Chapter 26
Richard didn’t answer, but he couldn’t hide the flicker of panic in his eyes. Kyle, catching the faint tremor in his gaze, lit up sharply like a snake that had spotted its prey.
“A witch impersonating a saint, indeed. Even inside the prison you can’t suppress your impulses and nearly committed another murder.”
“That is not true.”
“If this gets out, the witch will be executed at once. But that can’t be helped, can it? You’ve brought it on yourself.”
“You’re the one who ordered me to feed her belladonna!”
Kyle’s smile vanished in an instant, replaced by a cold face.
“You’re saying amusing things. Do you have proof I gave such an order? A witness?”
Neither man withdrew the hostility burning in his eyes. Only then did Richard realize he had fallen for a shallow provocation, and he regained his composure.
“Veronica will not be punished. There’s no proof that I took poison, nor that she slipped it into anything. I will not be reporting this matter to the outside.”
Even when offered the chance to cover up what he had ordered, Kyle’s expression twisted. He was never easy to read, but Richard felt the man’s resentment toward him—and that gave him certainty.
Kyle disliked the fact that Richard was protecting Veronica.
Just what was this man, who was bound to Veronica in such ill-fated ties? Richard had long wondered. When he first heard the name mentioned in passing during conversations with her, he thought it was nothing important.
But the longer he stayed in the Fortress, the more obvious it became that the prison director and the witch had a suspicious connection.
Then I need to confirm it. What exactly is Veronica to you?
“…I see. Then let’s get to the real reason you called me here.”
“Veronica told me—the victim was killed by someone else. I believe she was telling the truth when she said she didn’t do it.”
“You believe the lies of a criminal.”
“Prince Georg, said to have fallen victim to the witch, was killed in a way far beyond the strength of a frail woman acting alone. Suspecting a different culprit is only reasonable. Likely someone else who stayed in the castle at that time. And among them—I find you suspicious.”
The invisible tension between them was sharp enough to cut, like blades colliding without a sound. Kyle did not refute Richard’s suspicion; instead, he murmured coldly.
“You requested this interview just to spout such nonsense? What a waste of time.”
“The only questionable point is that you have no motive to kill Prince Georg.”
“You’re entirely mistaken. It’s not known to the public, but the witch had every reason to kill him. More than enough.”
“…Is that so?”
Richard let out a cold smile, as if he had expected that very answer, as if he had gotten exactly what he wanted. He stood up.
“Thank you for your time. I believe our conversation is over. I’ll return to my cell now.”
“You’re just leaving?”
Kyle’s eyebrows twitched.
He might have intended to give nothing away, but his poker face had failed. Richard had already confirmed what he wanted.
He looked down at the contemptible man before him with an icy gaze.
Kyle Caseknis is the true culprit. And he’s in love with Veronica.
The one missing piece of the puzzle—the motive for Kyle’s crime—must have been Veronica. Her reason for killing was his reason as well.
“Prisoner 14395 will be escorted back to the underground cells.”
As the guard, who had been waiting with his hands behind his back, led Richard away, Kyle suddenly sprang up from his chair with a complicated expression.
Not long after Richard left the reception room, the heavy door swung open again. Spotting the prison director striding briskly down the corridor, the guard came to a halt.
Richard had no choice but to stop as Kyle roughly spun him around by the shoulder.
“Tell me. What were you trying to confirm by calling this meeting?”
“Only the truth. As I suspected, the witch was lying.”
“I told you she wasn’t. Yet you refuse to believe it.”
Richard neither agreed nor denied. The grip on his shoulder tightened painfully, Kyle’s expression growing darker.
Richard firmly brushed off the man’s hand.
“My belief shouldn’t matter to you. But if you want to keep deceiving others, you should restrain yourself a little better.”
Richard stepped closer, lowering his voice until it was just a whisper against Kyle’s ear.
“If you show so much interest, sooner or later others will see through to your motive for murder.”
“……”
Then Richard stepped back and spoke his final words before leaving.
“In fact, even if Veronica was the real murderer, I wouldn’t care anymore. If she did it, I’m sure she had good reason.”
This time Kyle did not stop him. He simply stood there, frozen, as Richard disappeared with the guard down the corridor.
Richard’s confession had come from an impulse. Or was it really an impulse?
He did not regret confessing to Veronica. The thought that he was better than Kyle simply wouldn’t leave him.
She must choose me, not a coward who commits murder and lays the blame on the woman he loves.
But even a knight who prized honesty and morality could hardly say such a thing to a woman he had just confessed to.
“What do you like about me? Since when have you liked me?”
“Th-that’s… hard to explain.”
“Did you fall for me but hide it because you were too shy? Is that why even when I touched you a little, you got flustered and told me not to?”
“Please stop teasing me!”
Unlike just moments ago, when he had boldly urged her to choose him, Richard had returned to being the chaste, awkward knight, desperately avoiding her eyes. That only made her more persistent in chasing his gaze.
Strangely enough, his sincere, bashful reactions seemed adorable. The flawless man, trapped as a prisoner of her love—it felt unreal.
Had Richard simply grown lonely and weary in the long confinement? Surely it was only that. Once he left the Fortress, he would never look at a fraud like her again.
And yet, far from feeling disappointed, she decided to savor the joy of having captured his heart, even if only for a brief time inside these prison walls.
“Want to kiss me? You’ve never kissed a woman before, have you? I’ll teach you.”
“……”
Perhaps she was too wrapped in happiness, but her body felt light, as if floating above the clouds. That was why she failed to notice the subtle change in Richard’s demeanor.
“…Would that be all right?”
She had only been teasing him, like she often did, but suddenly the air between them had shifted. Richard lowered the hand that had been covering his jaw.
“There’s nothing wrong with it, but…”
Unconsciously she wetted her lower lip, suddenly uncertain, because he seemed ready to actually do it.
He stepped closer, arm slipping around her shoulders to draw her in. Pulled suddenly, she stared up at him with wide eyes.
She had always been the one pushing boundaries first, yet this was the first time he moved toward her, and her body went stiff with nervous tension. The atmosphere he had created seeped into her as well.
His gaze, burning with some unspoken heat, did not waver from hers.
Her eyelids began to lower, long lashes casting a shadow across her vision. Just as their faces drew closer, his suddenly stopped.
Her eyes stayed fixed on his lips that no longer came nearer.
“Why did you stop?”
“…It feels a little too soon.”
“You confessed, and yet you think it’s too soon?”
“I confessed, yes. But you haven’t given me an answer yet.”
“……”
“So until we’re properly together…”
His low voice tickled her ear, carrying a quiet expectation that brushed her heart like feathers.
He darted his eyes about nervously, unable to meet hers, until they fell—on her lips.
“Don’t you want to kiss me?”
“…I do. But not until you give me your answer.”
“Even if I say I want to, you still won’t?”
“……”
“But I want to kiss you, Richard.”
She gently lifted his chin, making him meet her eyes. The flush of heat in his cheeks blended with the redness of his eyes.
Though his gaze was as pure and awkward as ever, in this moment she was a temptress, searching out the yearning hidden in those innocent eyes.
“Let’s kiss.”
