IMHMF 22

Chapter 22

Garnet’s hand was clenched in a tight fist, barely containing its trembling.

Watching that, I had to work quite hard to hold back the laughter that nearly escaped.

Whether I had given the emperor a rather great source of amusement, he let me go sooner than I had expected. Whether ‘let me go’ was the right way to put it I was not sure, but that was at least how it felt to me.

Eden would need to return before we could go back to the ducal residence together, but he had not come yet, as though his business was not yet finished.

Not knowing the paths of the imperial palace, I felt that moving further from here would risk missing each other.

After deliberating briefly, I opened my mouth.

“Dame Dias.”

At my call, Dias, who had been concealing her presence, appeared.

“You called.”

“Could you let Eden know that I will be in the imperial palace library?”

“I have received orders from the master not to leave the lady’s side for even a moment.”

“I am worried we might miss each other.”

“But…”

“It is alright. We are inside the imperial palace. Surely nothing could happen?”

That was what I said, and not even ten minutes had passed.

Let this be a reminder.

Never say surely.

I had been in the middle of a chase inside the imperial palace, whose paths I did not know, for five minutes now.

Who was the pursuer, and who was being chased, you ask?

I had no idea who the pursuer was, but the one being chased was me!

I had simply asked someone standing in the corridor for directions to the imperial palace library, when that stranger suddenly began following me.

Being inside the imperial palace, I could not even scream, and it was a dreadful situation.

In my original body, the stamina built up from years of athletics would have made a little run like this no trouble at all, but Eloa was a young lady raised with great care in an count’s household. There was no stamina left to endure five minutes of running.

I had not heard exactly what he was saying, but his tone had suggested he did not know the way either. Seeing no badge on his clothing, I had taken him for a servant, thanked him, and gone on my way, after which he had been trailing along behind me.

At first I had thought our paths happened to coincide, but when I sped up my pace, the man sped up as well, and when I slowed down again, he did the same.

My hurried steps to shake off the man had at some point turned into an outright run.

Just who is this person and why are they following me!

So focused was I on shaking off the man that I had lost all sense of where I was.

Just as I was thinking it would be troublesome if I ran into someone important inside the imperial palace.

“Loa.”

The familiar low voice coming from behind put me at ease.

To think I would be so glad to hear that voice.

The moment I stopped my hurried steps, the footsteps of the man following behind also stopped. I turned my body and walked past the man, but my gaze did not waver from him.

You, do you think I am letting you off easy!

That was the message my eyes conveyed.

Only after passing the man completely was I able to turn my gaze toward Eden.

The person who filled my eyes was not Eden, but Siobhan. Having assumed only Eden would be there, the sight of Siobhan brought a rush of delight.

“Sir Siobhan?”

I tucked myself between Eden and Siobhan and muttered to them as though reporting.

“He started following me just because I asked for directions… I was so frightened…”

Leaving me behind, Eden strode toward the unfamiliar man.

“You have arrived early.”

“……?!”

The words that came from his mouth were words I had never imagined.

Eden Hylus even used formal speech! Too flustered to say a word, all I could do was widen my already wide eyes even further.

Wait, so they knew each other?

“Ah, you are Duke Hylus, correct?”

“I understood the visit to be three days from now.”

“Haha, that would be my father’s schedule. I am a prince with rather more freedom than my father.”

Visit. Three days. Prince.

What could be deduced from their conversation was that this stranger was a prince of the Western Kingdom.

Good heavens, so I had been glaring at the Western Kingdom’s prince?

If the people of the Northern Kingdom had pale skin and rough-looking golden hair, and the people of the Southern Kingdom had slightly darker skin and sleek black hair, then the people of the Western Kingdom looked most similar in appearance to those of Ermensel.

What distinguished the Western Kingdom from Ermensel was the style of clothing, but this man was wearing Ermensel clothing as well.

That was why I had not known this person was the Western Kingdom’s prince.

I had known that the Western Kingdom was coming for diplomatic purposes, but I had not expected them to already be here.

“I came early to look around the imperial palace and the capital.”

“And yet, for what reason were you following my woman?”

“Ah…”

The Western Kingdom’s prince paused briefly upon hearing Eden’s words ‘my woman.’

“I did not know, and I have been rude.”

Right, at least you know it was rude, so you are someone who knows his place.

The Western Kingdom’s prince, who had been striding toward me as I stood half-hidden behind Eden, extended his hand.

“My apologies, my lady. I was so captivated by your extraordinary beauty that I committed a rudeness.”

“……”

“I am Enoch Ilabalan, prince of the Western Kingdom.”

Since I could not refuse a greeting from the Western Kingdom’s prince, I carefully placed my hand over his.

“I am Eloa Rumania, fiancée of Duke Hylus.”

“Loa.”

He called my name familiarly without having been given permission.

“Please forgive my rudeness generously.”

And no sooner had he finished speaking than he pressed his lips to the back of my hand.

It was fortunate I was wearing a glove. The thought of what it would have been like without the glove, with my bare hand, made my skin crawl from head to toe.

The prince, who offered a bright smile, did not release my hand even after the greeting was finished. It was not Eden but Siobhan who made him let go.

“The lady is the master’s companion. Please release the hand you are holding.”

“Oh my. Another rudeness.”

At Siobhan’s words, he responded with a nonchalant reply before finally letting go of my hand.

“Then, I shall take my leave.”

Only the quiet calm of a storm having passed remained.

“Let us go back.”

With those words, Eden said nothing more, not even while traveling via magic stone, nor until we boarded the carriage.

His behavior made me feel strangely as though I had done something wrong.

“E…”

“The library.”

“Pardon?”

“So, did you go to the library?”

“Ah, no. I ended up in that situation because I was asking for directions to the library.”

“You must have been quite frightened on your own.”

Is he worrying about me right now?

After deliberating briefly at his question, I opened my mouth.

“Honestly.”

“……”

“Terribly so.”

“……”

“It was my first time at the imperial palace so I did not know the paths, you said you would come quickly but I had no idea when you would arrive, the only place I knew was the library, and the only person I could ask to relay a message to the library was Dame Dias…”

He listened quietly to my rapid-fire words, and the moment I finished, he shifted to sit beside me.

“I am sorry for being late. They simply would not let me go.”

I had not said all that because I wanted an apology…

Having said he was sorry, he took hold of the hand the prince had been holding a moment ago.

“This is a feeling I have never had before.”

“……”

“It is deeply unpleasant, and I am on the verge of being quite irritated.”

He gripped my hand tightly as he spoke. Whether he was not even aware of how much force he was using, my hand was beginning to go numb.

“Eden.”

“If I could, I would tell you to throw the glove away.”

“Eden.”

“I should tell Schmitz as soon as possible…”

It seemed as though my voice was simply not reaching his ears.

Because his grip kept tightening further and further, I had no choice but to pull my hand away.

“It hurts.”

“……!”

Eden’s eyes trembled quite intensely upon hearing me say it hurt.

It was a trembling I could not understand.

“I am sorry.”

Having said sorry once more, he stopped the carriage and left.

“Have a comfortable ride back to the ducal residence.”

With those words, his presence was nowhere to be seen, not until we arrived at the ducal residence, nor even after we entered. Before going into my room, I called for Alb.

“Alb.”

“Yes, please go ahead.”

“Eden… never mind.”

I had been about to ask Alb, but since I needed to show the people of the ducal residence that we were on good terms, I stopped myself.

Dias, who had followed me in, carefully opened her mouth.

“My lady… the master will likely not be coming in tonight.”