“Once the Princess’s injuries heal somewhat, I’ll have her taken to the Duke’s residence in the Grand Duke’s carriage. By the way…”
Declan turned his head to glance at the carriage.
“It must be something important. Important enough for you to personally return to the Capital.”
There was no response. Nevertheless, Declan’s lips curved into a gentle smile as he looked at the Duke.
“Have you met with Her Highness the Princess?”
At those words, the Duke finally showed a reaction. With fierce eyes, he asked in a low, growling voice.
“Ah, now I see. You’re the one who stirred up the Princess, aren’t you?”
“‘Stirred up’? I think it was a reasonable suspicion.”
The Duke’s white beard trembled with anger at this brazen response.
“You must know it’s a groundless speculation. You and the Princess both know that I’m not the one you should hold a grudge against.”
Perhaps aware that this was not a righteous situation, his voice maintained a steady volume. Nevertheless, his irregular breathing, rough with uncontrolled excitement, could be heard.
“It was none other than His Majesty the Emperor who reported your father’s corruption to the previous Emperor. Moreover, it was ultimately the previous Emperor who made Melophe that way.”
“Does that make you innocent?”
Declan countered with a sneer.
“Still, I’m curious. Until now, you’ve stayed by His Majesty’s side using the Princess as an excuse. What will be next, I wonder?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t you have other schemes prepared?”
The Duke’s face froze as if doused with cold water. From this reaction, Declan finally reached a definitive conclusion.
In the distance, the Duke’s carriage could be seen approaching. Perhaps the driver’s heart had also become urgent at his master’s prodding, as the carriage wheels rolled quickly, making a loud noise.
“Someone who survived even at the previous Emperor’s side surely wouldn’t want to show all their cards to such a young Emperor.”
His voice was clear despite the surrounding noise, calm like a lake at dawn. The Duke, who had been standing frozen like stone, suddenly burst into laughter.
“I see the rumors about the Princess being quite skilled at seducing men are true after all.”
The violet-gray eyes that had been focused on the dusty haze rising beneath the carriage wheels turned back to the Duke.
“Even if that’s true for me, you don’t have many days left to live. Not only have you turned the Imperial family into enemies because you lost your head over one woman, but now you’re even pointing your blade at me?”
Though he wore a vile smile on the surface, the Duke was actually consumed by belated regret.
The Duke swallowed his seething emotions and looked at the young man before him. The face staring back at him coldly resembled that of an old friend whom he had ignored and stood by watching in his younger days, as if that friend had come back to life.
I should have killed this one back then. I sent him to the battlefield thinking he would die on his own eventually. I shouldn’t have been so leisurely about it.
When Declan had returned alive, the Duke had thought he was clever. He had even been pleased when Declan acted as if he didn’t know the meaning of humiliation in front of the man who had killed his parents. He thought Declan was different from his father, who had hastened his own death through excessive righteousness.
Now I see I was completely wrong about him.
“I thought you knew how to conduct yourself properly. I believed you were better than your father in at least that regard. But now when I look at you, someone else comes to mind.”
The Duke leaned closer to Declan as if about to whisper some great secret.
“The late Emperor, I mean.”
He said with force in his voice.
“Betraying a friend over one woman. And then ultimately destroying that woman’s life too.”
The Duke’s eyes gleamed vilely, as if mentioning the previous Emperor was some kind of trump card.
However, when there was still no response from his opponent, the Duke’s gaze narrowed. Despite being compared to the man who killed his parents, this insufferable fellow showed no expression.
“Are you any different? To my eyes, it seems His Majesty’s persecution of this Princess is greatly influenced by your refusal to dance to His Majesty’s tune.”
“Mind your words, Godfather.”
Declan cut off his words in a disinterested voice. His attitude suggested it wasn’t even worth listening to anymore.
“There’s no point in hearing such things from someone who stood by and watched his friends die.”
“I wonder how long you’ll be able to keep running that mouth of yours.”
The Duke’s face twisted with rage.
The carriage had already reached the Grand Duke’s mansion’s main gate. Declan gestured toward it with his chin and said:
“I hope you find what you lost.”
Though he could roughly guess what the Duke was so desperately searching for, and whose hands it was in now.
It was something the Duke, who looked down on his niece, could never have imagined.
“You’ll need to hurry if you want to recover it before it falls into someone else’s hands.”
Declan ended the uncomfortable farewell with those mocking words.
****
Sienna confessed everything to Dahlia.
That the published will had been forged, and they were looking for the notary who would have it, and that currently Duke Lowell was considered the prime suspect.
After hearing everything, Dahlia didn’t seem particularly surprised.
She simply said calmly, ‘I thought something seemed odd,’ with an unperturbed expression.
She didn’t seem particularly shocked that Joseph had deliberately altered the will’s contents, nor that the Duke had committed such an act.
As Dahlia said, it was something that had been somewhat predictable.
Sienna too had felt suspicious points since her previous life. After barely returning from Lopwell, she hadn’t had the courage to dig deeper, and without definitive evidence, she couldn’t act rashly.
Moreover, after marriage, she had been so absorbed in matters with her husband that she hadn’t had the leisure to investigate the will.
She had been afraid that if she became greedy, she might shatter the happiness she had barely obtained.
Lost in thought, Sienna spotted Declan in the distance, leading out his horse.
‘Come to think of it, it was around this time.’
This autumn was when they were living in their honeymoon dream, before he left for the campaign.
It was a time when they wanted for nothing. Though it was brief, she didn’t have many happy memories she could reminisce about anyway. It was inevitable that those times naturally came to mind when thinking of her happiest memories.
As she watched him while resting her chin on the table, Declan stopped in front of her.
The terrace connected to the backyard by stairs was quite high. Because of this, even while sitting, she had to look slightly down to meet his eyes as he stood in the backyard.
Feeling this unfamiliar sensation, Sienna asked without much thought:
“Where are you going?”
“To the outskirts, briefly.”
Sienna nodded. Yet her gaze, which had shifted to the black horse, showed no sign of moving for quite some time.
“Would you like to come along?”
When Declan asked, Sienna looked back at him. As soon as their eyes met, Declan avoided her gaze. He muttered as if to himself:
“Though it’s not anywhere particularly special.”
“I’d like that.”
Sienna readily accepted. She had nothing else to do in the mansion anyway.
However, Declan’s expression was somewhat peculiar after hearing her answer.
“Why does your face look like that?”
“…I didn’t expect you to agree to go right away.”
Declan hesitated after blurting out his reflexive response. As Sienna’s face reddened, he hurriedly opened his mouth as if to explain.
“I mean…”
“We made a promise before anyway. To go together.”
Sienna said curtly and ordered a servant to bring her horse. Another uncomfortable silence followed.
Sienna stood up and came down the stairs.
She was wearing a casual dress suitable for daily wear. It wasn’t appropriate attire for horseback riding, which necessarily required straddling the horse.
“Shouldn’t you change your clothes?”
“It’s fine.”
A cynical response came to his careful question. When the servant brought the horse, Sienna mounted the saddle with uninhibited movement.
Though her skirts rose to reveal her ankles, it wasn’t enough to seriously compromise her dignity. Declan’s gaze went to her slender ankles, and a sigh escaped without him realizing it.
Just then, the servants opened the mansion’s doors wide.
Sienna checked the direction toward the outskirts once and looked down at Declan, who was still standing on the ground. Her sidelong glance was urging him to hurry up and mount his horse.
No sooner had Declan put his foot in the stirrup with sluggish movement than she spurred her horse forward without waiting for him.
****
Thanks in part to choosing a docile horse, but even setting that aside, Sienna rode with quite a stable posture. Though her claim about not having ridden for a long time seemed true, as her posture was stiff at first, she gradually became more relaxed as time passed.
Declan maintained a consistent distance behind Sienna as they proceeded down the path.
Though he couldn’t see her expression from this position, judging by how she tapped her toes in rhythm with the horse’s gait, she didn’t seem to be in a bad mood. Her black hair swayed helplessly in the fresh breeze. Declan’s gaze shifted slightly from straight ahead to fix on her back.
