Chapter 65

***

When I woke up again after sleeping for a whole day, I was welcomed by my usual life.

Devan and all the servants in the mansion were tight-lipped about Killian. The death of Count Diego was no different.

On the outside, Count Diego and his family appeared to be a happy family.

Count Diego was a man of ability. He made my confinement in the cellar look like protection and his control of Kilian looked like mere discipline.

Of course, some of the central nobility knew Count Diego’s true colors. They also knew that he had adopted me solely for the money.

But they did not know that he kept me locked up in the basement, abusing me and punishing me physically.

So everyone felt sorry for me as I suddenly lost my beloved father at the hand of my beloved brother.

It was rather easier that way. I didn’t have to explain anything.

Even the servants looked at me with pity, especially the maid who had seen the devastation.

When she heard Killian’s last cry, she had no idea what it meant.

She just seemed to think that it was the last violent outburst of an insane person.

She took care of me like a child.

“Grand Duchess, you must eat some more.”

She even brought a bowl of food in front of me as I lay in bed like this.

It didn’t hurt as much, though, partly because I was in shock and partly because my body lost strength.

“……That’s all right. I want to go out a little bit.”

“No, Your Highness. Stay in bed for another day.”

After putting away the bow, the maid pulled the blanket to cover me. She acted as if she really was a nanny.

I looked at her awkwardly, and her eyebrows drooped sullenly.

“It’s all right, Your Highness. No one will blame you for lying down for another day.”

Blame? I furrowed my brow at the somewhat familiar words.

“Um, did anyone come into my room yesterday when I was sleeping?”

“Last night?”

“Yes, who is it?”

It seemed someone took care of me. ……. I rubbed my fingers across my forehead, which still seemed to have a touch.

“I’ve been in here from time to time. The fever didn’t go down at all…….”

“Oh, I see.”

So it was a dream then? But the voice from last night was too low to be the maid’s.

“Perhaps it’s the Grand Duke.”

“What?”

“When I was coming back to my room at dawn, I heard the door close at the end of the hall. As you know, there’s only his room there.”

“…… No way.”

“He might have stopped by because he was worried.”

The maid, who quickly looked excited, shrugged her shoulders and laughed.

The servants believed me and Devan were married because we loved each other.

I smiled awkwardly. Devan?

“It’s not your fault…”

“…..Good night, Evelyn.”

A blank laugh broke out naturally. It couldn’t be. Devan couldn’t have said something so kind. And what was the soft touch?

It seemed to me that I was mistaken. Well, I had so many dreams, but one of them might have been a sweet dream.

“Well then, Your Highness, rest well.”

“…… yes.”

The maid stroked my hair and left the room. Left alone, I let out a small sigh.

Maybe it was because I had been sleeping, my mind became clearer.

Killian had killed Count Diego. It had already happened. It couldn’t be helped.

Therefore, what was going to happen was important.

In the meantime, I needed to see Killian and talk to him again. …. If I had to take responsibility for any part of what happened, I should.

Where is Killian now? Is he in the Imperial Palace Prison since the Kingsguard captured him?

The maid told me to take another day off, but I wasn’t going to listen to her from the start.

It was when I took off the blanket and took a step out of bed.

Knock. Knock.

Hm? Hearing the knock, I looked at the door, but there was no sign of anyone there.

Knock. Knock.

I heard the knocking sound again. The knocking sound was totally different from usual. It was not a dull sound, but a higher sound.

No way. I turned my head.

“Lady!”

It was Pelos. Pelos was tapping on my window, barely hanging on.

My mouth naturally gaped open. This was the second floor!

“Open it quickly! My arms will fall off. If my arms fall off, I’ll fall off too!”

I heard Pelos’s voice across the window.

I hurriedly ran and opened the window. Pelos climbed in and ended up rolling into the room.

“Pelos!”

I stared at Pelos, who had fallen to the floor with wild eyes. Last time he had appeared suddenly in the Imperial Library, and this time through the window.

I knew he was an unpredictable man, but I didn’t expect this much.

And the man who was pretending to be a knight the other day, today he looked like…

“What in the world are you wearing?”

“Lady seems to have noticed my shabby clothes before my beautiful appearance.”

“You know it’s shabby, so why are you wearing it?”

“Isn’t that a rude remark to the majority of the emperor’s people who wear much shabbier clothes than I do?”

I beg your pardon, but with a smile on his lips, such a statement did not persuade me in the slightest.

“That’s not what I’m saying. What are you up to this time!”

“What do you think I’ll do whenever I have time?”

“Of course. And you’re dressed like that to infiltrate somewhere.”

“You’re quite insightful.”

Pelos stood up and tapped his clothes. The dust blew everywhere, I frowned and widened the distance.

“You didn’t dress like that to sneak into my room, did you?”

“Think what you want. By the way, lady, do you have anything to eat? I’m starving.”

Pelos asked, sitting down at a table in the middle of the room.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have anything. I am hungry too.”

“Why are you hungry, Lady?”

“That….”

It was because the maid, who thought I was ill, gave me soup instead of food.

Pelos smiled when he saw the small bowl on the bedside table.

“Oh, you pretended to be sick, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t……ha , it really hurt.”

“So Devan’s words were true.”

“What?”

‘’No. I came here because I had something more important to tell you.”

Pelos searched the table top as if it were his room. Eventually he found a box of cookies.

“What do you want to tell me?”

I sat down across from him and took the cookie from his hand.

“Excuse me, but I’m busy. If you have something to tell me, please say it quickly.”

“What do you mean busy? You weren’t planning on going to the Imperial Palace, were you?”

“What? How did you…….”

I glared at Pelos as I set the cookie down. Pelos shrugged and shoved the cookie I’d put down into his mouth.

“There will be no Diego when you get there. Oh, I’m talking about the son, Diego. His name was Killian, wasn’t it?”

Even with a mouth full of cookies, Pelos pronounced it quite clearly.

No Killian? More importantly, how did he know that I was going to go to the prison?

I narrowed my eyes and glanced at Pelos.

“What…… how far do you know?”

“Killian Diego killed Count Diego. As soon as he killed him, he showed up at the Lady’s wedding. There he made a commotion and was taken away by the Kingsguard.”

That much was known to everyone in the empire.

“And?”

“Killian wanted you to know that he had killed Count Diego. Count Diego did terrible things to Killian and to you. Lady, please forgive me if I say terrible things. I’m not allowed to swear.”

I bit my lip softly. How the hell does this man know about everything?

Pelos added, as if noticing my question.

“You must have forgotten that I am a Kibeon. And that the world calls me a genius.”

So Pelos said that he even had the brain to quickly grasp the information that he could get as a central high-ranking aristocrat.

“Oh, there’s one more thing. It’s not something to brag about. It’s the fact that I’m close friends with the Lady’s husband who was there yesterday.”

“What did Devan say to you?”

“There are many things in this world that you don’t have to say in words to understand.”

I was getting tired of Pelos’ wise words. My head complained of a headache.

“You really don’t look well. You can lie down.”

“…that’s enough. I think I’ll feel better if you leave.”

“I thought we were quite close.”

“At least now it seems we are not. Why on earth did you come here?”

“I told you. I came here to tell you something.”

“Then what the hell is it!”

I exclaimed, unable to hold back, and Pelos looked exaggeratedly surprised.

I bit my lip. Perhaps because of what happened yesterday, I had a sensitive reaction to Pelos’ usual wordplay.

“….. sorry, my head hurts.”

”It’s okay, it’s something I’m used to.”

“Pelos….”

I got up and approached Pelos. I looked down at him and asked in as serious a voice as I could manage.

“That’s enough. What is it that you want to tell me? What do you mean there is no Killian in the Imperial Prison?”

“Well ……. One answer is enough for those two questions.”

“Don’t beat around the bush. Please hurry……!”

He shook his head, one hand resting on his forehead.

Gulping down the remaining cookie in his mouth, Pelos looked up at me.

“Diego has disappeared from the Imperial prison. Oh, of course, it’s Count Diego’s son.”