Theo spoke in a somewhat reproachful tone.
“But it should never be you, your Majesty. What on earth are you doing here at this time?”
“Well… I felt suffocated in the palace.”
“You could have gotten into quite a predicament.”
Was he angry because he was worried about me? Feeling slightly sorry, I wanted to say something that would reassure him.
“Anyway, even if Duke Bledel captured me, nothing would have happened.”
“Duke Bledel is a ruthless person to everyone. And the daughter of his late wife, who didn’t have a drop of his blood mixed in her, is no exception.”
I was quite taken aback by his unexpected words. I can’t believe Theo knew that.
“Since when did you know?”
“It seems you know as well.”
We both spoke almost simultaneously. I was speechless for a moment. In the original story, Lethenia found out about her birth just before she died.
“I suspected that you wanted to leave everything behind because of that.”
“…….”
“If he had captured you today, Her Majesty the Empress would have been killed. Of course, disguised as a terrorist attack. He’s quite good at manipulating situations like that.”
There was a sharp thorn in Theo’s words. This side of him felt unfamiliar to me.
“I was so ignorant.”
“Soon, Duke Bledel will install a new Empress. He seems to be considering his second daughter, who is also Lethenia’s step-sister, as a potential successor.”
Lucia, Duke Bledel’s biological daughter and Lethenia’s step-sister.
“What? She’s only thirteen years old…….”
“Well, there’s a precedent in Asha’s history where the youngest Empress was fourteen years old. He’s probably been laying the groundwork using the people of Xenos to expand his power. From his perspective, the value of using the Empress lies only until that void is filled.”
The value of being used… Theo’s words were not wrong, but it left a cold feeling in the depths of my heart. Is Duke Bledel the only one like that?
Even Ian, whom Lethenia devoted everything to and loved, ended up using her and ruthlessly killing her. That was her destiny. Theo stopped walking when he saw my expression.
“What I just said was…….”
“It means there’s not much time left.”
Theo hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“Please forgive my rudeness.”
“I know you said that because you were worried about me.”
We continued walking in silence for a while. As we ventured deeper into the forest, peculiar plants taller than humans were densely scattered around.
With no way out, Theo used the knife he had strapped to his waist to cut through them and make a path. As time passed, it became increasingly strenuous to keep up with him. I grew increasingly breathless and felt my body heat up. He glanced at me and then abruptly stopped in his tracks.
“…Let’s take a break here for a moment.”
Theo placed the torch on the ground and took off his cloak. He spread it on the grassy field and gestured for me to sit. As I sat down, he also sat beside me.
Even the slightest movement made the torch flicker unsteadily. It felt like there was only him and me in this world filled with darkness.
As the tension eased, the urgent situation from just a while ago came to mind.
If I had been captured by Duke Bledel, would I have died helplessly today? Given that I was aware of the Duchy of Bledel’s secrets, the Duke must have found my existence to be bothersome.
If he had plans to make his own daughter the Empress, it would be even more so. In any case, if it weren’t for Theo, I could have faced a truly dangerous situation.
“Thank you for helping me.”
“I just did what I had to do.”
If Theo hadn’t intervened with those pursuing us, I would have been captured without a chance. The sight of the knights writhing on the ground, screaming, flashed before my eyes.
“What did you throw at those people?”
“It was a poison mixture formulated to blend in with the air in this forest.”
“So… did those people die?”
In response to my question, Theo stared at me intently and spoke.
“Do you think we came all this way just to escape?”
“….Yes?”
“We ran to a suitable place to kill them.”
Theo casually uttered those chilling words, and I felt a bit unsettled. I couldn’t find his usual mischievous smile or friendly tone. I hadn’t realized it before, but Theo’s expressionless face seemed even colder than Ian’s.
He lay back and asked in a dry voice.
“Do I seem heartless to you?”
“No, I think it was an unavoidable situation.”
“When you wander around here and there, you gain a lot of experiences. I might be quite different from what the Empress thinks of me.”
“Everyone has a secret. I, too, might be a very different person from who you think I am.”
“I used to believe that I knew the Empress better than anyone else, but lately, I’ve come to realize that it was just my arrogance.”
Lethenia’s changed demeanor must have felt unfamiliar to him as well. Whenever I saw Theo, meaningless questions floated in my mind. If he were to find out that I’m not Lethenia, would he distance himself from me?
Such unnecessary thoughts began to disturb my mind. In the forest, where peculiar and eerie plants were the only living beings, an eerie silence hung in the air.
I decided to ask him what I had been curious about since earlier. Somehow, I felt that our encounter there was not just a coincidence.
“Why did you go there?”
“I was trailing Duke Bledel. I’m in some kind of situation.”
Theo seemed unwilling to continue the conversation, avoiding eye contact, and I couldn’t press further. I could only speculate that it was probably for political reasons.
“If you want to leave safely, you should be most cautious of Duke Bledel. Even though he appears quiet, he has always been scheming and cunning behind the scenes.”
Theo seemed to hold a great contempt for Duke Bledel. The Marquis of Claflin had a deep connection with the imperial family through generations, and their loyalty to the Emperor was strong. The Duke of Bledel and the Marquis of Claplin could not have been on good terms.
Duke Bledel, who must have felt uncomfortable as Theo became known as the lover of the empress after the birthday banquet, began to retaliate disgracefully. I felt uncomfortable because I was largely responsible for the situation.
“If Duke Bledel has harmed the Claflin family, I will apologize on his behalf.”
“It is an issue unrelated to the Empress.”
“But because of me, you were sent to Schubert…”
Theo interrupted me in a firm tone.
“As I mentioned, it is an unrelated matter to the Empress, and there is no need for you to apologize. Moreover, Schubert is a place that I need to visit for personal matters as well. Don’t worry about it.”
Just like Ian, talking about Duke Bledel somehow seemed to weigh down Theo’s mood. There was an uncomfortable silence again. The forest remained as still as if under a spell, and even the slightest movement of clothes seemed louder than before.
I was worried about whether my breathing was too loud.
Amidst the heavy silence, the shocking actions Duke Bledel had committed against the Xenos people a while ago suddenly came to mind.
To torment a mother in front of her son in such a manner. Once again, I felt a knot forming in my stomach.
“Did you know what Duke Bledel did earlier?”
“He used the family of the Xenos slave as a hostage to test his loyalty. It’s a behavior befitting him, as predictable as it may be.”
Theo’s face remained serene, devoid of any emotions.
“Is there no possibility of liberation for the people of Xenos?”
My words seemed to surprise Theo slightly, and a flicker passed through his eyes.
“Why do you have such thoughts?”
“Well… they are innocent. They shouldn’t be treated like slaves in the first place. In my eyes, the people of Asha and Xenos are the same.”
“You said that their enslavement was inevitable. Well, to be precise… It was probably just that you didn’t have the luxury to look into it.”
I didn’t know if Lethenia held such thoughts about the people of Xenos. After hesitating for a moment, I expressed my honest thoughts.
“Recently, I learned about the history of the Xenos, and it made me think a lot. Asha’s invasion was unjust, and I believe the people of Xenos should reclaim their country. Of course, the likelihood of that happening now seems slim.”
He looked at me with an unreadable gaze for a while.
“There are indeed many people of Xenos being treated in such a manner. They receive treatment worse than animals in Asha. We can’t save them all. It’s a regrettable reality, but a more fundamental solution is needed for their sake.”
There was a hint of melancholy in Theo’s voice as he talked about the people of Xenos. Perhaps he shared similar thoughts about them as I did.
He was right. Unless Duke Bledel was brought down or unless the people of Xenos were liberated, there was no way to rescue them.
I tried to shake off the discomfort in my heart. It was none of my business anyway and I was going to leave soon. A little later he spoke first.
“Do you resent me for not telling you in advance?”
I realized he was talking about Lethenia’s birth. Looking into his eyes for a moment, I silently shook my head in response.
“In the end, it’s all my own issue. How could I resent you?”
“I have been in countless conflicts over whether it was the right decision to reveal that truth. But since you already knew, it might have been for the better.”
His voice seemed enigmatic, but the content within it was immensely heavy.
