Chapter 55
The desperation in Alice’s eyes as she expressed her wish to leave the Empire entirely left Kylus no choice but to keep quiet.
Otherwise, it felt like Alice might vanish without a trace.
How frustrating.
Things were never easy with Alice.
Unlike his usual self, he hesitated and became cautious with every action.
If he could simply discard his inability to act freely, that would be that, but he couldn’t do that either.
Kylus’s senses were heightened by his concern for Alice.
Even the shirt touching his neck felt stifling.
Irritably loosening his shirt buttons and cravat, he turned to the butler.
“Adolf.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“When Baroness Hestils came, was there anything said besides the Empress’s invitation?”
“…No. She only said that Her Majesty wished to meet the Duchess.”
“…I see. Tell Aileen to pay special attention to the Duchess’s condition today, as she’s unwell.”
“I’ll make sure to instruct her, Your Grace.”
“Tessiri, you need to find out more about the Empress. Who she meets frequently, if there are any secret meetings. Look into it.”
“Pardon?”
Though he showed surprise at first, Tessiri quickly bowed his head at Kylus’s sharp gaze.
“…I’ll look into it, Your Grace.”
“Quillian and Edellm will return to the duchy tomorrow evening. When they return, I’ll conduct the interrogation myself. Davit, you prepare for it.”
“…Yes, sir.”
Even as Kylus issued orders, his mind remained full of thoughts about Alice.
But there was nothing he could do right now.
He gazed intently at where Alice’s room was with complex eyes before finally turning towards his office.
* * *
In the deep of night, with the moon shining hazily.
Alice, who had fallen asleep early unable to overcome the fatigue washing over her, suddenly opened her eyes.
“Ah…”
Alice let out a small exclamation as she looked at the familiar ceiling.
It seemed she had an unpleasant dream.
Judging by her back drenched in cold sweat, she must have had a nightmare, but strangely, she couldn’t remember any of its contents.
Instead of closing her eyes again, Alice slowly sat up.
She felt she wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway with her mind so cluttered.
Looking around the room, she saw a magic lamp that Aileen must have left on.
Alice turned her head towards the window.
There were no sounds of busy footsteps at all. Only occasional hoots of owls could be heard.
It must be dawn.
The heavy silence made it easy to guess the time without even looking at the clock.
She got out of bed and opened the window slightly to cool her sweat-soaked body.
Though the cold wind made her body hair stand on end, it completely cleared away the remaining drowsiness.
Taking a deep breath, she sat at the table with paper and a quill.
Then she summarized the current situation in writing that no one else in this world could read.
Kylus had awakened, and Quillian was on the verge of being expelled from the duchy by Kylus, not Baroness Meltain.
And… the ultimate villain, the Empress, had reached out to her, and she had refused.
Therefore, the Empress was very likely to try to kill her.
“Oh… Even writing it out again, it really seems hopeless.”
Alice put down her pen and leaned back in her chair.
She tilted her head back to look at the ceiling and let out a deep sigh.
She couldn’t just wait for her death like this.
“What should I do?”
A way for her to survive safely in this situation.
Until now, High Priest Prion had been her savior, but not anymore.
She couldn’t go to the temple now.
The Empress had people in the temple.
There was no guarantee that High Priest Prion could protect her there.
It would be fortunate if they didn’t end up in an adversarial relationship.
A place without the Empress’s people…
“…The Dearrut duchy.”
Alice murmured quietly.
There were no people of the Empress in the Dearrut duchy.
The only connection to the Empress had been Quillian, but she was about to be cleanly expelled, so this place was as good as a clean zone when it came to the Empress.
No, rather, with Baroness Meltain here, they would likely oppose the Empress from now on.
And Kylus, who had said he would protect her, was here too.
In the end… is this the answer?
She had been thinking about it since leaving the Empress’s palace.
That she could no longer avoid the original story.
So the best choice would be Kylus after all.
Kylus Dearrut, whom she had saved.
Either die together as in the original story, or live together.
Husband and wife as one body, as if bound by such a fate.
Though she had struggled to escape the Dearrut duchy, in the end she was returning to Kylus of her own accord.
And on the very day she had resolved to become a priestess, no less.
Come to think of it, the first time she tried to become a priestess, Kylus had woken up and stopped her too.
At this point, it makes her wonder if being a priestess just wasn’t her destiny.
Anyway, having decided to join hands with Kylus, now Kylus absolutely must not die.
Alice straightened her tilted head and put on a determined face.
She would diligently treat Kylus and help him by his side to take down the Empress like Quillian!
“That’s right, being depressed won’t change the situation anyway!”
Alice’s face, which had been painting a bright and hopeful future, darkened again in less than a minute.
“…But how do I reveal to Kylus that the Empress is actually a lunatic of the century?”
She faced the biggest problem.
The fact that Kylus didn’t know the Empress’s true nature.
What was the incident where the Empress was definitively revealed as the villain again?
Kylus died, Baroness Meltain came to the capital, then met the prince…
The Empress’s true face was fully revealed in the latter part of the story.
When the Third Prince and Sienna returned successful from subjugating magical beasts, the anxious Empress rashly tried to kill the Third Prince.
The Empress’s image as the final villain was revealed in that incident.
It was because of the traces the Empress left behind that Hasis dropped.
But waiting until then… would take too much time.
Moreover, with the original events being twisted, that incident could be distorted too.
For now… it seems the broad framework hasn’t changed, though.
Come to think of it, despite Alice changing due to her possession, Quillian still instigated her poisoning, and although the timing was advanced, Baroness Meltain did come to the capital.
Though Kylus had survived, the early villains Quillian and Edellm were currently on the verge of execution anyway.
So… while the details of the original story change due to the variables she introduces, the major events don’t change much?
“If that’s the case…”
Tap tap.
The sound of the quill tapping the paper echoed in the bedroom as Alice’s contemplation deepened.
Among the Empress’s evil deeds that were revealed later, the earliest one was…
“Ah, Lady Rosetta’s death incident.”
Alice’s golden eyes sparkled at the suddenly remembered incident.
Lady Rosetta, found dead at the hunting competition hosted by the imperial family.
It was reported as an unfortunate accident where the Viscountess mistakenly entered the hunting grounds and was hit by an arrow, but later, during the Empress’s trial, Viscount Rosetta revealed everything.
Lady Rosetta had been pregnant from the Second Prince’s rape, and when she tried to expose this, the Empress quietly lured her to the hunting grounds and killed her.
More precisely, it wasn’t the Empress but Hasis who acted on her orders, but anyway, that incident was the earliest for now.
In the original story, it was just briefly mentioned in a newspaper Quillian read, as the protagonists didn’t attend the hunting competition, but now they could attend the hunting competition.
If Kylus attended the hunting competition and encountered the crime scene…
He could expose not only Hasis but also the atrocities of the Empress and the Second Prince.
That would be a huge blow to the Empress.
If done well, it might even end there?
“Isn’t this a great idea?”
Just as Alice was satisfied, patting her own head, suddenly the magic lamp in the room went out.
“…Huh?”
Darkness descended in the room. With her eyes not yet adjusted to the sudden darkness, she couldn’t see anything.
At that moment.
Creeeeak-
The sound of the closed door opening echoed.
And very eerily at that.
A chilling sensation ran down her spine.
Alice instinctively sensed a dangerous killing intent.
Someone had entered.
Her eyes, now accustomed to the darkness, saw black feet.
Alice held her breath and only moved her eyes. Slowly raising her gaze, she confirmed the intruder. A man wrapped entirely in black except for his eyes.
The knife he held glinted sharply in the darkness.
An assassin.
An assassin had just entered her bedroom!
To kill her.
Empress, you crazy woman!
Alice immediately guessed whose doing this was.
No one but the Empress would send an assassin after her!
But to act so quickly, on this very day.
She really hadn’t imagined this.
No, the Empress was even crazier than she had imagined.
How could she send an assassin so immediately!
Alice watched the assassin’s back, holding even her breath.
Yes. Fortunately or unfortunately, the assassin thought she was in bed and was approaching there.
He clearly hadn’t noticed her sitting at the table, hidden by the darkness.
I need to escape.
Alice clenched her trembling hands tightly, afraid of being discovered.
I have to run away to survive.
She had just made plans for her future life, she couldn’t die so pathetically like this.
The moment the assassin stabs the bed, that’s when I’ll bolt.
Alice repeatedly chanted in her mind, brainwashing herself.
So that her body would move instantly, as if springing out.
As the assassin, moving further away from her step by step, finally reached the bed.
Now!
Alice abruptly stood up from her seat.
“Damn it!”
Alice ran solely towards the door.
She heard cursing from behind. Something sharp grazed past her hair dangerously close, but she kept running without stopping.
“Kyaah!!”
“Where do you think you’re going!”
But the damned deity wasn’t on her side this time either, as a new assassin appeared at the doorway.
