It was a necklace dog that she couldn’t bear to watch any longer. If he kept talking nonsense just a little longer, she might jump in and strangle Byron.
But fortunately or not, Byron staggered to the bed and fell. Even though she was that drunk, she felt like she was capable of finding a bed on her own.
She hid there for a while to see if Byron was asleep, but he didn’t even move. It almost made her wonder if he was dead, not asleep.
Now all she had to do was sneak into the room. But unfortunately, the distance from this tree to the window was a bit far.
It was a distance where she felt like she could cling to the window frame if she ran as hard as she could, but there was a high chance that she would be too exposed. The noise would also be loud.
‘There must be another way…’
She looked around. At that moment, the moon, which had been hidden by clouds, was revealed again, and a relief sculpture was seen on the exterior wall of the building illuminated by the light.
She didn’t know what it symbolised, but if she could step on that sculpture, she would be able to sneak into the room much more safely.
‘Let me give it a try.’
Anyway, Byron was sleeping as if he were dead, and there was no security nearby. Deciding to give it a try, Ayla pushed her feet against the wall as hard as she could, stepping on the thick branches.
First of all, step 1 was a success. Ayla, who was safely hanging on the wall, carefully put her foot out towards her window frame.
‘done.’
Thump, thump. There were two small noises, but Byron, who was drunk and asleep, did not wake up from that loud noise. She hid behind the wall and glanced out the window, but the guards in the distance didn’t seem to notice.
Ayla was the first to reach his desk after successfully infiltrating the room.
It was the place where the letters she had longed to read were placed.
She glanced to see if Byron was still sleeping well and looked at the luxurious stationery with the red wax seal attached. It was fortunate that Byron had already read it, and there were tears in it.
She has thought deeply about his suggestion.
She also has the same desire to hunt down young lions that run wild.
However, she thinks she knows very well that it is not easy to hunt a lion while it is guarded by a huge white wolf.
Besides, she has already tried and failed to hunt an old lion before.
So, she will assume that he did not listen to her suggestion.
‘What does this mean…?’
Hunting a lion?
Byron was a man very distant from hunting. He hated physical exertion, and he always spent his time indoors.
The proof was that her skin had turned white from not being exposed to sunlight.
But Byron is a hunter.
It didn’t take much thinking to figure out right away that this didn’t mean hunting.
The other letters were similar in content to the first letter she read. It was full of content about hunting lions or wolves.
The handwriting was all different, and the patterns on the seals were all different, so it seemed like the letters were all sent by different people.
‘It would be nice if there were some other clues.’
After checking to see if Byron was sleeping well, she put the letters back in their proper place. Then she found a reply written by Byron on her desk.
She couldn’t tell if she hadn’t sealed it yet or if she didn’t like the reply and rewrote it on a different piece of paper, but it was a genius opportunity for her.
Ayla swallowed her saliva out of nervousness and looked at Byron’s reply.
I know enough to know what you are worried about.
That cheeky wolf is guarding the lion, so he must be scared.
But don’t worry. I have a very good hunting dog.
My faithful hound will soon destroy the white wolf.
So let’s join forces with me and hunt the lion.
P.s. I’m telling you because I think you’ve forgotten. I have proof that the Lord was with me all those years ago.
Ayla’s expression as she put down Byron’s letter was not very bright. It was because she was lost in her thoughts.
‘Byron’s hunting dog… ‘Do you mean me?’
Byron did raise dogs, but the dogs he raised were far from hunting dogs. This was because they were small, cute-looking puppies.
‘Of course, it’s me.’
She also likened herself to Byron’s hound.
If the hound means her, the ‘great white wolf’ written in the letter probably refers to Ayla’s father, Roderick Ellen Weishafen.
She felt like she was sweating.
Isn’t killing the head of the Weishafen duchy, the so-called guardian of this empire, just a step toward murdering someone else?
It was unclear exactly who the ‘young lion’ meant, but it meant that he was at least a duke or higher.
”What on earth is interesting?’
Ayla’s face was white, staring at the back of Byron, who was sleeping face down on the bed, for a long time.
Who is Daejo Byron to devise such a terrifying conspiracy?
Ayla, who was staring blankly at Byron with a chill down her spine, realised that too much time had passed and quickly left the room.
It was time to quickly go back to the attic.
* * *
Ayla, who returned to the attic, thought about the contents of the mysterious letter she had read before falling asleep.
Who exactly does ‘young lion’ refer to?
No, it could have meant something other than a person.
She thought that the huge white wolf guarding the lion was Rodrik, but perhaps it meant not Rodrik but the Duke of Weishafen itself.
In that case, the lion could also be a metaphor for a certain family or organisation.
‘If I had known it would be like this, I would have listened better in class.’
Ayla messed up her fine silver hair.
Two years as a princess After she completed her basic etiquette training, Rodrik attempted to educate her little by little as her successor.
He began teaching information about the history of the Peles Empire and duchy, the current state of the empire, and other major noble families.
But unfortunately, at the time, Ayla was so preoccupied with Byron’s plan that it was not far off and she could not pay any attention to other matters.
She didn’t just ignore the lecture, thinking she had no chance of becoming the heir to the dukedom.
Ayla, who had been wandering in her memories for a long time with her head spinning, was unable to even figure out the identity of the ‘young lion’ and had to fall asleep.
* * *
“My lord.”
Byron had barely fallen asleep after drinking late into the night and frowned when an unpleasant voice woke him up.
Everyone here probably knows how much he hates having someone wake him up before he can wake up on his own.
“My lord, “you should wake up and see.”
It was the voice of Cloud, Byron’s loyal shadow.
Cloud was not the type of person who would wake up a sound sleeper for anything.
Because he was well aware of that fact, he sat up in bed, even though he didn’t feel like it.
The sun had not yet risen, so the sky was dusky.
“Isn’t this time for her to train?” What are you doing here if you’re not directing?”
He said this, unable to hide his annoyance as his sleep was interrupted.
For most people, it was a lively time as the day was just beginning, but for Byron, it was still the middle of the night.
“I received urgent news, so I woke up my Lord, even though I knew it was rude. sorry.”
However, despite the owner’s annoyance, Cloud only spoke about his business in an urgent voice.
It’s urgent news. How on earth is the news so urgent that Cloud, who never goes against his wishes, does something like this?
“What on earth is going on?”
Just pretend it’s not a big deal. Byron thought about this and took a sip of the water on the nightstand. It was because his throat was burned from drinking too much last night.
“There is news that Lady Heiling is unwell.”
Healing, which is also Ayla’s middle name, was Ophelia’s original last name.
After becoming Duchess of Weishafen, that name remained only as a middle name.
However, in front of Byron, who was still full of regrets for Ophelia, the title ‘Duchess’ was a taboo word, and since it was impossible to call a person of high status by that name carelessly, Byron’s people called Ophelia that way.
Byron, who was fast drinking water, was so taken surprised by the shocking news that he coughed repeatedly.
“Well, what do you mean? “Tell me in detail.”
Byron was always easy-going, but he couldn’t be that way when it came to things related to Ophelia. Ophelia was that kind of person. She is the only person who always worries Byron and makes him impatient.
“This is news that hastily arrived from a source within the duke’s company. I don’t know the details, but it looks like she’s in serious condition. She suddenly collapsed and was unable to regain consciousness.”
Byron’s face became increasingly white as he listened to Cloud’s explanation.
