Chapter 88
At that time, Priscilla had been muttering continuously for a while, half-lying on the bed like a madwoman.
“My goodness, to think there was a child between them.”
“Given that he brought in a successor despite having a child openly, I suppose he didn’t know himself?”
“This will be the scandal of scandals. Don’t you think so, Sebastian? Oh my, how could Lloyd do such a thing?”
Sebastian didn’t answer.
More precisely, he couldn’t. Priscilla never truly thought she had raised her child poorly in the first place.
Rather, for the first time, she probably thought her son was being useful.
She was already excited, measuring what benefits Lloyd and Minerva’s marriage would bring her.
It felt like a waste of time to recover her physical strength as her body aged.
“What was the name again?”
“It’s Lady Aslan, ma’am.”
Priscilla repeated Aslan’s name.
Aslan, lion. A good name.
Priscilla became curious about Aslan, whom she had never met.
As the daughter of Minerva and Lloyd, her bloodline was perfect.
Moreover, since Minerva raised her personally, she was sure to be to her liking.
“With both Her Highness and Lloyd away, she must be lonely. I should go see her.”
Priscilla rose from the bed.
She gathered and tidied every strand of hair and carefully applied dark red lipstick.
It was her usual perfect appearance.
However, the moment she stepped out the door, someone was there to block her way.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t go, Lady Priscilla.”
“Luisa.”
It was Minerva’s assistant, Luisa.
Some of the princess’s aides who had left with her five years ago were also there.
Priscilla’s wrinkles deepened.
“It seems Her Highness doesn’t want me approaching her daughter.”
“It’s a time to be cautious. I hope you’re not offended.”
Luisa spoke calmly, not yielding even to Priscilla, who was feared by the nobility.
As she was the princess’s assistant, Priscilla couldn’t just force her way through…
Just as Priscilla clicked her tongue, that’s when it happened.
“Miss Luisa!”
A small child jumped out of the knights’ arms and came running frantically.
“Lady Ayla, why are you here?!”
Why was Ayla, who should be in the eastern castle, here? A look of bewilderment crossed Luisa’s face.
Aslan was nowhere to be seen, and Ayla’s expression didn’t look good.
Priscilla frowned even more at the sight of the child running without any manners.
‘Is that child Ayla?’
She had some expectations based on what Deborah had reported, but it was more disappointing than she thought.
However, Priscilla quickly understood why Ayla was behaving this way when she heard what the child shouted.
“Please help, Aslan has been kidnapped!”
“…!”
The expressions of Luisa and her group twisted in various ways.
What on earth were those damn Eckhart knights doing!
And Priscilla was also enraged.
“You’re saying the princess’s daughter was kidnapped in my castle.”
“…!”
Ayla’s shoulders trembled at the sight of Priscilla, who looked like a bird of prey with its talons out.
This person was Lloyd’s mother and her step-grandmother, Priscilla Eckhart.
Even without any explanation, she could guess how terrifying this person was.
Her mere presence was enough to crush people, and her face looked like it had not a shred of mercy.
Priscilla habitually took out her tobacco pipe and ordered Sebastian.
“We can’t let rats rummage through my castle. Issue a lockdown order.”
“I already issued one on my way here. All of Eckhart’s knights are moving.”
But the answer came from Ayla, not Sebastian.
Priscilla turned her surprised gaze to Ayla.
As Priscilla’s cold eyes focused on her, Ayla felt so scared she thought her body might freeze.
However, there was no time to be intimidated by this person.
Ayla steeled herself with all her might.
And looking straight into Priscilla’s eyes, she demanded:
“We need your help, Lady Priscilla. The kidnapper is probably hiding somewhere, waiting for a chance to escape. Please help us search for places where he might be hiding.”
“…”
Priscilla looked down at Ayla with an unexpected gaze.
She had heard the child was clever but timid and overly considerate, but Deborah had seriously misjudged her.
She liked what she saw.
Priscilla softened her rigid expression and spoke kindly to Ayla.
“Let’s save the greetings for later, Ayla. Tell me the details of the situation.”
* * *
Archibald’s escape was going smoothly.
Thanks to the heavy rain falling all over the Eckhart duchy, footprints were quickly erased, making tracking difficult.
“Phew. Oh, this is tough. The ducal castle really is huge.”
Archibald was currently hiding temporarily in a secret passage of the ducal castle.
For someone more accustomed to using his head than his body, running through the rain while carrying an unconscious child was not easy.
‘Let’s rest for a bit. The kid is heavier than I thought.’
Archibald put Aslan down on the floor and sat down himself unceremoniously.
The lockdown order was no problem at all.
If he hid here, people would think he had already escaped and would inevitably open the gates to search outside.
He could just blend in naturally then.
Archibald lowered his gaze and scrutinized the still unconscious Aslan’s face.
“She looks just like Minerva.”
It was like seeing Minerva’s childhood again.
At this level, it was as if she had been cast from the same mold or undergone mitosis.
“Who on earth did she have an accident with to give birth to this child?”
To think that Minerva of all people would have an accidental pregnancy out of wedlock.
Was this why she fell for Mars’s schemes?
‘No, having a child would actually strengthen her position.’
Then is this a child whose father can’t be revealed?
If so, it would explain her sudden confinement and five years of lying low.
In any case, the important thing is that this information will be a great help to Gabriel.
After confirming that some time had passed, Archibald got up.
He put Aslan into a large prepared bag, and Archibald walked through the passage.
He could see the door leading outside.
‘Now, if I can just get out of here…’
Archibald put his hand on the doorknob.
Creak, the hinge seemed stiff from lack of use.
Peeking through the slightly opened gap, he confirmed that no one was passing by, as expected for a passage in such a secluded area.
‘Good.’
Just as Archibald stepped out completely with a victorious smile, it happened.
Whack.
“Agh!”
A long stick mercilessly struck Archibald’s head.
“You scurried away well, like the rat you are.”
“L-Lady Priscilla?!”
Priscilla, who had been hiding behind the door, was holding her long tobacco pipe like a rod.
Archibald fell backwards as he realized the identity of the person and object that had struck his head.
Priscilla was a symbol of fear for the nobility.
But she was also an old woman.
He should be able to outrun her and escape easily.
Yet Archibald, like other nobles, was paralyzed with fear and couldn’t run away.
“How dare you.”
A voice like scraping metal flowed from her dark red lips.
Before Priscilla became the Grand Duchess, the Eckhart family was a family in name only.
From the prince who gave up the succession to the throne hundreds of years ago, up to Priscilla’s previous generation.
They all lived quietly in this overly large territory.
But from a young age, Priscilla couldn’t understand why she shouldn’t upset the imperial family, and she brazenly led the Eckhart duchy to prosperity.
Her attachment to the duchy was extraordinary.
It was at the level of obsession.
“How you know about the secret passages of the ducal castle is secondary…”
Priscilla’s gaze pierced through Archibald’s luggage.
The cloth covering it had shifted, revealing a strand of Aslan’s hair peeking out.
Priscilla gritted her teeth.
“Archibald Bright. Not only do you dare to sneak into my castle, but you lay hands on my granddaughter?”
“Granddaughter? Could it be…”
Archibald’s face turned pale.
For Minerva’s daughter to be Priscilla’s granddaughter would mean…
Before Archibald could grasp the situation, Priscilla stretched out her hand.
“Arrest him.”
At that, knights who had been hiding sprang out all at once and rushed towards Archibald.
