Valerie is not a child of the present.
She had grappled for a long time with whether she could reveal this fact before finally confiding in Franz. Throughout the story, Franz remained unresponsive, not revealing what he was thinking.
He simply stared intently at my face as I spoke, perhaps believing that looking deeply into my eyes would reveal whether I was lying or not.
So, whether he understood my true feelings, I couldn’t tell.
“Um, excuse me. Where has His Grace the Duke gone?”
The lonely, small room felt no different from a prison without bars. The stone floor here was much rougher than the castle made of stones that seemed haphazardly piled up.
The uneven stones made the chair I was sitting on wobble constantly. Standing seemed better than sitting in that moment.
However, tied to the chair’s backrest, I couldn’t get up at will.
While I waited and waited for Franz to return with some clarifying answer, there was no word from him.
Eventually, I gave up quietly waiting and spoke to the guard standing at the entrance.
“When will he return?”
Silence. I didn’t expect an easy answer, but as I thought, the guard didn’t even glance my way. Staring into the void, he seemed as unyielding as a wall.
“Please tell His Grace that I have something to say.”
The guard was so unmoved by my words that I began to wonder if he had a hearing problem.
“Um… can you not hear…?”
Even that received no response. It seemed I had to abandon the hope of communicating with the guard. Alone and tightly bound here, all I could do was wait for Franz or think.
At least I was relieved he hadn’t completely silenced me. I could still speak when I wanted.
How long had I been sitting alone in thought? After a while, I noticed movements from the corridor beyond the door and lifted my head.
In the wooden door, which had a palm-sized hole at adult male eye level for surveillance, I could sense someone approaching.
Although I couldn’t see well, I curiously peered through the hole.
The footsteps echoing from afar grew remarkably closer. The odd rhythm suggested that there were not just one but multiple people approaching. Two? Or maybe three?
“Open the door.”
With a creak, the doorman moved as soon as someone’s command echoed down the hallway. When I called out, he stood like a wall, unmoving…
“Drag him in and make him seat.”
“Yes.”
The door swung open, and someone with a cloth over their face was shoved inside by the doorman. Their hands were bound behind their back, and chains were attached to their legs.
They could walk but could never run away. The man who had pushed someone inside closed the door and disappeared again.
Despite hoping he might deliver Franz’s message, it seemed this was all they were here for.
The doorman pulled the masked man to a chair about three steps away. He released the bindings behind the man’s back but tightened them even more against the chair’s backrest.
“Stay quiet.”
Leaving a cold warning, the doorman removed the man’s mask and returned to his post. Without the cloth covering his face, breathing became easier, and the man in the chair shook his head violently. That person was…
“Minister Linke!”
It was Minister Linke from the Ministry of Magic.
He had been with us just a day or two ago, but I hadn’t seen him since Franz’s attack, making me extremely worried about whether he was alive or dead. Relief and anxiety hit me simultaneously.
“Are you okay?”
Linke slowly lifted his head at my call.
“Huk…”
No, he was not okay. Linke’s face was a mess. There was blood, possibly from a head injury, that flowed down from the top of his head, along the right temple, and dripped beneath his cheek. His eyelids were swollen with tiny cuts and bruises.
The other eyelid was less swollen, allowing movement, but the cornea stained with blood was glaringly red. It was clear he was in a bad state.
“Oh my, how could someone do this?”
Was this injury from when the carriage exploded? If so, it meant Linke had been bleeding for three days without proper medical treatment. If he had never clot, the blood loss must be substantial.
“Minister Linke. Are you okay? I can recognize you.”
Linke slowly nodded his head. Even that seemed to be too much effort, as his head, which had already drooped down, continued to tilt further downward for a while longer.
***
A way to resolve the mistake. Laila was determined to do anything if such a thing truly existed. Above all, she could not forgive herself for committing such an unscrupulous act of betraying her benefactor.
Perhaps for Laila, the disappointment in herself was far more unbearable than the regret toward Pulcheria.
She wasn’t born out of blessings from many people, nor did she grow up in someone’s affection, yet Laila had believed and prided herself on being a somewhat good person.
Pulcheria, the sister of the former emperor, was the one she held closest and cherished. The pride that such a description brought her seemed far more substantial than she had thought.
Now, with that pride and self-esteem gone, what was most unbearable for Laila was the fact that she did not live up to her own expectations.
Tears flowed endlessly over the truth she didn’t want to acknowledge, suddenly stopping like a lie at Pulcheria’s words.
“Can I be forgiven, or turn back time…?”
“I believe your desire to turn back time is sincere, Laila.”
“Yes, it’s true, dear lady! Truly, if only I could turn back time…”
“If you could turn back time, do you think your choices would change?”
“Of course, dear lady.”
“It sounds like you’re saying you would choose me over pushing aside the one you love.”
“The person I love most in the world is you, dear lady. The grand duke… the prince…”
Laila’s face twisted painfully, unable to finish her sentence.
Even while wishing to turn back time to set everything right, she doubted whether she could truly push Franz away if she returned to the past.
Part of her heart still held faith in Franz. Recognizing Laila’s inner turmoil, Pulcheria sighed deeply.
“Do you know what one of the most untrustworthy, forbidden things in the world is?”
“…….”
“It’s the words of a man whispering love. A man can easily feign love when he has a clear objective. Acting as if he loves while not truly loving. He’s skilled at it.”
“…….”
“All men are like that. Of course, there might be one or two who are not, but at least Franz is not one of them. That guy…”
I wanted to answer no. A compelling desire to refute Pulcheria’s words surged within me, but Laila wasn’t foolish enough to express it here.
“I think you know where his gaze is directed.”
“What… do you mean?”
“Look at what he’s done. Even just looking at the fragmented facts, can’t you see who he really wants?”
“I… I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Oh dear, foolish Laila. The woman he truly desires isn’t you. It’s Celeste Aisha Louisette, now known as Duchess Louisette.”
“That’s not true, ma’am. I think there’s a misunderstanding. While Her Highness the Duchess has been involved in those… terrible rumors with His Highness Toskur in the past, they’re all baseless gossip, ma’am. His Highness Toskur himself has said so…”
“He also whispered that he loves you?”
Laila bit her lip. No matter what she said, she couldn’t peel away the bias clouding Pulcheria’s eyes.
“Just look at what has happened, Laila. Then the truth will become clear. Franz approached you, seduced you, whispering love while gathering information about Karl and the Duchess. And what happened? If the love he whispered to you was genuine and real, shouldn’t he be by your side now? But who is he with?”
Seeing the wretched scene before her yet continuing to deny it with closed eyes drove Laila’s frustration and pity to the brink. Pulcheria’s admonishments pierced Laila’s heart painfully.
“The throne he coveted so much, the vote to decide that is tomorrow. Yet, at this crucial time, he left to somewhere, exposing my weaknesses to get his hands on Duchess Louisette. After seeing this, do you still believe his whispered love for you is real? If so, I have nothing more to say to you.”
If he truly loved me, he should be by my side. That single line cut sharper than anything Pulcheria had said, piercing Laila’s heart.
If he loved me, he should be here with me… a shocking yet almost painfully obvious truth.
