Chapter 106
Even Adrian himself had to admit — “Rian” was a bit much.
But it was so absurdly blatant that, ironically, no one could have possibly linked the name back to Adrian himself.
Neither the Empress nor Adrian trusted the Emperor. The same was true for the Empress’s family, the powerful House of Integria.
For now, the Emperor was still wary of the great noble houses. After all, he had taken Integria’s only daughter as his Empress and even fathered a child with her. But if he were to go so far as to officially name Brian as the Crown Prince—
Then Adrian’s fate would be sealed. The Emperor would have him eliminated, sooner or later, for Brian’s sake.
And if he had to die one day, Adrian wanted at least to fight back before that happened.
That was why he secretly set out to acquire a mercenary corps of his own.
Mercenary groups were wild beasts — unbroken and lawless. No noble house could easily control them. They took a commission, finished the job, and disappeared like smoke. They were a mess of people with no loyalty and no morals — which was exactly why noble houses spent fortunes to train their own knights and soldiers instead.
So Adrian rolled up his sleeves and did it himself. Even he thought it was insane — posing as a mercenary under the name Rian.
At first, it was just an experiment. A reckless test to see if he could get away with it.
But it worked. Before he knew it, “Rian” had become a respected mercenary name — too well-known for him to change anymore.
He did worry about being discovered, of course. Even a neglected prince holed up in the Empress’s quarters could only stay unnoticed for so long. If Cleo ever found out, she would surely laugh, applaud his stupidity, and send assassins his way — thrilled that the hated prince had walked into danger himself.
Still, those risks paid off. Through his time in the field, Adrian managed to gather two elite mercenary companies under his control. That was thanks in no small part to the Integria family’s discreet support.
He oversaw them through intermediaries and kept them under tight rein, but he still had to check in personally now and then — to see their faces and gauge their loyalty.
What he didn’t expect was to be ambushed by an unexpected visitor on one of those very days.
“Of course, our house isn’t short on people,” Bibi said coolly. “We’re always low on troops for the northern front against the demonic beasts, but surely His Highness wouldn’t ask us for those.”
Was it just him, or did she sound… less cute than when she spoke to Titania?
Adrian studied her brisk, businesslike tone and found it oddly disorienting. Still, Bibi only smirked.
“The help I’m asking for,” she continued, “isn’t soldiers — it’s a few men to keep an eye on the Bradley Count’s family. And within the palace, it would be best if someone could monitor Lady Elaine, the imperial consort. …Though that last one might require Her Majesty’s permission.”
“Hold on,” Adrian said with a faint laugh. “Do you realize how many sensitive names you’re tossing around? The Bradley family? Even Her Majesty and I barely manage to breathe quietly in this palace without drawing suspicion. Some attendants are starting to wonder if Lady Elaine is even still alive. And believe me, His Majesty still hasn’t let her go.”
He shook his head slowly.
Ah, the pathetic pride of men…
If Lady Elaine’s health was as frail as they said, the Emperor could have simply sent her away to recover somewhere with good air.
But no — the man wanted her to wither away inside the palace.
Because that proud woman, who refused him out of loyalty to her dead lover, would die under his roof and nowhere else.
“And besides,” Adrian added, “this all ties back to Titania, doesn’t it?”
Bibi’s expression changed instantly. Her bodyguard, standing behind her, stiffened and glared at Adrian with open hostility.
Typical, Adrian thought. Even the people the Castrain family brings along are impossible to deal with.
He spoke smoothly, unruffled as ever. His ability to talk circles around anyone was one of his best weapons.
“I know you’re aware Titania and I are working together,” he said. “But do you really think this is something that would hurt her? I’m not saying it would, but… this touches her reverse scale. You can’t just poke at her birth mother issue.”
No matter how calm Titania looked now, Adrian still remembered how she used to long desperately for her mother’s attention.
She had changed since then — grown colder, stronger. But…
Even so, she’s never once spoken about her mother.
She acted as though she’d cut that part of herself away, as though she’d never had a mother at all. That, ironically, was what convinced Adrian that it was still her deepest wound.
Both he and the Empress carried guilt for abandoning Titania in the past, which made the subject even harder to touch.
Bibi’s face had grown pale.
“…We’ve confirmed that Lady Cleo and Lady Elaine have been meeting,” she said quietly.
Her voice trembled faintly.
“And I… I couldn’t bring myself to tell my sister, but I started digging into Lady Elaine’s family background and the circumstances of her entry into the palace. …There are too many strange details.”
“What kind of strange details?” Adrian frowned.
When Titania had been born, he’d still been a child. He barely remembered the circumstances — only that a breathtakingly beautiful, sorrowful woman had appeared beside his father, and that his mother had spent days sighing whenever she saw him.
“Count Bradley’s family,” Bibi said, “is basically the Emperor’s lapdog. They handle all sorts of dirty work, yet their rank is unusually low. After Lady Elaine entered the palace, they were supposedly rewarded with an iron mine — but it was unprofitable and soon shut down.
“And then, there’s Titania. She was practically betrothed to the Castrain family before she was even born. Even if Lady Elaine had withdrawn from her daughter’s life, the Bradley family would have had every reason to step in and get involved in her affairs instead—”
“That’s assuming Lady Cleo didn’t block them,” Adrian interjected.
“Even if she did,” Bibi replied sharply, “you think a family like that would just give up the chance to gain influence through a future duchess? The Emperor might dote on Lady Cleo, but he certainly doesn’t enjoy watching his own subordinates kneel to her.”
That wasn’t the only thing she’d discovered — there was one more fact she hadn’t yet dared to say aloud.
‘No poisons have entered Lady Elaine’s quarters.’
No poison?
Then Titania’s claim — that Lady Elaine was slowly poisoning herself — had been false?
No… Bibi trusted Titania’s sincerity. Titania truly believed her mother had been consuming poison in seclusion.
But still, an ominous thought gnawed at her.
In the previous timeline, starting with Lady Elaine, countless people had died from mysterious illnesses — including Lasper of the Castrain family himself.
What if—
Just what if…
“…What if Lady Elaine had another purpose altogether?” Bibi whispered.
What if she had helped cause that disease? What if Titania didn’t yet know the real truth?
Bibi prayed she was wrong. But if she wasn’t, she prayed she could resolve it before Titania found out.
“What if,” she continued, “we’ve been mistaken all along — and Lady Elaine is actually aligned with someone else?”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“That’s conjecture,” he said flatly. His tone left no room for argument.
“Lady Elaine has no real power. Even if she wanted to do something, she couldn’t. If she truly desired influence, she could have simply insisted on raising Titania herself when she was a child. It would’ve been risky with Lady Cleo watching, but… it still would’ve been easier than secretly trying to poison anyone.”
“…”
“I understand you’re worried about Titania,” Adrian went on, “but you’re letting your imagination run wild. And even then, I still don’t understand why you need my people for this. If it’s surveillance—”
“We can’t dig into the Bradley family ourselves,” Bibi said. Her voice was low. “…It would bring shame to Titania.”
Ah. Finally, Adrian understood her hesitation.
It was an open secret that Titania was rumored to be the child of Lady Elaine and her former lover — conceived before Elaine entered the palace.
The rumor had long since faded, but if anyone so much as hinted that the Castrain family was investigating it, every party involved would be in deep trouble.
“And if I step in openly,” Adrian said, “it’ll just stir the pot even more. Still…” He leaned back, thoughtful. “If it’s true that Lady Cleo’s been meeting Lady Elaine…”
His gaze sharpened.
“…Then maybe there’s still something we can do. Lady Cleo’s dogs are usually such low-quality creatures — that’s their biggest weakness.”
