“Did you use precognitive abilities?”
“Does it look that way? It seems you’ve mistaken things because our child is cautious and wise.”
Knowing the atmosphere had become strange, His Highness spoke as if boasting. Meanwhile, hyung-nims and noona had stiffened and couldn’t say anything. I had frozen up as well. The words “precognitive abilities” implied far too much.
‘Does he simply think Aila has precognitive abilities? Or has he determined that I’m Tienas?’
The fact that he was testing me like this meant it was more likely that Darian hyung-nim had figured it out himself rather than Father having directly told him.
“Sir Sepiel, summon the imperial mage Jenya. You must bring him while avoiding the eyes of those who work at the Mage Tower.”
“Understood.”
Sir Sepiel left the drawing room immediately after answering. Even after that, the subtle atmosphere in the room showed no signs of improving.
“Sir Aila, I don’t believe I’ve heard an answer from you yet.”
Jane noona spoke to me pointedly. She was probably indirectly criticizing the fact that His Highness had answered instead of me to hyung-nim’s question.
“As His Highness said, I was simply trying to be careful. Isn’t precognition the authority of the Sayus Family?”
“But you spoke as if you’d truly seen the future. You seemed certain that this envelope had magic cast on it.”
I thought I’d answered rather reasonably, but an even more aggressive remark fell. Perhaps sensing my distress, His Highness, who was sitting beside me, cut off the flow of conversation.
“You lot sound as if you were about to just open this envelope despite magic being cast on it. You wouldn’t want to bear the disgrace of having attempted to assassinate me, would you?”
The content of his words was brutal, but his tone was gentle. He didn’t really want to frame them, but it was a warning not to pressure me further. However, at the same time, I learned one more thing thanks to His Highness’s words.
‘Hyung-nim really brought the magically enchanted envelope on purpose. It wasn’t that he failed to detect the magic on it—he wanted to confirm whether I could see the future.’
Darian hyung-nim had already trapped me.
“How could that be? If that envelope had magic cast on it and I knew about it, the one who would have been hurt most would have been me. His Highness would have been able to escape that harm.”
It was a trap he’d set up even willing to accept getting hurt himself. If I hadn’t stopped him from opening the envelope, hyung-nim would have really suffered serious injuries. Even if he could heal with potions or a priest’s treatment, it would take time to fully recover from wounds received at such close range. So unless I wanted to just watch hyung-nim get hurt, there was no way to avoid falling into the trap.
These three people had gambled, and the fact that they’d bet such stakes meant they had information about Aila’s identity.
‘If they came out like this, Father really didn’t give them information. Then are there people from other families besides Sayus who suspect me like this? If so, what happens? Could His Highness be harmed?’
I bit my lip hard, confused by the information I’d suddenly obtained. All sorts of bad imaginings crossed my mind. At that moment, a gentle hand patted my shoulder. His Highness, with his kind face, had firm eyes unlike me who was being swayed this way and that.
“Fine. Let’s say I’ll overlook the Duke’s cunning move. So what is it the Duke wants to say?”
His Highness’s tone as he questioned them was soft, but the blade hidden within was exceedingly sharp.
“Do you want to confirm whether Sir Aila has precognitive abilities? Or do you plan to insist that ability originally belongs to the Sayus Family so it should be returned? How unbecoming of the great Sayus ducal family, such childish whining.”
Slight pressure entered the hand rubbing my shoulder. It seemed both like he was trying to reassure me and like he wouldn’t let anything take me away.
“As we said last time, we need Tienas for the precognitive ability…”
“That damn precognition, we don’t care about that! We just want to meet Tienas one more time!”
Kaeun hyung-nim interrupted, unable to hold back while Darian hyung-nim was speaking. I hadn’t expected him, who was always afraid of Darian hyung-nim, to make such an impulsive move. And the moment Kaeun hyung-nim said “that damn precognition,” I saw the other two briefly furrow their brows, but it was also strange that they didn’t particularly stop him.
“What remarkable sibling love. It’s almost regrettable I didn’t know about this sooner. Isn’t that right, Aila?”
His Highness had restrained himself when we were alone together, to the point where it seemed he was reluctant to call me ‘Aila,’ yet at this moment he wielded the name ‘Aila’ like a weapon. I couldn’t bring myself to either affirm or deny, and my lips merely twitched.
“There were things I needed to say but couldn’t.”
After a slight silence, Kaeun hyung-nim murmured in a trembling voice. I could feel his wavering eyes looking at me, but I deliberately pretended not to notice. Honestly, I was curious what Kaeun hyung-nim wanted to say. We hadn’t had many conversations, yet he was suffering like this, so part of me wanted to hear him out just once and ease his mind.
‘But I’m Aila right now.’
Even if only superficially, hadn’t His Highness said so as well?
“You should have done it while he was alive.”
Recalling the conversation we’d had so far, it was a remark that should have made Kaeun hyung-nim angry. Yet perhaps because a self-deprecating tone was mixed into His Highness’s words that he couldn’t hide, not even a retort came back. Instead, His Highness continued as if wrapping up the discussion.
“Whatever conclusion you lot reach internally today, it’s unrelated to Sir Aila and myself. However,”
His gaze slowly swept over the three of them.
“How you act from now on is in your hands. If you don’t want to be defeated again, think carefully.”
The word “defeat” wasn’t precisely clear in what it indicated, but it was certain His Highness had intentionally leaked information. Which meant that bringing me to this place was because he wanted the Sayus Family people to think of me as someone with precognitive abilities or as Tiel.
I felt the pheromones His Highness was subtly releasing while trying to control my quickening breath. That was the only way I could calm myself down.
“Then…”
“That’s as far as I can speak, and as far as I’ll tolerate you lot acting like beasts.”
The moment the firm command fell, as if he’d been waiting, Sir Sepiel returned with the imperial mage. The mage received the envelope Darian hyung-nim handed over and drew a complex magic circle. Soon, the mage’s mouth opened.
“Yes. There was explosion magic cast on it. It was extremely fortunate you called for me.”
Words that were tantamount to a confirmation kill fell. The three people’s gazes focused on me. Especially Kaeun hyung-nim’s gaze seemed to be clinging to me.
“You should leave now.”
If His Highness’s order to leave hadn’t fallen, those three might have endlessly just kept looking at me.
* * *
“You seem shocked.”
When I returned to the bedroom and sat quietly without being able to say anything, His Highness kindly removed my outer garment. I couldn’t resist and obediently followed his movements.
“Are you angry?”
I shook my head at the question asked while gently stroking my cheek.
“No. I’m just a bit flustered.”
Though I desperately wanted to ask whether they thought of me as Tienas or actually knew I was really Tienas, I couldn’t. I wasn’t good at probing, and His Highness wasn’t someone who would show an opening just because someone was probing.
“I couldn’t tell you beforehand because you needed to show genuine shock.”
Without realizing it, I whispered in a small voice, “Why?” but His Highness didn’t miss that quiet sound.
“You’re not the type who’s good at acting. It’s better for you if the Sayus Family people think of you as ‘Tiel.'”
A sweet voice came to me as if enchanting me.
“As I said before, you have many similarities to Tiel, and even if it’s just in name, they were family to Tienas, so I thought if I dropped a few clues, they’d mistake you for Tienas on their own.”
“Why did you make it that way?”
“The Sayus Family has guilt about Tienas’s death. Even though they never tried to protect him, they think they failed to protect him.”
I listened blankly to His Highness’s explanation.
“So if they mistake you for Tienas, won’t they try to protect you this time? The more shields, the better. A family like Sayus is quite a decent tool, too.”
So His Highness intended to use the Sayus Family as a shield to protect me. It was truly a method I could never have thought of myself. His Highness lightly kissed my lips as I sat there with my mouth stupidly open and whispered.
“I don’t want to be defeated twice either.”
Only upon hearing these words did I realize that the word “defeat” from the earlier conversation wasn’t a blade to attack them, but a blade directed at His Highness himself.
