Chapter 46
Katrina had been willing to give Raymond the perfume.
In truth, she felt a faint sense of responsibility for making it so that other sedatives besides her perfume didn’t work on him.
But that was as far as it went.
She felt no particular guilt.
After what you did to me.
He could stand to suffer a little more.
“Apologize for what you did before. Make me believe you mean it.”
That was all she wanted from him.
She had no special demands for Raymond otherwise.
“Then I’ll give it to you.”
“You’ve picked up a nasty habit, Katrina.”
Katrina didn’t back down.
“I learned it from Your Highness.”
She was only doing to him what he had done to her—what could be the problem?
“Katrina, do you not like me anymore?”
Raymond suddenly asked something strange.
“Your Highness, I’ll say it again…”
Katrina had been willing to show him the bare minimum of courtesy.
But—
“I don’t love you, Your Highness.”
She wanted to sever this ill-fated tie once and for all.
“Think about what you did to me. How could I possibly go on loving you?”
“You once told me, long ago, that you couldn’t live without me.”
Is he seriously bringing up something from that long ago?
“What meaning does that have now, Raymond?”
You’re never going to regret what you did.
In fact, you don’t even know how to regret anything.
Selfish bastard.
“I don’t like you anymore.”
Katrina spoke each word clearly so there could be no mistaking her meaning.
“Now that you know, please stop showing yourself in front of me, Raymond.”
Neither you nor your friends will ever change.
The Grand Duchy of Rockfenheim.
A party was in full swing.
“Hahaha!”
“What a fine day it is today!”
Silas’s uncle, Patrick, had become the new Grand Duke not long ago.
All thanks to the trouble Silas had caused.
In a way, he was lucky to have such a nephew—his life had opened up brilliantly because of it.
“Come now, Your Grace! Please drink slowly!”
“You pretty thing, you have a drink too!”
Patrick was thoroughly enjoying his afternoon bliss when—
“Your Grace! S-Something terrible has happened!”
A servant came running in a panic.
Patrick’s smile soured at the interruption.
“What is it! If it’s nothing important, I won’t let you off lightly.”
“Kya ha ha! Your Grace, you’re so dignified!”
“Ahaha! Am I?”
Patrick still hadn’t grasped the situation, laughing loosely.
“Your Grace, it’s… well…”
“Well, what?”
“Silas Rockfenheim has returned!”
…What?
His mind snapped into focus.
“Where is that bastard now?”
“He’s in front of the manor.”
Patrick rose from his seat.
He had heard the news of Silas escaping from prison.
But for that lunatic to actually come here—!
This was his manor now.
“Summon all the knights at once!”
Patrick gathered the entire order of knights.
“All right. Let’s go.”
He led them to the front gate.
There stood a red-haired man, leaning casually against his luggage.
Silas smiled faintly when he saw his uncle approaching with the knights.
“Silas, you wretch! How dare you come here!”
“This is my manor. Why would I have any reason not to come?”
Silas spoke as if he couldn’t believe something so obvious needed explaining.
Patrick was floored by his shamelessness.
When Silas had been younger, Patrick had disciplined him harshly with the rod to correct such insolence.
But Silas had grown too much now—no longer someone who could be tamed.
They said you can’t domesticate a black-haired beast…
“I am now the Grand Duke of Rockfenheim! You are nothing now. Have you forgotten?”
“It’s only a temporary position. You’d do better to leave before you’re thrown out.”
“You—you…!”
Patrick turned to the knights he had brought.
“Seize him at once!”
“Oh? You want to fight me?”
Silas looked at the manor’s knights with amused eyes.
The knights looked back at the man they had once served as their lord.
Not a single one of them drew their sword.
This was madness.
Yes, there was still loyalty to Silas—but more than that, they all knew that even if they threw themselves at him with their lives, they would never be able to defeat him.
“What are you doing, you fools! Grab him now!”
Hesitation.
There wasn’t a single knight willing to rush recklessly at Silas.
“My dear uncle, how should I put this… you really are as consistent as ever.”
“What?”
“You’re a coward.”
Silas chuckled and strode confidently through the front gate.
Flinching, Patrick watched as Silas handed him a document.
“This is…”
“I stopped by the imperial palace on the way here.”
It wasn’t just any document.
It bore the imperial seal.
**[The crimes of Silas Rockfenheim are hereby pardoned.
As of today, he is restored to the position of Grand Duke of the Empire, and shall carry out the duties of the Imperial House.]**
“Th-this is…”
Patrick muttered in disbelief, unable to accept what had just happened.
“I’ll have to ask you to leave my house now, Uncle.”
<His Majesty the Emperor pardons Silas Rockfenheim.>
Katrina nearly choked when she saw the morning newspaper.
Yesterday it was “assault on the imperial palace.”
Today it was a “pardon”?
‘Grand Duke Silas committed a grave error, but in light of his loyalty and meritorious service, I will grant him another chance. This incident is understood to have occurred under extreme circumstances, and I expect him to devote himself once more to the Empire’s stability,’ His Majesty the Emperor declared.
What on earth happened in just one day?
Katrina was baffled.
The imperial family had never been friendly to House Rockfenheim—if anything, the opposite.
Katrina, I find Silas Rockfenheim most troublesome.
He loves you, doesn’t he?
Help me.
Those were Raymond’s words in the past.
He had thought Silas was a nuisance, and had pushed Katrina to get close to him.
She hadn’t felt guilty at the time.
He had betrayed her just the same, so she was only giving him back what she had received.
If it meant she could return home, she was willing to do whatever it took.
So Katrina betrayed Silas, and the Emperor, as if in cooperation, had thrown Silas into the most hellish prison and made sure he could never leave.
And yet, it had all been undone in just one day—absurdly so.
There must have been some unspoken deal struck between them.
“Milady, everything is ready. Please come in.”
At present, Katrina was visiting the temple.
I really didn’t want to come here…
But there was something she had to do here.
Namely—
“Oh my…”
The priest gasped in astonishment.
“What is it?”
Katrina looked at the orb before her, humming with a dark crimson light.
She had never seen that color before.
“Have you truly lived without knowing you have dark magic in your body?”
“What?”
Katrina frowned.
Holy power was pure white. Dark magic was black. If one had no magic at all, the orb simply didn’t react.
“Milady, I’ve never seen such a large amount in my life.”
…She really had dark magic?
“Priest, do not tell anyone about this.”
“Pardon? That’s impossible…”
Katrina quietly set a pile of gold coins on the desk.
“Please, say nothing.”
The priest’s eyes widened at the sight of the gold.
“…Understood.”
Katrina left the temple and climbed into her carriage.
When on earth had she come to possess dark magic?
She finally understood why she had followed the sound of the flute that night.
If she really did have dark magic, then everything fit perfectly.
But then…
Katrina frowned as she looked out the window.
What was this?
The road they were on wasn’t the way back to the manor. Where were they going?
“Stop, right now.”
