his power.
When Lady Viscount still wouldn’t easily come to him, the Second Prince ultimately threatened the Viscount’s life and took Lady Viscount as payment.
It was nothing short of a crime of power. The Second Prince was irredeemable trash.
Throughout the story, Alice struggled to hold back a stream of curses.
Had the Second Prince been nearby, she might have lost her reason and slapped him, royalty or not.
Somehow, Alice maintained her composure and listened to the end.
Then she received a letter from Lady Viscount—addressed to Viscount Rosetta.
It contained a message saying she was doing well at the Duchy and not to worry.
