Episode 59

With Igon absent from the Duke’s estate, it was easy to slip out.

I avoided the eyes of the servants and made my way down the stairs toward the back door, where a carriage and Liam were already waiting.

Unlike the usual carriages, this one bore no insignia of the Duke’s household. It was smaller and simpler, with little decoration.

I hesitated for a moment, but then took a deep breath and walked forward.

I passed by Liam, who bowed respectfully, and stepped into the carriage.

Inside, it was different from the small, claustrophobic carriages of my bad memories. Despite its modest exterior, the interior was surprisingly spacious, with soft cushions that gave me a strange sense of comfort.

“Are you alright?”

Liam asked as he climbed in after me, his eyes filled with concern.

I was tempted to snap back with something sharp, asking if he really thought I looked alright, but I remembered that I needed his help today and held my tongue.

Instead, I offered him a soft smile, though the corners of my mouth trembled slightly. I was a good actress when I needed to be.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ve taken steps to ensure that even if someone searches for you tonight, they won’t realize you’ve left,”
Liam reassured me, clearly unaware of my aversion to carriages since the accident.

His attempt to comfort me, talking about something else entirely, made me chuckle inwardly.

At least I didn’t have to worry about being caught.

“Thank you.”

I said, the words coming out naturally, almost reflexively.

“What do you plan to do after you find your family?”

Liam asked suddenly, catching me off guard.

I was momentarily stunned.

I hadn’t thought about such a question because I wasn’t actually going to find my family.

I needed to come up with something, but no good answer came to mind. I just smiled.

“Can you forgive them?”

Forgive who? The ones who sold me? The ones who turned their backs on me afterward?

I had to stifle a bitter laugh at Liam’s naive assumption.

Forgiveness, in my mind, was something that came after an apology from those who had wronged you. But those who shared my blood had never once spoken a word of apology to me.

Even when I barely escaped to the Duke’s estate, they offered no words of comfort or even common sympathy. All they cared about was their own safety, worrying about what might happen if I came here.

I bit back the urge to ask him.

Could you forgive them?

“Well, I suppose I’ll think about it after I meet them,” I replied vaguely, ending the conversation.

I was glad it didn’t continue.

Unlike with Igon, I found Liam’s innocent simplicity unsettling.

The carriage rattled as it moved forward. I felt a churn of nervousness in my stomach, but it wasn’t unbearable.

The rhythmic clopping of the horses’ hooves gradually slowed until the carriage finally came to a stop.

It seemed we had arrived at our destination.

The carriage door swung open, and Liam, ever the knight, was the first to step out and offer me his hand.

In front of us was a building made of gray brick. Other buildings were clustered around it, but the area had an eerie, abandoned feel, as if no one lived there.

‘Kenneth must be inside.’

The heavy wooden door creaked as it opened, revealing a staircase lit by small lamps.

“Wait here,” I instructed.

“It’s too dangerous to let you go alone.”

Liam protested, his worry evident as he blocked my path up the stairs.

“I’ll scream if anything happens.”

I reassured him, though I didn’t expect any trouble.

“There’s a presence inside. It’s definitely that of trained knights.” he warned.

“I know.”

I replied calmly. Of course, the people inside were high-ranking knights who had come with Kenneth.

It occurred to me that Liam’s ability to sense their presence was impressive—no wonder Igon valued him so highly.

“Wait here.”

“…Alright.”

Liam responded reluctantly, bowing his head with a troubled expression.

I grasped the railing and ascended the stairs.

The building, likely an inn, revealed a long corridor lined with rooms as I reached the next floor. Only one of the doors had a lantern placed beside it, marking it as the destination.

As I approached, the murmur of voices grew louder. I stopped in front of the door and knocked.

The door swung open abruptly.

A glimpse of a shirt’s fabric fluttered in the doorway. Slowly raising my gaze, I saw Kenneth holding the door handle. He glanced behind me, then gestured with his head for me to enter.

I followed him inside, where two other men were present.

The dim light from a lamp on the table cast a faint glow over the room.

As I entered, the men stood up from their seats. One of them was a familiar face.

It was the mage I had seen on the fortress wall.

“Ash?”

I called his name, and he raised his eyebrows in mild surprise before nodding and smiling.

“Lady Rodore.”

He greeted, offering me a simple wooden chair.

I declined, as I didn’t plan to stay long.

“You should sit. You don’t look well.”

Kenneth remarked, his own face still pale with illness.

I looked up at him, noticing the lingering signs of his recent illness, and spoke.

“I’m fine.”

“Stubborn as always.”

He chuckled, though there was a trace of helplessness in his smile.

“Can we get straight to the point now?”

I asked, eager to cut to the chase.

“Always so direct… Simon.”

Kenneth said, rubbing his face with one hand and gesturing to the man standing beside Ash with the other.

I turned to look at the man called Simon.

“To get straight to the point, we have a request for you, Lady,” Simon began.

“A request for me?”

I replied, my tone laced with skepticism.

He called me here to ask for a favor?

I glanced at Kenneth, silently demanding an explanation.

“It’s not something that will harm you. If you help us, we’ll make sure you stay safe, no matter what happens,” Kenneth said, trying to reassure me.

“Is this something worth risking my life for?”

I scoffed, the absurdity of the situation almost making me laugh.

“I refuse.”

“Won’t you at least hear us out?”

Simon asked, his voice tinged with urgency.

“There’s no need. I can guess it involves Duke Rodore,” I replied, cutting him off.

Simon fell silent, confirming my suspicion.

“I refuse.”

I repeated, my tone firm but polite.

“Duke Rodore is trying to bring down the empire.”

Kenneth interjected, his words causing me to frown.

What was Igon planning?

“He’s poisoning the entire empire with demonic beast venom. You’ve felt the effects yourself—you know how hard it is to recover from that kind of injury. Imagine what would happen if the entire empire became addicted to it.”

Wait a moment.

Was there anything like this in the original story?

Was this the reason Durant and the imperial family turned against Igon and Rodore? The more I learned, the less I understood.

I had never sensed any treachery from Igon… but then again, perhaps it wasn’t so far-fetched.

“Yes.”

I responded curtly and turned to leave.

Kenneth, looking startled, grabbed my wrist.

“Don’t you care?”

It wasn’t that I didn’t care at all. The fall of the empire would certainly affect me too.

But I had no particular attachment to the empire.

I had no reason to betray Igon in favor of the empire.

I looked at Kenneth in silence, making my stance clear.

I decided it was better to remain silent rather than confess to the Crown Prince that I had no attachment to the empire.

“Do you trust the Duke?”

“And if I don’t?”

“How naive.”

Kenneth scoffed, looking at me with the same condescension I had once directed at Liam.

“Do you know why the Duke keeps you as his sister?”

His voice was cold and sharp, cutting into a place in my heart where doubts had always lingered.

“You must be aware of the rumors circulating in the social circles about you and the Duke. Even you know that your relationship with him isn’t that of ordinary siblings. So why do you think the Duke insists on keeping you as his sister and not by any other name?”

His words left me speechless, as if I had been struck.

The room spun slightly, and I found myself unable to muster a response.

“Are you aware that the Duke of Rodore’s mother, the former Duchess, was the emperor’s mistress?”

He asked, his words hitting me like a slap in the face.

I doubted my ears.

Images of the former Duchess of Rodore and His Majesty the Emperor flashed through my mind simultaneously.

I had never considered the two of them together before.

It was a story too unbelievable to be true.

Why would the Duchess…?

But Kenneth’s eyes, steady and unwavering as he spoke of his own father’s infidelity, left no room for jest.

“They were well-known lovers even before their marriages. Childhood friends who became lovers, a relationship that had a lot of support.”

“…”

“They were forced to marry others due to family obligations, but their relationship remained passionate even after their weddings. There are even rumors that both the Duke of Rodore and the late Evelyn Rodore were children of the emperor. Did you really not know?”

I didn’t.

As someone who had lived in the Rodore estate for years, it felt foolish to admit, but I really didn’t know.

Perhaps it was because I had been living under the name Evelyn Rodore that I had been oblivious to it.

“Evelyn, in particular, was under heavy suspicion. She had brown eyes and hair just like His Majesty.”

Instinctively, I reached up to touch my hair.

Though my hair was said to be darker than the real Evelyn’s, it didn’t bring much comfort. I doubted others would see a noticeable difference.

But why?

Did Igon pity his late sister who died of a fever? Was that why he kept me in her place, to fill that void?

“The Empress killed her.”

Kenneth continued, and I felt the breath leave my lungs.

It was as if I had been plunged into a pit of filth, the sensation of it clinging to my skin.

I felt sick.

“Officially, she died of a fever, but it was the Empress who orchestrated it to look that way,” Kenneth explained.

I turned away from him, and he finally let go of my wrist.

“Now you understand why you’re still in that position,” he said.

I wanted to deny everything.

“The Duke has been using you to provoke the Empress. Do you think he’ll continue to keep you alive?”

I raised my hand and pushed Kenneth away.

His face, which I looked up to see, was devoid of any amusement.

If anything, he seemed to pity me.

Kenneth pitied me.

And he wasn’t the only one.

Ash, standing in the corner of the room, and the man called Simon were both looking at me with the same sympathetic gaze.

“It seems like the Duke cares for you, but that’s all. He doesn’t understand the heart of a person,” Kenneth said.

“…Don’t speak of him like that.”

I replied, my voice wavering slightly.

“Are you still trying to protect him? Lady, the Duke has spent years consumed by a desire for revenge. I don’t believe he can think like a normal person anymore.”

He leaned closer, his head tilting towards my face, his hair brushing against my shoulder.

Kenneth’s lips were suddenly at my ear.

His voice, serious and almost sinister, planted seeds of doubt like a devil whispering temptations.

“He sees you as nothing more than a tool.”