Episode 112
“Would you like to share some wine… or something in my room? As you know, my face gets very red when I drink, it doesn’t look good, but if you don’t mind, Karl…”
Perhaps because my heart was so exhilarated from that point on, I don’t recall every detail clearly.
I only remember that Louise hastily drank two glasses of wine and seemed to get drunk quickly.
So, I stopped her as she tried to leave, telling me to rest. I held her back, begged her not to go, cried that we had no more time together, and said I was scared, asking her to hold me.
How could I have refused?
I had wanted her for half my life.
Callisteon still dreams of that night.
Of her, who was as soft as magic and as sweet as a lie.
Because of others’ eyes, he didn’t slip out of her room until the dawn of the next day.
Once alone, no longer tickled by Louise’s sweet scent, his mind jolted awake as if doused in cold water.
He had dared to spend a night with the Princess.
Without even a betrothal, let alone marriage.
He should have resisted, held back—he could have endured longer. But bewitched by her tears, her touch, her scent, he had lost his senses.
What was worse was that Louise, as if regretting the mistake made in a drunken haze, refused to see him again afterward.
But Callisteon did not regret it.
He consoled himself that there was plenty of time to set things right.
He waited a full night and another day, finally seeing Louise again on the morning after next.
The woman he had longed for until his throat was parched for two days would no longer look properly at him.
“I’m sorry. That day was my mistake, right? I was drunk… I don’t remember well.”
It might have been a mistake for you, but not for me, he wanted to say. Even if you don’t remember, I do.
He should have promised her right then that he would fix the disordered sequence immediately.
But Callisteon hesitated for a brief moment, worried that her true wish was to cover that night as a mistake, a secret for just the two of them, and fearful that his words might further tarnish her honor.
In that instant, he saw a small ember in Louise’s eyes extinguish without a trace.
“…Roo.”
He tried to hold her back immediately, but an ember once extinguished never rekindles.
“My head still hurts, I want to rest. Could you leave now?”
Louise said that and closed the door. The next day, her loyal maid returned.
In front of the maid, he couldn’t utter a word about that night.
Callisteon thought Louise was angry.
It was fitting and right, since he had dared to handle her roughly while she was drunk.
So, he sent a letter to then-Crown Prince Hart, pretending to inquire after his well-being.
His heart was impatient.
He only intended to gauge the Imperial family’s attitude towards Babenberg for reference in his proposal, but it ultimately led to an absurd and disastrous outcome.
Weeks later, Callisteon received a letter with absurd contents from his informant planted in the Imperial Palace.
The rumor that Your Lordship intends to propose to the 3rd Princess has been circulating among the Imperial nobility.
The reason is unclear, but shortly after the rumor spread, the 2nd Princess went to the Crown Prince, causing a scene by crying loudly.
Afterward, several alchemists from the Magic Tower have been secretly entering and leaving the Imperial Palace. Perhaps it would be wise to return to the Grand Duchy for your safety?
Please take care of yourself.
“For a man who is the Crown Prince, his lips are surprisingly loose.”
Whether Callisteon married the 2nd Princess or the 3rd Princess, the benefit to the Empire wouldn’t change.
Moreover, Callisteon had already politely refused the 2nd Princess’s affections multiple times.
‘I only held back from refusing more firmly for fear of causing a diplomatic breach.’
How could he have given his heart to the 2nd Princess?
She had too often embarrassed Louise in front of Callisteon, constantly oppressing and tormenting her.
A primary reason the younger him had dared to dream of marrying Louise was his strong desire to save her from her wicked sisters.
“She acts so venomously towards the youngest sister, who has no power, and now she asks me to pity her affections?”
Callisteon could find no reason to do so, nor did he feel sorry for the 2nd Princess.
He believed that if she truly cared for him, she should have respected the person he cherished.
Of course, his informants in the Imperial Palace were all trustworthy, so the letter’s contents were likely mostly true.
‘It seems the 2nd Princess is up to something.’
He was worried, but it was also difficult to leave the Academy immediately and return to the Duchy.
The grace period for staying in the Academy dormitory, arranged for graduates, still remained.
Louise, as always, wouldn’t want to return to the Imperial Palace, so she was bound to stay in the dormitory until the grace period ended completely.
Callisteon needed to resolve Louise’s feelings and restore their relationship within that time.
So, he sent more people to the Imperial Palace to monitor the 2nd Princess and forbade his Academy attendants from coming near him.
He didn’t use the dining hall at all either.
Since alchemists were entering and leaving the Imperial Palace, he was wary that the 2nd Princess might try to poison him or use hallucinogens to do something terrible.
Then one evening, a worry suddenly struck him: what if the 2nd Princess’s target wasn’t him, but Louise?
He wondered if she would go that far against her own flesh and blood, but considering how she had oppressed Louise all her life, he couldn’t feel at ease.
Callisteon hurriedly went to Louise’s room and encountered her, who seemed to have just returned from going out.
“…Roo?”
Louise was extremely startled to see him, as if she had committed some wrongdoing.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not feeling well and need to sleep early. See you next time, Karl.”
After she slipped into her room without even waiting for his reply, Phoebe Nilo awkwardly made excuses on her behalf.
“It’s a strange day today. I was just on my way back from seeing His Highness the Crown Prince. He acted as if they had some secret to discuss and made me wait outside the door. But then Her Highness came out shortly after and said that the Crown Prince was too sleepy and would talk another time. His Highness seemed very disappointed. It’s unlike him to do that.”
Yes, it did seem unlike him.
The idea that Ernst would refuse time alone with Louise was certainly strange.
In Callisteon’s view, his habit of monopolizing Louise under the guise of friendship was nothing new.
“It seems Her Highness has caught the sleepiness too. See you later, Your Lordship.”
The maid, seemingly hoping this matter wouldn’t upset Callisteon, piled on excuses before disappearing.
On a hunch, Callisteon went to the Crown Prince’s room.
The royal attendant always at his side was conspicuously absent today, and the Crown Prince’s room was very quiet.
There was no response to his knock.
When he gently pushed the door, it opened.
Looking around the room, Crown Prince Ernst was truly asleep.
‘Fallen asleep this early and not hearing knocks?’
Finding it strange, he examined the table and found two wine glasses.
One was almost empty, the other seemed untouched and full.
Even more suspiciously, the wine bottle was nowhere to be seen, as if someone had taken it away.
Callisteon recalled the letter from the Imperial Palace.
Afterward, several alchemists from the Magic Tower have been secretly entering and leaving the Imperial Palace…
Acting on a hunch, he took both glasses and gave them to his personal attendant.
While he needed someone to serve him now that he couldn’t trust his Academy attendants, this seemed more urgent.
“Check if there’s anything in these.”
“Shouldn’t we request the Magic Tower Lord’s assistance?”
Callisteon shook his head at the attendant’s question.
“Not the Tower Lord.”
He surely wouldn’t have collaborated in drugging Louise.
But fortunately, there was no trace of her having touched the glass.
If the Tower Lord had prevented Louise from drinking the wine under some other pretext, all these circumstances made sense.
‘The Tower Lord is the Emperor’s man.’
Callisteon believed that in matters related to the Imperial family, Ren, the Magic Tower Lord, could not be on his side.
And naturally, he wouldn’t be on Crown Prince Ernst’s side either.
