Chapter 67
Killian coughed for a good while before sitting down and downing two glasses of water in quick succession. Only then did he return to normal.
I hadn’t meant to hit a sore spot, but maybe he felt guilty when I asked if he was tired.
Well, he should feel guilty! Flirting is one thing, but doing something so outrageous is another!
How dare he take the Imperial Knight Order entrance test without telling me! Hmph!
“Ahem. Sorry, Tia. I kept coughing while you were talking.”
“As long as you’re fine, I’m fine.”
I shrugged my shoulders. Killian tilted his head with a smile.
“The truth is, I took the entrance test for the Imperial Knight Order today.”
Ack!
I didn’t think he’d blurt it out like that. I take back what I said about him being outrageous.
“Oh my! Really? You did?”
I pretended not to know, sounding like I was reading from a schoolbook. Thankfully, Killian didn’t notice.
“But why do you want to join the Imperial Knights?”
“Hm? Well, of course, for Ti—”
“Hm? For what?”
“Never mind.”
He shut his mouth quickly.
I just hoped it wasn’t for the reason I was thinking.
So I asked instead:
“But Killian, is it even possible for the young heir of the Marchen family to become an Imperial Knight?”
I was genuinely curious. After all, one day he’d have to become the head of the Marchen family.
Killian chuckled lightly before answering.
“My teacher says it’s not impossible.”
“Oh, that’s a relief. I was worried it might bring you disadvantages when you inherit your family’s position.”
“Tia, you worry too much.”
“No! I only worry because it’s you. You’re my best, big, friend.”
Killian suddenly buried his face in his hands, then lifted his head to look at me.
“I–I see. Actually, Tia, there’s something I’ve been worrying about. It’s serious. The kind of problem you’d definitely worry about too….”
“Huh? Really? What is it?”
I couldn’t help but bounce in my seat. This was the first time Killian had ever come to me for advice! My blood boiled with excitement, happiness, pride—every emotion at once.
“De—ahem… debut…”
“What? I can’t hear you, Killian.”
I planted my hands on the table between us and leaned closer. Startled, Killian suddenly raised his voice.
“The debutante ball!”
Ouch! That was loud.
But of course, I kept my face perfectly composed. I’m a woman skilled at managing expressions—especially against eco-friendly, carbon-neutral voices like his.
I leaned back again and asked:
“Oh! The debutante ball?”
“Yes. I, uh… need to choose a partner.”
Alright, Tia. This is where you shine.
Quick, send the telepathy.
Adele, Adele, Adele, Adele, Adele!
“Lady Shuberry—”
Ugh, seriously?!
This useless telepathy never works!
“You’re going with Shuberry? Oh, come on! Killian! I don’t want to meddle with your freedom, but really—Bianca Shuberry? Isn’t that a bit much?”
“No, Tia, listen to me first.”
After draining another glass, Killian moistened his parched lips and explained.
“I think rumors spread that I hadn’t chosen a partner yet. So Lady Shuberry asked me to partner with her. But then….”
“What! What did she say?”
I should’ve swallowed Shuberry whole back then.
“I told her I was planning to partner with someone else, but she said she could fix everything—that it would look proper for two ducal families to pair up….”
Alright, focus.
Interpret the question carefully.
First: Killian already has someone in mind he wants to partner with.
Second: Shuberry still hasn’t come to her senses.
“Ugh, seriously! Why is that eighteen-year-old Shuberry even attending this debutante ball?”
“T-Tia?”
Killian’s eyes flickered.
“She’s eighteen. Three years older than you.”
“Oh! That’s what you meant? Right, right. I guess it’s not like Tia would know that word.”
“Of course. Naturally, Killian.”
I forced a smile, trying to organize my tangled thoughts.
“I’ll take care of it. Somehow.”
“Really?”
“Yup. If it comes down to status, no one in this country outranks me.”
I gave him a wink. Killian smiled.
“That’s a relief, Tia. Actually, Lady Shuberry’s condition was exactly that—that if you were my partner, she’d give up.”
Huh?
“If you’ll be my partner, then I don’t need to worry anymore. I’ll just send her a rejection letter, saying I’ve chosen you. Phew. Thank goodness. That’s fine with you, right, Tia?”
Eh??
“But Tia, you don’t already have a partner, do you?”
He tilted his head, mumbling about young lords of the capital, handling things properly, impossibilities, and whatnot.
I let out a short sigh.
Why does everything have to get tangled like this? Why does it have to be me at his debutante? What about Adele? And what about my father…?
My uncertain voice slipped out.
“I… I do have a partner….”
“Really? Who?”
Wait a second.
Were his eyes glowing blue just now?
…No, must’ve been my imagination.
I rubbed my eyes and answered:
“My dad.”
“Your dad? Which family—wait! You mean His Majesty?”
“Yup. My dad. My daddy. Ha, ha, ha.”
I laughed awkwardly and repeated the story I’d once told Adele about attending with my father.
Killian sighed but then chuckled.
“If that’s all, I think I can handle it, Tia. So you’ll take care of Lady Shuberry for me? Ah, you don’t actually need to do much—just be my partner.”
“Killian?”
Why does he sound so confident?
I looked at him with worried eyes, but whether he knew or not, he just kept smiling.
That smile was almost mischievous, making my throat tighten.
“You know my father’s personality. Are you sure it’s fine? Do you really have a plan?”
How much effort did I put into saving you!
Do you not value your life?!
I tried to scream it with my eyes, but it was useless.
Somehow, I’d gotten dragged so deep into this, I couldn’t even see how it happened. Maddening.
Meanwhile, Killian, as if freed of all burdens, just focused on devouring the orange pound cake in front of him.
***
They had waited. Waited a very long time.
After years of failure, Marquis Alberto finally succeeded in his experiment. For the first time in ages, he faced his daughter Olivia.
She still looked lifeless, but the fact that she could sit up straight on her own meant the experiment was a huge success.
“Your Majesty, the Empress.”
“…Father.”
How long had it been since he last heard her voice?
It wasn’t the bright, ringing tone she once had—only a weak, broken voice. But that didn’t matter to him.
The important thing was that she could speak again. Communication had been impossible until now.
“From now on, you only need to do as I say, Your Majesty. And if you do, what did I promise you?”
“My child… let me see my child….”
“That’s right, Your Majesty. The child you once carried—the child I delivered for you. You will see them. And what must you do?”
“Do as Father says….”
“Correct, Your Majesty. Only do as I say. You’re still as clever as ever. Do this, and you’ll be able to live with your child.”
Marquis Alberto handed her a vial. With hands as thin as bones, Olivia barely managed to grasp it.
“Take one spoonful, morning and evening, every day. It will clear your head and give you strength. You must never skip it.”
“…Yes, Father.”
Stripped of the ability to think for herself, she replied in a voice airy and hollow.
“Good. Very good. Excellent, Your Majesty!”
With satisfaction, Marquis Alberto left the Empress’s palace.
It had taken a long, long time.
Smuggling people into the Empress’s palace under the Emperor’s watchful eye. Restoring a broken woman who was little more than a shell.
He had thought it would take seven years. It had taken seven more.
But in the end, success was success.
“At last… it is done.”
He planned to restore the Empress in splendor at the Crown Princess’s debutante.
Soon, life would return to those vacant eyes of hers.
Everything had aligned perfectly—the experiment, the medicine, Olivia’s will….
There was only one problem: the leash that bound the Empress had gone missing.
“If only I could find that wretched brat….”
The Marquis thought of his grandson—or rather, a chess piece with a very clear purpose.
He had cut Olivia’s belly open with his own hands to pull the boy out, then raised the flawed child with a mottled head, silencing his cries by force.
He had thought the boy a fool, harmless, and let his guard down. That had been his mistake.
While the Marquis was away, the boy had fled. Without a trace.
The day he discovered that, dozens of knights had been slaughtered.
The Marquis stroked his mustache with a bitter smile.
Finding him would suffice.
Or he could simply make another.
A replacement for such a defective pawn.
In fact, better this way—he could forge the next one into perfect obedience from the start.
Even so….
Marquis Alberto was determined to find the boy.
If only to control both the Empress and the Marchen heir.
His narrow eyes gleamed with greed.
