Chapter 44
Before being abandoned, I decided to abandon first.
I felt that the short words the old woman said might have had a double meaning. I was inside this novel world, and traveling to Kingdom of Kaia made me feel uneasy about how everything would unfold.
The woman smiled strangely at me, as if she knew something. The more I thought about it, the worse I felt.
Like Ena said, the corridor had no sign of other people. So I could walk slowly without being nervous.
While walking, I reached the end of the corridor, turned my body, and walked toward the other side.
I couldn’t feel sleepy at all. Instead, my mind became clearer, which worried me.
Tomorrow, a long and boring journey would still wait for me. I had to force myself to sleep.
While thinking about this, I reached the other end of the corridor.
The night was dark, but silver light came through the window. I walked closer to the window to look at the moon.
‘Huh?’
It seemed like someone was down below.
When I looked carefully, it was Ricardo.
It was not deep midnight yet, but I thought everyone should already be sleeping.
He was not alone.
He was talking with a young man I had never seen before.
I knew his subordinates worked as his eyes and ears across the empire, but I wondered what urgent matter required such late-night reporting.
‘He wakes up the earliest in the morning too and checks everything personally. Does that man ever sleep? Even if he’s the male lead, there should be a limit. He’s not even human.’
Even while thinking it was unrealistic, my eyes kept looking at him.
‘Did something serious happen? His face looked dark just now.’
Soon, he gave a short nod to his subordinate.
The subordinate’s expression became much more relaxed after hearing his words. It seemed the problem was solved.
I felt strangely nervous for no reason, even though I didn’t know what was happening.
After the subordinate left, Ricardo stood alone, still lost in thought with his arms crossed.
Except for being the emperor’s illegitimate child, he was not like Stella, who was a low-born noble’s illegitimate child.
He had everything — appearance, skill, and ability — but somehow, standing alone like that, he looked lonely.
Was it because of the moonlit night?
I thought something ridiculous.
The man who seemed to fear nothing in the world looked lonely.
I laughed at my own strange thought and quietly looked down at Ricardo.
But suddenly, my heart started beating strangely.
It was like being struck by lightning.
My heart began beating irregularly.
Thump… thump… not steady.
The sound was so loud I thought others might hear it.
I didn’t understand why the sound that should stay inside my body was ringing in my ears.
“I must be crazy. I can’t sleep, so my body is showing strange side effects. Let’s go back and sleep before I get even weirder, Stella.”
I muttered to myself as if talking to someone else and turned around.
I almost ran when I got closer to my room.
The good thing was that the strange old woman’s words had already disappeared from my mind.
As the journey continued, I realized one thing.
When a person starts paying attention to something, all their senses — eyes, ears, and even every cell in the body — focus only on that thing.
After the strange symptom appeared while I was looking at Ricardo through the corridor window on the sleepless night, I had to admit that something was wrong with me.
Even now, I was hiding my face behind the carriage curtain and carefully watching him outside, like observing him.
“Wow! Look over there, madam. The castle is amazing.”
When Ena pointed somewhere outside the window, my gaze finally moved elsewhere.
“That is….”
Her surprise was not exaggerated.
The castle of this territory, visible even from far away, looked truly huge.
It felt like visiting a neighboring kingdom.
It was completely different from other territories we had passed.
“Are we heading to that territory now?”
I asked a soldier riding beside the carriage.
“Yes, madam. This is the territory of Marquis Zilan. We plan to stay there today.”
The previous day, the weather was bad, so we set up a temporary camp inside the forest and stayed overnight.
I remembered what Gary said in the morning.
“Today we will stay in the territory of Marquis Zilan, who guards the border region. Please endure a little hardship so you can rest from travel fatigue.”
I knew everyone was suffering more than I was, so I felt sorry when they worried about me.
So I didn’t even listen carefully to whose territory we would stay in.
‘Right. Zilan Marquis. That was the name. I heard it before but it felt familiar again. Who is he? Did he appear in the original story?’
This was a romance fantasy novel filled with unfamiliar Western-style names, so it was hard to remember people just by hearing their names.
I tried to recall the original story again.
‘What happened when Ricardo was going to the Kingdom of Kaia?’
No matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t remember.
Not every scene was drawn in the novel.
Maybe this territory passage was simply skipped.
Still, the reason I was trying to remember was the unpleasant feeling stuck in my heart after hearing that name.
‘Something feels ominous. Maybe I’ll remember when I meet him in person.’
With that curiosity, we finally arrived at the lord’s castle.
People were already waiting for us.
Among them, a man with a strong impression was standing at the center with both hands folded respectfully.
He had dark skin, a big body, and short black hair.
My prediction that he was not an ordinary person was correct.
The moment I met Marquis Zilan, I knew who he was.
‘That man is….’
Before even arriving in Kingdom of Kaia, I felt that I was standing in the middle of an important incident from the original story.
“This must be the owner of this place. He looks rough and even looks like a cattle thief.”
As Ena said, he definitely looked different from the imperial people.
So I immediately realized his identity.
“It can’t be different. Because he has the blood of a desert tribe.”
“Eh? Desert?”
Ena asked in surprise, but the carriage door opened, and we had to get down without answering.
The lord who had already greeted Ricardo walked toward me with a small woman who seemed to be his wife.
“It is an honor to have you visit our territory, madam.”
He laughed loudly, matching his large body, and kissed the back of my hand.
His wife also bowed politely.
Unlike the lord’s strong appearance, his wife seemed gentle and quiet.
“I will do my best to make sure you feel no discomfort during your stay.”
His clear green eyes, contrasting with his dark skin, were filled with goodwill.
But I knew how disgusting that gaze was.
Marquis Zilan was someone who conspired with the third prince to set a trap for Ricardo.
“Thank you.”
Inside, I felt disgusted, but I also made a fake smile just as good as his.
“Since this place is near the desert border, the castle is very exotic and beautiful. Could you show me this beautiful castle later, madam?”
“Of course. It would be our honor.”
After the greetings, we entered the castle guided by servants.
“The windows, the floor, and the door patterns are all unique.”
Ena kept turning her head in wonder at the unfamiliar and exotic interior.
But nothing entered my eyes or ears.
Because the incident that would happen here would become the greatest crisis for Ricardo.
Marquis Zilan, who had mixed blood, enjoyed wealth and power in this territory like a king of a small kingdom under the excuse of protecting the border.
While doing so, he cleverly stayed connected to the imperial court.
The person he connected to was the third prince, Eliain – Third Prince.
Believing that the legitimate third prince would become the next emperor, he secretly supported Eliain.
Like crocodiles and crocodile birds helping each other, they ignored each other’s dirty interests.
But as Ricardo’s power grew, they felt danger.
Because of this, Marquis Zilan planned a dirty trap for Ricardo, and this was the moment.
The reason I couldn’t remember this scene immediately was because of the timing of the incident.
In the original story, after Ricardo returned from Kingdom of Kaia, the crown prince’s health worsened rapidly.
At that time, the third prince and Marquis Zilan revealed their true colors.
Using the trap they had prepared earlier, they attacked Ricardo and pushed him into a corner.
‘He caused the incident when the crown prince was critically ill, which made Ricardo receive more misunderstanding.’
But that wasn’t the only problem.
