Chapter 48
No, it’s not special treatment, they’re just trying to get me to get the information they want from Ashtad…?
I resisted the urge to pound my chest in frustration.
I can’t even tell you all this, and I don’t know how… Then I realized I should probably just wait and see what he’s asking me for?
The situation was embarrassing. We barely knew each other by name.
I realized that the pressure exerted by the Duke of Joubert must have taken its toll on Sylvia.
I smiled weakly and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Princess, I’m a quick thinker, and that’s gotten me this far, but right now I don’t have the luxury of being able to read between the lines of what you’re thinking.”
I could see it. I could tell by the way her eyes flickered that Sylvia was upside down right now, but why me?
I was just passing by and thought I’d take a quick look…
“You might think it’s impulsive, but I’ve been wanting to talk to you for a while now, Princess, so why don’t we have a frank talk?”
“What do you want to talk about…?”
“About your relationship with the Emperor, because to me, if not to him, things don’t seem quite right between you two. If it were a one-sided affair, I might have a hope of getting in the middle, but right now it seems like he is taking an infinite amount of interest in you.”
“That interest may not be what you think it is.”
“It may be so, but in any case, His Majesty would never marry a lady unless he wished to do so, and I would rather take the safe route than be involved in such an uncertain and dangerous situation.”
I wonder if she means the safe way out of the Duke’s clutches.
I stared at Sylvia’s stony face. She spoke in rapid-fire bursts, but I could tell she was nervous as she spoke, chewing on her bottom lip from time to time.
‘What do you think? How about I give you a hand that lets you discard a peacock?’
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to see what Sylvia would do with it. If she really does do what I want her to do, I’ll have gained a great ally, won’t I?
“Actually, I heard what the Duke said to you earlier, and that’s why I’ve been following you, and I apologize for that.”
Obviously, dealing with the Duke requires a lot of research, and having a close relative would be a huge help. It would make the process much easier in many ways.
“That’s good, it will speed things up.”
Sylvia’s face stiffened slightly. I expected her to turn and walk away in a huff, but instead, she said it was a good thing.
“Realistically, I think I have better odds of escaping my father’s clutches than I do of falling into your eyes, so I’m willing to risk it all to come clean with you.”
“This is the first time we’ve spoken to each other today, don’t you think we’re moving too fast?”
“If not now, when else would I tell you? If we meet separately, I’ll only arouse your suspicions, so I’ll just tell you what I need to do and do it quickly.”
“Tell me.”
“I want to be on friendly terms with you, and I know you dislike my father, so in a way, you and I have the same goal.”
“Why don’t you tell him that instead of telling me?”
“He won’t give me a chance to tell him, and he asks me to prove my sincerity, and I really don’t know how to do that. I hear you solved a big problem not long ago, Princess, and with your brilliant mind and ability to act, surely you can give me some clue?”
It was safe to say that I was a rotten crony here, and to try to capture me like this was a real predicament.
Even if he had an ulterior motive, what I had in front of me was a girl who needed to be protected from threats. No matter how innocent she may seem.
So if I could be of any help to a girl who was about to enter adulthood, it was a win situation.
‘Much better than the Duke of Joubert, with his crazy talk.’
If the Duke of Joubert disappeared and Sylvia ate the ducal family, the future would be the best for everyone.
“Well, even if you put it that way… The only thing I’ve done lately has to do with the former handmaiden who was captured not long ago.”
“That’s good, because I was just interested in that case myself. Chloé Anthe killed a prisoner, and I heard that she was a poisonous herb distributor?”
Sylvia didn’t bother to hide her interest in Chloé Anthe. In fact, she even asked me with a gleam in her eye, as if she knew something. She looked like someone who knew something.
Did she know about the Duke of Joubert’s relationship with Chloé Anthe?
“It’s… I’ve always suspected that the handmaiden who was caught with the poisonous herbs had something to do with it, but if she’s willing to go so far as to murder, I’m guessing there’s probably someone behind her.”
Sylvia paused, looking thoughtful. She stared off into space as if something was bothering her, then slowly opened her tightly closed mouth again.
“Do you think a nobleman would be punished?”
“I think it’s highly likely, His Majesty was so outraged by the incident that I’m sure he’ll not only punish those behind it, but also offer a hefty reward to anyone who can bring evidence.”
Sylvia’s eyes sank deeply. I could see my own face, smiling harmlessly in the darkness, reflected in the eerily bright walls.
***
The first rays of sunset filled the darkened interior of the palace like a ray of light. The door to his bedroom, a deserted room in contrast to the ornate and intricate banquet hall, opened and a shadow swayed in the blazing light.
The shadow slowly receded to reveal Thierry, his head cocked languidly from side to side. He hadn’t been able to sleep much lately, and he couldn’t hide his exhaustion at having to deal with nobles, which he didn’t normally do, and an unusually decadent aura surrounded him.
“And the Princess?”
Thierry, loosening his stifling tie, glanced at Bakken, who had followed him in.
“She went into her room a moment ago.”
The tie, tossed haphazardly in the air, fell to the floor with a clatter. Bakken picked up the tie as if it were familiar, unbuttoning it as if he could finally breathe again, and walked over to Thierry, who was sprawled out in the middle of the long sofa.
“A little while ago?”
Thierry’s head tilted as he rested his arms on the backrest.
He’d been deliberately trying to be polite today, dealing with nobles he normally wouldn’t even look at, but Alicia hadn’t even shown her face in the hall. His attempts to make a good impression were thwarted by the fact that the person he was trying to impress wasn’t there.
Out of respect for Alicia’s desire to be alone, Thierry shooed away the nobles who were clinging to him with a murderous glare, as if he didn’t know when else he would see the Emperor, if not now. But he was not pleased to find her with someone else.
“Who has she been with, out here in the cold?”
Thierry’s eyes glanced up at Bakken from the corner of his eye, a hint of disapproval in them.
“He was with Duke Joubert daughter.”
“Why with her?”
The mention of an unexpected person made Thierry’s mood even worse.
Of course, if the mood between them had been bad, he would have reported it immediately, but now that he was talking, it sounded like it was just a casual hello.
“I don’t know about that part yet. Why don’t we just bring her over?”
He felt a little guilty that he had to push down his desire to be with her and avoid her.
No, actually, his mood sank as he thought of Alicia, who seemed to keep trying to avoid him.
Thierry remembered the Duke of Joubert’s snakelike, despicable face. It was a family that still sucked honeydew for being a former official family, but even that had its limits.
The daughter seemed to be quite perceptive, unlike her father, who had recently been watching her carefully, but you never knew.
Even if Alicia didn’t seem to be up to no good, it wouldn’t hurt to warn her for the future.
“… That’s not bad, either. Let’s have a quiet moment. Perhaps the lady has something more to tell me.”
“The lady? Ah… Because of state marriage?”
Thierry lowered his eyes languidly to stare at Bakken on the couch across from him.
“Duke has been so impatient, I think he’s gone senile with anxiety.”
“Why? Did something happen?”
“Yes.”
Alicia wasn’t the only one who had seen the Duke of Joubert arguing with Sylvia the night before. Thierry, who had been watching the cute back of Alicia’s head as she squatted in front of the railing, also overheard the scuffling in the distance.
Being so physically gifted, it wasn’t a problem for him to make out the conversation between the young lady and the bush.
But it was a stroke of luck that he was about to witness the frivolous behavior firsthand.
