IMHMF 26

Chapter 26

“What did Marquis Shaga say? Did he tell you to kill me? Or the Duke?”

“…Both, both of you.”

“Why did you want to marry me?”

“That’s because you were the one who suggested it first, young lady!”

“Not that answer.”

I had to hear an answer I did not know. The true intentions of the real Eloa, which I did not know.

Giuer did not open her mouth as easily as I had expected.

“Dias.”

The moment her name was called, Dias drew her sword without hesitation and pointed it at Giuer’s neck. Even though the blade touched her neck, Giuer still did not open her mouth.

I had not intended to kill her right now.

“Knight.”

At my quiet voice, she raised her sword without changing her expression even slightly. A cold metallic sound, shing—, rang out, and soon the arm holding the sword was raised high.

“A, a sorcerer!”

Only when the sword was truly about to come down on her neck did she hurriedly open her mouth.

“I was looking for someone to marry, and no one wanted to marry me. But didn’t you say you would marry me if I introduced you to a capable sorcerer first?!”

A sorcerer.

Good heavens, what on earth had Eloa Rumania done?

“What about the revival of your family?”

“That was something you asked me to do as well! I only accepted your request.”

There was definitely something I had missed in the diary.

“If only you had married me! I would never have done such a thing! I would never have received or agreed to Marquis Shaga’s proposal!”

Unlike her frightened voice from a moment ago, her voice now was filled with nothing but resentment.

“If it weren’t for you!”

The resentful voice that had been so clear gradually became faint. A strong sensation struck my mind directly, and my disorganized thoughts were suddenly thrown into chaos.

Then, what if I had married him?

You would have ruined your family anyway.

If I had not gone to find Eden, you would have…

My mind could not find where the thought had begun, nor could it cut off its endless trail. Darkness suddenly filled my vision, and my occupied mind stupidly made my body unable to move. It felt as though everything had stopped, and even my breathing stopped with it.

It felt as though someone was pressing down hard on both of my ears. The suffocating feeling soon moved down to my chest. The breath I tried to draw in felt as though it did not belong to me.

The only breaths I could manage to let out in order to survive were short gasps.

“Huff, huff.”

When Siobhan and Dias moved in surprise at my strange breathing, Eden quietly raised his hand. At his gesture, the two of them stopped as if their feet had been frozen in place.

Eden approached, stepping between Giuer and me, and spoke in a low voice.

“Don’t deal with her anymore.”

I could neither see what expression he had nor hear exactly how he said it. I could only barely force out the words I needed.

“N, numbers…”

Even though there was no way he could know what I meant, he calmly began counting at my one word.

“One.”

“Huff.”

“Two.”

Eden’s low voice began to sound clearly in my ears.

“Three.”

As he came closer, he covered both my eyes.

“Four.”

As the suffocating feeling around my throat disappeared, the short breaths I had been taking began to grow longer.

“Five.”

With Eden’s voice calling out six, I heard a sharp metallic sound. Before Giuer’s short groan could even reach my ears, familiar air touched me first instead of the dark and cold sensation.

I had returned from Valhamir to the Imperial Palace.

“Seven.”

As the large, warm hands covering my eyes moved away, countless bright lights came into view. I staggered, unable to keep my balance because of the sudden brightness, but I was fine.

Because his large hand was holding me firmly so that I could never fall.

My eyes, which had adjusted to the darkness for that brief moment, slowly adjusted to the bright light. Once my breathing steadied and my blurred vision became clear, I met his eyes.

“Eight.”

Even though his eyes met mine, he did not stop counting.

“…Eden.”

Only after I called his name did he stop counting.

“Loa.”

Eden’s voice sounded gentler than usual, and I felt relieved just hearing it.

“Giuer…”

I was about to ask about Giuer, but then I realized we were in the Imperial Palace and lowered my voice before asking again.

“What about the Marquis?”

“I took care of it.”

“……”

So he was dead in the end.

“Do you regret it?”

He calmly held out his arm to me as he asked. When I did not answer, he nodded once as if urging me to respond. I did not know whether he was urging me with his arm or asking for an answer.

I linked my arm through his and walked calmly beside him. Our hurried footsteps sounded regular, like the sound of a metronome.

“…It would be a lie if I said no.”

“……”

“But I think it was justified. He failed, and I simply succeeded.”

The word ‘murder’ was not spoken, but I understood what he meant well enough.

“What do we do now?”

“They’ll find him in two days. The mountains of Valhamir are rough, so they search them once every four days.”

“…Will there be a trial?”

“There probably will be. Considering that the trial will be held in the capital, five days.”

His regular footsteps stopped in front of the room. It was the room we had returned to because I had not been able to change my clothes.

Only after we entered the room did I explain to Eden what had happened. Since Eden had thoroughly checked the room in case there were any magic stones for eavesdropping, it was safe.

“Before leaving, I met Princess Resilla. I saw her going somewhere with an unidentified maid, and I broke the glass bottle that the maid was trying to give to the princess.”

“…That could interfere with their alibi.”

A brief silence passed between the two of us, whose plans had been disrupted.

“We’ll think about meeting the princess later. For now, change your clothes and come out.”

After Eden left the room, I changed into a new dress. Once again, I chose a dress that I could put on without anyone’s help.

When I changed into the new dress, I noticed that the part Eden had been holding was quite badly wrinkled. I had been in a panic and had not realized how tightly he had been holding me.

Eden must have been frightened too…

Only about twenty minutes after leaving the banquet hall, we returned to it. As soon as I entered, I looked for the princess first. I wanted to look around and call out the princess’s name, but I could not do that.

With my arm linked through Eden’s, I had to smile at people with an expression as though nothing had happened.

I hoped the young princess was safe.

When I saw the princess recognize me from afar and approach, I felt relieved, but at the same time, I wondered whether I should ask her to pretend she had not seen me.

Without knowing about my worries, the princess soon came up to me and grabbed my dress.

“Princess.”

“Don’t worry, Duchess. Enoch and I will protect you.”

Enoch?

The princess put her index finger against her lips, as if promising to keep the secret, and made a shushing gesture.

Before I could ask her about Enoch, she had already left.

I wondered what she meant by protecting me, and I was also curious why she had mentioned Enoch’s name. There were so many things I needed to figure out, but for now, finishing the banquet was the priority.

The banquet continued peacefully, as though no one knew that Princess Resilla had been attacked.

The Emperor had already left, followed by the prince. As the banquet was coming to an end, I left before Eden. Of course, this was only possible because Eden had considered my situation.

After leaving the somewhat busy and noisy banquet hall, I walked through the palace corridors for quite some time before realizing that Siobhan and Dias had been following behind us.

When I turned around, their expressions were filled with worry, far beyond simple concern. Dias still seemed unable to stop worrying, and she even entered the room and asked if there was anything she could do to help.

“Knight.”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I’m sorry for making you worry for no reason.”

“I’m sorry. I should have dealt with it sooner.”

Dias blamed herself and seemed even more apologetic than I was.

I felt sorry for Dias, but right now, I did not have the room in my heart to consider her feelings.