Chapter 34
“……Elinore?”
Tedian, who had been unconscious for a long time, slowly opened his eyes.
However, his condition was still not good.
He couldn’t focus his eyes well and couldn’t lift his body.
Elinore helped him sit up and asked.
“Are you okay? Are you coming to your senses a little?”
“Ugh…….”
“What happened? Everyone was looking for you, Your Highness.”
“Master…… tried to run away.”
Tedian slurred his words.
“So I tried to catch him first…… but he suddenly sprayed something on me…….”
Come to think of it, there was a faint, pungent smell coming from Tedian.
It seemed like something strange was mixed in, more than just a simple sleeping drug.
“I’ll go call for help.”
Elinore said with a serious face.
“Please stay here for a moment. I’ll be right back—”
*Click.*
Just then, a sound that shouldn’t have been heard came from behind.
Elinore, who had turned her head towards the entrance, froze stiffly.
Gilbert, wearing an indigo robe, was locking the door and entering the room.
“Gilbert.”
Elinore stood up.
“What is the meaning of this? Was impersonating me not enough, that you’re staging a kidnapping? What drug did you use on His Highness?”
“So it was really you, Elinore.”
Gilbert muttered darkly.
“I had a feeling it might be, but you were already here watching me.”
“What?”
“You gloomy bitch. You were probably enjoying watching me struggle, weren’t you?”
“Stop talking nonsense and answer my question first. What drug did you use on His Highness?”
“Aren’t you the smart one everyone praises? Shouldn’t you know even if I don’t tell you?”
Gilbert let out a mocking laugh at Elinore.
“Guess, Elinore. What drug do you think I used?”
“Gilbert. I’m not joking.”
“I’m not joking either. I said, take a guess.”
Elinore glanced sideways at Tedian, who was breathing heavily and barely managing to breathe.
She didn’t know how much time had passed since Gilbert used the drug, but leaving him in this state for long wouldn’t be good.
But she couldn’t scream and gather everyone, as she had been sneaking away from the annex.
Suppressing her anger, she spoke.
“Fine. I’ll overlook the fact that you impersonated me.”
Gilbert, who had been giggling, flinched.
“It was a bit unpleasant, but I can let it slide. It must have been a mistake.”
“A mistake?”
“Yes, a mistake. Arguing over right and wrong for a minor mistake is tiresome for everyone. So I’ll say I don’t care.”
“Ha!”
“Now that there’s no problem between us, you can let His Highness go, right?”
Gilbert’s face twisted violently.
His lips trembling, he glared sharply at Elinore.
“You’re always so high and mighty. Even if someone impersonates you, you can just dismiss it as a mistake.”
“It’s just that since we know each other, let’s handle it amiably……”
“Then why did you report me six years ago?”
Elinore flinched.
Gilbert grumbled with a voice full of resentment.
“Didn’t you say back then that you couldn’t let it slide? So you snitched to the professor and spread rumors that I stole a junior’s thesis.”
“I never spread any rumors.”
“You ruined my life. I could have lived a successful life!”
Gilbert, who had been trembling, shouted furiously.
Tedian, lying on the floor, flinched.
“I was a promising talent. I had a multi-million gold exclusive contract right in front of me. If you hadn’t reported me, I would have been working for the royal family!”
“Gilbert.”
“How are you going to compensate for my life? Huh? If it was something you could forgive so easily, why did you cling to it so stubbornly back then?”
“It wasn’t just my thesis you stole at the academy.”
Gilbert, who had been fuming, froze in surprise.
Elinore recited calmly.
“Are you going to pretend there were no other victims besides me?”
“H-how… do you know about that?”
“Even back then, I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. I had a compulsion to live quietly without attracting anyone’s attention.”
But then, students came to Elinore.
They were all people who had their theses and research topics stolen by Gilbert.
‘Help us, Elinore. If they know you were also a victim, the professor will take it seriously.’
Elinore couldn’t refuse their plea, made with tears.
Because among the victims, there were some who were having dark thoughts.
So she ended up helping, and eventually, she became the representative.
It happened naturally because the achievements she had accomplished were the most noticeable among the victims.
“I gave you a chance back then too. I said if you admitted your wrongdoing and asked for forgiveness, I wouldn’t take it further, but you were the one who refused. You said it was only natural for juniors to help seniors.”
“…….”
“About the rumors, it seems others spread them. I didn’t pay attention to that part, so I don’t know who spread them. I’m sorry.”
Gilbert hung his head low.
He clenched his fists and trembled.
A moment later, Gilbert muttered in a sinister voice.
“As I thought, I shouldn’t have left you alone.”
“What?”
“Why do you think I stayed here until now?”
In an instant, it felt like being hit on the head with a hammer.
Right. Now that I think about it, why didn’t Gilbert run away sooner?
And he even brought Tedian, whom everyone is looking for, to his own room?
Preoccupied with Tedian’s condition, she hadn’t managed to think it through.
Seeing Elinore’s reaction, Gilbert smirked crookedly.
“I thought I couldn’t just take this lying down. If you reveal everything to Duke Hilliard, I’ll lose everything because of you again. And you’d watch me and laugh.”
He tilted his head.
“Then doesn’t it make sense to at least get my revenge before I go?”
“Revenge?”
“Yes.”
He put his hand into his robe and pulled out a blade.
Elinore’s eyes widened.
“Why do you think I stayed in the room with His Highness? It was all to catch you.”
“Stop. Don’t do something irreversible.”
“It’s already too late to turn back from the moment you threatened me!”
Gilbert, who shouted angrily, raised the blade and pointed it at her.
Elinore took a step back.
“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you.”
“You expect me to believe that now?”
“You can believe it. It’s the sincere truth, not a single lie. Because you need to stay alive.”
Gilbert grinned.
“Only then can you feel the despair of your world collapsing when you can no longer do research, right?”
Gilbert’s eyes were completely crazed.
As Elinore stepped back, Gilbert also advanced towards her.
But then, Gilbert kicked a basket on the floor with his leg, knocking it over.
“Waaah! Waaah!”
The sudden sound of a baby crying made Gilbert stop in his tracks.
“What’s that?”
“Waaaah!”
The baby, startled by the fall, cried hysterically.
Elinore hurriedly tried to run to the baby, but Gilbert was faster.
He found the baby hidden inside the blanket.
Elinore shouted in panic.
“Get away from there right now!”
“Haha! What is this?”
He roughly grabbed the baby.
He looked the crying baby over and laughed as if amused.
“You even had a baby in that time? They said you disappeared without a trace after graduation, was it because you were having a baby?”
“Gilbert!”
“Then you must have been pregnant even when you were at the academy?”
“Waaaah! Waaah!”
“Who’s the father? Hmm, never mind. He must be a worthless man, since you were hiding the baby in a basket? You’ve really fallen low too, Elinore.”
“Shut your mouth.”
