Chapter 66
“I’m Sorry”
“I-Is it true that… you insulted my fiancée in front of everyone?”
Kailian’s face contorted violently as he roughly guessed the situation.
“Insulted? The question came from your fiancée herself! Not me! So, Marquis, why don’t you answer it? Among all the men here, isn’t there at least one whom the Lady truly loves that you should know about?”
Diego poked at Kailian’s chest with his finger, pressing the issue.
“Ugh!”
Kailian snatched Diego’s wrist in return, gritting his teeth.
“If you insult my fiancée any further, no matter who you are—”
“Kai!”
At that moment, Jimena emerged from the powder room with the young ladies. She was startled at the sight of the two men locked in confrontation and shouted.
“Ah! Finally, you came out, Lady! How about it? Shouldn’t you ask your fiancé the same question you asked me?”
Seeing Jimena, Diego suddenly let go of Kailian’s hand.
“You said you love her, didn’t you? That you’ll marry the man you truly love? So even if other men don’t know, your fiancé, the Marquis, should. Come on, answer correctly! Ladies!”
“Oh my! Your Highness!”
He forced one of the young ladies Jimena had brought to stand in front of Kailian.
“You can answer simultaneously! Tell me, which side of Lady Silvester’s chest had the beauty mark, hmm?”
Diego grabbed and shook the young lady’s shoulder firmly.
Has this man really lost his mind? What is he doing?
Jimena, seeing Diego’s irrational behavior and Kailian’s glare, alternated her gaze between the two, bewildered.
“L-Lady Silvester’s b-beauty mark is…”
The terrified young lady opened her mouth, and everyone held their breath.
“It doesn’t exist…”
“It doesn’t exist.”
“…What?”
Kailian, who was staring only at Diego, said the exact same answer simultaneously with the young lady. Diego froze, stunned, as if turned to ice.
“Did you not hear me? I said there’s no such beauty mark on my fiancée’s chest. Now, Your Highness, it’s your turn. How will you pay the price for insulting my fiancée in front of everyone?”
Clang!
“Gah!”
Kailian swiftly drew a nearby royal guard’s sword and pointed it at the prince. People gasped in shock and stepped back.
“Kai!”
Startled, Jimena rushed to Kailian’s side, hugging him to stop him.
“Your Highness, he’s right! It’s my fault! I just went along because you seemed a bit drunk! You didn’t insult me at all! I’m fine! So, so…”
“Jimena!”
“Let’s stop now. I’m… so tired… I want to go home… please take me home, Kai…”
Tears glimmered in Jimena’s eyes as she looked up pleadingly, clinging to him.
“Wh-What is… going on…?”
Clang!
The Duke of Silvester trembled in shock, unsure what to do, while Kailian dropped the sword to the floor.
Then, gently wiping Jimena’s tears, he kissed her forehead and lifted her into his arms.
“I will… never forget this, Your Highness.”
He glared at Diego, frozen like ice by the sword at their feet, then held Jimena close and walked straight out of the royal palace.
“Hm… hmm? Kai…”
“Hmph, slept well?”
“Where… are we?”
Awakening from her nap, Jimena rubbed her eyes and looked around. She was in the carriage, still in Kailian’s arms.
“We’ve arrived in front of your house. About an hour ago, in front of the Karafedon mansion.”
“Oh? But… why…”
“You were sleeping soundly, so I didn’t want to wake you. I just waited a bit.”
Realizing she had fallen asleep in his arms while leaving the palace embarrassed her, and she tried to pull away.
“I’m sorry. I must have dozed off.”
Kailian shook his head, still holding her close.
“It’s fine. Holding you like this… warm, and I like it too.”
As he listened to her breathing and soft sighs while she slept, he didn’t change his posture at all. When the carriage arrived and the coachman opened the door, he signaled quietly to close it again.
“Kai… I’m sorry for causing a fuss. I don’t know why I always end up like this at the palace.”
“Jimena, why would it be your fault? The apology should be from him! Hah…”
Kailian thought of the prince and let out a weary sigh, trying to restrain his anger.
“Thank you for holding back… Prince Diego is the emperor’s precious son. Even though he insulted us first, ultimately the difficulty would have fallen on your father and me.”
“And what about you? I understand your concern for your father, but what about your own heart, hurt by such an insult? Why leave that out?”
“Ah, me… I don’t care enough to spread rumors. Whatever others say, as long as the people I value trust me, that’s enough. That’s all I need…”
Though he smiled and said it didn’t matter, Kailian knew he would never forget the tears in her eyes that day at the palace.
“Jimena, still, I will never let this incident go—”
“Enough.”
Jimena placed her hand over his mouth.
“I’m really fine. Kai, you said you trust me, didn’t you? That’s enough. And maybe because of today… there might be fewer rumors about me. Prince Diego was caught lying openly, after all.”
“Huh…”
Kailian kissed her hand and let out a deep sigh.
“But… how could you be so confident in saying that? What if you were wrong?”
Jimena smiled faintly.
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“The beauty mark on my chest. You said confidently it doesn’t exist. I was going to try to signal you if our eyes met… but you didn’t even look at my face…”
“Ah… th-that… that’s just… a feeling…”
Kailian, flustered, avoided her gaze and stammered.
“Hmph, anyway, that’s a relief. Let’s go inside now. I wonder if Father has arrived yet?”
“Oh, the Duke hasn’t come yet. He’s probably finishing some matters first.”
“Then we should pretend to be asleep before he arrives. If he sees me, he’ll scold me again.”
“And… do I have to listen to that scolding too?”
“Probably… yes?”
“Hmm. Then I should go to bed quickly as well.”
Nervously, they looked at each other, quickly exiting the carriage hand in hand and entering the mansion.
“By the way, why did His Majesty call Father and you separately?”
“Oh, it’s about the upcoming Beast Subjugation Tournament. He asked to reduce the number of participants from our Red Moon Knights.”
“Eh? Why?”
“Because other lords complain every year that our knights win all the prizes and glory. Now that you’re engaged and part of the same household, they complained it’s even more unfair.”
“…I see.”
Jimena felt uneasy. This tournament was the backdrop for an important event in the novel—the first meeting of Kailian and the heroine, Ines.
During the tournament, Kailian would be poisoned by assassins planted by the emperor and crown prince. The heroine Ines would find him and take him to Acticos in her carriage, progressing their relationship.
The “Marquis Assassination Attempt” trial also leads to the crown prince being framed and eventually rebelling, setting up crucial events for Kailian to confront the emperor.
“They asked to reduce the knight participants? Was that in the original story? Something must have changed… but probably not too much.”
Jimena worried for Kailian but knew in the story his injuries would be minor and healed quickly. Ines’ nursing would advance their relationship, so she couldn’t reveal this in advance.
“I’ll have to secretly watch Kail that day. If the culprit possessed Ines, they might avoid appearing—or plot something else. Hah… the tournament itself is full of the emperor’s schemes, and now there’s a serial killer too… it’s really complicated…”
“Jimena, don’t worry. You know the Red Moon Knights are famous. The reduced number will disappoint some, but it won’t make things more dangerous,” Kailian reassured her with a gentle smile.
“Oh… yes. Right,” Jimena said, forcing a smile to show agreement.
“Miss, you’re here?”
“And the Duke? Didn’t he come with you?”
As they entered the mansion, the butler and Mari rushed to greet them.
“Father might be a bit late. It’s been a while since he visited the palace. We came out early because we were tired.”
“Tired, Miss? Then I’ll prepare your bed immediately.”
“Yes, thank you, Mari.”
Mari smiled and quickly went upstairs.
“I’ll call the maid to prepare the Marquis’ bed,” the butler said.
“Thank you.”
With the butler discreetly stepping aside, Jimena, conscious of holding Kailian’s hand, awkwardly greeted him.
“Well… good night, Kai.”
“I’ll go up with you. I’ll see you to your door.”
“Oh… okay…”
Kailian held her hand as they climbed the stairs.
“Um… Kai?”
“Hm?”
Jimena called out at the top of the stairs, pausing.
“I’m sorry…”
“For what…?”
“For always being clingy and bothering you… I did apologize before, but… today, seeing Prince Diego, I realized… you must have had a hard time because of me too…”
Kailian looked at her apologetically, leaned on the railing, thought for a moment, and quietly spoke.
“Jimena, then… will you accept my apology as well?”
“Kai, what do you need to apologize for?”
“That day… on the palace stairs… I…”
Kailian hesitated, as if finding it hard to speak, then summoned courage and continued.
“For criticizing… you…”
