Chapter 54
“Your Majesty, we’ll be taking our leave now.”
Alice thought she’d have to ponder what to do next once they returned, but…
“Duchess, may I assume you enjoyed our chat today as much as I did? I’d like to see you often in the future.”
The Empress smiled deeply, as if she had no intention of letting Alice go.
That smile seemed to coil around Alice like a snake.
If she got tangled up in this, she’d never be able to escape.
Even if there was no way to avoid it… the answer was already clear.
“I’m sorry… but I don’t think I’m talented enough to enjoy conversations with Your Majesty.”
Refusal.
Death was scary. But she couldn’t grab onto a rotten rope.
Living as a pawn on the Empress’s chessboard wouldn’t be living at all.
“…How disappointing. I thought I might make a good friend after so long. Perhaps we’ll have another chance to meet.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Empress wore a benevolent smile, but Alice clearly saw it.
The sharp glint that flashed in those violet eyes.
She was marked.
There was no doubt that the Empress had firmly set her sights on Alice.
Alice unconsciously gripped Kylus’s hand tightly as she walked out of the garden, a chill running down her spine.
* * *
“Alice.”
After walking for some time with her eyes fixed ahead, Alice stopped at the sound of her name.
“Oh, Your Grace.”
“It’s a bit painful.”
“What? Oh, I’m sorry.”
Kylus raised their joined hands.
Only then did Alice realize she was still gripping his hand tightly.
She had been holding on so hard that his hand had turned pale.
Alice hastily let go.
She sheepishly hid her sweaty hand, but Kylus casually flexed his own hand as if it were nothing.
In fact, it wasn’t just Kylus’s hand that Alice had forgotten about.
Since leaving the garden, Alice had been so lost in deep thought that she had completely forgotten she was walking with Kylus, or even that they were going somewhere. She had simply been putting one foot in front of the other.
If Kylus hadn’t been guiding her way beside her, she probably would have gotten lost in the Empress’s palace.
That’s how distracted she had been.
Not only had she faced the person she wanted to avoid most, but she had also been firmly marked by her.
The more she worried about whether she could escape the Empress’s grasp, the less clear the answer became, deepening Alice’s contemplation.
Fortunately, Kylus seemed to have led her out well, as they were now standing outside the Empress’s palace.
Alice met Kylus’s eyes.
Looking into Kylus’s calm eyes, her chaotic mind strangely quieted. Alice turned her head to the side.
She saw the ducal carriage parked not far away.
Not only the carriage, but Tessiri and the butler she had seen yesterday were there as well.
“The butler… told you. That I was here…”
As soon as she saw the butler, she understood.
The reason Kylus had been able to appear with such perfect timing.
“Yes. The butler urgently came to find me, saying the Empress had taken you. So I was able to come to the Empress’s palace right away.”
“…Thank you.”
Alice turned to Kylus as she spoke.
If Kylus hadn’t shown up, she probably wouldn’t have been able to leave the Empress’s palace unscathed like this.
Of course, it was a problem that she likely wouldn’t be safe going forward.
But for now, at least, she was alive.
Alice was genuinely grateful to Kylus for coming to her aid, even beating the Empress’s knights to do so.
“What did the Empress say?”
“Pardon?”
“Your face is as pale as death. I don’t believe nothing happened in there.”
Kylus’s eyes were sharp.
Of course, something had happened.
Something big, at that.
But how could she explain this?
The Empress told me to become Pope, and to support the Second Prince.
It was a short sentence, but the meaning it carried was dangerous enough to warrant losing one’s head.
And Alice had no proof that the Empress had really said such things.
Moreover, the Empress’s public image was that of a kind and frugal, perfect Empress…
If the Empress denied it, Alice wasn’t sure Kylus would believe her words.
Kylus, too, would likely know the Empress by her public image.
He probably couldn’t even imagine that words like “Pope” or “Second Prince” had been exchanged.
“Your Grace.”
“Yes, Alice.”
“You said you’d give me what I want, didn’t you?”
“…I did.”
“Then, could you send me very, very far away from the Empire?”
“…”
Instead of answering, Kylus furrowed his brow.
Then he soon opened his lips.
“Is there any particular reason you need to leave the Empire so far away?”
“…”
Because I think Her Majesty the Empress might come to kill me.
Alice swallowed the words that had risen to the tip of her tongue.
“Alice?”
Kylus called her name as she remained silent.
With a slightly worried expression.
But Alice needed time to sort out her thoughts. And perhaps due to the relief of having left the Empress’s palace, fatigue was suddenly overwhelming her.
She won’t come to kill me today, so let’s rest a bit.
“Your Grace, I’m too tired… Could we talk tomorrow?”
Kylus’s black eyes sank slightly, but seeing how serious her pale complexion was, he didn’t press further.
“…Very well. Then let’s return home now.”
Kylus extended his hand to her.
As if telling her to take it.
“Home…”
Although she had wanted so badly to leave the Dearrut duchy, after meeting the Empress, she now wanted to return there as quickly as possible.
Her desire to escape this place must be that great.
Alice, finding Kylus’s hand unusually reassuring today, took it again without hesitation.
* * *
“I’ll go up first.”
Alice said to Kylus upon arriving at the ducal residence.
Kylus nodded as he released her hand.
“Get some rest.”
Alice gave a faint smile before heading up the stairs with Aileen.
Kylus couldn’t take his eyes off Alice’s retreating figure.
Her face was so pale it looked like she might collapse at any moment, and her voice was weak.
Even her steps up the stairs seemed terribly exhausted.
Though he hadn’t known Alice for many years, he thought he knew her fairly well.
But he had never seen her look so deflated.
Even when Quillian was tormenting her, she had cursed alone and picked herself up.
To reduce that Alice to this state…
Kylus furrowed his brow as he recalled the events at the palace.
As soon as he had finished meeting with the Emperor, he had encountered the waiting butler.
‘Her Majesty the Empress has taken the Young Madam.’
‘I’m worried the Young Madam might make a mistake with Her Majesty the Empress…’
That’s what the butler had said. Kylus had headed to the Empress’s palace before the butler even finished speaking.
He was worried about Alice, though for slightly different reasons than the butler.
The Empress and Lord Hasis, who had shown strange interest in Alice.
And Alice, who had been frightened upon seeing Lord Hasis.
Alice hadn’t simply been intimidated by the pressure emanating from an imperial knight.
She had truly been afraid of him.
Though he didn’t know why.
And then, the Empress, who had shown the same interest as Lord Hasis, had summoned Alice while he was away.
That fact had made Kylus’s heart beat anxiously.
Enough to make him act without thinking.
He hadn’t intended to assault the Empress’s knights from the start.
He was certainly not a ruffian who disregarded etiquette.
But when the palace staff thoroughly blocked his entry, he lost his reason.
He couldn’t understand why they were so adamant about blocking him.
What kind of conversation could they be having that required blocking his entry?
So he had no choice but to use force.
Though Tessiri was aghast, calling him crazy, Kylus didn’t regret his thuggish behavior.
Even now, she was so pale.
If he hadn’t rushed in, could Alice have left the Empress’s palace unscathed?
Others would say it’s nonsense, asking why the Empress would threaten the Duchess.
Even the butler who had urgently sought him out was worried about Alice’s mistakes, not the Empress’s threats.
That’s how exceptional the Empress’s reputation was.
But Kylus had learned because of Alice.
That the Empress was different from her reputation.
And that it was indeed the Empress who had sent Lord Hasis.
Because Alice had looked at the Empress with the same fearful face she had shown when seeing Lord Hasis.
Of course, he hadn’t drawn all his conclusions based solely on Alice’s ashen expression.
The Emperor he met today showed no interest in Alice, though he had wanted to detain Quillian.
And he couldn’t properly refute the allegations about the National Academy bribery scandal.
Quite the opposite of the composed Lord Hasis from yesterday.
If the Emperor had planned all this himself, he would have at least been able to answer his questions without hesitation.
The Emperor seemed to have simply given orders based on fragmentary reports from Lord Hasis.
Then, when he presented clear evidence that Quillian had tried to poison him, the Emperor reluctantly backed down.
Saying he would send Quillian back to the ducal residence tomorrow.
As he had suspected, the Emperor was not the real mastermind behind this incident.
The foolish Emperor wasn’t capable of commanding someone like Lord Hasis.
So he could naturally deduce who the real mastermind was.
But how did Alice know that the Empress was no ordinary person?
The Fordley family was a noble house living in the countryside, far from the capital.
Moreover, Alice had never made her social debut.
She should have had no connection to the imperial family, so how did she know enough to be so terrified of the Empress, who was rumored to be benevolent?
Also, what had the Empress said to Alice?
Unanswered questions swirled chaotically in Kylus’s mind.
He wanted to grab Alice and resolve all his doubts, but he couldn’t possibly badger her when she looked like she might collapse at any moment.
Moreover…
‘Could you send me very, very far away from the Empire?’
Those words had been sincere.
