Chapter 174
Suddenly, Kylus’s hand holding the fork paused, and then he set it down and looked at Alice.
Seeing his face harden, Alice quickly continued.
“Ah, please don’t misunderstand—I’m not going to directly eliminate it myself.”
Kylus’s expression looked ominous, as if he might once again make an extreme statement about confining her to the duchy.
‘That absolutely cannot happen. To break the Dark Specter’s seal, I need to go to the Empress’s Palace first.’
Fortunately, Kylus believed her words without suspicion.
“I… won’t misunderstand.”
Though his response was slow, it left no room for doubt, so Alice calmly explained the situation.
“As I mentioned before, I can’t solve this with my own power, so Lord Helios told me to step back.”
“…Yes.”
“At that time, Lord Helios said he would look for a solution himself. He found that solution faster than expected.”
“Could you possibly tell me what that solution is…”
Before Kylus could finish, Alice answered.
“I’m sorry. It’s in the divine realm, so I can’t speak freely about it.”
She felt sorry toward Kylus, but it couldn’t be helped.
The fact that the Chief Deity would descend to earth by finding a body to house his spirit was something humans shouldn’t casually know.
‘I can’t arbitrarily tell Kylus what wasn’t even told to Prion.’
Still, Alice intended to share as much as possible with Kylus about this matter.
After all, she had promised not to hide anything from him anymore.
Alice continued speaking to Kylus.
“But this time, I think it will really succeed. Lord Helios has completed all preparations, and I’ve done a little to help things progress more quickly.”
As Alice winked, Kylus slowly asked.
“…You helped?”
“Well, I can’t explain in detail, but I’ll play a very small role in eliminating that evil thing. So I’ll probably visit the Empress’s Palace soon.”
“…”
Alice swallowed dryly and shared the most important part.
“They’ll need a little bit of my blood—truly just a little. But it’s such a small amount, and Lord Helios will rescue me before I’m in any danger, so you don’t need to worry at all.”
Alice raised the corners of her mouth as if to show that it was truly fine. But suddenly, Kylus lowered his gaze from her.
And then, with a somewhat darkened face, he remained silent for a moment.
‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned that my blood would be needed.’
Alice lowered her smile and bit her lip slightly as Kylus’s mood rapidly sank.
‘But I don’t want to lie.’
As Kylus’s silence grew quite long with indecipherable thoughts, Alice slowly opened her mouth.
“…Kylus, I’ll really be fine. And when this is all over, let’s travel to the South together.”
Kylus, who had been silent all this time, raised his gaze.
His eyes trembled.
“Travel…”
“Yes. Count Latrang invited us to visit the South.”
Alice continued with an expectant smile.
“And I’ve heard the South is the most beautiful land in the Empire. There’s supposedly the Empire’s largest flower park or something…”
As Alice’s words trailed off, unable to remember, Kylus provided the answer.
“…Yes. There’s a tulip park. The largest and most extensive park in the Empire.”
“Ah! That’s right! The tulip park. I want to go there. With you, Kylus. Since we’ve been through so much, once everything is settled, let’s rest there for a while before coming back.”
Alice was sincere.
It wasn’t just words to appease Kylus—she genuinely wanted to travel with him once everything was over.
And at the tulip park, she had something to tell him…
As Alice’s eyes sparkled with an expectant face, Kylus looked at her quietly before giving a faint smile.
“…It’s a beautiful park. Especially with many pink tulips that resemble Lien.”
“Then we must definitely go.”
“I too would very much like for Lien to go.”
Huh?
Alice tilted her head, puzzled by his strange phrasing.
‘Is he saying he’ll go with me… or that he won’t go?’
Just as Alice was about to ask for clarification on his uncertain words, there was a knock at the office door.
“Duke, your aide has arrived.”
“Wait a moment.”
After responding toward the door, Kylus turned to Alice.
As soon as their eyes met, Alice spoke first.
“You seem busy, so I’ll be going now.”
Because Kylus would never ask her to leave first.
If she didn’t get up first, he would surely keep Tessiri waiting outside for a long time, until she decided to leave.
By now, she knew all too well that when Kylus was with Alice, he thought only of her.
Whether they would go on the trip or not… wasn’t the most pressing issue right now, so she needed to make way for Kylus to work.
Besides, she had already seen Kylus enjoy the galbi-jjim and had discussed the matter of eliminating the Dark Specter, so her business was complete.
Of course, the desire to stay together longer was strong, but it couldn’t be helped.
They would have plenty of time together in the future.
Alice put aside her regrets and stood up.
Kylus also rose and accompanied her to the door as if seeing her off, despite the short distance.
“Then I’ll be going now. Ah, no matter how busy you are, make sure to eat properly. And if you ever feel unwell, tell me right away. There’s no healer more capable than me. Understood?”
As she pretended to be stern, tensing her eyes, Kylus chuckled lightly.
“Understood.”
Just as Alice, having heard his response, grabbed the doorknob to leave the office—
Suddenly, Kylus called to her.
“Alice.”
Hearing his voice, which seemed to urgently hold her back, Alice turned to him with puzzled eyes.
“Yes?”
For a moment, his black eyes, meeting hers, trembled, and his red lips parted slightly.
As if he had something to say.
As Alice’s expression began to tense at the strange tenderness in his eyes, Kylus blinked.
And then, as if nothing had happened, he returned to his usual self.
“Kylus…?”
“Ah, I wanted to thank you for the meal you made today. I enjoyed it so much… I think I’ll never forget it.”
“What? I was startled, thinking something might be wrong.”
Alice’s face, which had been slightly tense, relaxed.
“And if you enjoyed it that much, I’ll make it for you anytime for the rest of our lives. So don’t talk as if today is the last time.”
Alice smiled as if finding Kylus’s formality adorable and lightly tapped his arm.
And then,
“I’m really going now.”
She bid farewell to Kylus, who was smiling faintly, and truly opened the office door and left.
The moment Alice left the office and the door closed, the smile vanished from Kylus’s face.
With dark eyes, he walked to the sofa where she had been sitting.
He gazed quietly at the food she had prepared, then carefully covered the tray with the dome lid.
“Soon, she says…”
Just as he murmured softly, Tessiri’s voice sounded from outside the door.
“Your Excellency, may I come in?”
“Enter.”
Kylus returned to his desk.
Tessiri, who opened the door and entered, had an unusually haggard face, unlike his normal appearance.
And the person responsible for making Tessiri so haggard was none other than Kylus.
After meeting with the Chief Deity,
Kylus had told Tessiri, while sorting out various matters:
That he would soon die.
He had to tell Tessiri. He needed to prepare for his death as quickly as possible, and for that, he needed the help of his closest aide.
And naturally, when Tessiri first heard those words, he couldn’t accept them and even showed insubordination.
Saying he would inform the Lady of everything immediately.
Because he knew that the only person who could stop Kylus was Alice.
But with Kylus’s calmly continuing explanation, Tessiri eventually had no choice but to accept his lord’s predetermined death.
How could he object when thousands or tens of thousands of lives, including Alice’s, would die if Kylus didn’t sacrifice himself?
But why did his lord have to be the one to make that cruel sacrifice? Tessiri cursed the deity for the first time in his life.
But at the same time, Tessiri, as a capable aide, quickly realized:
What he could do for Kylus.
He had to help with Kylus’s final arrangements and protect the Dearrut Duchy after his death.
Although he still felt unbearable pain and sorrow every time he saw Kylus, Tessiri was doing his best.
Kylus, also aware of Tessiri’s efforts, pretended not to notice his haggard face.
‘Don’t be too distressed, don’t be sad.’
He knew such consolations would only make Tessiri feel worse.
Kylus asked in the same impassive voice as always.
“Has a response come from Rukta?”
Baron Rukta’s family. They were sixth cousins among the Dearrut Duchy’s collateral lines, managing estates in the east.
And the eldest son of Baron Rukta was the person Kylus had marked as the next heir to the Dearrut Duchy.
In truth, if not for him, the most suitable person to inherit the Dearrut Duchy would have been Sienna, but she could no longer inherit the dukedom.
Since she was connected to the Third Prince who would become Crown Prince, she would ascend to an even higher position.
Thus, the person he had chosen after much deliberation was the eldest son of Baron Rukta.
Honestly, he wasn’t entirely satisfactory, but there was no choice.
The Dearrut Duchy needed to maintain its strong position even after his death to solidly support Sienna, who would become Empress.
An Empress with weak family titles and power would find it difficult to grasp authority even after ascending to the position.
Therefore, Kylus was doing his utmost now to ensure that the duchy would maintain its prestige and power after his death, just as it did currently.
After all, Alice, who would live in the Empire, would only be comfortable if Sienna became a powerful Empress.
That’s why he had sought the eldest son of Baron Rukta as the next heir to the dukedom.
Though physically weak, he was intelligent and lacked excessive ambition for power.
With Tessiri’s help, this person could adequately maintain the Dearrut Duchy.
At that moment, Tessiri, who had exhaled heavily, answered.
“Yes. A reply has arrived. He says he will come to the capital within a fortnight. For now… I didn’t mention anything about succession.”
“Well done. Spreading rumors that I’m looking for an heir would do no good, so keep it secret until the last moment.”
“…Yes.”
Kylus looked away from Tessiri, who answered softly, and reached for the rolled parchment at the end of the desk.
The parchment that Alice had tried to look at, but that he had moved away to prevent her from seeing.
As he untied the string and unrolled it, three characters at the top of the parchment were clearly visible.
