Episode 126

A tense silence enveloped us as I stood there, staring at the Crown Prince who had just made a cryptic remark about the Anaïs family. I couldn’t muster a response, leaving only silence in its wake.

Regaining my composure, I quickly tried to decipher the meaning behind his words.

‘What does he mean by that?’

He spoke as if our family had committed a disgraceful act.

Disgraceful act…?

In that instant, one word flashed through my mind.

There was only one thing that could bring any family to its knees in a moment: treason.

‘Could all those terrible events I saw in my dream have started with the Crown Prince?’

As the dream resurfaced, the emotions I felt then came rushing back, and I unconsciously furrowed my brows and bit my lip.

Then, realizing the Crown Prince was still before me, I quickly masked my expression.

Now was the time for rational judgment over emotion.

Calming myself, I focused on understanding the situation.

The key person, the one holding the most important clue I’d been curious about since my prophetic dream, was standing right in front of me.

Why, for what reason, had the Anaïs family been accused of treason?

It did involve the Blighton family, but I had no idea exactly what caused it.

Yet, for some reason, the Crown Prince seemed ready to reveal the answer to me.

I collected my thoughts and prepared to speak to the Crown Prince.

Breaking the heavy silence, I spoke in a lower tone than usual.

“Your Highness, I don’t understand what you’re saying. Are you accusing our family without any evidence?”

“Surely, that’s not the case.”

Contrary to my serious and grave demeanor, the Crown Prince replied with a nonchalant and light expression.

His demeanor was oddly unsettling, but I steadied myself, determined not to let emotions take over.

Perhaps the Crown Prince wanted me to react emotionally, so he maintained that attitude.

I needed to exclude emotions as much as possible to avoid giving him what he wanted.

“What do you mean by those words, then?”

The Crown Prince stared at me intently as I repeated the same question.

His penetrating gaze was incredibly uncomfortable, but I tried hard not to avert my eyes.

“Hmm.”

The Crown Prince, deep in thought while looking at me, tilted his head.

“Do you really not know?”

“Pardon?”

What was he saying I didn’t know?

I couldn’t grasp the Crown Prince’s words, and frustration began to build inside me.

Then, finally, a name came out of the Crown Prince’s mouth.

“Ian Blighton.”

And hearing that name, I immediately understood what he meant.

“Where is Noah Anaïs, or should I say, Noah, the Prince of Anaïs?”

When the name of my brother Noah came out, I was absolutely certain.

‘He’s talking about that incident.’

The incident where Noah, my brother, treated Ian when his magic had become unstable and caused seizures.

But how did the Crown Prince know about this?

We had kept it a strict secret and acted with utmost caution, ensuring no word could leak out.

Only our family and Lloydin knew about it, so how…?

‘No way…’

Then it hit me—there was one other person who knew.

William, the butler of the Blighton estate.

However, suspecting William was difficult because he had been loyally serving the Blighton family for a very long time.

‘I’ll think about this matter later.’

William’s issue wasn’t something I could decide on my own.

Lloydin knew William better than I did, so I needed to discuss it with him before making any hasty judgments.

And perhaps I was jumping to conclusions without knowing the whole story.

I quickly dismissed my thoughts and spoke with a look of complete incomprehension.

“I don’t know why you’re looking for those two, but my brother Noah is traveling across the continent right now.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. He only contacts us occasionally through letters, so we don’t know exactly where he is at the moment. And Ian is currently at the academy.”

I answered, looking up at the Crown Prince with a questioning expression as to why he was asking about them.

Seeing my expression, the Crown Prince let out a laugh that sounded almost like a scoff.

“Are you planning to keep pretending you don’t know?”

“Pardon?”

“Do you think I started this conversation without knowing anything?”

At the Crown Prince’s words, I realized that continuing to feign ignorance was no longer useful.

‘He really knows.’

I didn’t know how he found out, but his eyes made it clear.

He knew exactly what had happened back then.

I sighed inwardly, trying hard not to let my emotions show on my face.

I closed my eyes briefly, then opened them again, hardening my expression as I asked the Crown Prince.

“How did you find out?”

“Do you think I would tell you if you asked?”

Of course, I didn’t expect the Crown Prince to easily reveal his source.

Who would divulge their informants so readily?

“Ian Blighton had a seizure, and Noah Anaïs secretly stopped it… is that correct?”

The Crown Prince spoke as if confirming what he knew.

I stared at him without responding, then asked sharply.

“Is stopping Ian’s seizure such a great crime? From what I know, it didn’t harm the empire in any way. In fact, it passed quietly without causing any commotion, which should be a good thing, right?”

“Indeed, the seizure stopping wasn’t a major problem. As you said, it might have been a good thing. However, the issue is that someone helped in secret and kept it from the empire.”

“Are you saying it’s a problem because the Anaïs family helped the Blighton family?”

“It would have caused a big issue no matter who it was. Did you act without knowing that?”

Of course not.

We knew very well what problems could arise if this matter was discovered later.

But like most people, we believed that as long as it was hidden, it would remain a secret forever.

‘What should I do?’

How could I resolve this?

I tried to pull myself together, but my mind was so chaotic that I couldn’t think properly.

“Do you have proof?”

I blurted out before I could stop myself.

The Crown Prince smirked, his lips curling up.

“Isn’t the proof still alive and breathing?”

Then, as if offering excessive kindness, he elaborated.

“If the priests examine Ian Blighton, it will come out immediately. If nothing happened, there wouldn’t be divine power in his body. But do you really think that’s the case…?”

His confident tone and sneering expression sent chills down my spine.

“Moreover, the union of the Anaïs and Blighton families… You must know what His Majesty the Emperor and the temple would do if they found out about this.”

Even though I was listening to the Crown Prince, his words weren’t registering properly in my mind.

It was important, and I needed to remember everything, but I was too confused and overwhelmed to focus.

But the Crown Prince continued to press on, mercilessly.

“As I said earlier, the relationship between Princess Daina and Jade Anaïs will not go as planned.”

Princess Daina and my brother Jade…

They had just started smiling happily at each other.

Now they had to part ways without even having the chance to be together…

This was all my fault.

The danger to both families, the situation between the princess and my brother, it was all because of me.

All the actions I took to survive had come back as an enormous threat.

‘If only I hadn’t been so greedy…’

If I had just lived the life given to me and accepted my fate, I wouldn’t have ruined everything.

I was wallowing in guilt and despair, my head hanging low when I heard a voice.

“Madam.”

It was the voice of the one person I wanted to see most, yet felt too guilty to look at.

“Madam.”

Lloydin called me again, urging me as I sluggishly turned my head with a heavy heart.

I heard his footsteps approaching, and soon, his feet were right in front of me.

“My lady, here you are.”

I lifted my head at the unusually low and somber voice to see Lloydin looking down at me with a cold smile.