Episode 34

Just like when we arrived, we had lunch in Alpo, and I sent Lothania to play with Melbrid.

Though Lothania liked me, it’s always best to play with friends of the same age.

Watching the carriage from which laughter was escaping, I gave a small smile and turned to Aiden, who was holding the door open for me.

“Come inside.”

“Pardon?”

“I said I have something to discuss, so get in the carriage. Do you have anything else to do?”

“N-No.”

Aiden awkwardly climbed into the carriage and sat across from me.

Noticing his uneasy demeanor as he looked around the carriage, I asked him, almost jokingly,

“It’s not your first time in a carriage, is it? Is something strange?”

Aiden, who had been looking at my face, quickly averted his gaze and shook his head.

As I leaned forward to see where his eyes were looking, his crimson eyes rolled away again.

What’s going on?

Giving up trying to understand what was going on in his head, I adjusted my posture.

In the process, the edge of my skirt brushed against Aiden’s legs, and he flinched noticeably, pulling his legs together neatly.

He avoided eye contact and even the touch of my skirt, making his behavior even more peculiar.

Surely, he isn’t suddenly shy?

“Aiden.”

“Yes.”

He responded politely, yet still avoided eye contact. I reached out my hand.

“Hand.”

Aiden immediately placed his large right hand on mine.

So, he’s not avoiding physical contact?

As I looked at his right hand in wonder, Aiden slowly withdrew it and muttered,

“I’m not a dog, Your Majesty.”

Even though he claimed otherwise, he seemed to realize how naturally he had obeyed, and his face showed an awkward expression.

I chuckled and said,

“I know that. I only did it because you seemed to be avoiding me.”

“I wasn’t avoiding you, it’s just that you were so close…”

He trailed off and turned his head towards the window, his ears turning red again.

Close?

This carriage is the largest and most spacious one I’ve ever ridden in.

The reason our legs were touching was because his legs were exceptionally long, not because the carriage was cramped.

Besides, we’ve sat much closer before, haven’t we?

I couldn’t figure out why he was acting this way, so I decided to get to the main point.

“The other day, you mentioned finding evidence that the true culprit behind the Emperor’s assassination might be the House of Senwood.”

Aiden, who had been pretending to look out the window, turned his head towards me.

His red eyes suddenly turned serious.

“How did you know?”

I had hoped it wasn’t true, but it seemed my suspicion was correct.

Thinking about how much this would hurt Lothania made me sigh.

“It was just a guess. You said you were looking for evidence. Have you found it yet?”

“There is no definitive evidence yet. We are proceeding cautiously to avoid any potential backlash against you.”

Aiden was right. This was about the assassination of the Emperor, no less.

If we handled this poorly, it could be said that a foreign Empress falsely accused and oppressed the Emperor’s only sister.

Given how popular the royal family was in Belpator, the uninformed public would likely sympathize with the falsely accused princess, and the House of Senwood could use public opinion to push for my removal.

We had to wait until the White Shadow found conclusive evidence.

I was contemplating whether to tell Lothania about this or keep it hidden for now when Aiden suddenly praised me.

“You did well.”

“What do you mean?”

“Making a secret agreement with Marchioness Senwood.”

“Aiden, no one should know about a secret agreement except the involved parties.”

“You knew it would reach my ears, didn’t you? Judging by Marchioness Senwood’s reaction, others will know soon enough too.”

“Well, that’s true…”

“Whether they are targeting us beasts or you, Your Majesty, they will make a move to create an opportunity to overturn the situation. I will keep an eye on their movements and look for any weaknesses.”

The enthusiasm of the White Shadow’s leader was good, but his reaction was so straightforward that it felt odd.

He knew about the secret agreement between Bonita and me to deal with the beasts, yet he didn’t seem suspicious at all.

Though I couldn’t say it to him, I was actually considering forming a genuine alliance with Bonita if necessary.

If it were Lian or Vitren, I might think they were hiding their true feelings, but with Aiden, that didn’t seem likely.

His eyes, looking at me, were like those of a dog that absolutely trusted its owner, making my conscience prick.

I avoided Aiden’s gaze slightly and changed the subject.

“I heard that the Emperor and Marchioness Senwood quarreled after last fall. Do you know why?”

“They did grow distant around that time, but I don’t know the details.”

“And here I thought the head of the White Shadow knew everything.”

“Because I can’t know what the master doesn’t want to reveal.”

Aiden shrugged as he answered.

He really was like a dog, not in a bad way, but so much like a dog that it was almost ridiculous.

Doesn’t he ever get curious?

He has the ability to find out if he wants, but he doesn’t look into it because the master didn’t care?

“Didn’t you think it was strange that a family that got along well suddenly fell out?”

“Aren’t families like that sometimes?”

Aiden tilted his head and asked with a puzzled face.

His concept of family was quite flawed. Even if I wanted to tell him that wasn’t the case, his family history was probably horrendous.

And I wasn’t in a position to tell him what a proper family relationship was supposed to be like.

Before I married into Belpator, I hadn’t been particularly close to my family either.

Still, is it possible for someone to crave power so much that they would kill their only brother and target their niece, whom they raised as a daughter?

They weren’t on bad terms from the beginning; they were very close siblings until last year.

Lost in thought, I looked up and saw Aiden, who had almost been killed by his biological father, staring at me.

His clear eyes no longer looked pained or sad, making my heart ache all the more for some reason.

 

* * *

 

When we arrived in front of the Brincia palace, Chamberlain Tito and the palace staff lined up to greet me.

The person who opened the carriage door with the brightest face among them was none other than Lian Zernia.

With a face brighter than the summer sun, he extended his hand and greeted me as if welcoming someone back home.

“Welcome back, Your Majesty.”

“I didn’t expect you to be here.”

“I also didn’t expect Your Majesty, who left with the eagle, to return with the dog.”

“There was an incident.”

“The assassins, right?”

His face, smiling brightly enough to hide his eyes, asked about the incident from last night, making me chuckle.

“You really don’t miss anything.”

At this point, wasn’t his information network on par with the White Shadow, the empire’s top intelligence agency?

I glanced at the head of the White Shadow, who had followed me out of the carriage. Aiden was glaring at Lian and my hand with a very dissatisfied look.

Lian noticed Aiden’s gaze, and to provoke him, he lowered his lips to the back of my hand.

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. I will find the mastermind and neatly separate the skin and bones for you.”

I had no desire to see neatly separated skin and bones.

Hoping he would speak words as beautiful as his face, I withdrew my hand from Lian’s grasp.

“Aiden is already investigating, Lord Zernia.”

“…‘Aiden’?”

Did something flash in Lian’s amethyst eyes just now?

Did I see something that shouldn’t come out of a person’s eyes?

I blinked and looked again, but Lian was still smiling brighter than the summer sun.

Did I see wrong?

“Yes. His Majesty has ordered me to investigate, Duke Zernia.”

Aiden, who had approached me unnoticed, smoothly inserted his hand under mine and spoke.

Technically, Aiden had taken it upon himself to find the assassins’ mastermind before I even ordered it, but since his statement wasn’t entirely false, I didn’t correct him.

“Shall we make a bet, Duke Tilender? On who finds the mastermind first?”

Lian’s purple eyes glared at Aiden coldly as he provoked him.

“You’ll regret it.”

Aiden responded with a smirk, lifting one corner of his mouth.

I had no idea what they were up to, and I turned away from Aiden and headed towards the palace.

Melbrid, who had been watching his brother with a shake of his head, bowed slightly to greet me, and I returned the gesture with my eyes, then grabbed Lothania’s hand as she ran over.

We walked side by side into the palace, followed by Tito and the palace staff, while the snake and the dog continued their staring contest at the palace entrance for quite a while.