Chapter 38

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***

Shanil knew that Terban and Ellea were going to have dinner together today. She showed up at the right time, when she thought the meal was over. And as expected, she was able to spot them.

But soon she felt an unknown air flowing between them. She had never imagined that Ellea would say such a thing to Terban.

How could the Princess not have known that Shanil was close to him when she came to the Imperial Palace? There was a moment of silence after Ellea left, and then Shanil went ahead and broke the ice.

“Are you okay? I’m sure the Princess did not speak out of malice.”

But Terban could not seem to hear her.

When she saw that Ellea was no longer visible but Terban kept his gaze fixed on the direction she disappeared, Shanil called him again.

“Terban.”

And finally, his gaze reached Shanil.

“Is everything all right?”

“There’s no reason not to be okay.”

“What the Princess just said……….”

“It’s fine.”

When Shanil brought up the subject of Ellea, Terban interrupted her. For some reason, he didn’t want to hear about the Princess with his current mood. But unlike the word ‘good’, he was curious why Ellea instantly took on a different atmosphere, and she suddenly mentioned Shanil.

“Let’s go back now. I’ll take you to your palace.”

“Thank you.”

Shanil was delighted and naturally walked arm in arm with Terban. Anyway, now was her chance, so she spoke as if she was trying to release his mind.

“I’m sure the Princess was just joking.”

“Don’t mind her.”

Terban sounded like Ellea wasn’t worth listening to, and Shanil mocked Ellea’s foolishness in her mind. How dared she messed with her in front of Terban.

‘Don’t be so foolish.’

The fact that the Princess thought she could beat her (Shanil) was interesting in itself. Thanks to that, it was a very good thing for Shanil. But that in itself was a miscalculation on Shenil’s part.

Ellea had no such intentions, in fact she (Ellea) had mentioned her (Shanil) on purpose because she (Ellea) knew her (Shanil) well.

“Terban, I hope you don’t mind either. When I met her in the banquet hall, she seemed kind and gentle. There must have been a reason for that.”

Shanil finished speaking, pretending to defend Ellea to the end, and Terban nodded, but what she said really stuck with him.

“You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”

The way Ellea spoke, it sounded as if she knew how he would react. It was as if she had foreseen this whole situation from the beginning.

Shanil, on the other hand, was looking for the right moment to break the ice in order to find out what kind of conversation Terban had with Ellea over dinner.

“How was your conversation with the Princess? Did you feel uncomfortable at all?”

At Shanil’s question, Terban thought of Ellea’s wishes as well as the conversation. But Terban didn’t tell the truth.

“There’s not much that’s special about her. She was calm, but a bit nervous.”

“Sure, because that’s how everyone is before Terban. If you feel very awkward, please call me next time. I’m sure you’ll feel more comfortable with me there.”

“Yes.”

Shanil was relieved that nothing particularly special had happened, but Terban didn’t feel the same way. But she couldn’t let such a good opportunity pass by for the sake of the plan she had in mind.

“About the library the Princess mentioned earlier, I think it’s because she doesn’t know anyone at the Imperial Palace.”

“She is still unfamiliar with this place.”

When Terban agreed, Shanil casually offered her opinion.

“Then perhaps I should invite her to meet some of my closest friends. If she makes more friends, she’ll like this place more. What do you think, Terban?”

Terban was worried. When he listened to Ellea today, she certainly seemed to spend a lot of time by herself. It would be good to have more friends, but what would the Princess think?

“I don’t know if the Princess will accept it.”

“Then I’ll talk to her. Actually, I’ve always wanted to spend more time with the Princess. I’m sure we’ll get along.”

Shenil leaned on Terban’s arm as if trying to be charming, but Terban was just quiet.

Because there was someone else in his head right now.

***

Finally, after having a safe dinner with Terban, Ellea was able to relax. It didn’t matter what he thought of her.

It was enough if she had said everything she wanted to say to him as Princess of Zevenica, and had cut off contact with him once and for all.

“It was enough.”

“Hm? What did you say, Princess?”

“It’s nothing.”

Jane asked, watching Ellea mumble to herself during breakfast, but Ellea shook her head.

“Do you have any special plans for today?”

“No, not really.”

She was just thinking about training when she was in this kind of mood, and then one place suddenly came to her mind.

’That’s right. That place.’

She was actually half-joking, but it was the perfect place at this point when she needed a change of scenery.

“I’ve changed my mind. There’s somewhere I want to go today.”

“Where is it?”

“There’s a place I’ve been invited to. Would you like to go with me, Jane?”

When she was asked to go, Jane nodded her head. Where in the world would the Princess take her?

“It’s in the Imperial Palace, so if you’re not too busy, you can come with me.”

“I’d love to.”

“Then let’s leave in a little while. And can you prepare one thing for me? I’ll bring it with me when I go.”

“Yes, I’ll have it ready.”

After Jane left, Ellea also finished her preparations and was about to leave when she opened the drawer and saw a box that was still in storage. However, she quickly closed the drawer.

‘I don’t think it’s ready yet, so let’s hold off on this for a bit.’

Ellea walked out of the palace and found Jane with her hands full, waiting for her. Seeing this, Ellea hurriedly lifted one of her bags. The weight was heavier than she expected, but not so heavy that she couldn’t carry it.

But Jane didn’t think so, and tried to take it back from her.

“No. I’ll hold it.”

“It’s okay. It’s heavy, how are you going to carry them all by yourself? Let’s go quickly.”

“No problem at all. By the way, where are we really going?”

“You’ll find out when we get there. Maybe Jane has never been there before.”

Jane walked with her luggage, not understanding what Ellea was saying.

Jand followed after her and looked around, but still didn’t know where she was going. There were many places in the Imperial Palace that Jane hadn’t been to herself.

“Where are you going?”

Because of the vast Imperial Palace, it took a bit more walking before Ellea finally saw her destination.

More than that, the sound gave away the identity of the destination first. Powerful voices came from far away.

‘We are almost there.”

“Huh? Here.”

Jane saw Ellea about to enter the place and wondered if she was really in the right place, so she asked again.

“Are you sure this is the right place?”

‘’Yes, the performance hall. Let’s go in.”

Ellea walked into the performance hall without hesitation, and Jane followed her cautiously. Then, in the distance, they could see the knights in training.

“What brings you here?”

Jane didn’t know what Ellea’s reason was for coming to the performance hall, but the Princess quickly walked proudly to where the knights were.

Bandel, who was the first among them to spot Ellea, could not hide his surprise.

“Princess?”

****

“What? What do you mean?”

Duke Raymir was startled by the aide’s words and stood up from his chair.

The aide was also troubled and told him again.

“It said that further assistance and information is not possible………..”

“Is it true? What about the letter?”

“It’s here.”

The aide hurriedly handed him the letter he was holding, and the Duke checked the contents with trembling hands.

He glanced down, his hands trembling with increasing anger. When he had read it all the way through, he rolled the letter up into a crumple and threw it on the floor.

“Duke?”

“D*mn it! Whose fault is it that you are there now? How dare you do this behind my back….”

The Duke, really pissed off, slapped his desk hard and got out of his seat, while his aide was busy looking at his face.

“Tell him now. If he comes out like this, he’s going to lose everything and be dragged down to the spot.”

“I understand.”

At the Duke’s command, the aide immediately bowed down and left his office.

The Duke sat down again to catch his breath, but his face was still full of frustration.

“Hm. You climbed up there, and they all look like I’m beneath them.”

“I’ll take this opportunity to tell you exactly where everything you have now was originally from.”

Duke Raymir was sharpening his sharp blade against someone else. Once again, with the thought of letting the lurid know under his feet.

***

At the same time, there was another person who was being reported, just like Duke Raymir.

“So, I sent a letter of rejection to the Duke.”

When the report was finished, the person listening smiled happily. It was as if he had been waiting for just this moment.

“He must be pretty angry. The line of money that was coming in suddenly got cut off. I should’ve seen that face.”

“He won’t sit still, Master Chaylen.”

“I don’t care. This is just the beginning.”

As he said this, Chaylen’s hands were full of strength, as if he was angry. Noticing his feelings, Arun tried his best to calm him down.

He knew very well how Chaylen behaved after serving him for a long time.

“Maybe he’ll send another letter.”

“I’m sure he will. Letters full of anger, cloaked in threats. Whoever the Duke wants will not be able to receive it anyway, so tell them to handle it properly there even if I’m not here. Be careful not to leak any information.”

“Yes. I’m sure they know well, but I’ll tell them.”

With that, Arun walked out of Chaylen’s office. After he left, Chaylen stood up and opened the curtains to look out the window.

What lay before his eyes was not the familiar landscape of where he had originally lived, but a capital city filled with the vibrancy of its people.

“You’re enjoying the moment. Because I will return the pain I suffered.”

Chaylen’s face was filled with anticipation at the thought of seeing a happy face so soon, but within that emotion was a mouthful of cruelty that the others could not see.