~CHAPTER 89~
“That’s impossible.”
Lincia thought it was impossible.
If she really had considered divorce, she would have said it directly.
Harvich’s confident answer made Yulias frown.
“…How can you be so sure?”
“Well, I’m better at this than you.”
Lincia had feared the Grand Duke’s castle, yet she said she wouldn’t leave.
She avoided Harvich’s touch, but whenever he suggested going to the greenhouse, she went along.
Moreover, today Harvich had heard Lincia’s answer from Hue.
“Her Grace the Grand Duchess said to tell you ‘No’.”
Lincia still loved Harvich.
As long as she loved him, she wouldn’t leave.
Knowing this brought relief, but feeling comfort from it felt disgusting and horrible to him.
“Seeing that I know something you don’t, it seems sibling information is deeper than marital affection.”
Harvich’s sarcasm stiffened Yulias’s expression.
“So what if their bond is deep? If they divorce, they’re just strangers.”
“Why do you keep assuming divorce? We won’t separate.”
Harvich had no time for such trivial conversation with Yulias.
“Do you really love your sister? All she gained in the North is illness. What have you done so far?”
Harvich frowned.
“So?”
“I mean, think about which side is better for her. Compared to this wretched land, surely the palace is better, isn’t it?”
Harvich’s jaw tensed.
A petty provocation.
Yulias had a reason for dragging out such a trivial conversation.
He came without any guards, secretly, yet provoking Harvich could bring him no advantage.
Harvich couldn’t kill Yulias, of course, but circumstances could still turn fatal.
The North had recently been considering war.
What was Yulias thinking, provoking like this? Unless he was just buying time…
“You wouldn’t…”
“Now you realize?”
“You’ve completely lost your mind.”
Yulias’s obsession with Lincia surpassed all reason.
Even considering it as mere affection for his sister seemed extreme.
Whatever Yulias was planning, Harvich had to immediately ensure Lincia’s safety.
“Step aside while I speak nicely.”
Harvich instantly felt irritated.
It was closer to a feeling of displeasure.
Yulias sensed the lethal aura but still smiled.
“Trying to kill me?”
“Yes. I changed my mind. It’s common for a naïve city noble to die while traveling north.”
“Go ahead. If that happens, even if you want to, our sister will have no choice but to go to the palace to inherit the throne.”
A grinding sound of teeth echoed.
Harvich glared at Yulias.
Instead, he subdued him effortlessly.
Yulias offered no resistance.
Harvich summoned a knight.
“Throw him in prison.”
“…What? The Emperor?”
Does he really think the Emperor is here? The man who bore the brunt of Harvich’s anger hurriedly restrained Yulias.
* * *
Contrary to asking them to wait, Tereo soon knocked on the carriage door.
“Come out, Derban. We need to discuss something.”
The knight hesitated but soon stood.
After some time, Tereo returned alone and sat in the carriage.
He remained silent for a while, and Lincia felt uneasy seeing him like this.
The subtle, faintly fishy smell might have contributed to her unease.
Moreover, Tereo’s eyes looked heavy and distant.
Lincia parted her lips but closed them tightly.
Tereo’s breathing was steady, yet his body trembled as if gasping violently.
He looked like someone who had handled a great matter.
Their eyes met in the air, and the blue-eyed man didn’t look away.
He only looked at her with a faint smile on his lips.
“It will take some time to return to the Grand Duke’s castle.”
…Did he kill them?
He’s Yulias’s knight. Even if he killed the knight, could he expect to survive?
Lincia swallowed words she could not ask.
“Why are you staring?”
“…”
“Whatever you are worried about, I did not commit the act that would concern Her Highness the Princess.”
A lie.
“What do you take me for?”
Tereo spoke lightly, but Lincia was certain he had killed the knight.
Her breath caught.
She was too concerned with her own survival to guarantee Tereo’s life.
She had no authority to do so.
Seeing her eyes shake, the man sighed lowly, realizing his lie would not work.
“This is not something for Her Highness to worry about.”
His harsh words sparked anger within her.
To kill someone just to bring her safely to the Grand Duke’s castle and then say it’s not her concern?
“It was my unilateral decision.”
“Why? Why did you do that? Bringing me to the castle is bad enough, but killing the knight…”
Lincia trailed off.
He would surely die… Yulias would.
Tereo’s mouth curved slightly.
“I told you I could extract just you from the North.”
I want to be your second-best option.
“…Right now, it’s the worst.”
Lincia’s scolding made Tereo shrug.
“Having spent time in the Grand Duke’s castle, I got to know some useful people. I sorted out those wishing to go to the capital… Ah, perhaps not suitable to mention this to the Grand Duchess.”
He smiled faintly.
“Why go this far?”
Such devotion from Tereo felt strange and alien.
Once, he had reported Lincia, who wanted to escape the palace, to Yulias.
It felt unfamiliar, strange.
“Tereo.”
“I love you.”
Lincia looked at him.
His blue eyes were more serious than ever.
“I did it because I love you. I prevented you from leaving the palace. Because I loved you.”
Silence filled the carriage.
Since when? Why?
Lincia had known Tereo had feelings for her but assumed it was mere lust.
“I only did it hoping Her Highness the Princess would be happy.”
Lincia’s eyes trembled, and her stomach churned.
“Honestly, I wish you wouldn’t return to the Grand Duke’s castle now.”
You probably can’t be happy there.
Tereo withdrew his hand that had brushed Lincia’s cheek.
“…I—”
“I only explained the reason. Nothing will change, and I will not ask you to take responsibility.”
Her heart pounded anxiously.
She felt uncomfortable.
The man who said he loved her was overwhelmingly unsettling.
The carriage jolted sharply.
Tereo reached out, but Lincia pushed him away.
“Ah, I have earned the Princess’s hatred.”
Tereo said this and casually looked away.
Luckily, nothing else happened except the carriage stopping.
“I will investigate the matter.”
As Tereo opened the carriage door to check, a hand suddenly grabbed him.
A man dressed in pure white appeared and burst into the carriage.
“Lincia!”
