“Your acting is really great. I thought you were some kind of actor. I almost got fooled.”
Seliya, who entered Dietrich's room, spoke as if relieved.
However, Dietrich looked down at her face without any response.
"Why? What’s on my face?”
Dietrich, who had fixed Seliya's hair, asked softly.
“...Are you okay?"
Seliya never thought he would ask her if she was okay.
Seliya avoided his gaze with an awkward expression.
“Ugh, it’s okay. It's already passed. Now there’s you too.”
“...”
The atmosphere became strange. It wasn't like this when they played lovers earlier.
Seliya said she did, but later she realized she had made a mistake.
She is obsessed with revenge from the past more than anyone else, and yet she simply dismisses them as the past.
Even if she thinks herself strange, what can she do? It's nothing more or less than a cooperative relationship based on necessity.
Seliya, who didn't think there was any need to correct herself, changed the topic to clear her depressed mood.
“Do we have to continue to look like lovers to others? So how do you sleep at night...”
The atmosphere became even more subdued.
Seliya looked up at Dietrich with mixed feelings.
He slowly blinked his eyes and opened his mouth.
“If you don’t like it, you can quit at any time. The reason we chose this method is because we decided that it would not be good for us to conspire to do something together because it would attract the attention of others.”
“For something like that, you’re really good at acting.”
“Maybe it’s because you and I fit together surprisingly well.”
Seliya nodded her head. He was right.
The Emperor's seat is still empty, and two of the three Dukes are wandering around the imperial palace.
In this situation, if they continue to act like lovers, it will be beneficial and not detrimental.
The embarrassment was short-lived, but the moment she saw a gap, all her plans might go wrong.
"Shelly.”
Dietrich called out to Seliya, who was lost in thought.
“Don’t worry too much. Nothing will happen.”
***
"Hey. Did you hear the news? Yesterday, I heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was imprisoned in the tower. It seems that His Excellency Duke Calypso personally charged him with the crime of massacring innocent people.”
"Oh my God! Is His Excellency Duke Calypso finally showing interest in the throne?”
The gatekeepers guarding the imperial palace were eagerly engaging in conversation.
“Already, one of the knights asked about it, but I think he clearly said that he showed no interest.”
"Why? There would be few people who would object to the fact that His Excellency Duke Calypso sits on the throne...”
The gatekeeper looked at his colleague frustratedly.
“Look, it’s not as simple as you think. The three Dukes are here, and Her Majesty the Empress is also alive and well? Just putting His Highness, the only heir to the throne, in the tower is amazing.”
The knight who was listening nodded his head up and down as if he empathized strongly.
“Wait a minute, then what happens to the Angel of Brillion, who was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s mistress?”
“Didn’t you hear? It seems like she has a similar relationship with Duke Calypso.”
“Wow, is that really true?”
“There were more than one eyewitness. I'm really jealous of Duke Calypso...”
The knight, who had been constantly moving his mouth, stopped what he was saying.
This was because a man wearing a black robe with a hood almost over his face approached me without making a sound.
He even tried to pass through the gatekeeper and enter the palace as if he had not seen him at all.
The knights were momentarily stunned by the movement as if he were gliding like flexible snakes, but then came to their senses.
“Please identify yourself. No one is allowed into the imperial palace.”
“...”
At the knight's words, the lips of the man visible under the hood quirked up.
The half-exposed skin under the bridge of his nose was pale in contrast to his red lips.
“No matter how long it’s been since I’ve been here, I’m very disappointed that you don’t recognize me.”
The knights looked at each other at the man's cheerful tone.
“But it would be too much of a loss for me to show you my handsome face.”
“...?”
The knights looked at the man as if he were a madman.
The man shook his head sideways and took out something from inside his robe.
“This will be more than enough to prove my identity.”
The knights' eyes widened when they saw the man's items.
It was a crest with a huge white snake wrapped around a golden staff from top to bottom.
There was no way they couldn't recognize it.
Excluding the flag of Abelon, there were only three families in Abelon that used a snake as their family emblem.
The emblem of the Duke of Portman's family is a red snake wrapped around a sword and shield.
The emblem of Duke Gregrick's family is a large black snake wrapped around a white cross.
Lastly, the emblem featuring a huge white snake wrapped around a golden staff belonged to the family of the Dukes of Cervantes.
“Your Excellency the Duke Cervantes? Are you really Duke Arthur Cervantes?”
“If you know, please come out. Because I have to go in.”
Arthur waved one hand as if he was shooing away a fly.
The golden bracelet Arthur was wearing on his arm made a jingling sound in the wind.
“I’m sorry I didn’t understand!”
The gatekeepers quickly bowed and opened the imperial palace gate.
Entering the imperial palace, Arthur closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
The clean air carried by the wind filled his lungs.
He wasn't actually taking a deep breath; he was reading the concentration of the most beautiful scent floating in the air.
Soon, his golden eyes flashed sharply.
“...Found it."
***
“Sir, Arthur Cervantes is a very dangerous man. Why did you invite him to the palace?”
Illeon's subordinate asked worriedly.
Illeon answered without taking his eyes off the Bible he was reading.
“If you want to deal with someone who is insane, it makes sense to stop someone who is even more insane.”
“When you say he is insane, are you referring to Duke Calypso?”
Illeon smiled softly instead of answering.
The blue eyes in the thinly folded corners of the eyes sparkled with utmost clarity.
"Well. It could be one Duke of Calypso, or it could be two.”
“...”
Illeon opened his mouth as he placed a white cross-shaped bookmark on the page of the Bible he had been reading just now.
“Above all, in order to succeed to the throne, all three Dukes must agree. It is an unavoidable choice to invite someone who has stayed in the territory and has no intention of coming out to the imperial palace.”
"I... Master, can you tell me what you wrote to Duke Cervantes?”
Illeon touched his chin as he looked at his subordinate who was curious.
“Do you know why someone who is obsessed with beautiful things and even has a hobby of taxidermy was reluctant to look at the famously beautiful Seliya Brillion?”
"No. I thought that was strange too.”
“... He had such high expectations of that woman that when he saw her in person, he didn’t want to feel like his expectations had been betrayed.”
The attendant was very horrified by Ieon’s words.
“According to what you said, Duke Cervantes wanted to see if the woman was as beautiful as people said, but he didn’t look at her because he was afraid he would be very disappointed if she wasn’t as good as she was.”
“That is correct.”
"Really... You are out of your mind.”
Illeon grinned as if he was amused by his subordinate’s words.
“He saw her in person, and he knew she would never betray his expectations. She is that woman. She is in the imperial palace, so if he wants to come, he will come. If he wants to stay in the estate, he will stay there. That’s what he wrote in his letter.”
“...”
Illeon shifted his gaze from his subordinates to the window that had a clear view of the imperial palace.
“He might already be at the imperial palace. Even if he is a pervert, his reputation as a genius wizard is not a lie.”
***
Dietrich would go to the stables located on the outskirts of the imperial palace once a day to personally give hay and water to his horses.
This was one of the rules he followed every day.
Seliya tried to accompany Dietrich, but he said that he would go alone because the stable was very smelly, and feeding time did not take long.
“If something happens while I’m away, use the dagger right away.”
“...”
Only after seeing Seliya nod her head did Dietrich leave the mansion.
Seliya wondered if Dietrich was overprotective of her.
Unlike the dungeon where she was previously imprisoned, this was Dietrich's mansion and his right-hand man Anderson was also there.
Although the two Dukes were freely roaming around the imperial palace, Seliya didn't think anything bad would happen while the Crown Prince was also imprisoned in the tower.
Dietrich, who was there almost every day, only went out for a short time, so what could happen?
Seliya shook off her worries as she placed her dagger in her bosom.
To relieve her boredom, Seliya took out a book of philosophy from the bookshelf.
She was sitting on a plush sofa and had just opened the book.
Knock knock.
There was a knocking sound out of nowhere.
The sound came from the window, not the door.
'This is the 3rd floor, there's no way in human terms you could hear a knock on the window, right?'
Seliya flipped through the pages, thinking she had heard wrong.
Flutter...
At that time, Seliya was looking at the philosopher's comments written on the first page of the book.
Knock knock.
There was another knock.
This time, the sound came from the bookshelf rather than the window.
Seliya stopped turning the pages of the book and looked at the bookshelf.
However, there was no one there.
Seliya narrowed her eyes and tilted her head.
'What?'
"There... Is there anyone?”
Seliya looked around with caution, but she was the only one in the large room.
Just in case, Seliya took a look at the bathroom attached to the room.
She looked inside the large bathtub, but there was nothing inside.
Seliya was about to leave the bathroom after confirming that no one was there.
Thud!
The bathroom door was forcibly closed with a sound.
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