Chapter 89
When I mentioned his mother, I noticed a slight sadness in the child’s expression.
The one waiting for their mother to wake up more than anyone else was the child right in front of me, and I felt I had been too hasty.
“It’s okay. She’ll wake up soon.”
I lifted the child, who was standing by the head of the bed, and placed him on my lap.
Seeing the child’s face, which looked like they were about to burst into tears, I felt a pang of sympathy, and my hand moved instinctively.
“Madam, I heard you were looking for me.”
Roman entered the bedroom while I was playing with the child on the bed.
“Roman.”
“I came right away after hearing you woke up. I’m so relieved to see you’re doing well.”
Even though I was in a difficult state of movement, Roman sighed in relief upon seeing me up and playing with the child.
“Thank you for your concern. By the way, I called you because I have something to ask.”
“Yes! What would you like to know?”
Taking him up on his offer to ask anything, I decided to get straight to the point.
“I heard that the child has been with the maids since three days ago. The current guardian should be Joy; do you know where he is now?”
As I brought up Joy, a frown appeared on Roman’s face.
When I looked at him as if to ask why, he hesitated for a moment before slowly speaking.
“The advisor is currently unable to leave the tower, so we brought the child to stay at the castle.”
“Why can’t he leave the tower?”
“The advisor is under suspicion of being involved in the assassination attempt against you, so we are keeping him under surveillance.”
After hearing Roman’s words, I was momentarily speechless, my mouth agape.
So, you’re saying that Joy is suspected of being in league with the assassins and is trapped in the tower?
“Could it be that Evan ordered this?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
I knew it would be something like that.
What on earth had happened during the three days I was asleep?
I wanted to go find Evan right now and argue that Joy was absolutely not an accomplice.
However, I couldn’t deny that Evan’s decision made sense from his perspective, making the situation quite complicated.
“Then is it possible to meet Joy now?”
“I’m sorry, but it seems we need the duke’s permission for that.”
Roman, who kept apologizing, looked like he was struggling to ask for anything more.
It seemed like meeting Evan to resolve Joy’s situation would be the quickest solution.
“Okay. I understand. I’ll talk to Evan about this.”
“Yes. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”
“No, it’s okay. Thank you for letting me know.”
After finishing our conversation, Roman hesitated for a moment before turning back and approaching me again.
He looked like he had something more to say.
“Um, madam, there’s one thing I need to inform you about.”
Seeing Roman’s unusually serious expression made me tense up as I awaited his next words.
“This is something the duke instructed me not to tell you, but I believe it’s essential for you to know.”
“What is it?”
I couldn’t hide my surprise at the thought of him breaking orders to tell me something.
“So far, there have been quite a few assassins who have come to the duke’s estate.”
“Yes. I learned about that from Evan last time.”
“I see. Then the story will progress more quickly. Until now, the target of the assassins has been the duke. However, recently that has changed.”
At Roman’s next words, I momentarily held my breath.
“It seems the assassins are targeting you, madam.”
“……”
“I still can’t determine the reason why they are targeting you, but it’s dangerous to be alone like this, so you must have a guard with you at all times.”
I nodded in response to Roman’s genuine concern for my safety.
He was probably worried about what might happen if I sneaked out alone again later.
“Thank you for letting me know. I won’t let Evan know that I’m aware.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Now that he seemed to have said everything he needed to, Roman left the room immediately.
After he left, I mulled over what he had told me.
Assassins were targeting me.
In fact, this was something I had somewhat anticipated.
Considering the conversations the assassins had during their visit, it was clear who their target was.
What was most important was who was behind sending the assassins.
“Is it you again, Delos?”
I let out a sigh mixed with fatigue and quietly muttered.
It seemed that since they hadn’t heard news of someone they thought was dead, they sent an assassin to confirm my status.
If they wanted to check on my safety, they had no choice but to come directly.
“I hadn’t planned to head to the capital so soon… but it can’t be helped.”
To understand the enemy’s intentions, entering their territory was a priority.
Even apart from that, I needed to go to the capital due to the commission Bjorn had left me, so there was nothing to regret.
It was then, lost in my troubled thoughts.
Suddenly.
With a loud noise, the door swung open roughly, and Evan quickly entered.
“Evan.”
I had been thinking of sending a message through a maid, so I was glad he came in person.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m very well. I guess sleeping soundly for three days helped.”
At my bright response, Evan let out a faint sigh of relief.
“I’m glad to hear that. If you need anything, please call for a maid.”
As he finished speaking, his gaze landed on my face.
He seemed to have something he wanted to say, but when he didn’t speak, I decided to bring up my concerns first.
“I have something to say.”
“What is it?”
“I heard that Joy is being monitored and can’t come out of the tower. You know well that Joy isn’t an accomplice, right?”
Evan’s brow furrowed at my request to release Joy from surveillance.
“We still need to investigate further.”
“But…”
“From the beginning, he was an unidentified person. I believe it’s better to clarify his identity more definitively at this opportunity.”
It seemed that the fact he was an unknown magician with neither a name nor a face continued to bother him.
Given his firm stance, I couldn’t press him further to let me see Joy.
“So when will Joy be able to come out of the tower?”
“He will be able to come out once the charges of being an accomplice are cleared.”
I wanted to plead that it could never be true.
However, I felt that saying such things about Joy wouldn’t make any difference to Evan right now.
‘I didn’t mean to say I wanted to go for a walk.’
I couldn’t help but feel a gloomy expression come over me, wondering how many people I had exhausted because of my situation.
As I was lost in thought, Evan, who had been looking down at me, suddenly spoke with words I didn’t understand.
“I mentioned this before, but there are many eyes within the castle.”
“Excuse me?”
“It means there’s no need to show them the weaknesses they want to see.”
As I slowly contemplated Evan’s words, I finally realized what he was trying to convey.
There could be those in league with the assassins inside the castle, so there was no need to reveal any suspicious behavior to them.
After all, I had gone out secretly with Joy, and if I just brushed it off without any responsibility, there would definitely be those who would find it suspicious.
“So you’re saying you will investigate…”
“I will investigate who is behind the assassins.”
Hearing that it wasn’t about investigating Joy, I let out a sigh of relief internally.
“So don’t unnecessarily blame yourself again; just focus on recovering your injured body.”
After finishing his words, Evan slowly got up.
He seemed to have a busy schedule, as he swiftly exited the room.
