Chapter 57 …
“Can’t that time be brought forward? Couldn’t that technology be introduced into the Empire?”
Watching Lloyd agonize, Carme burned with impatience. No matter how brightly she smiled or how pitifully she clung to him like a rain-soaked puppy, Lloyd rarely reached out.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been insanely busy. The official return date has been set.”
“When is it?”
“In ten days. There will be a return ceremony… If there’s anything you need, I’ll have it prepared.”
“Ah…”
Carme hesitated with a flustered expression.
“What is it?”
“Well… I received an invitation.”
Carme rose from her seat and brought over the letter.
Evelyn Perriand.
The envelope bore Evelyn’s signature along with the seal of House Perriand.
“I was invited to Viscountess Perriand’s debutante ball. The date is the same as the return ceremony… and, unfortunately, I sent my reply this morning saying I would attend. It would be improper, but should I send a letter of apology to withdraw?”
“No. There’s no need.”
It had been Lloyd’s intention to schedule the return on the day of Evelyn’s debutante. Once the debutante was held, a proposal from the Imperial Palace would arrive for Evelyn, and it would be difficult for her to defy an imperial command.
‘It’s only a temporary measure, but it’s the only way to delay Evelyn’s debutante.’
Among imperial nobility, it was considered proper etiquette to change one’s schedule if it conflicted with a royal event. Evelyn would have no choice but to postpone her debutante.
“Viscountess Perriand won’t be able to hold her debutante that day.”
After Lloyd explained the reason, Carme finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Then I’ll be able to attend the Perriand family’s banquet too!”
“Did you want to go to Viscountess Perriand’s debutante? How do you know her?”
“No. I’ve never met her, but she’s so famous. I’m already grateful for the invitation… but she even offered to help choose my dress for the banquet!”
“Evel—… Viscountess Perriand did?”
Lloyd frowned. It was surprising enough that Evelyn had invited Carme to the debutante, but to even consider the circumstances of a baron’s daughter from common origins…
The day she returned from the temple, Evelyn had spoken seriously to Lloyd.
“I appreciate your consideration in saying you won’t put forward Carme as your lover for my sake… but for the time being, please keep your relationship with me a secret.”
“What?”
“If Tapaya Kingdom judges that Carme cannot win Your Highness’s heart, they will either eliminate her or send her back.”
“But…!”
“Steel yourself. You must do more than merely pretend to be lovers with Carme.”
His lover was excessively cold. No matter how much of a person of interest Carme was, how could she tell him to keep watch on another woman?
“What kind of person is Viscountess Perriand?”
Carme asked cautiously. Lloyd wiped his face dryly as if brushing away his discomfort and answered,
“…She’s someone who can do anything…”
That was why she shone—and why she was frightening.
Though Lloyd’s voice was cold and dry, Carme did not miss the raw emotion that crossed his face. He looked angry… or perhaps sad.
‘What is this…?’
He hadn’t called her lovely or beautiful, so why did her heart suddenly sink? Was it her imagination that reverence and affection seemed to flicker in the crown prince’s eyes, which usually gazed so dryly upon the world?
“I’m curious. For someone Your Highness speaks of that way.”
Carme forced her expression into place and showed a bright smile.
◇ ◆ ◇
“Head maid! My sister isn’t that kind of girl!”
The kneeling woman shouted with bloodshot eyes. Her worn, shabby dress and hollow cheeks revealed a life of poverty. The head maid snapped coldly at the woman pouring out her grief.
“Even if she’s missing, everyone knows Annie ran off with a stable hand she fell for. Even so, Her Highness the Princess showed leniency and granted ample compensation—what is the meaning of this behavior?”
“That can’t be! My sister would never irresponsibly run away while leaving our sick father behind…!”
The woman shook her head violently. The elderly head maid smirked as if she understood everything.
“They say when one falls in love, nothing else can be seen.”
“Head maid! …Please!”
“Annie is only seventeen. It’s the reckless age when one can be blinded by love and throw away family and everything else.”
The head maid looked down at the kneeling woman. The woman bit her lip hard, her body trembling with rage.
“Stop this disgraceful display. If the compensation is insufficient, I’ll arrange a little more.”
“…That’s not what I want! I only wish to know whether she’s alive or dead…!”
Princess Theresia watched the scene from beyond the window. The moment the woman flattened herself on the floor and clutched the hem of the head maid’s skirt, Theresia squeezed her eyes shut and turned away.
She couldn’t bear to watch.
The maid Annie was dead.
The reason they could not tell her family was that seventeen-year-old Annie had died at the Crown Prince’s hands. Because they could not hand over the body—clearly marked by beating—the head maid had fabricated a suitable excuse.
‘Only seventeen…’
Seventeen was that kind of age. An age when one could behave foolishly over a feverish love.
Theresia felt a wave of nausea as Annie’s gruesome corpse rose in her mind.
‘This can’t continue…’
It had not even been half a day after the incident when Theresia stormed into the Crown Prince’s reception room with steps too brisk for a proper lady.
“Theresia, I told you to notify me in advance before coming.”
Gropius chided her while blowing out cigar smoke. The five or six noblemen playing cards with him awkwardly offered their respects to the princess. Despite the broad daylight, their faces were flushed with drink.
“Your Highness, dismiss them.”
Theresia spoke while glaring coldly at the men.
“It’s a very important game—Phillips has wagered the Percy count family’s prized horse. Wait a moment.”
“This is more important than that. If you do not dismiss them, I will speak here and now.”
At Theresia’s sharp tone, the men quietly withdrew. Gropius looked up at her with a deflated expression.
“How important must it be for you to drive away my dear friends? It had better be worth the value of the Percy family’s horse.”
“You must stop harming people. It’s a sensitive time. …Distance yourself from Viscount Percy.”
“What?”
Gropius’s face twisted in irritation.
“Phillips is a man among men. What do you know to slander my friend?”
“Your Highness, the Percy family served Perriand for generations. But the moment Perriand fell, they attached themselves to Wales. And now…!”
Theresia had to swallow the rest of her words.
“He’s the only one who extended a hand to me when everyone else pointed fingers. Do you want me to be isolated!”
“That is not it. At a time like this… it’s suspicious. Unlike Liam Percy, who knows nothing but swordsmanship, Phillips Percy resembles his father—extremely calculating. Moreover, he is constantly hunting and gambling with Your Highness.”
“Enough, enough!”
Gropius shouted, covering his ears.
“It hasn’t even been a month since I returned from Hiberun. I fought a war, lost my eye, and worms worse than vermin smeared filth all over me! Can I not even take my rest in peace?!”
“Your Highness!”
How could someone who sought to wear the crown fail to bear even that weight? Theresia felt sorrow.
“I received a letter from Lloyd today. He says he will soon arrive in Toledo.”
“Ha! How spirited he is. Is he telling me to prepare to welcome him? The nerve.”
“Because of that, Viscountess Perriand’s debutante has been postponed. You must compose yourself.”
Theresia let out a short sigh. The return date had coincidentally fallen on the day of Viscountess Perriand’s debutante. At a time when rumors were rampant that the red family flower symbolizing House Perriand was the red bird of prophecy, it would have been better to hold the engagement ceremony between the Crown Prince and the young viscountess.
‘Luck is not on our side.’
Theresia carefully examined Gropius, who was frowning.
‘It would be better to win her heart before the engagement ceremony.’
His cheeks, once like pure white silk, were now shadowed, and a sinister darkness had settled into his blue eyes. Though he gave off the dangerous aura of a slum pimp or pirate, Gropius was still a handsome man.
