Chapter 19

An Old Dream

 After finishing a meeting at a hideout in the underworld, Lesvan turned to head back to the Imperial Palace.

But then, he felt something strange and looked back.

A maid with silver hair tied high was entering a weapon shop.

She had a smooth, rounded forehead, a prominent nose, slightly flushed cheeks, and a lively face.

Lesvan’s fingertips moved unconsciously.

Even without smelling her up close, the scent from that time came vividly to mind.

The shape of her white nape.

Those clear, vivid blue eyes.

It was her.

A woman who possessed deadly poison and thorns.

Yet one who made it impossible to look away.

The woman who had become the subject of his old dream, born from a connection in the past.

“Crown Prince.”

Phanix, his subordinate standing behind him, asked with a puzzled look when Lesvan stopped.

“Do you have somewhere to go?”

“Go ahead. I… have someone I need to meet.”

At Lesvan’s command, Phanix stepped back.

Lesvan’s gaze remained fixed on the weapon shop the maid had entered.

The corner of his mouth twisted faintly.

**

“Lover?”

Lesvan unconsciously furrowed his brows.

The maid continued with her blue eyes shining coldly.

“Yes. I asked them to make a weapon because I wanted to give him a present.”

“……”

“Did you come to buy a sword too, Sir Knight?”

At the maid’s awkward smile, Lesvan’s eyebrow twitched.

He had not expected her to welcome him, but this reaction made him want to tease her.

He felt an urge to narrow those beautiful eyebrows a little more.

Just like an ordinary boy would.

“No. I simply stopped because I saw you.”

At Lesvan’s words, Essika’s eyes trembled faintly.

A long silence settled between them.

A cool breeze blew, making Lesvan’s black hair sway.

Essika could not guess what thoughts were hidden in his golden eyes.

After a moment, Lesvan opened his mouth again, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“If you don’t mind… I would like to have some tea for a while.”

“…Pardon?”

Essika asked again, somewhat flustered.

Her face was reflected on the surface of Lesvan’s dark eyes.

The faint smile on his lips made her uneasy.

“You said you were buying a sword as a present for your lover. It sounds like quite an interesting story.”

**

“I noticed that you’re not actually a maid.”

Essika had followed Lesvan into a teahouse, partly against her own will.

“I wonder why you told such a cute little lie. Duchess of Klaus.”

He leaned slightly closer as he asked.

It was the price she had to pay for making a careless mistake because she had been too flustered to think properly.

In the martial world, it was common for masters to give swords to their disciples, family members to give swords to one another, and martial-artist lovers to exchange swords.

But here, giving someone a sword meant either hostility or the severing of a relationship.

And yet she had said she was giving a sword to her lover.

What an absurd story.

And…

The Crown Prince already knew Essika’s identity.

She did not know how he had discovered it.

“…I have personal reasons, Your Highness.”

Essika had infiltrated and concealed herself countless times, so acting was not difficult for her at all.

But there was no reason to keep pretending in front of someone who already knew who she was.

And there was little point in hiding the fact that she knew his identity, either.

At Essika’s answer, Lesvan lifted the corner of his lips.

“Even with the maid’s clothes you’re wearing?”

His golden eyes moved toward the frill near Essika’s collarbone.

It was an obvious gaze that could even be considered rude, but no one would think that the noble Crown Prince had improper intentions.

Essika also had no intention of trying to hide something that had already been discovered.

“Yes.”

“It seems the circumstances of House Klaus are more complicated than they appear. For the Duchess to be wearing a maid’s clothes.”

He slowly lifted his teacup and brought it to his lips.

As Essika watched his throat move, she thought,

Today is really not my lucky day.

There were days when luck simply refused to cooperate.

“If that’s the case…”

Lesvan’s lips moved.

“Was entering the lake in the middle of the night with your hair loose also because of those circumstances?”

Essika’s eyebrow twitched at his words.

As expected, Lesvan remembered what had happened that night.

And she was already in a situation where she could no longer brush it off with another lie.

“…Your Highness seems to be very interested in House Klaus.”

Masters of martial arts generally had excellent instincts.

Someone without good instincts could never reach such a high level of martial ability in the first place.

And Lesvan Deon Luseine, who sat before her, could be called the greatest martial artist in the Empire.

At Essika’s calm words, Lesvan’s eyes gleamed with a languid light.

“Everything in the Empire belongs to the Emperor. House Klaus is no exception. Your husband, Kallian Klaus…”

As he leisurely watched Essika’s eyebrow twitch at the name Kallian, Lesvan continued in a low voice.

“…is a loyal Duke of the Empire. Therefore, it is only natural for me to take an interest in him.”

No.

He’s nothing more than an obstacle to the throne.

Lesvan would later lead the relocation of the capital and completely exclude House Klaus from the central political sphere.

“Are you perhaps thinking of asking me for information about House Klaus?”

At Essika’s calm question, Lesvan smiled faintly.

After a moment, he spoke.

“My sources aren’t so unreliable that I need to steal information through a woman. I merely…”

In Lesvan’s golden eyes, Essika was reflected as she sat before him without being intimidated even in the presence of the Crown Prince.

Thinking about how awkwardly she had acted the last time they had met almost made him laugh.

She must have tried quite hard to pretend to be a maid.

“I was simply curious about you.”

At Lesvan’s words, Essika’s eyes flickered for a moment.

But she merely shrugged without showing much agitation.

“You must not be very busy with state affairs these days. To become curious about the wife of an insignificant vassal.”

It was a defensive attitude that clearly told him not to try to find out more.

It could even be considered somewhat rude.

“I am naturally a twisted person. When someone acts as though there is nothing to gain from them, I become even more interested in getting something out of them. It doesn’t matter who they are.”

Essika could guess that although Lesvan would probably never discover her true identity, he had already seen through a considerable part of her personality.

“Especially with eyes like yours, I can’t help but become interested.”

So there was no point in deceiving him any further.

And continuing to talk to him would only put her at a disadvantage.

“If you wish, I can introduce you to a woman you can have a pleasant conversation with. It would probably be more enjoyable than talking to a woman with complicated circumstances.”

Lesvan’s lips moved again.

“I wonder. Pleasant conversation…”

His bored gaze, which had been directed toward the window, turned toward Essika.

Lesvan’s deep voice flowed into her ears.

“It’s a kind answer, but I’ll decline. You alone are enough.”

A fierce light briefly flickered in his golden eyes.

For an instant, Essika felt goosebumps rise along her back.

What if Lesvan wasn’t someone who would simply pass through my life?

Regardless, it would be best to end this meeting as quickly as possible.

“…It’s getting late, so I think I should return now.”

“Yes. It can’t be helped.”

It had been a long time since Essika had met and spoken with such an unfathomable master.

The conversation left her feeling dizzy.

Fortunately, Lesvan readily accepted her words.

Jingle—

The bell hanging on the door rang once as the two of them left one after another.

However, even a monkey sometimes falls from a tree.

And Essika, too, made mistakes.

As she stepped down the stairs outside the teahouse, she placed her foot incorrectly.

Lesvan immediately reached out and caught her arm, supporting her.

“……”

Lesvan’s face with the sunset behind him, and his faintly shimmering golden eyes, left a deep impression in Essika’s mind.

**

It was already getting dark by the time Essika finally arrived at the Duke’s residence.

House Klaus had an unusually large number of maids, and because the Duchess Dowager frequently dismissed maids on a whim and hired new ones, Essika was able to reach her newly assigned room without arousing suspicion.

What a difficult day.

As she sighed in relief and began closing the door, Essika’s hand suddenly stopped.

Then she slowly turned around.

“……”

Kallian was standing with his back against the wall beside the door.

As though he had been waiting for her.

Kallian strode toward Essika, whose eyebrows had stiffened, and grabbed her wrist.

His grip was so strong that Essika narrowed her eyebrows.

But Kallian’s violet eyes were boiling with anger.

“Where have you been, coming back at this hour?”

A rough voice escaped between his lips.

“…Let go.”

Essika frowned, but Kallian ignored her and raised his voice.

“Tell me first! Where have you been? And who did you go to meet while disguised as a maid?!”

His sudden shout made her ears ring.

“What do you mean, who did I go to meet?”

“I finally understand why your attitude has changed recently. Sneaking out like this and secretly returning late at night…”

Anger flickered in Kallian’s cold eyes.

“You have someone you’re meeting, don’t you?”

That anger had probably come from suspicion.

“…You’re suspecting me of having an affair.”

Kallian did not deny it.

Essika almost laughed at the sight of him.

Why is a man who didn’t care whether I lived or died suddenly acting like this?

“Whenever I went outside, did you ever…”

“……”

“Or whenever I returned late, did you ever once ask me…”

Essika looked at him coldly.

“Did you ever tell me where you had been or whom you had met?”

At Essika’s words, Kallian’s violet eyes widened.

He looked genuinely shocked that she had turned the accusation back on him.

And seeing that expression only made Essika feel even more disgusted.

Although this had happened before she recovered her memories as a spirit—

When Kallian had failed to return for three days, Essika had been unable to eat while waiting for him.

When Kallian finally returned, she had demanded an explanation.

Kallian had become angry instead, asking whether he needed her permission even to attend a friend’s wedding.

Essika had been so flustered that she had apologized instead, trying to soothe Kallian’s mood.

And yet he was angry because she had returned only a few hours late.

“Besides, Your Grace…”

Essika’s eyes turned cold.

“Do you really have the right to suspect me of having an affair?”

Yuri Anesis.

Kallian had given her an Allet ring.

And he had warned Essika as though telling her to stay out of his affairs.

But Kallian had paused for a moment.

Then, after a short silence, a hoarse voice escaped his lips.

“…You and I… are different.”