Chapter 94 The Look In Her Eyes
She felt a pang of regret, but she couldn’t help it; he seemed like a knight of great sword prowess, and if such a man could decide to go into hiding, there was no way an ordinary person like Veronia could find him.
She gave up looking for the missing knight and did what she could instead.
She reported to the nearest scouting party and explained the details of her encounter at the scene. Using the tools she had on her person, she found traces of the teleportation scroll magic circle used by the Caspian.
“I saw it with my own eyes,” she said, “it was Prince Caspian and his group.”
Veronia repeated the names of the five men, and the scout wrote them down in his notebook. Each and every one of them was a master of a great house.
Puzzled, the scout scratched his head and turned back to Veronia.
“Are you sure you saw them? Isn’t it possible that it was dark and you misjudged them? I’d need very solid evidence to accuse a nobleman of the crime.”
Veronia understood the scout’s concern.
Framing a nobleman was not something to be done lightly. Not only could the scout’s job and life be in danger, but also his family. And now that the royal family was involved, he had to be on his guard.
“I met His Highness Prince Caspian and his group at my engagement party just a week ago, so there’s no way I could have mistaken their faces.”
“If it was a party a week ago, then it must have been His Excellency the Chancellor of Drea’s…?”
The scout couldn’t finish what he was saying. He couldn’t finish his sentence because he saw a tall, burly man stomping towards them.
“Nia, are you all right?”
It was Killion. His pale face was filled with concern as he ran his eyes over Veronia’s body.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m fine,” Veronia replied, “I’m unharmed. A masked knight appeared and saved me, though I didn’t get a chance to thank him before he disappeared without a sound again…”
“Yes, I’m glad to hear that, he’s the shadow knight I’ve been placed by your side.”
“Ah… I see. He is quite skilful with a sword, thank you, Killion. You put him there so I don’t have to worry too much.”
“How could I not worry, after what happened?”
Killion said, almost sobbing, and pulled Veronia into a gentle embrace. His broad arms were warm and firm. Instantly, the tension melted away, and she felt a great sense of relief. She felt safe, finally.
‘The warmest, safest embrace in the world.’
“Thank you,” Veronia whispered in a small voice as she buried her face in Killion’s chest. Then Killion whispered in her ear, too.
“I’m more grateful that you didn’t get hurt.”
His breath tickled against her ear, and her shoulders jerked in response.
Releasing his arm from around her small back, Killion spoke, his expression and voice serious.
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. From now on, you will always have a shadowy bodyguard with you.”
“You mean I’m to have another escort besides the Shadow Escort?”
“Yes. I’ll arrange for one female and one male bodyguard.”
“Two of them?”
“You can’t say no.”
Killion’s voice was so firm that Veronia didn’t dare refuse. She nodded.
“Okay.”
“Good.”
Apparently pleased with her answer, Killion pulled her into a gentle embrace again.
Killion’s presence made the investigation easier. The scout who had balked at Veronia’s testimony implicating royalty and nobility now began to write it down in his notebook as if it were no big deal.
Veronia’s change in demeanour made her feel a little bitter. It wasn’t a dislike for the scout, but a lament for the unfairness of the situation.
When a commoner accused a noble of a crime, the investigation would be difficult, and there was rarely a happy ending.
But when a nobleman accused a nobleman, it was different: the story could flow relatively easily and a good outcome could be expected.
‘It’s bittersweet… but that’s the way it is…’
The joy of having evidence that could lead to Caspian’s capture had already worn off. Neither had the sense of security she felt in Killion’s arms.
Instead, Veronia sighed, feeling the weight of a heavy stone pressing down on her.
***
Caspian returned to the palace with a grunt. Normally, after a night of masquerade, he would stop by the club first, shower, change clothes, and return fresh and clean, but today was different.
He was injured. There were no doctors at the club, so he had to return to the palace immediately. He needed to be treated quickly, before it became a permanent injury.
The servant was dumbfounded at the sight of Caspian’s gaunt form, which he had never seen before. He was soon horrified to see the blood oozing from his torn clothes.
“I, Your Highness, what happened…! Are you alright?”
He was too stunned to speak. Caspian shouted at the servant, ‘What happened?’
“Don’t just stand there! Don’t you think you should go and fetch the doctor?”
“Yes! Your Highness, just wait a moment!”
With that, the chamberlain scurried out the door, and Caspian clicked his tongue as he watched him stumble after him.
“A fool always acts like a fool at moments like this, I’ll have that fool fired at once!”
He slumped down on the couch irritably.
“Ouch!”
He grimaced and clenched his molars, the pain coming all at once from the sudden exertion of moving his body so much.
“This is all because of that stupid commoner bitch! Damn it!”
His anger boiled over and he wanted to punch something, anything, to break it, but his injured body screamed in pain at the slightest movement.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”
He had no choice but to let out his anger through his mouth. Caspian frowned as he swore loudly.
‘What the hell is that woman…? She spoke as if she’d known me for ages. Who is she?’
He tried to remember, but he couldn’t, and it made his stomach clench and his irritation soar. Caspian thought back over her words.
‘You don’t even have a puppet to cover up your evil deeds anymore, and you’re still doing this!’
‘A puppet to cover up my evil deeds? Who are you talking about? And now I don’t have one?’
‘A puppet… Huh, no way…?’
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Caspian’s mind. His eyes widened in astonishment.
‘The puppet who covered up my evil deeds, who is no longer with us, is… Veronia!’
Five years ago, Veronia had fled the palace and died in a fire or suicide. Puppet was how the imperial family referred to her.
Not only Caspian, but she was often brought to the forefront to cover up the imperial family’s various shortcomings. Even Caspian, who was only a child at the time, could easily see the mood of the imperial family when Veronia was used in such a way.
‘But… the imperial family is the only one who knows that Veronia was a puppet of the imperial family, isn’t it? Ah… maybe Killion himself knew, since he was her fiancé.’
And Killion must have told the commoner woman about it, telling her of the imperial corruption. Caspian rolled his stubborn head hard.
Yes, it was, and he felt that he had cleared it up, but he couldn’t get rid of the feeling that there was still something more to it.
‘But the way she looked at me… was strange. How could a commoner look at a prince like that?’
The way she looked at him as if he were something insignificant and insignificant. The woman was clearly laughing at herself.
At first, he was embarrassed and angered by the gaze he had never dared to receive from anyone before. But now that he keeps thinking about it, he feels a little creepy.
‘No way… no way… Is she Veronia…?’
No, it couldn’t be. Veronia is long dead, and if she was Veronia, why would she be living like that, pretending to be a commoner?
Caspian let out an embarrassed laugh at the absurdity of his sudden thought, haha… But his mood remained sombre.
‘Get a grip. There’s no way Veronia could have been burned to death and come back to life as a commoner woman, is there?’
Caspian shook his head vigorously from side to side, trying to dispel the absurd thought. Maybe it was just that he’d lost so much blood that his head was fuzzy.
“Why isn’t the doctor here sooner?”
He was afraid that if he lost any more blood, he might go insane. Caspian’s irritated gaze drifted to the door.
With a sharp, urgent knock, the door swung open and a servant entered, followed by a doctor in a white robe.
“His Highness, the Prince.”
“Yes.”
“Let me examine your wounds, Your Highness.”
The doctor immediately examined Caspian’s wound.
“Fortunately, the wound is not deep, but it will take some time to stitch up the torn skin.”
“Very well, then get on with it.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Caspian grumbled unnecessarily at the doctor, but he worked diligently to clean and disinfect the wound. He applied an anesthetic ointment and began stitching.
“It’s done, Your Highness.”
With the wound stitched and bandaged, the doctor stood up. He bowed and turned to leave the bedroom.
Without knocking, the door flew open and the Empress Sandra burst in, her breathing ragged and her footsteps pounding, obviously upset.
The chamberlain and doctor bowed hastily in greeting, then scurried away. Caspian and Sandra were now alone in the bedroom.
“Are you insane, is this you?”
