Chapter 62

Berman Pasis looked down at the book that had fallen beside Edelis with a blank expression.

‘What on earth is so important about this?’

He tapped the cover of the book, which had fallen on the dusty floor, to brush the dust off, and then put it in his pocket. His top priority was to get out of here before anyone found them. With that thought, Berman Pasis hoisted Edelis onto his shoulder like a sack of luggage and left the confined palace. He knew the imperial palace’s secret passages very well and moved to the nearest, most inconspicuous location.

“I never thought I’d have to use this like this.”

Berman Pasis made a wry smile, remembering the first time he had been told about the secret passages. Stepping into the maze-like passage, Berman walked with confident strides. His steps were as familiar as if he had been here many times before. After walking a little, he found a cloak and some food that he had hidden long ago. The food was covered in mold and didn’t look edible. Berman only took the cloak and put it over Edelis before carrying her to a shabby house on the outskirts of the capital.

“Ugh…”

How much time had passed? Edelis opened her eyes, shivering from the cold. She looked around, but there was no window, so it was completely dark. The only things present were a lantern and Sir Pasis sitting on a chair next to it.

“You’re awake.”

Sir Pasis spoke in a monotonous voice. Edelis tried to sit up and realized her wrists and ankles were tied.

“Sir Pasis, you do know what you’ve done, don’t you?”

“This is not something one can do without knowing the consequences.”

Sir Pasis spoke as if he had already braced himself. Kidnapping a member of the royal family was a serious crime, punishable by death. But Edelis couldn’t believe Sir Pasis would do this. She thought there must be a reason. In the book, he had protected her until the end, preventing her from being confined to the palace.

“Is there a reason for this?”

“…”

Sir Pasis’s expression twisted. Edelis thought, ‘There must be something wrong.’ There was no other reason he would do this.

‘The book and reality have changed, so of course it’s possible that things changed for the worse for me. I never even considered it.’

She had been so focused on things changing for the better. She had assumed it would turn out well because she had tried to make it that way. She wiggled her body and finally managed to sit up. It was better than lying down, but she shivered from the cold rising from the floor. The weather wasn’t cold enough to feel like this, so she assumed she was in an underground cellar.

“Are you being blackmailed?”

If Sir Pasis was being blackmailed, Edelis was willing to help him no matter what. If he had a weakness, she was fully prepared to cover for him. Whatever his weakness was, it wouldn’t be more important to her than her own life. But Sir Pasis scoffed and walked toward Edelis.

“What could anyone blackmail me with?”

As the sturdy knight Sir Pasis stood over her, who was crouching on the floor, a shadow fell over her. An unfamiliar sense of intimidation made her body shrink back even more.

“S-Sir Pasis?”

“Who’s the one who made it so that I have nothing left?!”

A furious Berman Pasis yelled and kicked, and Edelis fell back to the floor. The pain in her kicked shoulder was so sharp that she couldn’t even pay attention to the coldness of the floor.

“Ugh!”

“What else could anyone blackmail me with!”

The spot where she was hit hurt so much she wanted to cover it with her hand, but her hands were tied. Tears streamed down her face. Berman Pasis crouched down in front of her and grabbed her by the hair. He looked Edelis straight in the eye, his jaw clenched from the pain, and spoke.

“So just wait quietly. Don’t open your mouth again.”

“Berman Pasis, was this why you protected me? Was it all just for this, that you risked your life to save me?”

She wanted to scold him, asking why he didn’t just leave her alone when she was attacked near the slums if this was his plan, and why he had given her hope just to do this. The sense of betrayal was even greater because she had thought he was someone who liked her.

“I never intended to risk my life to save you.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“Because I knew they weren’t going to kill me. If they had killed me, they wouldn’t have been able to get their commission fee.”

“Are you saying… you hired them? I heard they were the remnants of the former Emperor’s faction?”

“It doesn’t feel good being lumped in with guys like that. Our interests just happened to align.”

Berman Pasis violently threw Edelis’s hair as if he had touched something dirty. She almost hit her head on the floor but managed to avoid injury.

“I don’t understand at all.”

She was genuinely impressed by Berman Pasis, who had hidden his true personality and his anger toward her, and even acted as if he was fond of her. His acting was chilling. And she had just learned that Berman Pasis had been working with the remnants of the former Emperor’s faction. She knew that Berman Pasis had been a knight in the Imperial Knights even before Lehan’s ascension. But she had heard that most of the Imperial Knights had turned their backs on the former Emperor when Lehan staged his rebellion. And the small minority who had remained loyal to the former Emperor were all executed after the coup was settled. So how could Berman Pasis have been with the remnants of the former Emperor’s faction?

“I don’t really want to explain, but if you answer one question, I’ll tell you.”

“What question?”

“What is this book?”

“…”

“If you don’t answer, I have no intention of talking either.”

Saying that, Berman Pasis held up the book and riffled through the pages. Seeing that he wasn’t reading the contents, it was clear that he, too, couldn’t see them.

“Why the book?”

“Isn’t it my turn to ask the questions?”

“…It’s the book the Saintess is looking for.”

“I know that. Anyone who saw her yesterday would know.”

Edelis bit her tongue. She had no idea how much she should tell him.

“It’s… I know it’s a book that can show the future.”

“But there’s nothing written in it?”

“I think there must be some specific condition for it to work.”

“So, can you see it too?”

Despite everything, she was still an Empress. And yet he was addressing her so informally.

‘I guess he’s really decided to go all out.’

Her bigger concern was what to answer. She couldn’t say she couldn’t see it. He had seen her open and close the book a few times. And he had seen her stare at the open book, so he must know she could read it.

“Only some parts.”

“…If only I could have seen it too.”

“Huh?”

Berman Pasis muttered something so quietly that Edelis couldn’t properly hear him. But his sad, muttering expression only lasted for a moment before he returned to his frighteningly stern face. He looked even more rigid than before.

“What was in it?”

“You don’t expect to hear about the future without giving anything in return, do you?”

Berman Pasis seemed to ponder for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“…What do you think a marquis’s illegitimate child can do?”

***

Berman Pasis was one of the many illegitimate children of Marquis Pasis. Marquis Pasis was a prominent official of the Emperor’s faction and had many mistresses, and Berman was just a relic of that. Naturally, he was not permitted to bear the name ‘Pasis.’ As such, his mother’s hopes of making a fortune by giving birth to Marquis Pasis’s child were completely dashed.

“I wish I had never given birth to you!”

That was the phrase he heard most often from his mother. But fortunately, he had a talent for swordsmanship, and with his mother’s endless efforts, he was eventually allowed to use the name Pasis and enter the marquis’s household. Since an illegitimate child could not become an heir, he became even more dedicated to the sword. And from there, he ran away to join the Imperial Knights.

“This is a token of my loyalty.”

Marquis Pasis brazenly presented Berman’s skill as a sign of his loyalty. But Berman didn’t care. He was just glad he could learn from a swordsmanship master thanks to the marquis. However, life wasn’t easy even after he joined the Knights. Everyone else was a legitimate child, so there was no place for an illegitimate child like him. Even the son of a viscount, though he didn’t say it out loud, would subtly ignore him.

‘Just a bastard-.’

It felt as if he could hear them saying it. And the task assigned to him was to serve the Princess, a famously difficult lady who had already gone through several knights. The Princess would give her knights petty tasks to chase them away. It would probably be the same this time. Everyone thought so and sent Berman to her. Serving a royal was a far cry from a knight’s duty, but the Princess still needed a guard.

“Is it your turn now?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“I don’t like that you’re apologizing when you’ve done nothing wrong.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re doing it again.”

It was true that he felt rebellious, thinking, ‘What am I, an illegitimate child, supposed to do against a royal?’ But he couldn’t say anything to a royal. When he was with the Princess, he had no time to train because he was busy with her mundane errands. When he returned, he was tormented by the other knights, living a hellish existence every day.

“What’s this?”

While he was meaninglessly moving flowerpots at the Princess’s command, she grabbed him by the wrist. When he had raised his arm to lift a pot, his sleeve had ridden up, revealing a bruise on his wrist.

“It’s nothing.”

“Anyone can see it’s from a sword.”

“It happened during training.”

“But you don’t have time to train, do you?”

“…”

“I’ll take care of it. Tell me.”

The Princess spoke with delight, as if she had found a fun toy. But in response to her reaction, Berman only shut his mouth.

“I’m quite fond of you, so I’ll help.”

“…I’m fine.”

“You won’t regret it?”

“No.”

“Then that’s that.”

The Princess returned to the sofa she had been on, looking bored. But that night, when he was being tormented by the other knights as usual, she appeared.

“An illegitimate child is a part of the Imperial Knights.”

As he braced himself for the pain that was about to come, listening to the same words he heard every day.

“Isn’t an illegitimate child the bloodline of someone who isn’t the main wife?”

“P-Princess?!”

“Answer me.”

“Y-Yes, that’s right.”

“Then what do you see me as, standing right in front of you?”

“You are… the Princess.”

“As the daughter of a concubine and not the Empress, am I not also an illegitimate child?”

“Your Highness! How can you say such a thing!”

“If you are not insulting me by calling me an illegitimate child, how can you explain this behavior of attacking my guard?”

“Your Highness! That’s not it at all!”

“To disrespect me, one of the Emperor’s own bloodline… I wonder what my brother, the First Prince, would say if he heard this.”

The knight’s face turned pale, and his hands trembled, dropping the sword he was holding to the floor.

“Then I should probably go to my brother now, to avoid being rude by visiting so late at night.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the knight grabbed the hem of her skirt and prostrated himself, begging for forgiveness.

“Your Highness! I would never think such a thing!”

“How would I know that? My brother will be the judge of that.”

“Your Highness, please! I was shortsighted and didn’t think it through. Please, just give me one chance…”

“A chance?”

“Yes, Your Highness. Please.”

“Then I will not speak to my brother.”

“Th-Thank you, Your Highness!”

“But separate from that, shouldn’t you be held accountable for your actions?”

“…Y-Yes.”

“Hmm, I can’t put you in prison.”

If he were imprisoned by the Princess, his life as a knight would be over. After being killed by the Prince himself, the next worst thing was the end of his life as a knight. He would do anything to avoid that. As the second son of a low-ranking viscount family who couldn’t inherit the title, he would be no better than a commoner if he were kicked out of the knight order. He begged for any other punishment, thinking it would be better than this, and the Princess curled the corner of her lips into a smile.

“I should punish you myself, but my frail wrist would likely give out before I could punish you properly.”

“Th-Then…?”

“Berman Pasis, you do the punishing yourself.”