TLSD 27

Chapter 27

A cold laugh slipped past his lips as he shook his head and smirked. Stroking his mouth, he picked up the green envelope.

His eyebrows arched at the pig-pink ribbon, which felt repulsive just to touch.

Whenever the Princess sent packages tied with that pig-pink ribbon, it invariably came hand-in-hand with some nonsense…

“My Lord, please sign the merchant documents first. Her Imperial Highness will soon storm—ah, visit you directly in any case…”

The butler stepped forward, offering yet another towering stack of documents.

Silently, Carlos reviewed the intricate terms of hundreds of documents, modified phrases, stamped his seal, and penned his reply.

Only after signing the sixth document did he slowly swivel his chair around, his dark, heavy gaze fixed ahead.

Beyond the expansive floor-to-ceiling window—which offered a sudden, clearing view—the village and the streams winding around the ducal castle came into full sight below.

Lilacs and weeping willows… and a rabbit…?

❖ ❖ ❖

Beneath the shade of the weeping willow, Elio jammed a straw into a carton of white milk and drank without stopping. Both of her hands and her dress were stained a filthy black.

Didn’t you already get three months’ living expenses?

Isn’t it a huge win if you just take a bit of flak as a trashy lady and walk away with that much money?

She drew in a massive breath.

It’ll all blow over once time passes. People forget other people’s scandals in no time, right? They said they can’t criminally prosecute me anyway.

She wiped her sniffling nose and smoothed out the rumpled pleats of her skirt.

Country folks don’t read the papers much anyway, so it’s fine. I just need to find a maid’s position and keep practicing purification and healing magic.

She clumsily rolled up her soaked sleeves. Righting her toppled bicycle, she glared fiercely up at the ducal castle.

…Liar.

…Son of a bitch.

She hung her grocery bag over the handlebars, squeezing and releasing the left brake lever with a sharp squeak.

Two months from now, I’m skipping town for the countryside.

Mounting the saddle, she pressed down hard on the pedals, as if pedaling away every shred of misery under the brilliant blue sky.

❖ ❖ ❖

Why on earth is the Empress not sending assassins?

Pondering the Empress’s unfathomable motives, Carlos took slow, measured strides.

It wasn’t as though she had given up on putting her own flesh and blood on the imperial throne, surely.

Water dripped from his freshly washed hair. He straightened his uniform, buttoning up his collar where a button had come loose.

He walked with steady purpose down the wooded path toward the weeping willows, weaving between patches of blooming lilacs.

As he gazed at the sweet, violet sea of blossoms, another silent laugh escaped him. It was a place that didn’t suit him at all.

The absolute second he rounded the corner past the dense foliage, his footsteps ground to a halt.

His eyes narrowed sharply, while far across the path, a pair of turquoise eyes fluttered and shook in panic.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

Keeping his hands clasped behind his back, Carlos let out a dry, disbelieving huff.

What in the world was she up to this time?

The rabbit, who had been wobbling precariously on the steep downward slope, lost her footing and bolted forward out of control.

Or rather, her bicycle was rolling down the hill all by itself, while the terrified rabbit was being dragged along for the ride. She must have caught sight of him and panicked.

“S—S—Sir! My Lord!”

The woman’s shrill, terrified voice called out as she hurtled down the steep incline. Her tiny face was twisted with sheer terror.

Carlos tilted his head at an angle, then…

One step.

Two steps.

With his long legs, he casually sidestepped out of the way. A flash of golden light rushed past him, accompanied by the furious fluttering of pure white skirt hems.

“Y—You—absolute bas—tard!”

At her high-pitched voice, trembling with rage, a flock of white birds burst frantically into the air.

Carlos finally let out a full, booming laugh.

Elio stared with wide, horrified eyes as she heard the man’s clear, refreshing laughter.

I’m going in. I’m going in…!! I’m sinking!

With the handlebars wobbling wildly, the accelerating bicycle hurtled straight toward the stream.

Screeech, screech! She desperately squeezed the right brake over and over, but it only groaned stiffly and refused to engage.

She hadn’t intended to barrel down the slope at all.

It was entirely because of that man.

Why—why did he suddenly pop up?

Why did he dodge out of the way?!

Plunging headfirst into the stream, Elio held her breath as the bright blue, churning water rushed up to meet her, squeezing her eyes shut. She thrust her arms out to start dog-paddling.

At that exact moment—

Splash! A massive wave erupted across the stream, sending a cloud of muddy spray billowing into the air.

Whirrr, whirrr— The bicycle’s wheel, half-submerged and overturned in the water, spun furiously in empty space.

Elio’s heart plummeted. She could hear her own heart hammering against her ribs, and a rapid, heavy vibration thrummed against her back from the thick, sturdy chest pressing right against her.

Biting her lower lip, Elio refused to lift her head. Pressing her forehead firmly into the solid chest of the man holding her, she kept her eyes squeezed shut.

A calm, laughter-laced voice drifted through the crisp rustle of the leaves overhead.

“Is it ‘bastard’ now?”

Carlos looked down at the bright red nape of the rabbit he had snatched and pulled tight against his chest.

Whatever her initial plan had been, she had now tucked her slender arms and legs tightly inward, her chest heaving against him. At the sound of his amusement, the waterbirds fluttered upward once more in a flurry of wings.

“Did I evolve or something?”

“Ba—bastard…”

Elio muttered, burying her face in both hands. Heat rushed through her entire body where they touched, causing her to curl up even tighter against his broad chest.

The white waterbirds of the blue stream scattered into the sky once more, fleeing from Carlos’s booming laughter.

As the sun began to dip, the frantic waterbirds finally regained their peace, diving and gliding leisurely across the rippling blue surface. A pair of summer migratory birds—watercocks that only appeared during the humid rainy season—slowly circled the man and woman who stubbornly refused to leave the stream bank.

“The sexual moral laws of the Lübeck Empire are all crimes punishable only upon formal complaint.”

Elio stared blankly at the wicked lips of the strict man who was suddenly tutoring her on the commandments of the scripture.

…Crimes punishable only upon formal complaint…

“It means that if the victim expresses to the temple that they do not desire punishment, the perpetrator cannot be prosecuted.”

Elio let the man’s words wash over her like birdsong, absentmindedly counting the petals of a nearby lilac. Carlos gently reached out and lifted the drooping tip of Elio’s chin.

“You’re not paying attention at all.”

“…Liar. You said we only needed to study Section 1… and now we’re already at Section 27… I get it, so stop already.”

Muttering like someone talking to themselves, Elio rubbed her swollen eyes. Even in the crisp, open breeze of the stream, her eyes still burned.

“You’ve gone and become the woman who assaulted me, after all. You really ought to brush up on your sexual ethics.”

“Then why won’t you issue a correction already!”

“Then you and I—both guilty of making false vows—would end up rotting side by side in the imperial dungeon. We’d be torn to shreds by the Empress and the pro-Pope faction for daring to defy the Emperor’s decree and mocking a royal union.”

Carlos said coldly, locking eyes with Elio’s reddened gaze.

“I—I didn’t…”

“…Why were you crying so hard?”

Carlos gently stroked her burning eyelids with his thumb, clicking his tongue softly. Whether she had cried too much or simply had sensitive skin, the heat refusing to leave her face was relentless.

“Because you made me look like trash…! They plastered my portrait all over the newspaper claiming I assaulted you, so how am I supposed to stay calm? That completely ruins my prospects for marriage, and makes it ten times harder to earn a living, and—!”

“You’re innocent, so it doesn’t matter. There’s no need to care about what the politicians yapping in the papers say. Legally, you’ve committed no crime—”

“It’s all over the parliament and the papers!”

“Let them tear each other apart. The people of Schüpenhardt don’t give a damn about Lübeck newspapers anyway.”

“It’s in the Cyprus papers, too! They’re claiming absurd things like I seduced you first…!”

How on earth could anyone possibly seduce this man? Elio sat with her back to the sun, looking up at the muscular man silhouetted in the glare, and her mouth flapped open wordlessly.

“P—Please issue a correction right now! Tell them I never illegally seduced you. We have no interest in each other, and we certainly didn’t consummate anything!”

Carlos dragged a hand through his hair and let out a rough, ragged sigh.

“I’ll issue a correction in two months. Not right now.”

“You’re going to wait until after we part ways?!”

“Yes.”

“If you correct it then…!”

“I’ve given you a recommendation letter, and I’ll find you a match, so it won’t interfere with you finding a job or a husband. Besides, I already told you I’d cover whatever money you need.”

Elio poured every ounce of stubborn defiance into her tear-filled eyes. How on earth was she supposed to trust that he’d take responsibility for her after they broke up?

“This is nothing more than a political turf war between the pro-Pope and pro-Imperial factions. The higher up you are, the more common it is to be chewed up by yellow journalism regardless of the actual facts. Your father just threw himself into that filthy cesspool.”

Carlos continued in a frosty tone.

“Are you dying to be painted as an accomplice to your father bribing a priest to fabricate a forced bed-sharing scandal? Parliament already knows you’re innocent. Yet they’re trying to use you as a scapegoat…”

Noticing Elio’s trembling lips, Carlos drew in a heavy breath and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Don’t worry. I’ll sort everything out in two months. My knights and the people of Schüpenhardt don’t think anything weird of you. You don’t need to care.”

“How am I supposed not to care? Am I just supposed to live out the next two months as garbage? Even if people claim they don’t believe it, your name is going to be permanently attached to mine like a scarlet letter!”

“……”

“It’s going to be completely burned into everyone’s minds. From now on, the moment anyone looks at my face, they’re going to think of you straight away and assume I’m just a trashy, greedy lady desperate for the power and wealth of the Schüpenhardt duchy. They’ll think I planned to leech off Schüpenhardt for the rest of my life. I’m… I’m not that kind of person!”

“Is that really your only problem?”

With an impatient sigh, Carlos’s dark eyes pinned her with a direct, unblinking stare.

“Try being a bit more shameless about being ‘trash’.”

For a split second, Elio sat with her mouth hanging open, utterly failing to comprehend what she had just heard.

“You want me to act like trash? I am not some brazen woman obsessed with a man’s power and wealth!”

“So you hate power and wealth, then? You’re still spouting such naive nonsense even after becoming a commoner. Why is that brazen? There are millions of women just like that.”

Carlos said, his expression sharp.

Elio’s chest heaved with agitated breaths as she forcefully shook out her soaked skirt and struggled to her feet. Her limbs felt weak, and even the heavy black grocery bag made her stagger.

“…I—I genuinely cannot talk to you anymore. I’m leaving first. I can’t keep having this conversation today. Let’s talk again later.”

Before she could wobble away, Carlos snatched the black grocery bag right out of her arms.

“I’ll walk you home.”

“Forget it. Give that back! That’s someone else’s groceries…!”

“Is this… what you call groceries? Grapes and white bread? When are you ever going to grow up eating just this?”

“Stop talking about me growing up! Is that really the point right now? Let’s say Parliament knows I’m innocent. How am I supposed to show my face and live among the villagers? Am I supposed to walk around as the greedy woman who forcibly violated a legendary knight? ‘Be trash,’ you say! Easy for you to say!”