“Sir Aila!”
The Knight Commander’s loud shout dragged me out of my vision and back to reality. He stretched out his arm in warning toward the knight who was hesitating over what to do about me suddenly collapsing, then crossed his arms and looked down at me.
Normally I deeply respected him—an omega who had risen to such a high position despite even being female—but right now I didn’t have time to indulge in such sentiments.
“I have a headache.”
“What?”
At my shameless attitude, the Commander opened his mouth as if dumbfounded. Thinking I should at least pretend to be sick properly, I bowed my head and covered it with my hands as I continued.
“My head hurts so much I think I need to go take some medicine.”
“You! I thought you were going to work hard for once today… Ah, never mind. Go ahead. But don’t even think about getting someone to support you. I can read all your tricks, Sir.”
The Commander was about to say more but quickly gave up and waved his hand as if fed up. To think I’d be relieved that Aila had lived irresponsibly until now—what a strange turn of events.
“Thank you.”
I carefully set down my sword and left the training grounds, ignoring the gazes following me. Once I was certain no one was watching, instead of going to the infirmary, I expertly concealed my presence and entered the passage used by the Royal Guard—specifically, the knights who moved in the shadows.
‘This body is too heavy for me to move as quietly as I originally could.’
If asked to list the inconveniences of Aila’s body, I could probably talk all day, but what bothered me most was that despite having not a shred of muscle and no fat either, I got tired from the slightest movement. Because of this, my breathing was noisy and my feet dragged.
‘At least there are no knights using this passage at this hour.’
There was another reason I’d left the training room immediately after hearing the rumor and confirming its truth. If someone had requested an audience under the name of the Sayus family, it would be Darian hyung-nim, the head of the family. And knowing hyung-nim’s methodical nature, the time he would request an audience would be right about now.
‘The places where the two of them might have a conversation would be the drawing room, the study, or the Crown Prince’s palace garden.’
Out of habit, I carefully headed toward the Crown Prince’s palace, checking for other intruders. I’d thought this body had no talent except being beautiful, but its hearing was better than Tienas’s body. At least that was fortunate.
‘If His Highness wanted to openly display conflict, he would choose the garden, and if he wanted to talk privately, he’d likely use the study. But seeing how quickly the rumor spread, I suppose it’s the garden after all.’
Having thought that far, I stopped my hurrying feet. Though I’d moved my body without thinking, I realized I didn’t have permission to enter the garden. Half of it was my body moving first from shock, and half was a truly stupid mistake of not even considering it since this was a place I’d frequented more often than home from the time I came of age.
But I couldn’t just ignore this situation. This was a chance to find out what on earth had happened after my death. At that moment, another flash crossed my mind, and I saw a scene of His Highness and hyung-nim conversing in the garden.
I didn’t know how my precognitive ability had returned, but the timing was perfect. When my precognitive ability had been at its most sensitive, I could see the enemy’s next moves in real-time during battle—it felt just like returning to those days.
‘In that case, there’s a high chance of being caught and it’s a bit underhanded, but…’
The Crown Prince’s palace garden bordered the general garden. Unlike the Crown Prince’s palace garden which mainly had low trees, that area had quite a few places to hide and was often where knights concealed themselves when guarding from behind. If the two of them conversed in the location I’d seen in my vision, I should be able to barely hear their conversation from there.
‘Since this isn’t an official meeting, there shouldn’t be any guard knights hiding.’
If I were caught eavesdropping, I honestly wasn’t sure how I’d be punished. Would they pretend not to notice so I’d spread what I heard, or would they severely punish the impudent bastard who dared?
‘I’d be fine just being punished, but I don’t want to cause trouble for the Caesius family. If I get caught, I’ll have to act as stupid as possible and make it seem like it was my fault alone.’
Ignoring my complicated thoughts, I finally reached the front of the garden using this unbearably slow body and hid myself in a space I’d made sure would never be in anyone’s line of sight. It was then that I heard footsteps from very far away. The only people likely to be in the Crown Prince’s palace garden besides His Highness and knights were his lover at most. But the footsteps were too heavy to be a woman’s walking, and there were only two sets.
‘The hearing really is good.’
If only this body had trained a bit more, it would have made quite a useful knight. What a waste.
“All the knights are…”
I was thinking such things blankly when the distance had closed enough that I could hear the two people’s conversation. I held my breath even more and focused on my hearing. It was unmistakably His Highness’s voice. It seemed all the knights had been dismissed, as there appeared to be no one around His Highness.
‘Even though the Sayus family is pro-imperial and pro-Crown Prince, I wish he’d keep at least one or two people nearby.’
Though I knew it was impossible for hyung-nim to overpower His Highness, the memories of my time as a knight kept making me worry.
“Your Highness, I requested an audience as the head of the Sayus ducal family. If you simply refuse without valid reason, I cannot withdraw like this.”
I heard Darian hyung-nim’s clear and firm voice. But it was somewhat more agitated than I’d known, and rather confrontational for addressing His Highness. It was precariously close to content that could even be perceived as disrespectful.
I wanted to confirm the situation with my own eyes, but if I did that, there would be no point in hiding here as I’d be discovered immediately. I had to suppress the urge and just listen to the conversation.
“Fine. Let me hear your request.”
“Please return Tienas del Sayus’s body to the family. With all due respect, Your Highness. He was yours before being Your Highness’s knight…”
Darian hyung-nim, who rarely interrupted his own words, stopped speaking. Judging by the murderous intent I could feel even from here, it seemed he couldn’t bring himself to open his mouth due to His Highness’s menacing aura. Seeing how even this weak body was trembling despite being far away, just standing beside him must be unbearable.
“Return my child’s body.”
“He is not Your Highness’s child.”
Hyung-nim let out a low sigh as if unable to bear it. His Highness would occasionally call me “child” when reminded of my childhood appearance, but I couldn’t understand why Darian hyung-nim was reacting to that form of address.
“Tiel was my knight, my child, and my loyal dog. While your family neglected and abused Tiel, I was the one who took him in. So don’t I have more right to call Tiel ‘child’ than you do?”
Though it ended as a question, it was essentially hammering in a nail. The tone was as calm as ripples on a lake, but there was no way hyung-nim could have missed the anger contained between the unbearably heavy voice and the warning, sharply cut words. Even though the words weren’t directed at me, I felt suffocated.
“Not preventing Tienas from being appointed as a Royal Guard wasn’t abandoning him—it was a judgment that it would be good for the boy.”
“Well, I wonder if Tiel would think so too. I’m thinking you’re doing this because the family needs to take back even the corpse for that pathetic precognitive ability to continue.”
I heard the sound of His Highness’s sword moving. That this person—who could draw his weapon as quietly as any assassin if he wished—made such a heavy sound meant he was giving a warning.
“I admit that our family used Tienas and failed to care for him properly. That’s precisely why I dare to humbly request that you at least allow us to lay his body to rest comfortably. Wouldn’t that be mercy toward both Tienas, who gave his loyalty to Your Highness, and our family?”
Darian hyung-nim’s voice trembled but continued to the end. I couldn’t understand why hyung-nim was trying so desperately to get my body back. Our family’s power wasn’t contained in the body, so retrieving a corpse had no utility or value whatsoever. Nor was I someone who had honor in the family, so I couldn’t comprehend hyung-nim being so desperate.
“Yes. Tiel was loyal. That loyalty was so excessive it became poison. But if you ask whether the Sayus family is like that toward the imperial family, it’s not.”
My heart felt like it had dropped. As far as I knew, the Sayus family had never once not been on the imperial family’s side and had never turned their backs on His Highness. Yet His Highness was saying it wasn’t so.
“Your family isn’t loyal to the imperial family. You’re loyal to prophecy. If I had shown any weakness, and if that had been reflected in prophecy, the Sayus family would have unhesitatingly held a blade to my back. Even if it meant joining hands with Her Majesty the Empress.”
“How can you say such…”
“No need for flattery to deny it. The Sayus family’s request won’t be granted today either. Tiel belongs to me. He was never the Sayus family’s, not even once.”
His Highness’s words were all correct. I had wanted to offer even my death to His Highness, after all.
“So even in death, Tiel rightfully belongs to me.”
The voice that had been unwavering trembled like a candlelight about to be extinguished by the wind. In an instant, the His Highness I knew disappeared, and it felt like that eerie soul who had kissed a corpse had returned. What I hadn’t anticipated was that after my death, His Highness had also acted as if he belonged to me. Hyung-nim couldn’t bring himself to speak either. In that silence, while I was unable to do anything about my heart racing with anxiety, fear, and a bit of expectation, it happened.
“But…”
Suddenly, one person’s presence vanished. I tried to step back, sensing danger, but it was already too late. The bushes and trees before me collapsed in a single strike. Beyond the trees falling so slowly they seemed to take an eternity, His Highness’s menacing golden eyes gleamed.
“Did you bring this little rat bastard?”
Those achingly beautiful eyes had captured Aila’s body.
