Chapter 135

“…This is really strange. Don’t you think you should get a checkup? It’s weird for your memory to disappear, no matter how much you drank yesterday.”

Even her quaint way of speaking was just a joke in the end. But instead of getting angry, Esadien asked patiently.

“Answer me. Who is Theodore’s wife?”

He only had one friend, Theodore, and he didn’t know about his marriage. Even if his mind was completely focused on Minuelle, he couldn’t have missed such news. Theodore shouldn’t have either!

“…”

Lapheche stared at Esadien’s scowling face for a moment, then, unable to bear his persistent gaze, finally opened her mouth. Very slowly, as if uttering an unpalatable name.

“…The third daughter of Duke Karnian, Lady Minuelle.”

“…”

Minuelle?

Minuelle?

Minuelle Karnian?

Esadien felt like… he had just been hit by a galloping horse. However, the shock was so great that, on the outside, he didn’t show any turmoil. The first thing his stiff eyes checked was the wall by the headboard.

‘The tapestry is gone.’

He put his hand on his chest.

‘The locket is gone.’

It was no longer surprising that there was no ring on his finger.

Esadien jumped up. He instantly threw off the blanket and left the bedroom. Lapheche called out to him in a flustered voice, but he didn’t hear her.

‘Is this really a dream? If it’s real, am I caught in a conspiracy?’

Whatever it was, he had to see Minuelle first.

Without even thinking of changing his clothes, he flung open the drawing room door. In front of him, a very angry-looking Theodore was walking with large strides.

“Your Highness, how could you…!”

Theodore, who was about to burst with indignation the moment they met face to face, gasped. It was because Esadien, with equally fiery eyes, grabbed him by the collar.

“Your wife is Minuelle?”

The betrayal was immense. When he had a good relationship with Minuelle and even when she pushed him away, Theodore was always the one who supported and helped their relationship.

“How could you!”

Furthermore, that woman, Lapheche, was aiming for Minuelle’s place. This meant that Theodore was having an affair.

“How could you…!”

With Minuelle! And with a woman who couldn’t even compare to Minuelle’s toes!

The marriage between Theodore and Minuelle was shocking, but he couldn’t forgive Theodore for treating her poorly. The bit of reason Esadien had left from a moment ago evaporated in the face of conflicting anger.

As a result.

Thump!

Esadien’s furious fist flew. But Theodore was also his friend; he wasn’t the kind of person who would just take a punch.

Thud!

It meant that they exchanged punches. From Theodore’s point of view, Esadien was acting hypocritically. Not swearing at the prince was enough politeness.

In the midst of the exchange of punches, Esadien realized one thing.

‘At least it’s not a dream.’

If it hurts when he’s hit, it must be real.

That’s when it happened.

“You two! Gentlemen shouldn’t be acting like this!”

It was Lapheche, who had come out to check the situation when she heard the loud noise. She immediately separated the two with magic and ran straight to Theodore.

“Theo. Look at this swelling… Oh my. Does it hurt a lot?”

When she asked anxiously, Theodore pouted and turned his head away.

“How could you do this? Do you know how surprised I was?”

Pouting at his size. Esadien almost involuntarily made a sound of disgust.

‘How… pathetic.’

This was the first time Esadien had ever had such a thought in all the years he had been friends with Theodore, and he was flustered.

However, Lapheche seemed used to it. She shook her head and spoke tearfully.

“Truly, truly nothing happened. Your Highness, please tell him.”

When the gaze turned to him, Esadien coughed slightly and said, “Theo. If you were me, would you have any feelings for a woman who looks exactly like your mother? Even a little?”

It wasn’t to defend Lapheche. Esadien himself was not happy about being entangled with her. The thought of hurting Minuelle by doing a ridiculous act still made him dizzy.

“…I guess… that’s true.”

Theodore immediately understood. It was partly because he was reminded of his own mother, but also because, as a long-time friend, he knew Esadien’s circumstances.

“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, Your Highness.”

On the other hand, Lapheche’s expression became strange once again. It was the same look she had when she saw Esadien asking why she was here a moment ago.

‘He really… changed overnight.’

He was certainly the Third Prince who had looked at her with fiery eyes until last night. He had been suppressing his feelings because of their friendship, but what woman wouldn’t know those desperate feelings?

‘But his aura doesn’t seem to have changed either.’

Every person has a different wavelength, but even when she focused her magic to check, it was the same as before.

There were only two types of men Lapheche was interested in. Theodore, and men who praised her.

Since Esadien in front of her didn’t fit either category, she quickly lost interest.

“That’s right, Theo. His Highness has someone else in his heart, you know? There’s no way he would be interested in me.”

“His Highness has a woman?”

Theodore, whose expression was about to brighten for a moment, gradually turned suspicious. It was because he remembered how Esadien had suddenly confirmed his wife’s identity and gotten angry.

“Don’t tell me…”

Lapheche didn’t drag out the suspicion. Her face, as she put an end to it, looked very amused.

“He kept calling out your madam’s name in his sleep.”

“…”

For a moment, all expression disappeared from Theodore’s face. It was a rare occurrence for someone who was always known for being good-natured. He thought about something and then sent Lapheche away.

“I have something to talk about with His Highness alone.”

“…Okay.”

Lapheche looked displeased but couldn’t refuse and left the room.

Once the door was closed, Theodore stood up and paced like a man who needed to pee, then rubbed his face roughly.

“Your Highness. How am I supposed to take this?”

Theodore was confused. So far, the only people he could call close to Esadien in his social life were himself and the Emperor and her daughter.

“You haven’t been interested in my wife until now. Have you suddenly changed your mind?”

If he had been interested, he wouldn’t have so nonchalantly annulled his engagement with Minuelle. Minuelle, who had broken off her engagement with Esadien, fell in love with Theodore the moment she met him and proposed to him fiercely as if there was no turning back. Theodore, too, didn’t have feelings for her, but as the head of the family, he couldn’t ignore the benefits of an alliance with the Karnian family. Therefore, he lived with her, showing appropriate politeness without affection, and he thought he would live that way until he died. Until he met Lapheche in the hot land he visited at the request of a southern lord.

“If Your Highness wishes, I’ll get a divorce. I…”

Esadien was listening quietly, except for the moment he clenched his fist when Theodore called Minuelle his ‘wife.’ Then he raised an eyebrow and let out a cynical laugh at the mention of divorce.

“Isn’t that what you want? That’s ridiculous. Are you doing this without… regard for her feelings?”

“…I have something more important now.”

‘Ha.’

Esadien took a deep breath. His bruised jaw ached, constantly reminding him that this situation was not a dream.

‘It’s definitely real. But… Theo isn’t the kind of person to pull such a nasty prank.’

A theory flashed through Esadien’s mind. He was half in doubt himself, but first, he had to confirm it. He rubbed his tired eyes and asked.

“Theo. When was your wedding?”

“It was right after my coming-of-age ceremony, so it was three years ago.”

His tone suggested he was wondering why he would ask such a question, but Esadien was even more bewildered than Theodore. In Esadien’s reality, that was the time when he was being treated like a madman for following Minuelle around.

“…That was already three years ago. Was the twin clock tower in front of the North Gate rebuilt?”

He asked, trying to hide his thoughts, and Theodore’s face became even more confused.

“Are you having a dream? It’s been perfectly fine for over 300 years, why would we suddenly rebuild it?”

“…”

The thought that was just a theory was becoming a more distinct reality. Esadien turned away from Theodore and said, “Theo. Go find out the recent whereabouts of Second Prince Austin.”

***

Esadien went to see Crown Princess Lumiere.

“Your Highness, be careful of Marquis Sandor and Viscount Celesté.”

It was a warning that came out without any greeting or sitting down. Lumiere, who had been pleasantly greeting her younger brother who had come to see her for the first time, had her smiling expression freeze. However, Esadien’s words didn’t stop.

“They have a close relationship with the Second Prince. They have a considerable influence in the Ministry of Military Affairs, so you must be cautious.”

“…Hmm.”

Still, Lumiere was the Crown Princess. A person who, as soon as she was born, became the Emperor’s successor and stepped into a noble battlefield. Like a person of her status, she skillfully calmed her emotions as if she had never been surprised and pressed Esadien’s shoulder to make him sit.

“Are you trying to report Austin, Eddy?”

Lumiere’s eyes meticulously scanned his face as if she was looking for a trace of something.

“If it’s because of a desire for revenge, I’d have to say it’s too late.”

Esadien didn’t get angry. Lumiere, after Minuelle and Theodore, was the person who knew most about what he had gone through and had even personally rescued him.

“You’re right. However, I’m not a person who acts solely on a desire for revenge.”

Esadien thought.

The facts that were different from the past he knew, the time that had flown by. He didn’t know what kind of trick his birth father had pulled, but it was certain that he had woken up in a different world.

In this world, Austin had not yet revealed his ambitions. The clock tower had not collapsed, the High Chamberlain was still alive, and he had never properly met Minuelle.

‘Then I’ll prepare for it here.’

So that the Imperial Palace is not seized in this world. So that the Emperor and the Crown Princess are not captured by that madman and humiliated.

“I didn’t have time to gather evidence. But it would be better for you to investigate quietly than for me to act. In terms of credibility, too.”

“…”

“If my words turn out to be false, I will accept any punishment…”

“Eddy.”

Lumiere waved her hand. She knew her youngest brother well. He was a person who had kept all his unfair suffering inside his entire life. Biting at others with a lie that would be easily exposed was something only Austin would do.

“Even so, I’m curious about why you’re suddenly acting. Are you thinking of stepping into the public eye now?”

“No.”

She knew that Esadien wanted to live like a hermit. So Lumiere, though disappointed, nodded her head as if to say ‘of course.’

But Esadien wasn’t finished.

“That’s not it, but I have a favor to ask.”