Chapter 18
Clad in a white dress not much different from what she usually wore, Chloe examined herself carefully in the mirror with a cautious gaze.
“Since the neckline isn’t too revealing, it makes me look less vulnerable. But it would be odd to expose my neck as the weather gets colder.”
She planned to take a carriage when going outside the capital, and then switch to a train afterward. Since she wouldn’t be able to change her clothes while in the carriage, she had to wear what she would leave the mansion in. She debated between wearing thick or thin clothes.
“If I adjust the measurements to make it a bit loose around the waist, it should look like I’ve lost some weight. But I’ll cinch the waist and cuffs tightly to accentuate them, making myself appear thinner.”
Snip.
Chloe sat down on the bed, scissors in hand. Although her left wrist was slightly uncomfortable due to a recent injury, Chloe was someone who could act unperturbed even with more serious injuries.
She sighed and threaded the needle, preparing to sew. While a seamstress could be called to tailor her clothes, alterations were always Chloe’s responsibility.
More accurately, it was both hers and Gideon’s responsibility. Since Gideon was the only other person who knew her true identity, he inevitably learned how to sew, and in some ways, he was better at it than Chloe. Knowing this well, Chloe concentrated on her sewing, occasionally checking on Gideon when he entered the room late at night.
“When I wear this dress on the day of departure, which part should I work on first, Gideon? The waistline or the sleeves?”
Known as a very close couple, they usually did their sewing silently inside their canopied bed. Sometimes they would knit together as well.
Chloe rolled a bundle of white thread onto the bed with a thud.
Thunk.
The bundle stopped when it hit Gideon’s thigh, who was standing by the bedside. Chloe looked up at Gideon, who remained unresponsive, with a puzzled expression.
“Why, Gideon? Is the dress not to your liking?”
“No.”
Gideon briefly replied and pulled on the dress Chloe was holding. As the cloth slipped from her grip, Chloe gently scrutinized him.
Though he was expressionless as usual, she sensed that he was angry.
And in the three years they’d known each other, Gideon had never shown anger unless it was related to a problem concerning her safety.
Chloe quickly organized her sewing tools and pulled Gideon into the canopy before lowering it a layer.
“Who found out about my identity?”
“It seems like you need to die right now.”
At the sudden outburst of words, they fell into silence. Chloe hesitated, biting her lip in confusion before finally speaking.
“Who discovered it? Was it because of the dress?”
“It’s still unknown.”
“Then why?”
“Because His Majesty decided to take you to the palace.”
In a brief moment, Chloe doubted her own ears. The words were too sudden and incomprehensible. Without much thought, she blurted out her question.
“All of a sudden?”
Once spoken, her question seemed even more puzzling.
“Is it because you’re not part of the government, or maybe because you’re a capable pharmacist?”
Though the emperor had shown some interest in her, to Chloe, it seemed like he was more interested in Gideon’s woman than anything else. And “Marie Edant” was definitely not Luke’s type, as far as she knew. Even if they pretended to be lovers, Marie Edant wasn’t Luke’s taste.
There were signs that became apparent sometimes, and Chloe believed Luke liked it when she made mindless chatter.
“Like, maybe, when you didn’t feel good, but looked cute despite that.”
When she tried to bring up public matters, he’d make a displeased face. But when she talked nonsense, he seemed to enjoy it. So perhaps Marie Edant was a fitting example during their time as lovers.
But Marie Edant was nothing like that.
So why would he suddenly think of her when he recalled the face of an enemy house? How should she explain the feeling of being upset when someone she didn’t know well remembered her?
“His Majesty is worried about you reminding him of Langsher, but since I cannot intervene, he decided to keep you by his side for a season.”
“To remind him of Langsher?”
“Not in a good way. Certainly not in an emotional way.”
Gideon responded firmly, and although he didn’t deny or affirm Chloe’s doubtful gaze, he added as if making a vow.
“I will never allow you to be treated like that.”
Even if he had to use any means necessary.
That determination seemed more like a desire to ensure it happened rather than a promise to do his best for her sake. Gideon informed her, as if unavoidable, “So, my wife must die now.”
Chloe let out a quiet sigh. Gideon had never compromised on anything when it came to her safety, not even listening to her opinions.
Now she knew.
She shouldn’t be deceived by his calm demeanor and expressionless face.
Gideon had been someone who had kept hired individuals for over ten years simply because he knew Marie Edant’s true identity. Among them were even the nannies of Gideon and Hayden…
Chloe still didn’t know where all those people had gone or if any of them were still alive. When she first found out about this fact, Gideon had said he didn’t need to know, and when she had asked him later, he had replied that he hadn’t done anything that warranted revenge.
“Do you really want to know what happened to them?”
“No. I just happened to think about it… You don’t have to tell me if it’s difficult.”
“I’m relieved. Then I don’t need to lie.”
He responded calmly, as if commenting on the weather, and she couldn’t bring herself to ask again,
“So what happened to them?”
As long as he hadn’t done anything deserving revenge, then they probably weren’t killed…
Gideon’s words continued despite Chloe’s tangled thoughts.
“Unless you’re in the palace, it’s impossible for you to be executed this year. So, you should prepare the poison you’ve kept…”
“Gideon. Please calm down.”
She grabbed Gideon’s arm. His body was tense with tension, cold as ice. Even after tapping her tongue against his skin several times, he remained unchanged, just like his expression.
“You can’t die in the capital. You know that too.”
Three years ago, hiding her as Marie Edant was perfect amidst the chaos of rebellion and civil war in the capital, but now that the chaos had subsided, that damn “Edant” was getting in the way.
Chloe added with a sigh, “Even if you can pretend to be dead for a moment, it’s impossible throughout the funeral. You know that you intended to go to the fiefdom.”
“A corpse…”
Suddenly, she thought she saw a cold light in Gideon’s complexion.
“…resembling you. Then it’ll be fine.”
“It’s not an easy task, and you know that better than anyone.”
She felt a faint sense of caution in his words, as if he intended to create one rather than just retrieve a corpse from somewhere.
She bit her lip with a dim sense of wariness, then withdrew her hand from Gideon’s arm. He hurriedly began to explain, as if rebuked like a scolded child.
“I don’t mean to kill anyone. Just, even if they don’t resemble you, with makeup or something like that…”
“Would Hayden Edant be fooled?”
She interrupted his words coldly. At least one of them needed to stay rational.
“Would His Majesty be fooled? Would the people of the Edant family? Your knights? Do you really not know why we planned to die in some unknown rural area until now?”
“…Do you know?”
His sarcastic retort to her forced suppression of emotions made Chloe pause. She couldn’t understand what words had provoked him.
He should be worried about her life and safety as the daughter of a benefactor, so why was there a problem with her words suggesting they wait a little longer?
“Do you really know what I’m worried about?”
“I’m afraid I’ve been exposed, and that’s why I’ll have to die…”
Gideon reached out to her as if to reassure her. His hand touched her thigh covered by the edge of her skirt. He gently traced the outline of the concealed dagger attached to her thigh, gradually exerting more pressure.
“I think you know now, too. You’ve seen others suffer. Now.”
She moaned in pain as his hand tightened around her thigh. But instead of pulling away, Gideon, as if warning, tightened his grip even more painfully and whispered, “The scariest thing is not being able to die even if you want to.”
