Chapter 58…………………
“…Understood.”
Dietrich nodded with a surprised expression.
Only then did Enrique stop paying attention to him and finish slipping his arm into his shirt sleeve.
He truly couldn’t guess what was going on inside the Emperor’s head.
Why had the Emperor dragged a private tutor into his madness?
No—this wasn’t just about the current situation.
His father had been especially devoted to his mother.
Unlike the other imperial consorts he had taken for political reasons, the Empress had truly been the Emperor’s lover.
A man like that wouldn’t simply sit back and do nothing about his wife’s death.
Yet the fact that the mastermind still hadn’t been found even by the time Enrique returned after wiping out the last remnants of the rebels made no sense.
Which meant—
Enrique was secretly certain of one thing.
That his father, the exalted Emperor, was hiding something related to his mother’s death.
He had dismissed all the consorts, risked damaging relations with the Kingdom of Hamel, and even exiled Enrique—the only heir to the throne.
Something was deeply tangled in all of this.
“……”
Enrique tried to clench his fist tightly, then flinched and stopped.
“…Hoo.”
Instead, he slowly let out a breath.
This was another method Lillian had taught him.
“When you can’t control your emotions, don’t take it out on your hands. Just take deep breaths. Remember? We tried it together before.”
She had said that while looking at his hands, which were a mess with dried blood and scabs.
In the past, hearing her voice trying to teach him would have reminded him of Ken Epsilon.
He would have either drawn his sword or driven her away.
“…Alright, Teacher.”
But for some reason, he had no choice but to nod.
With his hands hanging loosely, Enrique finished taking deep breaths and changed the rest of his clothes.
Dietrich, who had been waiting behind him, asked cautiously,
“…Do you intend to continue the investigation?”
“Of course. Why do you think I obediently accepted exile?”
Enrique let out a dry laugh.
His well-shaped lips twisted crookedly.
He had never once forgotten the moment he drew his sword on the imperial consorts.
They had been people he relied on almost as much as his mother.
After his mother died, he thought that if he leaned on them, he might be able to endure it.
But then—
“I didn’t expect the poison to work so quickly.”
“What a shame the Crown Prince didn’t drink it too.”
“He always drank tea with her. Why of all days…?”
In the empty garden of the Empress’s palace, they had gathered secretly and spoken those words.
“Honestly, it would’ve been better if the Crown Prince drank it first. What a pity that only Her Majesty the Empress died.”
He clearly remembered those words leaving their smiling lips—as if carved into his brain.
But everything after that felt as though it had been cut out of his mind.
“…Ha. Hahaha. Ha. Why are you stopping me? Why?”
The next memory he had—
Yes. The Umbra Knights were restraining him as he laughed like a madman.
Two bodies already lay before him.
The remaining consort clutched a large wound across her face and stared at him like he was a monster.
His own body, reflected in her red eyes, was also covered in red.
Yes. He had been a monster.
Before his mother’s death, he had been nothing but a beast filled with rage.
The Umbra Knights were shouting something, and the woman seemed to be sobbing.
But the ringing in his ears was so loud that he couldn’t hear anything.
They had been consorts he followed like his own mother.
Yet they repaid him with such betrayal.
The words ringing in Enrique’s ears were so clear that he had been certain they were the masterminds.
But the investigation conducted by the Imperial Palace and the Academy had concluded otherwise.
“…They are innocent. All of them. Innocent.”
There had been no evidence against them.
The physician diagnosed Enrique’s testimony as auditory hallucinations caused by madness.
“…Your Highness still believes it, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
Even now, Enrique’s thoughts had not changed.
Creak—
As he pushed open the underground prison door with an eerie sound, he muttered quietly,
“Once the mastermind is revealed, everything will become clear. Until then, I suppose I’ll keep having nightmares.”
“…Still, they’ve been less frequent lately.”
Dietrich closed the prison door and lifted a torch from the wall to light the path.
Just a little further and they would be outside.
They had interrogated prisoners all night, so dawn must have broken by now.
“Mm.”
Enrique tilted his head slightly—not quite agreeing, not quite denying.
If his madness had calmed recently, there was only one reason.
Lillian Crimson.
“Did you thank her?”
“Who?”
“Your teacher.”
“……”
As soon as Enrique slowly turned around, Dietrich bowed his head.
He had survived beside Enrique for a long time. He knew when to be careful.
“My apologies. I was worried.”
Enrique stared at him coldly and murmured,
“The very next day I asked to meet my teacher. I wanted to thank her—as an unworthy student.”
“…You called for her then? Didn’t she refuse to come?”
It had already been several days ago. Dietrich asked uncertainly as he searched his memory.
Enrique nodded.
“She coldly refused, saying she had another lesson that day.”
“…Ah.”
Dietrich nodded, recalling Lillian’s schedule.
Enrique rubbed his mouth thoughtfully.
“How could she refuse me? When she used to cling to me so much.”
“Mm.”
“What?”
Enrique reacted sharply to Dietrich’s brief sound.
He tilted his head sideways.
Dietrich knew that gesture.
It meant: “Watch your behavior.”
After a moment of inner conflict, Dietrich finally spoke like a loyal subordinate.
“…May I speak honestly?”
“Go ahead.”
“I don’t think Teacher Lillian sees Your Highness as a man at all.”
“Huh?”
Enrique suddenly stopped walking.
They were right in front of the exit from the blood-stained underground prison.
“Who says I see her that way?”
“But…”
Dietrich Carlson closed his mouth instead of continuing.
The Crown Prince—infamous as a murderous madman—looked like a boy his own age in moments like this.
But logically speaking…
Even the madness that hadn’t calmed in front of the Epsilon Knights, who had fought alongside him for five years on the battlefield, had quieted when Lillian appeared.
If that was the case…
How else could it be interpreted?
Rumors had already begun circulating among the knights.
“His Highness has fallen for Teacher Lillian, so he behaves himself around her.”
Of course, Dietrich—who had watched Lillian’s very first lesson—didn’t believe the nonsense that Enrique fell in love at first sight.
Whenever knights spread such rumors, he smacked them on the head and sent them back to training.
Still… he couldn’t entirely blame them for thinking that.
Because objectively speaking, Crimson was extremely attractive.
Her beauty aside, she had a strange charm that drew people in.
What was it? Her behavior? Her eyes?
Her voice was definitely pleasant too. Not just the voice, though…
While Dietrich trailed off into his thoughts, Enrique spoke quietly.
“…How big is the age gap between my teacher and me?”
“Huh?”
“I asked how big the age gap is.”
Why ask that?
Dietrich studied Enrique’s face carefully but saw no obvious emotional change.
“She’s a few years older than Your Highness. So she might simply find a student who just turned twenty rather cute.”
“She looks that young?”
“She is young. Early twenties at most… Ah. The child of the Minister of Foreign Affairs—the one she refused Your Highness to go teach—is around the same age. Isn’t it impressive she can teach students her own age?”
Enrique’s eyebrow twitched irritably.
“What? Why do you know that much?”
“You told me before that Teacher might be hiding something, so we should monitor and record everything.”
“……”
Right. He had said that.
“She even shared her schedule herself, so the surveillance is going smoothly. Shall we stop now?”
“No. Keep going.”
“She seems quite close with that student though. Your Highness might need to put in more effort.”
“……”
Enrique rubbed his face once and muttered,
“…Me too.”
“Yes?”
“I decided to call her by her name too.”
“…Pardon?”
And what exactly am I supposed to do with that information?
Dietrich conveyed with his eyes.
“…Tch. Forget it.”
Enrique shook his head and grabbed the handle of the door leading outside.
“More importantly, she said she’ll ask you something in return for helping me. If she comes asking questions soon, treat her well.”
“Have I ever treated Teacher poorly? If anything, Your Highness is the one who—”
Thunk.
A dagger suddenly flew past Dietrich’s cheek and embedded in the wall.
“….”
“Will you shut up now?”
It was a warning.
But from the slight tremble in Enrique’s voice, Dietrich instinctively realized something.
Your Highness…
You’re embarrassed, aren’t you?
“…Yes, sir.”
Suppressing his laughter, Dietrich answered shortly.
