Chapter 95
“Madam, aren’t you going?”
It was strange to see her standing still, which prompted the question.
But she couldn’t make a sound right now!
“Oh! Lord Ostein, shh!”
Alice jumped in surprise and put her finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet.
Seeing this, Ruyd tilted his head in confusion.
“Shh? What does that mean, Madam?”
Oh dear.
It seemed the people here didn’t understand the meaning of “shh.”
“It means, be quiet…”
“My lady?”
As Alice tried to answer Ruyd in a small voice, a low voice sounded from behind.
Kylus.
This is bad, and it’s all Ruyd’s fault.
Alice glared at Ruyd, who looked bewildered, then slowly turned around.
“Your Grace.”
As she turned, there was Kylus, as expected.
He had already moved closer to her.
Seeing Kylus’s face brought back memories of last night.
She knew she shouldn’t have run into him today.
It wasn’t easy to act as if nothing had happened yet.
As even the dream where Kylus appeared started to resurface, Alice slightly lowered her gaze.
At that moment, Kylus opened his red lips.
“Yesterday…”
“Yesterday? What about yesterday?!”
Was he going to bring up what happened last night?
Alice raised her lowered gaze abruptly and questioned him.
Kylus’s smooth eyebrows twitched slightly.
“I was worried about your excessive use of holy power yesterday, so I wanted to ask if you were feeling alright.”
“Ah…”
They say a guilty conscience needs no accuser. Alice’s current state was exactly that.
Alice let out a small groan at the wave of embarrassment and shame washing over her.
Kylus took another step closer to her.
Then, in a voice so low that others couldn’t hear, he said:
“If you want to talk about what happened between us yesterday, I’m available anytime. Do you want to?”
Kylus smiled smoothly as he looked at her.
Want? What would I want?
“No!”
Alice jerked back in surprise, moving her body abruptly.
Kylus let out a light chuckle.
“It seemed like you were avoiding me, so I thought you might be concerned about yesterday’s events.”
“Who? Me? I wasn’t avoiding you, Your Grace.”
“Then why did you stop walking instead of going to the dining room?”
“That’s… how did you…”
What? Had he been watching the whole time?
He certainly didn’t seem to be looking. Does he have eyes in the back of his head or something?
Seeing Alice flustered, Kylus calmly said:
“I saw Aileen rushing to the dining room to prepare breakfast quickly.”
“Ah, Aileen…”
So Kylus had met Aileen.
However, admitting here that she was indeed trying to avoid him as he guessed… well, that was a bit difficult.
Isn’t it?
If she admitted to avoiding Kylus, it would be like admitting that she was also concerned about yesterday’s events.
She couldn’t do that.
Alice cleared her throat, pretending to be nonchalant, and said:
“Ahem, so you saw Aileen. Well, anyway, I wasn’t trying to avoid you, Your Grace. I was just about to go to the dining room when I suddenly remembered somewhere I needed to visit, so I was turning around.”
“Somewhere to visit? Where might that be?”
“Pardon?”
Alice blinked slowly at Kylus’s follow-up question.
Because she hadn’t thought that far ahead.
She had only thought about making up an excuse… but hadn’t considered where she might actually be going.
On the second floor… was there anywhere I might need to visit?
Kylus was staring intently at Alice, waiting for her answer.
Alice tried to change the subject with a smile.
“… Aren’t you busy, Your Grace? I heard you were going to the Imperial Palace…”
“It’s fine. There’s no one who can scold me for being a little late, to begin with.”
Ah, I see.
It was quite obnoxious, but she couldn’t argue and could only laugh.
“Well then, you should hurry to your appointment since you have business to attend to.”
Kylus continued kindly.
But to Alice’s eyes, his kindness just seemed annoying.
He knows full well I have nowhere to go.
Kylus was doing this on purpose.
He’s determined to get an answer, isn’t he?
Looking at Kylus’s perfect face, it seemed that any further attempts to change the subject would be futile.
If that’s the case… I have no choice.
Alice decided to become brazen, like yesterday.
She tapped her chin with her index finger, then slowly opened her lips.
“…You know, I can’t remember.”
“…You can’t remember?”
“Yes. I’m sure there was somewhere I needed to go… but when Your Grace suddenly called out to me, I forgot. Oh, where was I going?”
It’s your fault I forgot.
Alice furrowed her brow slightly as if pondering, conveying such a nuance.
“If you forgot because of me… I’m sorry.”
“Oh no, it’s fine. These things happen. Seeing how quickly I forgot, it probably wasn’t anything too important.”
Alice smiled brightly.
“I see.”
Kylus gazed at her with a strange look in his eyes, then took a step back.
“And my body is perfectly fine. Don’t worry and hurry to the Imperial Palace. Of course, it wouldn’t matter if you’re late, but if you’re late because of me, I’d feel uncomfortable.”
Alice placed her hand that had been tapping her chin on her chest and gave a faint smile.
It was the very picture of a kind noblewoman worrying about her husband.
Kylus looked at her, then lowered his gaze and laughed.
What’s this? Does he find my acting laughable?
But when he quickly raised his head again, there was no trace of mockery on his face.
Kylus adjusted his grip on his silver cane and spoke.
“I can’t make my wife uncomfortable. Since you say you’re fine, I’ll be off to the Imperial Palace now.”
“Yes. Have a safe trip, Your Grace.”
“I will. Enjoy your meal, my lady.”
With a smooth smile, Kylus turned around.
His back as he walked towards the carriage.
His elegant gait oozed sophistication. Alice watched his retreating figure as if entranced.
“So handsome…”
Before she knew it, she had muttered those words, and Ruyd responded.
“Even as a man, I have to admit he’s truly handsome.”
“That’s right… Eek! Oh my, what am I saying? I must be crazy, really.”
Alice’s mind snapped back to reality at the sound of Ruyd’s voice, and she shuddered at herself.
“No, I… I was just responding to what you said, Madam…”
She heard Ruyd’s flustered voice, misunderstanding her reaction, but that wasn’t important right now.
Her pounding heart was more serious.
The emotions she had just managed to calm were now surging up again.
I should have run away earlier after all.
“Madam. Your face has turned red, are you alright?”
Her face must have turned red due to her hammering heart.
“I should be fine, but I’m not feeling fine at all.”
“Pardon? Then should I call for the doctor right away…”
“No, it’s because I’m hungry. I’ll be fine once I eat something.”
Yes, it must be because I’m hungry that I can’t control my emotions well.
I’ll be fine once I eat something.
Carbohydrates and sweet desserts.
That’s exactly what I need right now.
“Ah, you’re hungry…”
“Let’s hurry to the dining room. I need to eat a lot today especially.”
Alice marched towards the dining room with a battle-ready stride, dragging along a perplexed-looking Ruyd.
* * *
[Dearrut Duke, war hero of the Pentium Empire, becomes the mentor of the mysterious Third Prince.]
[Third Prince, supported by Duke Dearrut. Is his long seclusion finally coming to an end?]
[The abilities of the Third Prince, chosen by Duke Dearrut over the Second Prince?]
Kylus and the Third Prince dominated the front pages of the newspapers.
Alice quickly skimmed through the main articles of the newspapers and placed them one by one on the table.
More than ten newspapers piled up on the table this way.
And all of them featured Kylus and the Third Prince on their front pages.
It was already the third day since the Third Prince had stayed at the Duke’s mansion.
On this third day, news finally spread throughout the Empire that the forgotten Third Prince was alive and well, and that Kylus had become his mentor.
In fact, it was three days ago that Kylus had gone to ask the Emperor for permission to become the Third Prince’s mentor.
So in a way, it was rather late for this news to be spreading throughout the Empire only now.
Considering how quickly rumors spread in noble society, it would have been normal for the rumors to spread throughout the social circles the very next day, but that didn’t happen.
Someone had thoroughly silenced the maids and servants of the Imperial Palace.
To ensure that absolutely no rumors leaked out.
That person was undoubtedly the Empress.
Anyway, Sienna had told her that when no rumors had spread even after two days, Kylus had finally taken action himself.
The Dearrut ducal family had directly leaked information to a newspaper.
Along with a brief interview with Kylus.
Thanks to this, all the newspapers in the capital published articles about Kylus and the Third Prince today.
And Kylus, in particular, was being described almost like a god.
Adding to the story of his contributions to the Empire so far, they even mentioned how he had survived deadly poison.
Such an outstanding duke supports the Third Prince.
‘Everyone’s in an uproar about the news that His Grace has become the Third Prince’s mentor,’ Aileen had said when she brought the newspapers.
At the time, Alice had responded indifferently with an “Oh, really?” But… looking at Kylus’s achievements written in the newspapers, she thought it was enough to cause an uproar.
No, what’s this about going to war at 12 and becoming a war hero at 16?
On top of that, monster subjugation and winning sword fighting tournaments.
Even expanding the Empire’s borders.
These stats are too overpowered.
At this rate, it seems like he could have become Emperor if he wanted to.
It’s funny that such an overpowered character was once taken down by Madam Quillian’s poison.
That’s another amusing part.
“Well, anyway, it’s good that all the articles are favorable.”
Perhaps due to Kylus’s abilities, there wasn’t a single article expressing concern or criticism about the Third Prince.
Rather, the reactions were uniformly positive, expressing anticipation for the future of the Third Prince chosen by Duke Dearrut.
After reading all the main articles and about to put down the last newspaper on the table, Alice noticed one striking article.
