It should have been closing time long ago, but the store’s lights were brightly lit.
This was because there had been no customers who had made reservations for today.
The proprietress kept glancing toward the door and muttering to herself.
“What’s going on? I’ve never missed an appointment...”
Princess Reina, who had liked the red veil dress the other day, had said she would come to get the measurements for another dress made.
Today was that day.
Rumors were rife in the capital’s streets that Dietrich, the commander of the Imperial Knights, had rebelled and the Emperor was imprisoned.
Today alone, several knights with torches were patrolling the streets as if they were searching for the truth.
The majority of the people of Abelon had faith. The Great Temple, the center of their faith, had burned down, and the Emperor, the symbol of Abelon, was imprisoned.
The anxious people started to riot everywhere.
"It's all the witch, Seliya Brillion's fault!"
Seliya Brillion.
Pure white skin, sparkling silver hair.
Green eyes reminiscent of a clear forest, a woman so beautiful that you can't forget her once you see her. It's said that even blue men, famous high priests, and royalty were captivated by her beautiful appearance and met miserable ends.
Seliya was originally an old and ugly woman who absorbed the energy of men and disguised herself as a beautiful woman. She even made the indifferent captain of the imperial knights her lover to completely ruin Abelon.
People made all kinds of evil words with the mouths that once praised Seliya.
Jealousy, envy, desire for what she didn't have, an inferiority complex, and all kinds of negative emotions came together and Seliya was completely branded a 'witch' by the people.
The hostess who had been running Eclair for a long time knew that people’s mouths were much more cruel than their swords.
How cruel are rumors?
If they wanted to, they could turn someone into a holy saint or a witch who would tear someone apart.
It was foolish to believe rumors as fact without checking them out for herself.
Ding.
At that moment, the sound of the wall clock striking midnight was heard
The hostess sighed and prepared to close the shop. She turned off the lights and approached the door to remove the “Open for Business” sign.
Ding.
A clear bell rang and an unexpected customer entered.
It was a man wearing a black robe from head to toe.
Soon, when he took off the hood attached to his robe, a handsome young man with silver hair that was almost dark gray and eyes as blue as a lake appeared.
She couldn’t help but recognize him.
“Oh my!”
The hostess of Eclair let out a surprised voice.
“Aren’t you, His Majesty the Emperor?”
The young man’s identity was Illeon. Illeon smiled and closed his eyes at the hostess.
“I heard Reina is causing a lot of trouble for Madame. She has been a spoiled brat since long ago, so Madame, please understand.”
The hostess let out a heartfelt exclamation of admiration as she saw Illeon, who came to the boutique in place of his younger sister despite being the Emperor. She was locked up in prison or something.
As expected, rumors are just rumors.
“I don’t know what to do with myself since His Majesty came to the boutique in person like this. Actually, today was the day Princess Reina had made an appointment to get her measurements taken.”
Illeon nodded as if he knew everything.
“She said it was the day she was supposed to get her measurements taken. The child caught a cold and couldn’t come out today.”
“...I see.”
The hostess let out a sigh of relief without realizing it.
Unlike Reina, who was difficult to please and had a cruel personality, Illeon had a very gentle personality.
It was as if she couldn’t believe how different people could be, even though they were from the same Duke of Gregrick’s family.
Of course, the hostess had no way of knowing that it was Illeon who had raised Reina like a spoiled brat and had driven her to her death.
However, the hostess found it a little odd that the Emperor, Illeon, would come to her boutique outside the palace at night wearing a black robe.
“...When is the next appointment?”
Illeon asked, his eyes narrowing.
The hostess nodded and answered.
“The dress I’m currently making will take quite some time to finish, so it will be in about a month.”
“In that case, will you close the shop before then?”
The hostess found Illeon’s question very strange, but she answered obediently.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I will close the shop and focus on making clothes.”
“Wow, Madam. This is truly the best boutique in the capital. I can see why Reina only makes clothes here.”
“Your Majesty, I don’t know what to do with your compliments.”
The hostess’s cheeks flushed red.
It was late at night, and the lights were off, so the inside of the store was very dark. She tried to turn on the lights, but Illeon stopped her.
“There’s no need to turn on the lights.”
As Illeon smiled, she felt a thud, a terrible pain in her stomach.
Blood gushed out from the hostess’s teeth.
This was because there had been no customers who had made reservations for today.
The proprietress kept glancing toward the door and muttering to herself.
“What’s going on? I’ve never missed an appointment...”
Princess Reina, who had liked the red veil dress the other day, had said she would come to get the measurements for another dress made.
Today was that day.
Rumors were rife in the capital’s streets that Dietrich, the commander of the Imperial Knights, had rebelled and the Emperor was imprisoned.
Today alone, several knights with torches were patrolling the streets as if they were searching for the truth.
The majority of the people of Abelon had faith. The Great Temple, the center of their faith, had burned down, and the Emperor, the symbol of Abelon, was imprisoned.
The anxious people started to riot everywhere.
"It's all the witch, Seliya Brillion's fault!"
Seliya Brillion.
Pure white skin, sparkling silver hair.
Green eyes reminiscent of a clear forest, a woman so beautiful that you can't forget her once you see her. It's said that even blue men, famous high priests, and royalty were captivated by her beautiful appearance and met miserable ends.
Seliya was originally an old and ugly woman who absorbed the energy of men and disguised herself as a beautiful woman. She even made the indifferent captain of the imperial knights her lover to completely ruin Abelon.
People made all kinds of evil words with the mouths that once praised Seliya.
Jealousy, envy, desire for what she didn't have, an inferiority complex, and all kinds of negative emotions came together and Seliya was completely branded a 'witch' by the people.
The hostess who had been running Eclair for a long time knew that people’s mouths were much more cruel than their swords.
How cruel are rumors?
If they wanted to, they could turn someone into a holy saint or a witch who would tear someone apart.
It was foolish to believe rumors as fact without checking them out for herself.
Ding.
At that moment, the sound of the wall clock striking midnight was heard
The hostess sighed and prepared to close the shop. She turned off the lights and approached the door to remove the “Open for Business” sign.
Ding.
A clear bell rang and an unexpected customer entered.
It was a man wearing a black robe from head to toe.
Soon, when he took off the hood attached to his robe, a handsome young man with silver hair that was almost dark gray and eyes as blue as a lake appeared.
She couldn’t help but recognize him.
“Oh my!”
The hostess of Eclair let out a surprised voice.
“Aren’t you, His Majesty the Emperor?”
The young man’s identity was Illeon. Illeon smiled and closed his eyes at the hostess.
“I heard Reina is causing a lot of trouble for Madame. She has been a spoiled brat since long ago, so Madame, please understand.”
The hostess let out a heartfelt exclamation of admiration as she saw Illeon, who came to the boutique in place of his younger sister despite being the Emperor. She was locked up in prison or something.
As expected, rumors are just rumors.
“I don’t know what to do with myself since His Majesty came to the boutique in person like this. Actually, today was the day Princess Reina had made an appointment to get her measurements taken.”
Illeon nodded as if he knew everything.
“She said it was the day she was supposed to get her measurements taken. The child caught a cold and couldn’t come out today.”
“...I see.”
The hostess let out a sigh of relief without realizing it.
Unlike Reina, who was difficult to please and had a cruel personality, Illeon had a very gentle personality.
It was as if she couldn’t believe how different people could be, even though they were from the same Duke of Gregrick’s family.
Of course, the hostess had no way of knowing that it was Illeon who had raised Reina like a spoiled brat and had driven her to her death.
However, the hostess found it a little odd that the Emperor, Illeon, would come to her boutique outside the palace at night wearing a black robe.
“...When is the next appointment?”
Illeon asked, his eyes narrowing.
The hostess nodded and answered.
“The dress I’m currently making will take quite some time to finish, so it will be in about a month.”
“In that case, will you close the shop before then?”
The hostess found Illeon’s question very strange, but she answered obediently.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I will close the shop and focus on making clothes.”
“Wow, Madam. This is truly the best boutique in the capital. I can see why Reina only makes clothes here.”
“Your Majesty, I don’t know what to do with your compliments.”
The hostess’s cheeks flushed red.
It was late at night, and the lights were off, so the inside of the store was very dark. She tried to turn on the lights, but Illeon stopped her.
“There’s no need to turn on the lights.”
As Illeon smiled, she felt a thud, a terrible pain in her stomach.
Blood gushed out from the hostess’s teeth.
“...Huh, huh?”
The hostess looked at her stomach, where the knife was stuck, with a pale face. The one who had stuck the knife was Illeon. Illeon pulled out the knife and stabbed it again in the same spot. The hostess’s body fell to the floor. A voice that seemed to be cut off came out of her mouth.
“Why...Huh...”
The mistress’s eyes closed. Illeon looked down at the woman who had lost her breath with cold eyes. A large shadow loomed behind Illeon’s back. The owner of the shadow was Balt. Balt looked back and forth between the dead woman at his feet and Illeon, then his face distorted.
“You didn’t say you would do something like this before you got out of prison. I thought you would go to your territory as soon as I got out of prison?”
“...Balt.”
Illeon wiped his blood-splattered cheek with the back of his hand as if nothing had happened.
“Dietrich released all the knights of the palace. Of course, there would be people in my villa and gate. Even if I could go to my territory with your help, it would be too late.”
“And you would kill an innocent person?”
Balt shouted in an angry voice. Illeon shrugged his shoulders at the furious Balt.
“You and I have different views. If hundreds or thousands of innocent people die, isn’t it okay if this Abelon remains intact?”
Balt gritted his teeth as he watched Illeon, who treated human life worse than an insect’s life.
“You don’t even think about hiding your true nature anymore. I wasn’t the one who let you out of prison.”
“Balt. Do you know that the Princess has some kind of ‘ability’?”
The way he changed the subject was really good. Balt knew that he was being manipulated by Illeon, but he was still curious about what Illeon would say next.
“...What ability?”
“The scar on your cheek. You don’t remember anything when you were hurt by the Princess, do you?”
Balt flinched at Illeon’s words. Because it was the right answer. He had looked down on Seliya and said that he would give her anything if she even scratched his face. And then, Seliya really did hurt Balt’s cheek. A scar that no one else had ever been able to give.
“The Princess has some kind of ability that we don’t know about. It’s probably something similar to controlling the movements of an opponent. If even you, the Sword Master, were hit with your eyes open, it must be a very powerful ability.”
Balt’s dark gray eyes shook at Illeon’s words.
“I wondered how she killed the wary old Emperor, but it was with that great ability.”
Illeon’s eyes sparkled with interest. Balt looked at his crazy side profile with a face that was creepy.
“I’ll tell you the rest once I clean up the body. It seems I’ll have to live in this boutique for the time being.”
In the end, it was Balt’s job to clean up the mess.
***
“Since there’s still no news from the gate, it’s certain that Illeon is in the capital. However, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact location. I’ve searched all the places I can go, including Illeon’s villa, but there’s been no results.”
Seliya let out a deep sigh at Dietrich’s words.
“So you’re going to leave as soon as the sun rises to find Illeon?”
“Yes. The longer you delay, the worse it gets.”
“Take me with you.”
Dietrich's eyes narrowed at Seliya's words. Right now, outside the palace, people were demanding that Seliya be handed over immediately. They were saying that Seliya should be burned at the stake as a witch, and they were showing signs of storming the palace while spewing all sorts of evil words.
Dietrich had his knights throw anyone who called Seliya a witch into prison as soon as they saw them, but there were too many of them, and the prison was overflowing. In particular, the Brillion family was leading the way in inciting Seliya to be a witch, avoiding the knights' eyes.
'You little rats.'
In a situation where there were more than one or two things to worry about, if he took Seliya out, he didn't know what would happen. However, leaving Seliya in the palace was equally unsettling.
After thinking for a moment, Dietrich gave Seliya the answer she wanted.
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