Chapter 54
Something Hidden, or Something That Must Be Hidden
“Haahm.”
Sitting in the sunlit garden, enjoying a leisurely moment, Ellua let out a yawn, perhaps because of the warm weather.
Seeing this, Jane, who was pouring her tea, asked curiously,
“Did you not sleep well last night?”
“I must’ve stayed up too late reading a book I borrowed from the library.”
She had indeed been awake until quite late, immersed in her book.
“Then you should take a little nap. There’s nothing in particular happening today.”
“Should I? I slept less than usual, moved around a lot, and now I’m sitting here under the sunlight. It feels like I’ll doze off at any moment.”
The way she said it almost sounded like she was pouting, which made Jane laugh. But then she remembered the story currently sweeping through the capital and palace, and she asked,
“Oh, right. Your Highness, have you heard the news?”
“News?”
“That the Duke of the Kaisher family has changed.”
Ellua immediately showed interest, knowing who Jane was referring to—Cheilen.
“Already? The story has spread that far?”
“Of course. The whole palace is abuzz. They say the man thought to be dead has returned alive.”
“What do you mean, thought to be dead?”
Hearing such a story about Cheilen for the first time, Ellua asked in surprise. Jane explained what she knew.
“I don’t know all the details, but I heard that Lord Feizen Kaisher was the younger brother of the former Duke.”
“Then why did the family head suddenly change?”
“Because the Duke and all his family supposedly died. It happened quite some time ago.”
“You don’t know how they died?”
Jane shook her head, as if that much was unknown.
“No, that wasn’t revealed. They only said it was some kind of accident. But apparently, the young lord everyone thought had died turned out to be alive—and not only alive, but he returned as the Duke. Everyone was shocked.”
According to Jane, Feizen, the only surviving relative, had hushed things up back then—as if he didn’t want anything further to be known.
“Well, it would be shocking. A man thought dead suddenly returning alive.”
But what really happened that day?
Ellua pondered Cheilen’s identity for a while.
And is his return at this particular timing truly a coincidence?
There were too many questions surrounding him for it to be mere coincidence.
Why had he hidden his existence until now? How had he survived after being declared dead?
Above all, the fact that she had first met him in the Kaisher duchy weighed on her mind. If he had been preparing something from back then…
Thinking along those lines, Ellua’s thoughts drifted to Feizen, the now-former head of the house.
She didn’t know much about the original duke, Haindel, but as for Feizen, in one phrase—
He was just a man full of greed.
There was no dignity of a duke in him. Most of all, back when she had stood at Terban’s side, she had often seen his eyes filled with scorn and contempt.
As if to say that a mere commoner with nothing to her name had no right to remain at the emperor’s side.
Now that Cheilen had appeared, Ellua could easily guess how Feizen would react—he would not give up what he had without a fight.
And yet, she was also curious about how Cheilen had managed to reclaim his rightful title from him.
“Perhaps Duke Cheilen is better than that man.”
“Pardon? What did you say?”
“Nothing. The weather’s so nice today—should I stay here a bit longer?”
Seeing Ellua in good spirits, Jane decided to leave her some time to herself.
She headed toward Ellua’s room to clean, but as she reached the floor where the room was located, she spotted someone descending the stairs—and blocked her way.
The other person, stopped suddenly, raised her head and saw Jane.
“What’s with you all of a sudden?”
“That’s what I should be asking, Mari. Why are you coming down from there? That’s not your assigned area.”
Mari gave a dismissive look, clearly annoyed by the question.
“I was looking for Lord Borens. I couldn’t find him anywhere, so I wondered if he might be in the princess’s room.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Do you know where he is?”
Jane’s suspicion eased, and she answered.
“He stepped out for a while. He should be back soon.”
“Got it. Thanks for telling me.”
Mari said that and went downstairs. Watching her leave, Jane turned toward Ellua’s room.
Feeling uneasy for no clear reason, she looked around the room. Seeing nothing much changed, she busied herself with cleaning.
Meanwhile, Mari, descending the stairs, breathed out in relief as she saw Jane entering the room.
That was close.
“I almost got caught doing nothing.”
As Chenil had instructed her before, Mari had been keeping a close eye on Ellua’s movements.
She had planned to secretly check the room for anything hidden.
Of course, avoiding the eyes of others was not easy, but she had intended to sneak in while the room was empty.
Just then, however, she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. So she had hurriedly gone down before being discovered—and run into Jane heading toward Ellua’s room.
Relieved that Jane hadn’t caught her, Mari decided to wait for another opportunity. If she acted suspicious now, everything would be ruined.
At that time, the man stirring up such a commotion in the capital was in a private audience with Terban.
“I should have come to Your Majesty first and spoken the truth, but time was short, so I had no choice but to greet you in the council chamber. Forgive me.”
Cheilen began with an apology for his sudden appearance, but Terban didn’t seem particularly bothered.
“It’s fine. What matters is that you have safely returned.”
“Thank you.”
“Then, have you received full authority back from Feizen?”
“Yes, I have.”
Terban raised an eyebrow. He was curious about how exactly Cheilen had reclaimed the title from Feizen.
Cheilen was the rightful heir, so naturally, it should have been his. But Feizen was not the type to relinquish power willingly.
“I can’t imagine Feizen handed it over so easily.”
Cheilen caught the nuance in his words and smiled lightly as he explained.
“Not easily, perhaps. But I reclaimed it nonetheless. After all, it was mine to begin with.”
He knew better than anyone what kind of man Feizen was. The moment Cheilen’s father had died, Feizen had seized the position.
So from the start, he had never expected to get it back through words alone.
That’s why I created a situation where he had no choice but to hand it over.
Thinking of that night when it all began, Cheilen allowed a faint, chilling smile to appear.
It was a dark night. A man sat at his desk, lit only by a small lamp.
In his hand was a letter. With a scowl, he slammed it onto the desk, muttering angrily,
“Again demanding more. Anyone would think he’s the head of the house, not me.”
This is getting bothersome. Maybe I should just ignore it. He can’t push too far anyway—I know things about him too.
Leaning back in his chair, his eyes glistened with greed.
“I’m the duke now, so he can’t act recklessly.”
Just then, there came a knock at the door. He told the visitor to come in, but instead of a reply, only more knocking followed.
Annoyed, he stood and walked toward the door.
“What the—at this hour? I said you can—”
He opened the door mid-sentence, but the sight before him cut his words short.
Startled, he stumbled backward, falling onto the floor. At the same time, something collapsed heavily across the doorway.
Turning his head with difficulty, he saw the lifeless body of one of the family knights, eyes open, blood flowing.
“What on earth—”
“It’s been a long time, Uncle Feizen.”
“You—you!”
Feizen pointed with a trembling hand, unable to believe what he saw.
The figure stepped inside. Under the lamplight, his face was smeared with blood.
“Cheilen? Is that really you?”
“You haven’t forgotten me, I see. I’ve never once forgotten you, Uncle.”
With blood dripping from the sword in his hand, Cheilen closed the door.
And silence once again returned to the dark corridor.
The look on his face back then was priceless.
A sharp glint flickered in Cheilen’s eyes, and Terban, who had already sensed something during the council, became convinced—this was not a man to be underestimated.
Even alone with the emperor, Cheilen showed no sign of nervousness.
So far, their exchange had only been preamble. Now, Terban got to the heart of the matter.
“So tell me, Duke. How is it that you were declared dead?”
Cheilen had expected the question, but he had no intention of telling everything.
He couldn’t yet be sure where Terban truly stood. And besides, Chenil was by his side.
“As Your Majesty knows, I lost my parents in a tragedy. I barely survived, but it took a very long time to recover both body and mind. All that while, I was thought dead—and it was easier not to step forward.”
Terban could understand that much. But the real question was—
“Then why show yourself only now? Why hide all this time?”
“I decided the time had come. I’ve always wanted to restore things to how they should be. This is, after all, the house my father built with his life.”
Terban knew he wasn’t telling the whole truth. Still, for now, he chose to let it pass.
“Very well. I welcome your safe return.”
“Thank you for saying so, Your Majesty.”
Cheilen judged the matter settled for now, and shifted to the point he wanted to raise.
“With that in mind, I wish to host a gathering to celebrate my return and succession.”
“That’s a good idea. It’ll be a chance to show yourself to the nobles, who have only heard rumors so far. Everyone is eager to know about Duke Cheilen.”
But there was another reason he wanted this gathering.
“And so, may I send an invitation to Princess Ellua in the palace?”
“Princess Ellua?”
“Yes. We only exchanged a few words when we met before. I very much want to invite her.”
At the mention of Ellua, Terban hesitated. But there was no real reason to refuse, so he nodded.
“Her attendance is for her alone to decide. It would be best to ask her opinion directly.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. Then I won’t take more of your time. I look forward to our next meeting.”
“Until then.”
Cheilen gave a polite bow and turned to leave, but before he could, Terban asked a sharp question he hadn’t voiced earlier.
“But what truly happened that day? The old records only mention a fire, with no details.”
Cheilen’s hand froze on the door handle. Then he turned back, no longer hesitant.
“All I did was run desperately. Just to survive.”
With that, he left.
Terban repeated the words under his breath.
“To survive, huh.”
He was sure now—Cheilen was hiding something. But for the moment, the truth remained out of reach.
