CH 16

‘I’ve practiced countless times in preparation for this moment.’

After calming my startled heart, I stared straight into Damian’s eyes. His light shade of green eyes both resembled a tranquil pond and a tidal wave that hit before the typhoon.

He examined my condition for a moment, then spread his lips to talk.

“You seem pale. Are you feeling ill?”

“No, I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”

“That’s a relief to hear.”

His black hair was combed back neatly, but the wind tousled it gently with its currents. And while maintaining eye contact with me, Damian asked for my name.

“I believe I’ve introduced myself. May I ask for your name?”

“I am Aren Serkia of the Earl Serkia Family.”

“I’ll remember that.”

“By the way, what were you talking with my younger brother about?”

What could Cassadin and Damian have been talking about while I was away? I knew he would be coming to the banquet after nightfall, but I didn’t expect him to meet Cassadin.

“So the gentleman here is your younger brother.”

“Yes.”

Damian alternated his glances between me and Cassadin. His slightly narrowed eyes made me almost hear his voice saying,

‘You don’t look like siblings at all.’

But Damian didn’t verbalize his thoughts. He just slowly closed his eyes, then opened them as he continued.

“I was late to the Crown Prince’s birthday celebration because of personal matters, and it seemed like everyone else was missing. I was about to turn back, thinking the banquet was canceled, when I happened to run into him and heard what had happened.”

“…”

“I heard someone poisoned the Prince’s drink. Who knew such an unfortunate incident would occur at the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet? It’s truly a shame.”

Damian spoke in a tone that implied sincere regret.

I knew what he said wasn’t sincere. He was definitely enjoying this situation internally. The Damian I knew was such a person. As one who eyed the throne that was too big for someone like him, he hoped for the downfall of the imperial household more than anyone else.

“The feeling is mutual.”

I gave him a moderate answer to play along, and I continued the conversation with Damian.

“Grand Duke Damian.”

“…how did you know I was the Grand Duke?”

“Who doesn’t know the famous Daeus family? Just look at the knights, and everyone is talking about you. I heard you’ve won first place in this year’s swordsmanship competition as well.”

Damian let out a breathy laugh as he smiled.

“I was merely lucky.”

From the way he brushed his hair back with his hand with a leisurely smile, his pride in his swordsmanship skills was basically oozing out of his face.

To think that such a man lost miserably to Cassadin in his first participation in the swordsmanship competition. The moment he was fuming from his soaring pride being crushed like used tissue paper still felt vivid, as if it had happened yesterday.

“Oh, my, modesty as well?”

I intentionally flattered him to buy more time. By now, the imperial knights should be rushing this way. Since Cassadin wouldn’t have foolishly left any evidence behind in the palace, and because of what I told the Emperor, Damian should be the prime suspect in this poisoning incident.

“Thank you. M’lady.”

Damian responded in a casual tone, then changed the topic.

“I have something to ask, M’lady.”

“What is it?”

Damian remained silent after telling me he had a question. I nodded at him, asking for him to continue. Maybe it was because of the moonlight, but his emerald eyes seemed to be shining especially bright.

“Why are you still at the palace at this time?”

“…”

“It seemed that everyone else had gone back.”

Interpreting what he said, it was something along the lines of why I was still here this late at night when everyone else had already left. It was clear he thought I was strange.

But just as I was about to open my mouth, I saw someone running toward us from a distance. Looking at the silhouettes of the people, they were the imperial knights.

When I quietly stared behind Damian without answering him, he turned to follow my gaze. Knights who were wearing a golden badge that identified them as the imperial knights seized Damian by the arms.

“What is the meaning of this? How dare…?”

“Grand Duke Damian Keane Daeus.”

Despite Damian’s enraged voice, the knights held on to him, tightening their grip to prevent him from escaping.

“You’ll have to come with us.”

“…?”

“Under His Majesty the Emperor’s command.”

Damian stared at the knights with a dumbfounded expression.

But regardless of what he did, the imperial knights firmly shut their mouths and transported Damian somewhere. I looked at the baffled Damian being dragged away by the knights with a shocked expression.

“Goodness. What in the world is going on?”

Saying so, I brought my hand to my mouth, gritting my teeth to hold back the laughter that threatened to burst out of me at any moment. Damian’s bewildered face as he was dragged away was simply too amusing.

“What in the world happened…?”

Cassadin also seemed unusually surprised to watch Damian being dragged away.

I continued watching until Damian disappeared from sight, then nudged Cassadin, who was standing next to me.

“I take it you have a lot to tell me, Cassadin.”

“…yes.”

“It’s late. Let’s head back to the mansion.”

Now it was time to tame my disobedient younger brother.

Inside the carriage returning to the Earl’s mansion.

Perhaps due to the late hour, I couldn’t see a single person through the window, unlike during the day, and the carriage was eerily quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the rumble of the carriage wheels and the occasional sound of grasshoppers.

It was an oppressively eerie silence.

Cassadin, who had boldly caused a commotion on the day of the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet, kept his mouth shut as if it were locked with a padlock. I looked out of the window to gaze at the empty landscape, then turned my gaze to Cassadin. He was silent, his eyes lowered to the ground.

“Why did you do it?”

In the end, I was the first to speak. His gaze briefly met mine before dropping back to the floor.

“…”

“You tell me nothing, do you?”

Hearing that, his gaze slowly rose back up. His cold, icy violet eyes were directed at me.

If eyes alone could kill a person, then it would be like this. But for some reason, I wasn’t afraid of Cassadin. He just felt like a poor little child.

“I’m not blaming you right now, Cassadin.”

When I said that in the softest tone possible, Cassadin’s glowering face turned pale. From how he was blinking rapidly, it looked like he was trying to figure out whether what he just heard was true or not.

His violet eyes were wavering so much to the point it made even the onlooker feel concerned. The mask Cassadin had been wearing was now rendered unusable. It had been thoroughly cracked, worn, and faded.

“Cassadin.”

I gently squeezed my hands on my poor younger brother’s shoulder. Unlike the mischievous Cassadin, who had come and gone from my room every night, his body flinched noticeably.

“Whether you were the Crown Prince of the Hyran Kingdom in the past or just a slave, if there is something you really want…”

“…”

“First, you have to protect your own life.”

Although I barely managed to cover up the deed Cassadin had recklessly committed this time, who knew what might happen next time? If what Cassadin did were to be revealed, not only Cassadin, but also our entire family would be dead.

If Cassadin had poured enough poison into the cup for it to be lethal instantaneously, and if I hadn’t healed the Crown Prince, just imagining what could have happened was horrifying.

I slowly moved my hand that was clutching Cassadin’s shoulder up to his cheek. Then I gently cupped both of Cassadin’s cheeks with my hand. Surprised by my actions, his pupils trembled aimlessly.

After a moment, his tightly shut lips slowly opened.

“So you knew everything.”

“…”

“How long have you known?”

Even amidst all this, Cassadin was testing me. His wavering eyes calmed down, and he wrapped a single hand over both of my wrists. With a powerful tug, he pulled my wrists to make me fall over on the seat.

And with a thud, my view turned upside down. Before I could grasp what was happening, a dark shadow loomed over me. And I chased the owner of the shadow, who was staring down at me, with my eyes.

Cassadin’s amethyst eyes, nestled under his neat eyebrows, were gleaming dangerously. He glared at me with a face filled with hatred, as if I were unbearable.

Still holding onto my wrists, he whispered into my ear,

“If I kill you here and now, nobody will know my identity.”

“…”

“Do you have any last words to say with those frail lips?”

Cassadin threatened me, as if he were about to crush my wrists at any moment. I could see my reflection in his deep purple irises. And in that reflection, I wasn’t making any expressions. I just stared back at him with a composed face.

“Tell me how you found out.”

The voice that was demanding a response from me sounded so bitterly miserable, like tree branches swaying in the winter winds. Though he was acting as if he could kill me at any moment, Cassadin’s voice was trembling severely.

The drastic difference between the two almost made me shed tears on his behalf.

Cassadin had been dragged down from his prestigious status as Crown Prince to a slave. And he couldn’t survive that situation without lying. It may be cheap sympathy.

“How miserable you must be, Cassadin.”

Cassadin’s eyes widened in disbelief. Then I gave him a gentle smile as I continued,

“I thought you’d been lying only to me, but that wasn’t true.”

“…”

“You were lying to yourself as well.”

Cassadin’s face was twisted into a grimace as he practically growled.

“Are you still saying such things despite knowing the situation you’re in?”

“You’re foolish, Cassadin.”

I raised the corner of my lips and laughed lightly.

“You don’t even know who the real enemy is, and you are trying to kill the wrong person.”

“…”

“It’s so frustrating watching you that I may just as well die.”

It was approximately eight years ago that the Hyran Kingdom collapsed. The one who led that war was a man named Hale Keane Daeus. He was the Emperor’s blood-related younger brother and Damian’s father. I heard he justified the destruction of the Hyran Kingdom with a prophecy.

It was something new I learned while looking through information related to Damian. The Damian in my past life never shared anything about himself with me. So this was all information that I discovered myself.

“Do you think you can deceive me with such ridiculous words?”

“That’s not something I expected to hear from you, who lies for every single word.”

I chuckled at how ridiculous he sounded.

“I was sincere with you every single moment I spent with you, but you think that everything I’ve said up to now is a lie?”

“…do you regret taking me in?”

The way Cassadin asked, it seemed like he hoped I regretted it. But this time, I had no intention of giving him the answer he wanted.

“No, there isn’t a single moment I regretted taking you in.”

“…”

“No matter what anyone says, you’re my precious family.”

Cassadin caught his breath. At the same time, the hand that was gripping my wrists lost its strength. And with my free hands, I embraced him.

“It’s okay.”

Like the warm spring embracing a delicate dandelion seed, I stroked his back and whispered to him soothingly.

Thump, thump.

From the racing pace of his heart, I felt an unbearable amount of anxiety and restlessness.

“It’s okay, Cassadin.”

I repeated it once again to erase his anxiety. Even to me, my affectionate voice sounded foreign. The embracing tone it held felt somewhat similar to a saint’s voice. It was amusing, as the one who was really trying to use Cassadin was me.

Burying his face in my neck, Cassadin simply stayed still in my embrace.

It was a silent yet sorrowful night.