Chapter 77……………………….
As soon as I returned to my human form, I plummeted from the air.
Thud!
“Della?”
At the heavy sound, Leonhart stirred awake.
I lay sprawled on the floor, frozen stiff.
My mind was completely blank—I couldn’t think of anything.
“Damn it, how did the rope get untied again? Della? Della, where are you?”
Footsteps pressed into the carpet, stopping right in front of me.
A heavy silence. Then, a low sigh.
“What are you doing there?”
“……”
“Duke.”
I calmly stood up and brushed the dust from my crumpled dress.
I fussed with my tangled hair, buying time.
I had to come up with a plausible excuse somehow.
“I was heading home. Thank you for letting me rest comfortably. I just came to say that.”
“So you mean to tell me that in the early hours of the morning, you crept into someone else’s bedchamber without a sound—just to say that?”
“Creep in? I knocked. You simply didn’t hear it, Your Highness.”
“How absurd….”
Leonhart sighed and ran a hand through his hair. His face was marked with deep fatigue.
It looked like he had barely slept while dealing with the assassins.
“If you came in, you should have woken me. Why were you lying on the floor?”
“I tripped.”
“And how exactly did that happen?”
“A crow flew out the window… and I tried to catch it.”
Leonhart’s expression changed.
“Della flew out the window? Where to?”
“Through that open window there. It went out that way.”
Leonhart rushed to the window and peered out in the direction I pointed.
“When did this get opened? Ha, this is maddening. Has it been long since it flew off?”
“No… not long.”
He stood there for a while, staring out the window.
Looking at his gloomy back made me feel a little guilty. I cautiously spoke.
“Um, could it be… that the bird actually has an owner?”
Leonhart’s head snapped toward me.
“And who would that be?”
He looked ready to kill if the crow truly had a master.
“No, I didn’t mean I know who. It just seems accustomed to people, but it keeps running away… maybe that’s why?”
“I never saw any sign it belonged to anyone, but I’ll have to check next time. Still…”
Leonhart trailed off and pointed at my ankle.
“What’s that mark?”
“Mark? Where…!”
On my left ankle, peeking out from beneath the hem of my dress, was a reddish imprint—
As though something had been tied around it.
The thread that had bound me when I was a crow had left its trace even in my human form.
I was so flustered I stammered.
“Uh, well? I’m not sure what happened.”
“Strange. It looks exactly like a rope mark…”
Leonhart’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.
Did he figure it out?
Panic set in.
My head spun, a rush of wind roared in my ears.
“I—I said I don’t know! A-anyway, I’ll be going now.”
“Duke, wait—!”
“Eek!”
I spun around too hastily and my toe caught on the carpet.
I lost my balance, but Leonhart caught me by the waist.
“Why are you in such a hurry? Like someone trying to run away.”
“R-run away? I’ve done nothing wrong—why would I run?”
“How should I know?”
Our eyes locked.
“Do you despise me that much?”
“……?”
You’re the one who despises me.
“Why would you ask me that?”
“Because whenever you see me, you do everything you can to avoid me.”
“I’m afraid I’ll die. I want to live a long, long time.”
Leonhart chuckled softly.
“And yet that same person walked into my bedchamber of her own accord?”
“……”
“Come to think of it, it’s odd. I was never your type. Why were you so obsessed? I nearly developed social phobia because of you.”
“I truly regret that. I was too young back then… Anyway, I’ve given up completely now, so you can relax.”
His black eyes, which had been fixed on mine, slowly drifted down along my nose to my lips.
Suddenly, I became all too aware of our posture—
The firm arm around my waist, the closeness of our bodies, our breaths mingling.
Leonhart muttered under his breath.
“Strange.”
“……”
“Why doesn’t it feel good?”
What did that mean? Shouldn’t he be happy, clapping his hands, that I’d given up?
No matter how I searched his eyes, I couldn’t discern his true intent.
“Your Highness, that’s—”
Just then, noise erupted outside.
“His Imperial Majesty has arrived!”
The Emperor?
“I heard there was an attack last night! Is it true?”
“Please calm yourself, Your Majesty. The prince is unharmed.”
“I must see with my own eyes that my son is safe! Open the door at once!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Before I could react, the door burst open.
“My son!!!”
Short in stature, with a plump, dumpling-like face, and curly black-brown hair—
The Emperor’s kindly appearance was almost comical, making it hard to believe he was Leonhart’s father.
His round eyes widened.
“Huh? Isn’t that the Duke of Ibrante?”
“I greet Your Majesty. I trust you’ve been well.”
“I heard you were staying in the 3rd Prince’s palace.”
The Emperor glanced between us with a meaningful look.
“But instead of the guest room, you slept in the prince’s bedchamber?”
“No!”
“Then why are you here?”
“I only stopped by to say I was leaving. That’s all.”
I answered as calmly as possible, but the Emperor wasn’t convinced.
“Yet you’re embracing each other so affectionately this early in the morning?”
“T-this is…”
“Oh, I’m not scolding you, so no need to explain.”
“I wasn’t making excuses—”
“What a fine-looking pair you make. A perfect couple.”
“……”
Suddenly, memories of meeting the Emperor as Adela resurfaced.
I had been frustrated the entire time because the conversation made no sense.
Now I understood why.
This man doesn’t listen to a single word anyone else says!
Leonhart pushed me behind him and stepped forward.
“Father, what brings you here so early?”
“I was worried, of course! Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No.”
“Ah, you’re so prickly. Are you sulking because your father interrupted you?”
“Interrupted? Not at all.”
“No need to deny it. If you deny too strongly, you’ll hurt the duke’s feelings. I was young once too, you know—I understand these things.”
“You clearly do not, Father.”
Again, the Emperor ignored his son completely.
Instead, he patted Leonhart’s arm with a pleased expression.
“You’re young, a man and woman in your prime. Of course you want to be together day and night. Still, propriety must be kept—for the honor of the imperial family.”
“Propriety… Father, that’s not what this is!”
“No matter how urgent your desires, you must learn restraint. Let’s set a date for the engagement first.”
“Engagement? W-wait, Father? Father!”
The Emperor left as abruptly as he had come, after saying his piece.
“……”
“……”
A chilling silence engulfed the room.
Feeling awkward, I sneaked a glance at Leonhart.
He was staring blankly at the spot where the Emperor had stood, utterly dumbfounded.
It was the most devastated expression I’d ever seen on his face.
“Um… are you all right?”
“All right?”
Leonhart suddenly turned his fury on me.
“Why didn’t you say something? You should have told him you were engaged to someone else!”
“You saw it yourself! His Majesty doesn’t give anyone a chance to speak! I wanted to tell him!”
“Be honest. That ‘I gave up on you’ line—that was a lie, wasn’t it? You kept quiet on purpose! Because you want to marry me!”
What nerve! He hadn’t spoken up either, yet he was blaming only me.
I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.
“Isn’t it the other way around, Your Highness? You kept silent on purpose—because you wanted to marry me.”
“Are you insane?”
“I’ll return the question to you. As I’ve said many times, you’re not my type. At all.”
“Good. I’m glad we’re not each other’s type.”
Whatever softness had been there earlier vanished without a trace.
We glared at each other as if we might tear each other apart.
“You know as well as I do, there’s only one option left.”
“And what is that?”
“An engagement. Even if it ends in a broken betrothal later, I’ll just have to pick someone—anyone—and get engaged.”
“……”
“So until I do, Your Highness, you’re responsible for keeping His Majesty at bay.”
Leonhart scowled deeply.
I had no idea what he found so objectionable this time.
Was it because I hadn’t given a definite date?
I’m telling you, I’ll marry just anyone for your sake. Isn’t that enough? Anything more would be greedy.
Without so much as a farewell, I swept out of his bedchamber.
