Chapter 90

“Didn’t Evan tell you? When you run away like that, it only makes me want to chase you.”

 

“……Crazy……”

 

I was genuinely horrified.

 

“For your information, Evan and I have promised to have our covenant ceremony as soon as this is finished. There is no room for you to intervene, Your Highness.”

 

“I thought I had a chance, though……. You accepted my invitation, and didn’t you help me?”

 

“That was your misunderstanding. It was all for my own benefit. You have no idea what I was just discussing with Count Delta, do you?”

 

“…….”

 

“As the head of the Grow Merchant Guild, I have struck a deal with the Count. Thanks to that, my guild’s warehouses will be expanding.”

 

I coldly erased Bastian’s delusions.

 

“I think I’m beginning to understand my mother’s heart.”

 

With those final words, Bastian vanished into the shadows. Why did he bring up the Empress all of a sudden? I felt a creeping sense of unease.

 

Bastian had backed off, but a bitter taste remained in my mouth. I rubbed my chin, trying to decipher the meaning behind his words. Why mention the Empress? ‘Understanding her heart’ sounded like an omen of something dark.

 

“You met Bastian, didn’t you?”

 

I nearly jumped out of my skin. Evan was waiting for me, leaning against the wall with a smiling face. How did he know I met Bastian, and why was he waiting here?!

 

“I was worried because your conversation seemed to be getting long. Did he say anything to you?”

 

“Uh…… well……. It was nothing special.”

 

“Liar. Your face is full of worry.”

 

Evan rubbed his thumb between my furrowed brows to smooth them out.

 

“Tsk. So he won’t give up even after all this? Lep, don’t be flustered tomorrow.”

 

‘Huh? What is he planning to do?’

 

 

***

 

 

“……Hasn’t the condition worsened?”

 

Since the Bellian seeds hadn’t sprouted yet, I was still staying at Count Delta’s estate. Naturally, Evan was right by my side.

 

The one who made that remark was Fedeshar. Count Delta was also watching with a dubious expression.

 

“No. It’s the same as usual.”

 

Evan flatly cut Fedeshar off. I remained silent.

 

From my room to the dining hall, everything had become an issue. My legs were perfectly fine, but under the pretext that my muscles were aching from farm work, he insisted on carrying me everywhere. When my face turned red from embarrassment, he worriedly claimed I had caught a cold from the rain yesterday. Furthermore, at mealtime, he began pushing every dish I liked toward me.

 

In truth, this was a familiar sight to me, but to Count Delta and the others, it was bizarre. Eventually, a strange phenomenon occurred where every single dish on the table ended up clustered around me.

 

“It’s the food you like, Lep. Here.”

 

There were many problems with Evan’s behavior. But the bigger problem was…… I didn’t actually hate it.

 

If I had actively stopped him, Evan probably would have stepped back, but I didn’t. And so, this spectacle unfolded.

 

“My Lady, I heard the sprouts are about to come up soon.”

 

“Ah, is that so?”

 

Considering when we planted them, it was about time.

 

“Then is today the last day?”

 

I was relaxing at the estate, wondering if I had come here to work or to play. Since my part was done, there wasn’t much for me to do.

 

Bastian, however, was different. He was providing rain whenever possible. The catch, of course, was that he needed help from others.

 

“Fedeshar, would you be able to help today as well?”

 

“……Could the Young Duke perhaps take my place?”

 

Fedeshar, who had been silently following Bastian, made the request to Evan.

 

“My strength is beginning to wane. If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to ask you.”

 

Bastian asked Evan what he wanted to do. Evan glared at Bastian for a moment before nodding.

 

I studied Fedeshar. He looked fine on the surface, but apparently, he had been overexerting himself behind the scenes.

 

Evan and Bastian ended up heading out together.

 

“Stay in the room and rest. I’ll be back soon.”

 

Evan brushed back my bangs and gave me a light kiss on the forehead.

 

‘In front of everyone……?!’

 

Seeing him smile so brightly with his eyes curved, I couldn’t even find it in me to get angry.

 

With the three of them gone, only Fedeshar and I remained. Having finished my meal, I prepared to stand up.

 

“My Lady, I have a concern. Would you care to listen?”

 

“……To me?”

 

I felt like I was developing a genuine grudge against these brothers. I couldn’t understand why they kept pestering me when I was just trying to mind my own business.

 

“Shouldn’t we finish the conversation we started? I saw you talking with my brother, Lady Lepina.”

 

Fedeshar brought up my late-night meeting with Bastian.

 

“I believe I was the one who spent time talking with Lady Delta, but she left immediately in shock after confessing to my brother.”

 

It seemed he had been watching the scene from the start—from the moment the Delta girl confessed to Bastian.

 

I thought of the young lady. Shock…… It was probably more like humiliation.

 

Fedeshar muttered bitterly. The smile lingering on his lips bothered me.

 

In the end, I asked the butler to prepare a space, and the two of us sat down for tea in the drawing-room. I had been consciously avoiding him because of our last conversation, but here we were, alone again.

 

“I think it’s time for me to be honest as well. You clearly know I’ve been avoiding you, so why do you keep approaching me?”

 

I grumbled. These brothers were both making me voice my inner thoughts.

 

Hearing my words, Fedeshar laughed.

 

“Because I have expectations of you, My Lady.”

 

“There is nothing for Your Highness to expect from me.”

 

“Shall we look at the past? The reason I became interested in you. Saving me while I was dying from the Empress’s poison at the Academy was not the ‘correct’ choice. You should have ignored me like all the other students.”

 

“…….”

 

It was true. At that time, no one stepped forward. The Empress was busy recruiting nobles left and right, hell-bent on killing the Emperor’s people, Fedeshar, and the Consort.

 

The Empress viewed Fedeshar, who had just entered the Academy, as a thorn in her side—especially when rumors began to spread that he was a talent who could surpass Bastian.

 

“I am not such a cold-blooded person that I can ignore someone who is dying.”

 

What’s wrong with having a personality that can’t pass by someone in pain? It’s human and decent. Still, I know how to separate public and private matters. More accurately, I know exactly what my priorities are.

 

“Yes. That is why I, too, lean on you. I wonder if you might give me your help.”

 

He was revealing his true intentions. A cold aura now drifted over the face that usually wore a gentle smile.

 

“You know my brother’s greed as well, don’t you? You won’t ignore it, will you? My brother thinks of you as someone special.”

 

“Well, yes…… though I’m not exactly thrilled about it.”

 

Fedeshar let out a short laugh.

 

“Since you are being honest, I will lay bare my heart as well. I am sick and tired of being outmaneuvered. Tired of the assassinations, the poisonings. Tired of the Empress.”

 

“…….”

 

Fedeshar smiled with his eyes, but unlike the warmth that look usually carried, his gaze was frigid. I replied with silence.

 

“The Empress is someone who could easily target your life as well. In fact, your kidnapping by pirates was her doing. My brother knows that perfectly well, too.”

 

My brow furrowed slightly. I already knew this fact, but having it confirmed so directly was unpleasant.

 

“My brother is a ‘good man’ to the people of the Empire. He carries out his duties faithfully, after all.”

 

“……Prince Fedeshar, do you hate Prince Bastian?”

 

I asked with total sincerity. I was curious about the truth behind his fluctuating evaluation of Bastian. But my question went unanswered.

 

“My brother is a greedy man. He is someone who will turn a blind eye to anything if it is necessary to get what he wants. That is why he cannot distance himself from the Empress.”

 

“……Who could easily cast aside their own mother?”

 

“But one can oppose her will. My brother, however, has failed to do so for years. He complied simply because she is his mother—and because it benefited him. My brother wants to be the Emperor.”

 

I listened to Fedeshar’s words calmly. Then, Bastian’s words flashed through my mind. He said he could understand his mother’s heart. Did he mean that he, too, would stop at nothing once he found something he wanted?

 

“I’ve gone on about my brother, but truthfully, he has nothing to do with me. He is merely someone who follows the Empress’s lead. Both he and I are nothing more than tools. But even tools have grades.”

 

Ah, I finally understood. Fedeshar had given up on Bastian. He had zero expectations left for the brother who followed the Empress’s words and ultimately succumbed to her will.

 

“The Empress whispers to my brother that he must become Emperor, while she doesn’t even treat me like a human being. That is why she tries to kill me. To her, I am just a speck of dust that needs to be removed.”

 

Instead, only hatred and anger remained toward the Empress. It was the attitude of someone who understood the true nature of the situation. The succession rights were just a pretext. Even without them, the Empress would never let him go.

 

“My father expects things from me, but the one he always talks about is my brother. He tells me that because I am weak and lack talent, I cannot surpass him.”

 

‘Wait, when he said tools have grades……!’ The hand holding his teacup trembled violently. I swallowed hard. I knew Bastian’s inner thoughts to some extent because of what I’d seen and heard, but I had no idea about Fedeshar’s inner circumstances.

 

“Actually, I once told them I wanted to give up my right to the throne. My brother rejected it, and my father and the Empress would not acknowledge it. Instead, what I got in return was poisoning. You know it well, My Lady. The Alosi herb. What do you think about it?”

 

It was a name I never imagined would come out of Fedeshar’s mouth.