Chapter 3.9

It was already night when they arrived at the Imperial Palace.

Fortunately or unfortunately, people didn’t know Adrian’s name, but the Crown Prince knew that the name Claire called out at the moment of his impending death wasn’t his, but Aurelian’s.

It was a pretense of consideration, possible only because she had fallen into his hands. But no matter how long he waited, she had no intention of opening her heart to him.

He took her and dragged her to his palace.

“From today on, you will stay in this palace.”

“What are you talking about? We haven’t even had our engagement ceremony, let alone our wedding.”

“Whatever you say is useless. This is Quinze-Nouais. And I am the Crown Prince of this empire. There’s no reason why I can’t do what I want. Yes, it should have been this way from the beginning.”

I stood up and faced the Crown Prince.

“I cannot stay in the same palace as Your Highness before I become the Crown Princess. This is clearly kidnapping. It is an act that even those without a family would not do. Please let me go.”

“I killed my brother and attempted to kill my uncle. Do you think someone like me would care about such things? I am a person who will do anything to protect what is mine. Surely, you, with your intellect, must know that.”

“Your Highness!”

“Yes! I am the Crown Prince. And I am the man who will be your husband. So you will have to listen to me.”

He looked into my eyes for a moment, then turned and walked out the door. I did not make the foolish attempt to follow him and open the locked door.

It would be difficult to change his mind right now, anyway.

 

***

 

“What are you talking about?”

Adrian, hearing Owen’s words, showed emotion for the first time in a while.

“After the fencing tournament yesterday, after she went to the Imperial Palace, Lady Claire Ianster has not returned to the Count’s residence.”

“Then Claire is in the Imperial Palace right now?”

“Yes, but the Imperial Palace is not taking any official position on the matter.”

Adrian thought. The time until his and the Crown Prince’s engagement ceremony was not far off. What did it mean to have taken Claire to the Imperial Palace without any procedure in this situation?

But he soon shook his head and cleared his mind.

What did the meaning matter? If Claire was in the palace now, Adrian’s plan would be disrupted. He could not let her be in danger.

“Call the Counts. Exclude Ianster.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Owen, following the command of Grand Duke Aurelian Quinze-Nouais, gathered three Counts. It was a very sensitive time, so they had decided not to hold any more meetings after all discussions were concluded.

As night fell, Hernes, Fernandes, and Graham, three Counts who were staying close to the capital, gathered at the Grand Duke’s residence.

“What is the reason for calling us here?”

“Claire Ianster is now being held inside the palace.”

“You mean Claire Ianster, not Celine Ianster?”

“Yes.”

“So what? We know that Your Grace has feelings for Lady Claire Ianster. But we cannot ruin things for the sake of just one woman.”

“That’s right. Just because Claire Ianster is in the Imperial Palace doesn’t mean we can’t carry out the great plan, does it?”

Hernes and Fernandes could not understand the Grand Duke’s intentions. But Graham’s thoughts were a little different. Graham vaguely knew why Aurelian Quinze-Nouais had joined forces with them.

“Then what would you like us to do? The three of us can’t just move together and make a petition to His Majesty the Emperor, can we?”

“Move the Empress. It’s something you can do with just three or four things you have, isn’t it?”

“But those are things we will definitely need to gain legitimacy after Your Grace takes your place.”

“Legitimacy?”

Adrian let out an unhesitating sneer as if he had heard something very funny.

“If you don’t listen to me already, can you say that you will do this new work with me? Get that girl out of the Imperial Palace immediately. If Claire gets into even a little bit of danger there, the first people I will punish after I take the throne are you. You said ‘just that woman’? Hernes! Listen carefully. That woman will decide your life, your family, and your future.”

Adrian intended to get Claire out at the most chaotic time. Keeping her at the Count’s residence or hiding her somewhere in the imperial family was dangerous. When the attack suddenly began, she had to be somewhere easy to find.

The three Counts left the Grand Duke’s residence and realized something new.

Judging from the Grand Duke’s attitude today, they realized that the person they would serve in the future was not just Aurelian Quinze-Nouais.

The next day, Graham went straight to the Empress’s palace.

The Empress had already heard the story of the Counts who had gathered at the Grand Duke’s residence early in the morning.

Those three Count families had been united for generations. And Aurelian Quinze-Nouais was the last hope that could fulfill their wishes.

But before noon that day, Count Graham, who should have been keeping a low profile, came to the Empress and asked for an audience.

“It’s been a long time, Count Graham.”

“I see Your Majesty the Empress. You are still beautiful.”

“I thought you would never visit the capital again, Count Graham.”

“I am a subject of Quinze-Nouais, so my loyalty does not disappear just because I have moved my residence.”

“Is that so?”

They held up their teacups, each trying to gauge the other’s intentions.

“But, did that loyal subject visit the Grand Duke’s residence yesterday?”

The Empress made the first move.

“Your Majesty is still the same. I didn’t realize this old man was still your eyes.”

“Graham is Graham.”

“The Crown Prince says he has a guest who did not accept his invitation.”

The Empress had been briefed on what was happening outside the palace, but not yet on what was happening in the Crown Prince’s palace.

“A guest who did not accept the Crown Prince’s invitation…?”

“The second daughter of the Ianster family, Claire Ianster, is said to be in the Crown Prince’s palace.”

A strange light flashed in the Empress’s eyes. Graham had come to the Empress’s palace, showing all his cards, just to get Claire Ianster out, not Celine.

“What is so problematic about him having his fiancée?”

“She is a woman who has not yet had an engagement. It is not right to keep her in the Crown Prince’s palace.”

“Right?”

The Empress laughed loudly. At that moment, Graham presented a ledger to her.

“What… is this?”

“It is a list of the mines that Your Majesty purchased for your family.”

“It is just a small gift from a daughter to her aging father.”

But Graham presented another one.

“However, if Your Majesty was involved in the trade of drugs banned by the Empire and slaves from other countries to buy those mines, it would not be just a small gift.”

The Empress put down her teacup with a bang. Then she smiled. The Empress’s family had always been a bit short on money despite their prestige. This had always made the Empress’s position unstable.

“It’s not a deal that’s a loss for me.”

“You can receive the ledger as soon as Lady Claire is out of the palace.”

 

***

 

The headache that started last night wouldn’t stop. In the morning, a maid brought me food, but I couldn’t even touch it because of the severe revulsion I felt.

A sigh escaped me at the thought that if I were to be confined here until the engagement ceremony, everything would be over.

Just then, the head butler of the Crown Prince’s palace knocked on the door and entered the room where I was staying.

“There was an order to escort Lady Claire Ianster back to the Count’s residence.”

“An order from whom?”

The news I had been waiting for had arrived, but I did not let my guard down.

“It is an order from Her Majesty the Empress.”

The fact that it was the Empress’s order made me even more suspicious, but there was nothing I could do to refuse at the moment.

Following the head butler’s guidance, I went outside and saw a carriage with the imperial seal. The Crown Prince did not show himself. Soon, I got into the carriage prepared by the head butler.

My original plan was this.

It was an imperial decree of marriage prohibition. Unless the world turned upside down, I would have to become engaged to the Crown Prince.

To keep my promise to Adrian to return, I made a dangerous decision.

On the night Adrian came to me, I twisted my wrist out of his grasp and calculated the numbers in my head.

I couldn’t know for sure yet, but if I had succeeded, I would have been able to confirm the fact after I became engaged to the Crown Prince.

If it were revealed that I was pregnant, I would be punished, but I would not be killed. That was the law of the empire.

Then I intended to return to Adrian with the child.

But after that…

That damn Adrian announced his engagement to Celine.

So my plan had to be slightly altered.

In a few days, I would take advantage of a festival in the city to flee to another country. The preparations were already well underway.

The informant who had helped me with my previous escape had made no mistakes. And if it hadn’t been for the typewriter, my escape would have been successful.

How much I had longed for this when I lived as Cha Seyeong?

A person who has not gone through the pain and loss I experience every month cannot know. Having the child of the one I love, and thereby creating a family that no one could deny, was a dream of mine, perhaps even an obsession.

Of course, Adrian’s engagement would give the child a kind of void it shouldn’t have, but I do not regret that night.

I will definitely protect this immense blessing.

 

***

 

The Crown Prince was in the Empress’s palace at his mother’s request for lunch. But then, the head butler of the Crown Prince’s palace came and reported that he had put Claire Ianster in a carriage and sent her to the Count’s residence.

The Crown Prince drew his sword and held it to the head butler’s neck.

“Who told you to do that?”

“Th… That is…”

“It was my order. It is only natural for the head butler to prioritize my orders, Sebastian.”

“Mother! Why did you do that?”

“Why did Your Highness hold a woman who is not even engaged in the Crown Prince’s palace?”

“That is my business. It is not something you should get involved in, Mother.”

“No, Your Highness. It is this mother’s job to bring in the Crown Princess. Can I just stand by and watch my son make a wrong choice?”

“Hah… Mother.”

“Sebastian, listen to me. There is no need to be impatient. When have I ever not given you what you wanted?”

The Crown Prince closed his eyes and remained silent, but he did not disobey his mother’s order.

He knew how unreasonable his actions were. He had confined her but had been holding himself back all morning from going to her, unable to face Claire’s eyes, which would be filled with hatred and resentment toward him.

“I understand.”

 

***

 

Waking up the next morning at the Count’s residence, I found the entire mansion decorated with flowers. Sally said they were a gift from the Crown Prince.

It must have been difficult to get flowers, as it was already winter, but the sheer quantity was incredible. I knew it was the Crown Prince’s way of apologizing to me.

I had a lot to do all day, but instead of just leaving, I called the chamberlain who had brought the flowers and passed him a note.

“I’m fine. Thank you for your consideration.”

As the main villain of this novel, I wasn’t doing my job properly, so there were effectively no real villains in this story.

In a way, Celine was also a victim. What could be done about the wrong arrows flying toward each other?

So this time, I prepared more thoroughly. Last time, I used three accounts under someone else’s name and left my real-name account at the end. This time, I created a person who didn’t exist in the world at all.

I was planning to go to the Eastern Continent across the sea.

I created a new identity, arranged the necessary transportation, and secured plenty of funds. And I decided to move the schedule up a little.

Whether I was pregnant or not, Adrian would get engaged to Celine. So I had no choice but to leave. I had no regrets. The goal of a villainess obsessed with survival is just that: survival.

“Sally, all we have to do now is stop by the jeweler.”

“Uhm… but, my Lady.”

“Yes?”

“It’s the same as last time.”

“What?”

“It’s the same as last time. The things you’re doing right now.”

“Ah…”

I knew that Sally had figured out what I was trying to do.

But I didn’t add anything. Soon, we arrived in front of a fairly large jewelry store. This time, I went in with Sally.

Last time, I was almost taken advantage of, but this time, even without the Crown Prince, I was able to sell the jewels I brought for their proper price.

As I was leaving the jewelry store with a pouch full of gold coins from selling the jewels, my eyes first caught sight of Sally, who was holding onto the open door and trembling like a leaf.

“Sally, what’s wrong?”

But the answer came from a little further away.

“Claire?”

I turned my head and saw Adrian standing there. He looked at me, then at the door I was coming out of, and strode forward. He grabbed my arm.

“Why do you need this?”

‘Can’t you just talk first?’

The gold coins in the pouch in my hand jingled, flaunting their existence.

“Why… would I need money? Because it’s money!”

But Adrian scowled at me and glared.

“Does it make sense for a lady of a noble family, and the Ianster family at that, to sell jewels and take gold coins? And without a single escort?”

“What are you talking about? You know better than anyone that I make a lot of money from my typewriter. I just took the money I earned and bought some jewels here. And I lived for several years on the run by myself, so what’s so strange about not having an escort when I’m out in the city?”

Fortunately, I still had some jewelry that I hadn’t traded yet. I quickly winked at Sally, and she, quick to catch on, opened the jewelry box and showed him the jewels.

Adrian did not drop his suspicious gaze, but he slowly let go of my hand.

“My apologies, Lady Ianster.”

He suddenly changed his tone and began to speak to me formally.

Strangely, that greatly twisted my mood. I took a big step toward Adrian, who had let go of my arm and stepped back a few paces, and grabbed his hand firmly. His hand was so big that I could barely grasp two of his fingers with my own.

He was surprised by my sudden action and looked at me. For some reason, I felt that today was going to be a lucky day.

“Your Grace, Aurelian Quinze-Nouais. It’s fate that we met by chance like this, how about we go somewhere and get something to eat…?”

Adrian looked at me with a strange look as I awkwardly tried to flirt with him.

“If you don’t like that, how about a cup of tea…?”

“What’s the meaning of this?”

“What meaning? I’m just hungry. I’m hungry.”

“What?”

“Buy me a meal. We used to live in the same house, and I saved your life, remember? The time I saved you when you were almost dead in the fire. So you can buy me one meal, can’t you?”

While listening to me, he moved his head like a person who was broken somewhere.

“Buy you a… meal?”

“Yeah, can’t you?”

A few minutes later, we were sitting opposite each other at a small table in a restaurant, a very awkward scene. On the outside, we looked calm, but I could feel him subtly flustered.

So I led him to a restaurant close to the jewelry store. If we had gone farther, Adrian might have come to his senses and fled, which would have ruined everything.

It was a place that sold simple bread and egg dishes, and the inside was so charming that it didn’t suit Adrian at all.

“Pfft.”

“Why are you laughing?”

The way he moved his long legs around uncomfortably was very funny.

“Oh, it’s just that Your Grace suits this place so well.”

He looked down at himself and then around.

“When we were young, we couldn’t even enter a place like this.”

I had never talked about our childhood before, thinking it might be a forbidden topic, but Adrian brought it up casually, as if talking about childhood memories.

“Yeah, that’s right…”

“Do you know something?”

“What?”

“You’re the one who named me.”

“Huh?”

Thinking about what he said, the contents of the novel came to mind.