Chapter 109
Minerva had run away, taking Aslan with her.
Ayla paused for a moment, then, after carefully finishing the last bite of her meal, got up from her seat.
“Dad, then I’ll go pack my things.”
“Pack your things?”
Lloyd, still feeling unwell and picking at his food, asked in surprise.
Ayla, with her characteristic round eyes, calmly explained the reason.
“I think Mom will end up going to the palace with Aslan. So, we’ll all be going anyway, and I thought it’d be better to pack our things in advance.”
Aslan and Minerva often bickered, but they loved each other more than anyone else.
At first, no matter how much Minerva opposed, she would ultimately follow Aslan’s decision.
Lloyd had already expected this once Minerva ran off with Aslan.
“But I didn’t tell you to follow us.”
“Don’t you want to go, Dad?”
“Well…”
To be honest, he did want to go.
Even though there was Priscilla in the capital, and many people to face despite his dislike, his desire to be helpful to Minerva outweighed everything else.
“You do want to go, don’t you?”
At Ayla’s bright smile, as if saying she felt the same, Lloyd nodded.
“Please persuade Dad to come with us.”
“What?”
“Then I’ll go pack my things.”
Like a thief in the night, Ayla handed over the most important task to Lloyd and hurried back to her room.
In her trunk, she packed a few clothes and her dolls.
The last item was a rabbit doll Minerva had given her before.
Ayla fiddled with the rabbit doll and thought:
‘I’m jealous.’
Minerva had told her to call her “Mom” from now on.
Since then, Minerva had treated Ayla as a precious daughter.
Minerva and Aslan were real mother and son, but Ayla and Minerva were a “fake” mother and daughter.
Once Lloyd’s contract ended, Ayla and Minerva’s relationship would also end.
‘I hope Dad succeeds in courting Mom quickly.’
It was already confirmed that Lloyd liked Minerva.
The only thing left was to advance their relationship.
They say romance blossoms amidst adversity.
Though it might be a little grim to push Lloyd for her own desires, Ayla genuinely wanted to become a real family with Minerva and Aslan.
She placed the rabbit doll in the trunk and closed it securely.
After being pushed into action by Ayla’s words, Lloyd had been lost in thought.
Apart from his own desire to go with Minerva, he wondered how much help he could actually be to her.
Time passed quickly, and Minerva reappeared in the dining room.
She seemed slightly surprised that Lloyd was still there.
“Your Grace, you haven’t left yet?”
“Yes, Your Highness. Did everything go well?”
“Yes. In the end, I decided to go with Aslan.”
Minerva said this with a small, sigh-like smile.
As stubborn as Aslan was, it seemed he hadn’t simply changed his mind out of pure obstinacy, which piqued her curiosity.
“I’m sorry. If I had known it would turn out this way, I wouldn’t have made that request… it must have troubled you.”
“No, on the contrary, I’m thankful you asked me that favor.”
“Huh?”
“It made me feel that Your Highness trusts me.”
Still, formally speaking, they were married, so she couldn’t just leave things to someone else.
And since Lloyd was the only one Minerva could ask for help, it made her feel grateful, which in turn made him feel embarrassed.
‘I had to get her to ask me for a favor, so I got her drunk…’
Though halfway through, he ended up passing out first, and it had been a dirty trick, but seeing her genuinely touched face made him feel even worse.
“Well, I owe you a lot. I’ll repay you when we return to the palace.”
Minerva twirled her hair awkwardly.
She had indeed owed him a lot and had wanted to repay him eventually, and now seemed like the right time.
Lloyd’s eyes lit up as he asked eagerly:
“Then may I ask one favor right now?”
“Right now?”
“Yes. May we accompany you to the palace?”
Minerva’s eyes widened.
Her power had already dispersed.
The only force capable of countering the Basilika Duke House, the strongest power of Princess Gabriel’s faction, was either the Eckhart Duke House, led by Priscilla, or Minerva herself.
Priscilla would never help Minerva after the previous incident.
However, the current head of Eckhart was Lloyd.
Lloyd would soon release “Cat’s Eye” to the world, gaining wealth and influence, and Minerva’s dispersed power, once subtly oppressed by the Basilika Duke House, would regain hope and rally to her.
Honestly, Lloyd’s joining would be a tremendous advantage.
Yet, as a parent, she worried about recklessly agreeing.
“You know the palace is dangerous. Are you sure you want to bring Ayla there? Especially at such a busy time?”
“Even if it’s a contract marriage, we are a family. It’s natural to move together. I’ll also keep Ayla safe.”
“And your duchy?”
“It’ll be fine without me.”
Precisely, Pablo would ensure it ran smoothly.
Minerva didn’t press further, sensing he would argue regardless.
She did have one concern:
“There’s Priscilla in the capital. Are you sure it’s okay?”
“….”
Indeed, Lloyd agreed that was the biggest problem.
His sparkling eyes suddenly dulled.
A long-held trauma doesn’t just disappear in an instant.
“Don’t overexert yourself…”
“No, I will go.”
Just as Minerva tried to pat his shoulder, Lloyd firmly expressed his determination.
“If we keep avoiding her, one day she will naturally pass away, and it’ll be resolved. But we don’t know when that will be, so this time, I want to properly resolve it.”
For himself and for Ayla.
He wanted to completely remove Priscilla once and for all.
Once regarded as a mother, she was now just a nightmare.
“That’s our contract, isn’t it?”
Lloyd helps Minerva regain her status, and Minerva helps him defeat his mother.
Recalling this, Minerva smiled faintly.
“That’s right. It is.”
Still, thinking of taking direct action against Priscilla… Lloyd had really grown.
Despite all his mental struggles, he was facing them step by step.
“Let’s depart first thing tomorrow.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Even with the sudden departure, Lloyd complied obediently.
Then Minerva remembered something she hadn’t clarified.
“By the way, did Ayla say she wants to come too?”
Unlike Aslan, who sought trouble, Ayla seemed to prefer a comfortable life.
Material wealth was similar in both the palace and the duchy, but the mental strain at the palace was far greater.
She worried if Ayla would be forced to come along unwillingly.
Lloyd’s answer, however, was remarkable:
“Ayla has already gone to pack. She may have already finished and gone to sleep early to wake up tomorrow.”
“…….”
Yes, she wasn’t being forced at all.
Ayla seemed to be several steps ahead in thinking.
Minerva, flustered and dumbfounded, nodded as Lloyd perfectly understood her feelings.
In the original story, she had been the sunny heroine, but now, entangled with Minerva, she had become a scheming heroine.
Two troublemakers.
Palace life, already fraught with hardship, would now be two to three times more difficult. They had to stay alert.
For everyone’s happy ending.
