My breath constricted from the awkwardness. I thought only I, the one who had committed sins, would be restless like this, but surprisingly that didn’t seem to be the case.
“Did you say your name was Sir Aila?”
I hadn’t thought she would speak to me, so my mouth didn’t open easily. Only after receiving the glares of the knights guarding the Lady did I realize I needed to answer.
“Yes. That’s correct.”
I was anxious about how the Lady even knew my name, and what reason she had for speaking to me when I was merely one of the guard knights.
“I’ve heard much about you. You’re as lovely as I’ve heard.”
On the surface it was a compliment, but I couldn’t tell if it went to the heart. Whether it was what ‘Aila,’ the original owner of this body, had done that the Lady heard about, or what ‘Aila’ had done after I entered, there certainly wouldn’t be any good stories.
“If stories about me have disturbed you, I offer my apologies. If you wish…”
Just as I was about to say I would accept any punishment, Lady Serina burst into laughter like the sound of silver bells and waved her hand.
“No, that’s not what I was trying to talk about. As I just discussed with His Highness, it’s a relationship with the broken engagement in mind from the start, so there’s no reason to be uncomfortable with such rumors. Nobles don’t value chastity that highly to begin with, and His Highness has had more than one or two omegas he’s been with during rut, so I don’t hold grudges over such things.”
Unlike me, the Lady who had been in high society for a long time instantly grasped the context and explained gently. That tolerance both shamed me and at the same time reassured me.
“I’m still sorry.”
“Well, if you must apologize to feel at ease, I’ll accept it. So Sir Aila doesn’t need to be so cautious either.”
When I was Tienas, I had once briefly guarded the Lady under His Highness’s orders. At the time, I thought she was fair and kind but somewhat quiet and strict about official matters, but today there was no sign of that at all. She seemed relieved, as if unburdening something she had hidden for a long time.
“I don’t know what to do with myself when you say such things.”
Eyes shining like obsidian curved gently. In that moment, the days when I had endlessly envied the Lady who matched His Highness so terribly well rose up like scum floating on water, then sank down familiarly. The moment I realized that my base jealousy and envy were actually completely useless was a bit miserable.
‘Getting jealous on my own and feeling miserable on my own, how busy.’
I swallowed a bitter smile with my saliva. These were emotions no one asked for, that I alone harbored, yet it felt very strange that they were actually emotions not even worth having. It felt like directionless emotions were floating around inside me. What allowed me to escape from that overly sentimental impression was, ironically, thanks to Lady Serina.
“I heard that His Highness received much help from you. We’ll become nothing to each other now, but since we were strategic partners for a long time, I was concerned.”
“How could I dare help His Highness. Rather, I’m receiving excessive treatment.”
“That can’t be. If there are ears in the palace, everyone knows.”
The Lady answered firmly. Her tone was so firm it sounded almost like a warning.
“You’re special to His Highness and His Highness doesn’t try to hide it at all, which is a bit curious. I thought he always put precious things deep away.”
“Ah…”
“When the broken engagement is announced, Sir Aila will become the center of the palace whether you want it or not. There will be many who try to attack, so it would be good to be careful.”
Sure enough, it seemed the Lady wanted to give a warning. When I opened my eyes wide at what seemed like genuine concern for me, bright laughter rang out again.
“Please, for the Empire’s peace as well, I hope you endure for a long time.”
“I will try my best.”
When I bowed at the waist in greeting, the Lady nodded and took a sip of tea. A bit of silence flowed and the Lady muttered lowly as if to herself.
“Except for the silver hair, on the surface there doesn’t seem to be a single similarity, but having this conversation, the feeling is somewhat similar.”
I could tell who she was talking about without asking. The only connection between the Lady and Tienas was guarding her for about two months, but if she felt similar enough to Aila, it made me think that human nature was truly difficult to hide.
‘It would be better to be more careful, but I have no talent for acting in the first place.’
I briefly resented my own incompetence, but that didn’t last long. There was nothing to be done about blaming talents I didn’t have. It was better to just consider that while planning the next steps.
“Were you talking about something interesting?”
His Highness, who had returned to the reception room, rubbed my shoulder and asked. I was startled once by his appearing behind me without any sign, and startled again by touching me so openly.
“I was just saying I hope His Highness achieves all that he desires.”
“That’s something to be grateful for.”
Far from pulling his hand away, His Highness even stroked my nape. He had never acted so demonstratively in other settings, so I broke into a cold sweat, unable to understand why he was doing this in front of Lady Serina of all people.
“Your Highness, though I am an alpha, I don’t covet what belongs to others.”
“Well. I need to be able to trust the alpha breed.”
At the same time their conversation ended, silence descended.
‘Lady Serina is an alpha?’
I didn’t know which to be more surprised about—the fact that she was an alpha or that she had hidden it all this time. What was certain was that I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know. I was afraid of just how many secrets would be revealed today.
“Did His Highness receive the guest well?”
“Ah, someone from the Sayus family came.”
My spine went cold. I didn’t think Father would break his promise, but there was such a thing as a one in ten thousand chance.
“Wh-who came?”
The question that jumped out urgently was rather rude. The reality that no one pointed this out made me even more anxious.
“Are you curious who came?”
“As His Highness’s guard knight, I thought I should know.”
Even as I said it myself, I thought I spoke well for someone who wasn’t doing a single thing befitting a guard knight.
“Right, that’s true.”
His Highness didn’t point this out and smoothly passed over it this time as well.
“Duke Sayus, that is, Darian requested an audience. After actually coming, he only brought up trivial matters, so it was troublesome.”
“Ah, I see.”
The moment I learned the visitor wasn’t Father, I deflated completely. The fact that my older brother had visited His Highness over trivial matters wasn’t an ordinary event either, but still, there was a high possibility it wasn’t related to me.
“Come to think of it, I heard you met Tristan at the Marquis’s banquet?”
No sooner had I felt relieved than the next blade flew in.
“Yes.”
“I was surprised that Lord Tristan attended such a gathering, but was it to meet Sir Aila?”
Lady Serina also seemed quite surprised as she widened her eyes.
“No. He said he wanted to see the Caesius family’s garden while he was visiting the capital.”
Even if it was a poor excuse, on the surface it was the truth.
“I also heard Sir Aila gave the garden tour. You even had a secret meeting in the greenhouse?”
“A secret meeting? I did no such impious thing.”
“Of course you shouldn’t.”
His Highness was smiling, but he didn’t particularly look pleased.
“It seems everyone was equally curious about what conversation you two had. The Duke tried everything to probe, and it was fortunate I knew nothing about it.”
His Highness lightly tapped the tip of my nose, then went and sat down.
“I did so well not bringing you along. Right?”
Everything seemed to be flowing according to His Highness’s plan. The frightening part was that I didn’t know the plan, and…
“We truly only talked about the greenhouse.”
“I’ll pretend to believe you this time.”
Despite that, it seemed I was included in the plan.
“Oh my, I seem to be in the way. I’ll be going now.”
“As expected, the Lady is so quick-witted, I like it.”
His Highness repeated the words he had said earlier. It was a rare sight of him seeming to have met truly satisfactory subordinates.
“I know that’s why you chose me.”
“Still, you exceeded expectations. Though that became another problem.”
His Highness showed a briefly bitter smile, but soon put on his usual gentle face as always.
“Now that everyone in the castle will know about our broken engagement and that the Lady is an alpha, there will be a brief commotion. It’s the last time, so endure well.”
“Yes. I won’t do something stupid like running away with only checkmate remaining.”
“Good.”
After the Lady left, His Highness slowly rose from his seat.
“Shall we go finish what we have to do?”
It was a question that implied he knew I was hiding something but would wait. All of reality was heavy.
