In truth, the Brion family’s influence was rather weak for a count’s household. However, Count Brion had protected Eldon since childhood when everyone else ignored him, and now he was leading the pro-Crown Prince faction’s nobility alongside Gail.
Eldon felt grateful to Count Brion, and while he treated all the consorts like chess pieces, he showed respect only to Melissa. Even in the original story, Rosenthal, who had trampled all over the consorts, couldn’t do anything to Melissa.
Melissa was a noble and intelligent aristocratic lady who had admired Eldon since childhood.
When the lewd and vulgar Rosenthal became Crown Princess, she became enraged and joined forces with Seha to boldly stand against Rosenthal. A typical supporting character who helps the protagonist, you could say?
Though her image of overflowing dignity and confidence would disappear along with Rosenthal’s death…
“Yes. I clearly saw Lady Melissa’s handmaiden slandering Your Imperial Highness!”
“That alone isn’t enough to be certain. Lady Brion is a consort His Highness trusts, so don’t speak such words again.”
I drew a firm line. Of course, if one of the consorts was intentionally spreading rumors about me, it was highly likely to be Melissa. The other consorts enjoyed gossiping, but they had no talent for scheming. However, Raki’s words were only circumstantial evidence at best. Spreading it around without proof could backfire on us instead.
“Yes. I’ll be careful.”
“And thank you for worrying about me.”
There was no proof, but it wasn’t wrong either. I comforted the dejected Raki and patted his hand.
“Not at all. It’s naturally what I should do! Oh, and Lady Olson was ultimately expelled from the palace.”
Viscount Olson had sent his daughter as the Crown Prince’s consort while secretly joining hands with Grand Duke Curtis behind the scenes. He tried to use his daughter as a spy, but since she didn’t receive Eldon’s favor, she wasn’t much help.
“No. Rather than expulsion, should I say she went to prison? There are rampant rumors that she’ll receive an extremely severe punishment.”
I drank the rosana juice again. A sweet yet bitter taste spread across my tongue. I opened my mouth while feeling the sharp aftertaste.
“She’ll receive a death sentence.”
“Even so, surely not death? She was still a consort, so it’ll probably end with exile to Coolum. Didn’t Viscount Olson also testify? That he ordered everything and Lady Olson knew nothing.”
“No, she’ll be executed.”
Because that’s what happened in the original story.
It was true that Lady Olson had moved according to her father’s will until now. However, when Grand Duke Curtis was captured and she faced the crisis of her identity being exposed, Lady Olson lost her reason and planned to poison Eldon. In fact, it couldn’t even be called a plan. She brought poison directly into the imperial palace, requested an audience with Eldon, and offered him food laced with poison.
She didn’t even think to hide that it was her doing, moving with the naive thought that once Eldon died and Arleigh became Crown Prince, everything would work out perfectly.
Her foolishness—unable to control herself, hurling insults at the Crown Prince’s fiancé and making even her own allies sick of her—applied this time as well.
Of course, such a sloppy assassination attempt was immediately discovered.
Viscount Olson, who had committed all sorts of dirty crimes under Grand Duke Curtis, found it difficult to avoid execution. Thinking that since he would be executed anyway, he might as well take on his daughter’s crimes too, he made a false confession.
People now thought that Lady Olson had innocently offered the Crown Prince poisoned liquor her father had given her and was unjustly caught up in it. But once the trial proceeded, the truth would eventually be revealed. And she would receive a death sentence just like in the original story.
She followed the path set out in the original work exactly, and couldn’t escape the fate of becoming dew on the execution ground.
“With Lady Olson ending up like that, the other consorts are also keeping low. Honestly, unless you’re a great noble family like our Chendewden duchy or a noble who pledged loyalty to His Highness the Crown Prince early on like Count Brion, there’s hardly any noble not connected to Grand Duke Curtis, right? Right now, the only person among the consorts who can swagger around is Lady Melissa. So it must be Lady Melissa spreading the rumors!”
Raki seemed quite disappointed that his claim had been rejected, so he added his own logic and expressed his opinion again.
“Yes, your words have merit.”
“Right?”
“But that’s exactly why we need to be even more careful. Count Brion has His Highness’s trust.”
“Don’t speak so weakly! Now that the Curtis family has fallen, isn’t the Chendewden duchy indisputably the empire’s greatest noble family? Will you just stand by while such false rumors are spread?”
Wow, look at this guy. He’s subtly instigating, isn’t he?
Of course, Raki was right. Knowing that someone is unjustly slandering and spreading false rumors but leaving it alone isn’t an appropriate response. And if it’s the current me and not the original story, I might have a chance of winning.
Whether in terms of status, family, or honestly even looks, I had the advantage in every aspect. Moreover, although it hadn’t been publicly announced yet, I was the legitimate Crown Princess who had performed the first night ceremony under Eldon’s initiative.
But I didn’t want to. Rather, the situation where Raki was chattering in detail about the consorts’ information approached me fearfully.
The consorts I had thought of collectively as ‘the Crown Prince’s five birds’ were beginning to reveal their individuality one by one. It felt like the author was openly pushing me from behind, saying the good times were over and to hurry and enter the world of palace intrigue.
But I had no intention of getting involved. Why should I fight over that bastard Eldon? What’s so pretty about him? I absolutely refused such a meaningless fight with no chance of winning.
After forcibly making me eat rosana, Eldon seemed to think he had accomplished his goal and hadn’t set foot here for three days. Even though the Crown Prince’s bedroom was right next door, I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him for over 72 hours.
It was fortunate.
Since Eldon wasn’t visible, my turbulent heart began to calm down. Honestly, it was true that my heart fluttered, but it seemed to be purely because of pheromones. Seeing how I became calm again when I didn’t see him proved it.
Right, I was just instinctively drawn to his pheromones, my heart hadn’t turned toward him yet. I hoped Eldon would continue not appearing like this.
Don’t shake me. Don’t shake me anymore. In this life, I want to meet someone who will love me and whom I will love, and live happily. So if you’re not going to be my person, don’t touch me…
“I’m tired…”
“Shall I clear up?”
“Yeah.”
Raki began clearing away the food and I also rose to my feet. It seemed Hereis wouldn’t come today either. He said he’d come after just 2-3 days, but he’s a liar.
I also thought that he might have stopped by briefly to consume vital energy, but I didn’t feel like I’d had an erotic dream or a lucid dream. Of course, I don’t remember lucid dreams, but still, when I wake up there’s a peculiar afterimage-like sensation of the dream being cut away, and I hadn’t felt that sensation at all for three days.
Hereis, where on earth did you go…? Nothing bad happened, right?
“Raki, could you go to the detached palace one more time?”
“I’ve already been five times just today. I left a note telling him to come to the Crown Prince’s palace, so if he’s returned, he’ll come straight here. Don’t worry too much.”
I worried that Hereis might not want to come to the Crown Prince’s palace and was lingering at the detached palace, but Raki gently drew the line. Right, Raki was correct. If he’d returned, he would have come here. But even as I thought that, I still worried.
“I’ll just go for a moment.”
When I tried to go outside, Raki was startled.
“Where are you going! The sun has set. His Highness might come, so you should return to the bedroom. I’ll go to the detached palace, so please go upstairs.”
“No. I’ll go.”
Groundless delusions filled my head—that something had gone wrong with Hereis’s body so only I who performed the marriage ceremony with him could see him, or that he was secretly hiding and waiting. I stood up abruptly. If I go, he might appear. No, he’s someone who became an incubus because of me. It’s right that I search for him myself.
Despite Raki’s opposition, I headed to the detached palace. When I said I was going to the detached palace, even the head butler and head handmaiden came out to dissuade me, but when I was firm, they couldn’t stop me.
He said 2-3 days. A day had passed since the date Hereis said he’d return. If he didn’t come today either, I’d storm the Tern Guild first thing tomorrow. I didn’t know where it was, but I’d find out even if I had to completely drain Rosenthal’s slush funds.
The pillowcase stained with blood and Hereis’s gaunt appearance were vivid before my eyes. He was in pain enough to cough up blood. In that state, he hadn’t consumed vital energy for four days. My heart beat anxiously with worry that he might have collapsed somewhere.
I rode in a carriage to the detached palace, dismissed everyone, and entered alone. Then I headed straight to the bedroom I had used. If Hereis had returned, he would be there. I had that premonition.
The moment I opened the door, I paused briefly. A man with red hair like prolain flowers was looking out the window. It wasn’t his usual butler uniform, but in his simple outfit of just a white shirt and black pants, his slender physique could be felt completely.
“Harry…!”
When I called his name, the man turned around. Neatly combed hair, heterochromatic eyes of red and blue, a face as beautiful as if drawn in a picture, enchanting red lips. He was Hereis.
I smiled and ran toward Hereis.
“Harry, are you okay? Why are you so late…!”
I couldn’t finish my words. Hereis’s heterochromatic eyes emitted a sensual light as they swept over my body from head to toe.
I knew Hereis was an incubus, but to me he was more of a kind and friendly butler and a pillar I could rely on rather than a sex demon.
But the person before me now was literally a demon. The seductiveness of a sex demon covered his entire body. From his gaze, his lips, even his small breaths—sensuality poured out with such intensity that I could feel the pressure.
As I stood frozen, unable to say anything, Hereis’s red lips parted slowly.
“Were you waiting for me?”
“Of course! Why are you so late? Is your body okay now?”
“I’m not okay.”
His voice shot out coldly. It wasn’t like Hereis. I was startled by the somehow desolate atmosphere, when Hereis grabbed my arm and pulled me down onto the bed.
