“Yes….”
“She said that the next day a group of people with swords attacked the circus troupe and killed everyone present.”
“How could that be….”
I looked at Aiden in amazement when I learned that something more brutal and horrifying had happened than I had imagined.
“But how did he know that? How did you survive the circus?”
“He said that he escaped anger by sneaking out for a while to play outside the barracks that day. The moment he reached the circus barracks, he was startled by the screams of the people, so he hid and watched the whole tragedy.”
“You really didn’t even look like a human…!”
Anger rose from the battle at the unbelievable cruelty.
“But if that had happened, there would have been a lot of talk. Because so many people died in one place in one moment.”
“So they say they started the fire on purpose after killing people. So my brother….”
Aiden contorted his face as if he could no longer speak.
I patted him on the cheek and told him not to talk anymore.
But who the hell would do that….
No
There was only one person who would do this.
Duke of Bayern.
It was clear that after he took Aiden, he even killed some people to bury everything.
After a while, Aiden seemed to have calmed down and his expression improved.
But seeing him like that made me very sad.
I was so angry and sorry for why this person had to go through this.
“The person who did that probably….”
It was so horrible and disgusting that I didn’t even want to mention the name.
But Aiden nodded cautiously as if he had noticed my words.
“It was said that the swords of those who slaughtered the circus troupe had a family crest engraved on them. It was a sentence in the shape of a unicorn.”
If it was the shape of a unicorn, the person I thought was right.
“How many people have you killed just to silence them? really ha….”
As the anger that arose earlier slowly ate away at his body and mind, his hands trembled on their own.
I quickly lowered my hand from Aiden’s cheek and tried to clench my fist.
But Aiden was quicker to grab my hand.
Then he took my hand and stroked the back of my hand.
“Calm down.”
“How can you calm down, ha….”
Feeling ashamed for the moment that the person concerned comforted me, I shut my mouth and let out a sigh.
Yeah, you need to calm down.
Calm down and think properly about what to do.
We must never forgive the culprit who did all this.
You have to expose everything in the world and make them pay for their sins no matter what.
“I can never forgive you.”
I hardened my expression and spoke to Aiden in a firm voice.
“I have no intention of forgiving either.”
It was fortunate.
I was worried that Aiden might weaken his heart, but he had the same thoughts as me.
“I will make him pay for all the sins he has committed so far.”
Not just Aiden’s work, but mine, and maybe someone else’s. I pledged in front of him that I would risk my all and go to the end.
I held Aiden back in my arms.
If I could be a consolation to him, if his heart could find peace even for a second.
* * *
After talking with Aiden, we went back into the banquet hall separately.
It might raise suspicions because he had been away for quite a while, but there were too many people in the banquet hall for that reason.
So I was able to tell my parents who were looking for me that I had come to the wind.
After the banquet, my parents and I were on our way home in a carriage.
“Now tell me.”
And my father didn’t miss the time and brought out what he had been wanting to ask me for a while.
“It was really no big deal, Dad.”
“So, what was the matter that the two of them went missing together?”
I knew my father wouldn’t just let it go.
That’s why I kept rolling my head over and over again whenever I had a chance.
‘It should be understandable, but it should be something that can be taken lightly.’
“I heard that there was a banquet held at Agger Castle that day, is that correct?”
“Yes that’s right.”
“I can’t understand why you went out on the day of the banquet. And with Aiden Byrne!”
At the word bayon, my father started to get excited again.
“Honey, calm down. Belita is talking.”
“Kuhm, I get it.”
Mother managed to calm him down.
I looked at the scene and organized my thoughts in my head for a while, then calmly opened my mouth.
“Prince Baien didn’t come to the banquet, so I went to his room, but he said he would go outside for a while instead of the banquet. So I asked why, and he said that he was a little worried about the movement outside, so he had to check it out and come back.”
“Dynamic outside?”
“Yes, he drove out all the monsters, but he said he went there because there was something a little suspicious.”
“Are you suspicious?”
“I thought I could hear their cries. So I watched him go, but I was afraid to send him alone, so I followed him.”
“Why did you follow that! Aren’t you the Confucius of the Baian family?”
To be precise, Aiden is not from the Bayern family, but it was still too early to tell his parents about Aiden.
I had to look for a more opportune time.
So I came up with an answer that my father could understand.
“Father, the North was a battlefield. Except for the monsters, the people there are all my companions. I just followed it out of concern for my comrades.”
“Kuhm!”
Then my father cleared his throat, not hiding his embarrassment.
I continued talking.
“Fortunately, no one was there when we went. So I was going to come back, but I was stranded because of heavy snow. And I waited for the heavy snowfall to stop rather than move hastily.”
I’m not familiar with lying, but the words came out easily, probably because I thought I had to fool my parents.
Everything would be fine if I tricked my parents well here.
Unless Clayton doesn’t tell anyone about the day because he and Aiden have already kissed.
Of course, since we’ve already cracked down on Clayton, we probably won’t have any problems with this in the future.
My father suddenly stared at me.
It was as if he saw through to see if my words were true.
I met my father’s eyes with a confident gaze without avoiding them.
“Now that I’ve returned safely, I won’t say anything more. But you will have to be careful with your actions in the future.”
“All right. I, father, but maybe the necklace that the Duke of Bayon put on the Duke of Luden?”
“Necklace?”
“Yes, a necklace imbued with iron power. Father said that he suppressed Duke Luden’s power with that.”
“It did.”
“Can that necklace do anything other than suppress power? For example, controlling a person’s mind or body.”
I already knew it through Aiden and Owen Est, but I wondered how much my father knew about the necklace.
“You control a person’s mind or body?”
“Yes, so is there any possibility that the duke used that necklace to frame the Luden family?”
“By using the necklace? Why do you think so?”
“That is…It’s a sudden thought. I think that necklace is not just an ordinary necklace.”
I quickly responded to my father’s reaction as if I was hearing it for the first time, hiding my embarrassment.
“Hmm, it’s definitely a possibility, but I’ve never heard of such a necklace.”
“Ah, is that so?”
“Have you ever heard of it?”
“No. I’ve never heard of it either.”
Looking at her mother’s expression, it seemed that she, like her father, did not know much about necklaces.
“But my father said the other day that necklace doesn’t work with people in my family. How did you come to know that?”
“I didn’t know that myself, but my father told me. Even before I was born, the Bayern family and our family didn’t get along, so fights between the families often broke out.”
“Okay.”
“By the way, your story is quite plausible. There are some suspicious parts, so I will look into that matter separately.”
“Are you suspicious?”
“It wasn’t just one thing to point out, but there were a lot of things that were suspicious about the iron family.”
“Ah yes. All right. I will try to find out separately.”
“Always be careful.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Especially the Bayern family…Keep your distance from Aiden Bayern.”
“Yes? Ah yes.”
When asked to keep my distance from Aiden, I replied that I knew.
It would have been solved if I knew the whole truth anyway.
While I was talking with my parents, a carriage arrived in front of the mansion.
I said goodbye to my parents and went straight up to my room.
Then, after washing and getting ready for bed, biting everyone, lying on the bed, he recalled the conversation he had with Aiden today.
‘Aiden….’
When I think about it, my heart is pounding, but my heart is pounding.
‘I’ve got to do it properly, once and for all.’ Never give your opponent a chance to escape.
Only then will Aiden find true freedom.
For him and for me.
Anyway, my father and mother didn’t know about the necklace….
If so, doesn’t that mean that no one knows what the Duke of Bayon may have done with the necklace?
‘I will definitely reveal everything.’
With that promise, I went to sleep for tomorrow.
From the next day, I went around busily to get various information.
But there was no such great harvest.
But it was a few days later.
My father, who had been to the regular meeting of nobles at the imperial palace, returned home with a lot of anger.
“Belita!”
He kept calling my name and looking for me, so I hurried down to the hall.
My mother was also in the hall.
“Father, what are you doing?”
“Honey, what’s going on?”
The father’s face was grimly contorted.
‘Did something happen at the meeting?’
“I have something to tell you, so come with me! Come with me too.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Yes, honey.”
The atmosphere was not serious, so I quietly followed my father with my mother.
After a while, the place where my father arrived was the office.
“Honey, what’s going on?”
The father’s expression was so bad that the mother also had a hard time maintaining her composure.
Uncharacteristically for her, her mother looked at her father and opened her mouth as she was afraid to sit down on the sofa.
“I am the Duke of Bayern…!”
“Honey, what is it? Did the Duke of Bayern mess with you again?”
It seemed that he quarreled with the Duke of Bayern again at the meeting.
And as my mother said, it always happened, so my father used to curse at the Duke of Bayern after going to and from meetings.
But today, something was definitely different.
‘What’s going on?’
I waited silently for my father to open his mouth.
“The Duke of Bayern asked me to reinvestigate the carriage case.”
“The carriage case?”
“Yes. And they openly pointed you as the culprit.”
Under….
I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“Are you pointing out Belita?”
“You named me? You mean I was the one who planted the firebombs on the wagon?”
“Yes. They said they wanted to interrogate you.”
“How…!”
The mother staggered slightly, probably in shock.
“Mother!”
“Okay, it’s okay…. I’m fine, Belita.”
“If it is an interrogation, in what format?”
“You don’t have to wonder about that! You will never be interrogated.”
Said the father in a fit of rage.
“I will protect you. Surely me! This Duke Heights will risk his life to protect it!”
When I heard that my father risked his life to protect me, I was momentarily moved and my eyes moistened.
‘No. Now is not the time to get caught up in these feelings.’
I collected my emotions and focused my mind straight.
In a way, this was a golden opportunity that will never come again.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment to expose the Bayern family and the Duke of Bayern’s disgusting deeds.
“I fully understand how my father wants to protect me. But I’m also not stupid enough to cover up what I didn’t do. Why do you say I’m guilty? Did you say you have evidence?”
I stared at my parents with calm, composed eyes.
Then my father, who had been very excited by my attitude, instantly became quiet.
And with his unique sharp and sharp eyes, he made eye contact with me.
“There was no such thing, but I reluctantly asked to interrogate you. The investigation team’s mansion also said you were like that. It’s ridiculous. You weren’t even in the capital then! I wanted to kill him on the spot.”
I couldn’t believe it, but as expected, you were trying to put the blame on me for setting fire to the investigation team’s mansion.
How could he be so shameless and unscrupulous?
“It’s really too much. You accuse Belita of being the culprit without any evidence or witnesses!”
The mother’s voice rose greatly.
It was something I rarely see, so I could see how angry she was now.
“Father, mother, calm down.”
I calmed them down first, then chose my words, then opened my mouth again.
“I want to be interrogated.”
“What?”
“Belita!”
When I said that I was going to be interrogated, my parents’ faces were startled and colored with shock.
“Why do you want to be interrogated! Absolutely not. Absolutely not!”
“Yes, Belita. Never think like that.”
“No, if I refuse to be interrogated, the Bayern family will continue to doubt and pressure me. I am innocent. That is why I will prove that I am innocent.”
“How do you prove it?”
“I have an idea. So trust me, father and mother.”
“Can’t you tell us?”
“It’s not like that, but I’ll tell you everything after everything is over.”
I couldn’t tell my parents right now because this matter also involved Aiden.
So I persuaded them with an apologetic heart.
“I get it. I believe in you. And don’t forget that we are always behind you.”
“Of course I know. I know that I have parents who support and believe in me.”
I smiled brightly at my parents.
The interrogation date for the carriage case was set back a week.
So from the next day, I was busy without a bird to open my eyes. I have already figured out what to do with my problem.
Rather than that, I was busy collecting other evidence that could drive the Duke of Bayern to the end.
Among them, the first thing that came to mind was the Luden family.
I thought about it even then, but something was suspicious about the Luden family.
It was so strange that the right witness and evidence, and a duke at the top of the empire, could not be stopped and ruined in an instant. ‘I’ll have to meet Clayton first.’
Thinking of meeting him and asking him more details, I headed for the prison at the end of the capital where he was being held.
Fortunately, meeting Clayton was not difficult.
I gave a few gold coins to the knight guarding the prison, and he let me enter the prison.
Entering the dungeon, a musty smell stung my nose.
I cautiously went inside and found Clayton.
He was sitting quietly in the far corner of the prison, and when he saw me, he jumped up from his seat and came closer to the bars.
“Princess!”
“Duke….”
I called Clayton and quickly examined his condition from head to toe.
His condition was not too bad, perhaps because he was tortured or not able to eat.
That fact calmed me down for a moment.
“It’s not the duke. It doesn’t even matter. How did you come to this unpleasant place?”
“I’m here to see the Duke.”
“…me?”
“Yes, how are you feeling?”
“It’s okay.”
“What a relief. Do you have any discomfort?”
“Yes, it deserves it.”
“….”
I knew I was pretending to be okay because I was worried.
But I couldn’t get him out of here right away, so I said nothing more.
I moved closer to him.
But wait.
The moment I faced him closely, I saw a long, thin metal glistening around his neck.
It was similar to the necklace Aiden and Owen Est were wearing.
“Necklace….”
When I mentioned the necklace, he immediately started explaining it to me.
“As soon as I was imprisoned, I was put on a collar by the Duke of Bayern. They say this necklace neutralizes my powers. So I can’t use my strength at all now.”
“…i know.”
“You know?”
“Yes, I know that it is a necklace imbued with iron power. Wait a minute.” “Yes?”
“This close.”
I beckoned him to come closer.
Then she reached through the bars and put her hand on his neck.
“Princess?”
Without answering, I quickly blew my power into the necklace.
After a while, as usual, the color of the necklace changed.
It’s underground, so it’s dark, so you can tell by looking closely.
‘Phew….’
I let out a sigh of relief and stepped back slightly.
“That’s Okay. Would you like to use a little bit of force?”
“Yes?”
“I disabled the necklace.”
“That is…Is it possible?”
“Try it.”
I smiled and told him to try his best.
Clayton squeezed his hand with an expression of unsure of what it was.
Then the wind picked up a little.
“Uh?”
“That’s all right.”
“What happened?”
“I suppressed the power of iron with the power of fire. That’s why they say that necklace doesn’t work on people in my family.”
“Ah….”
Clayton nodded, apparently understanding.
“But to avoid arousing suspicion, keep wearing the necklace. Did you know?”
“All right.”
“It’s probably dark here, so if you keep wearing the necklace, you won’t notice.”
He nodded again at my words.
“Thank you.”
“No. If anything happens, you have to get out of there.”
By any chance, the Duke of Byron could have been tricked and tried to harm Clayton.
“What happened?”
“No, not yet.”
“Not yet?”
Instead of answering, I opened my mouth right away, citing the purpose of visiting him.
“Actually, I came to see the Duke because I was curious.”
“Any questions?”
“Yes, but….”
I was sorry for reminding him of his painful memories, so I couldn’t say anything easily.
“Something? You can ask without hesitation.”
When I showed hesitation, Clayton put me at ease with a gentle smile.
Thanks to that, I continued to speak.
“That night, when the Duke and the Duchess were being chased….”
As expected, the smile disappeared and his face hardened in an instant, probably because it was a painful memory for him. “Sorry. I guess-.”
“No. It’s okay. So go ahead.”
But the words did not come easily.
So I disabled the necklace and I was just about to keep my mouth shut, making up my mind that it would be okay to leave today, and Clayton spoke to me.
“Princess, I’m fine. I know that the princess is not bringing this up to cause me pain. So I want to hear what you have to say.”
After he said this, I thought it would be impossible to just leave here.
‘Yeah, like Clayton said, I’m not trying to hurt him.’
I’m here to help him.
Thinking so, I made up my mind again, and after making up my mind, I looked at him and opened my mouth.
“Then I will tell you.”
“Yes.”
“The Duke said that day that the butler had been chasing the Duchess.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Have you noticed anything strange about the butler?”
“You mean something strange?”
“Yes, did you have a necklace around your neck like the duke?”
“Necklace….”
Clayton thought for a moment at my words.
I waited silently in front of him until he opened his mouth.
“Well…I do not know.”
“Ah….”
“It was a very dark night and it was raining so I didn’t notice if I was wearing a necklace.”
“…Probably so.”
“But why are you asking about the necklace?”
“That is….”
“Do you think I was wearing a necklace containing iron power? But the butler is powerless….”
I had anticipated the question he would ask me about the necklace.
I immediately took a step closer to him.
And I spoke to him with my voice as low as possible, as if I was telling a secret story.
“It’s not yet certain, but if the necklace has power, it can control our powers, but it can also manipulate people. You said that the butler’s attitude was a completely different person that day. That’s why the Duchess must have felt betrayed too. That’s why I asked if I was being manipulated by someone.”
I had already heard about the use of necklaces through Aiden.
But since I couldn’t talk about Aiden, I answered with the meaning that I had heard it somewhere.
“A necklace can control people’s minds?”
“Yeah, I just heard that there is such a thing. That’s why I came to see the Duke because I was wondering if the butler was wearing a necklace.”
“Yes…That’s right.”
“Where the butler is now…Don’t you know?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Then I will look for him.”
“You mean the butler?”
“Yes, is there anything else you want to tell me? I want the duke to get out of here as soon as possible. That’s why I want to do everything I can. And to do that, we need to know more.”
“…Is it for me?”
“Sure.”
I looked at him and smiled softly.
“Then could you take a trip somewhere instead of me?”
“Ah yes. Great. But where is it?”
“It is….”
Clayton gave me detailed directions on where to go.
I listened carefully to his words, trying to remember everything.
And as soon as I got out of prison, I went back to the mansion and prepared to leave.
The place Clayton told me was a place that could only be reached after a full day and a half from the capital.
It would take at least two days to get back and forth, so I had to leave quickly to get back before interrogation day.
It was a place only Clayton and the Duchess knew.
Because it was a very secret place, I couldn’t bring many escorts.
I decided to take only one of the most reliable knights in my family.
It was William.
William was the one who taught Clayton himself while traveling when he was Ryan.
As Lian grew up, he was the one who looked at Lian with a proud and proud gaze.
So he could be trusted unconditionally.
“My lady, I am ready.”
The morning sun had just risen and the dark world was slowly getting brighter.
The sight felt somehow new, and I was standing in front of the mansion looking up at the sky when William approached with two horses.
The road we had to go on was pretty rough.
In addition, time was the life, so it was better to move by horse than by carriage.
“Okay, let’s start right away.”
“Is it really okay for me to be an escort knight?”
William asked with a worried face.
“It’s a bit far, but it won’t be a big deal since I’m just bringing things.”
“…I understand, lady.”
Even so, William’s face was still stiff, perhaps not so relieved.
I smiled lightly at him and got on my horse, Porta.
“Let’s go, Porta.”
I set off on horseback, and William followed immediately after me.
After leaving the mansion, we ran without saying a word.
Except for a short break in the middle to give the horse a rest, it was constantly moving to reach its destination.
As the day got dark, we arrived at the foot of the mountain Clayton had mentioned.
“My lady, would you like to come back tomorrow? The days are getting darker. It would be too dangerous to climb the mountain now.”
“Well, I hope so, but I don’t have much time, so I have to finish my work and go back to the capital.”
Despite William’s refusal, I rode into the mountain on horseback.
Then, when we reached the point where we could no longer go, we tied our horses to trees and went up the mountain on foot.
“I think it was around here….”
As Clayton had explained, he found a large tree.
The tree he mentioned was not too far from the entrance, so it was easy to find.
I lit a fire in the palm of my hand, shining brightly in all directions.
Then something caught my eye.
I could see a stake someone had artificially driven under the tree.
I took ten steps eastward from the stake.
Then he turned to the left and took five steps south.
‘I think this is it.’
I did exactly what Clayton taught me, so this would be the place he said it was.
I lowered my head for a moment and looked at the floor.
Then he stepped aside and started digging up the soil.
“Miss! I will do it!”
William approached me, frightened by my actions.
“Let’s do it together. So it goes down quickly.”
“All right.”
We dug up the ground together.
And when I dug pretty deep, something caught.
It was a wooden box.
“Found.”
I quickly pulled out a wooden box buried in the dirt.
Then, after shaking off the dirt from the box, he opened the box.
Inside was a small pouch made of cloth.
I opened the pouch and carefully poured what was inside into my palm.
It was a ring with a transparent egg embedded in it, different from our family’s.
“It is a ring.”
“Yes, it belongs to the Luden family.”
‘Uh?’
After confirming that the ring was there, I tried to put the ring back in my pocket, but something touched it in the pocket.
‘What?’
“Why is that?”
“It looks like there’s something else inside.”
As I spoke to William, I put my hand in my pocket.
I grabbed something like paper in my hand and pulled it out.
I put on a puzzled expression and quickly unfolded the folded paper.
Then he lightly lit it with his finger to see what it was.
‘Isn’t that a letter?’
It was also a letter left by the Duchess of Luden.
‘I have to go to Clayton quickly.’
As soon as I read the letter, the thought of going and delivering it to him took over my mind.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
After putting the ring and letter in my pocket, I came down from the mountain.
And I changed my original plan to stay overnight in a nearby village and headed straight to the capital.
“Sir, I’m sorry. But I feel like I need to tell the duke right now.”
“It’s okay. More than that, is the lady okay?”
“I’m fine.”
I said sorry to William, who was riding next to me.
“The road is dark, so be careful.”
“Okay.”
So we rode through the night and arrived at the capital at dawn.
As soon as I got home, I mounted my horse and headed for Clayton’s prison.
I was very tired because I had been moving since dawn yesterday and couldn’t sleep for over a day.
But there was no time to rest.
I had to deliver this letter to him as quickly as possible.
Like the last time, I gave the gold coin to the knight guarding the prison and went underground.
When I got to Clayton’s, he was awake and sitting on the floor.
“Duke!”
I called Clayton and he turned his head to me.
“Princess? Are you already gone?”
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