CHAPTER 65…………………………………………
It felt like I was in the lecture hall from the academy, not the grand ducal estate.
It was as if someone had turned back the hands of time on a clock by several years.
My friend since the academy, someone I had been close to for years, not a lover but someone I cared for almost just as deeply.
Damien Dinya Valstein — the one I had never once beaten in chess.
“…April.”
It was the real April Hill Rize.
After all these years of searching, the one whose hair I hadn’t even been able to find appeared right in front of me.
“Damien.”
The faint, scattered laughter vanished instantly, replaced by a low, steady voice.
When Damien wondered if this moment was a dream, he realized it wasn’t when he felt the warmth of a small hand on the back of his.
“I have a request.”
The chess game between the two of us was either a wager or a means to talk.
And today, it was clearly both.
A medium for conversation, and a signal that she had a request for me.
Her teal-gray eyes reflected my face. In her pupils, I looked somewhat foolish.
“Protect someone from the grand ducal house.”
It was an unexpected, desperate request.
Damien’s red eyes widened in surprise.
With this, he must have realized that I was the April he had been looking for.
The chessboard conversation, and the fact that he had never once beaten me at chess in the academy, were secrets only we shared.
This was information I hadn’t told Persephone, nor the real April.
“You…”
“I want you to protect someone from my family from the grand ducal house.”
No matter the temple, and no matter that Rozian was loved by the emperor, there was no way to control the grand ducal house.
And the emperor himself was lying in bed as if each day might be his last, making it even less likely.
Everyone in the royal court, all the nobles in the capital, secretly wished for the emperor’s death. Only then could they pull Rozian away from him.
The only place capable of fulfilling my request was the Valstein grand ducal house.
Damien, wearing a slightly confused expression, carefully took my hand.
“You lost the game, so you have to grant the request.”
“Damien…”
“It’s your request. How could I possibly refuse?”
The coldness he had always shown me had completely vanished. The ruby-red eyes that had felt icy now felt like warm flames.
Relaxed in the warmth, my shoulders sagged in relief.
Thank goodness Damien realized who I was—and that he would grant my request.
I exhaled lightly and smiled broadly. Damien smoothly lifted the corners of his mouth.
His smile, rare to see, carried a subtle, imposing weight that made me flinch. It felt… ominous.
“Now it’s my turn to ask.”
Trying to avoid an uncomfortable situation, I shifted slightly to the side, but as he rose, he stepped closer, as if determined to hear everything before letting me go. I rolled my eyes. Three years of hiding, and now he acted like he wouldn’t let me escape.
“Where have you been all this time?”
“….”
“Until you tell me where and how you’ve been…”
He gave a sharp smile.
“You better not think about leaving here, Epi.”
Hearing him even say my nickname made me nod in reluctant agreement.
“Information?”
The guildmaster stuck out his tongue at the man who immediately brought up the topic.
The young man had no sense of adult etiquette, it seemed. The guildmaster clicked his tongue in disapproval.
Well, he did look like some kind of noble heir, so such behavior was probably natural.
His confident, almost brazen demeanor, as if everything in life had been at his feet, piqued Teran’s curiosity about his true identity.
Which noble family did this young master belong to? He gave off a vibe similar to a grand ducal heir.
“Hey.”
The irritated voice made Teran clear his throat.
Who the man was didn’t matter—he had paid handsomely, so he deserved the service.
“I’ve been trying to gather information, but I couldn’t get much.”
“Report whatever you found at least.”
Teran cleared his throat a few more times, gathering himself.
Even though Persephone had given him a bracelet made from Sidévan’s eyes as a guide, his first words were, “I couldn’t find much.”
Persephone, openly annoyed, sank into a worn sofa nearby.
“Although, I did manage to find a little…”
Teran scratched his forehead with the tip of a pen.
“About five years ago, some man came to the ducal house with someone. The strange thing is, they entered together…”
“And?”
“But only the man came out afterward.”
Five years ago meant it was before April changed. It wasn’t particularly helpful, but even small information was valuable. Persephone listened carefully.
“His name was James Pool, a gambler.”
“Why would a gambler go to the ducal house?”
“I don’t know, but what’s certain is that after he left, he hit the gambling tables hard.”
“….”
“Looks like he lost it all, though.”
There was no reason the ducal house would give money to someone like James Pool.
Persephone clicked her tongue.
“Not sure if he sold the boy who was with him, or left him behind, but at some point, he disappeared.”
“….”
“We tried to investigate why he went to the ducal house, even saw him in person…”
A guild member who had gone to find James Pool shook his head.
“He couldn’t speak; his tongue had been cut.”
The image of a frustrated gambling addict came to mind.
“A wreck, missing his right hand because of gambling.”
“I asked about the ducal house, not James Pool.”
Teran fell silent, realizing he had gone off-topic.
That young man had no potential.
He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, embarrassed about continuing with James Pool’s story.
“Is it only about that gambler?”
“No, there’s more. Two events worth noting. One concerns James Pool, the other…”
Teran flipped through several pages of notes.
“Three years ago, a servant was kicked out on a rainy day.”
“A servant? Why?”
“Apparently, he touched a treasure that the ducal house held very dearly.”
A treasure…
Was there really such a thing in the ducal house? People in the capital metaphorically referred to the ducal house’s treasure as April Hill Rize.
Did he touch the princess? No.
The April I knew would have overlooked the maid’s mistake. If it had been the real April, there would have been other reactions, but there weren’t.
“The servant who was kicked out?”
“I don’t know. I tried to find out the name, but no one knew.”
If someone was kicked out of the ducal house, they likely weren’t working for any noble family anymore.
Teran glanced at Persephone. He had about a year’s time, but this was as much as he could discover.
Even this small amount was possible because Damien had requested information in the past.
“Anything else?”
“As you know, after that, the crown prince and the princess were engaged, the Duke of Rize collapsed the day before the engagement, and a carriage accident happened a few months ago.”
“….”
“That’s about it.”
Persephone exhaled heavily.
“One more thing, though.”
Hoping this would be proper information, she paused her grooming and gestured with her chin.
“There’s a rumor that the carriage accident the princess experienced might not have been an accident, but an incident.”
“Who in the empire would dare touch the ducal carriage?”
“Exactly. It’s just gossip. The young master asked me to look into gossip too.”
Teran muttered in frustration.
“Why would such a rumor exist?”
“Well, the second son of the ducal house keeps going to the estate.”
“….”
“Why would someone take the day off just to go to the estate? It suggests the carriage accident may not have been an accident.”
It sounded like he was revealing a very important and serious secret.
