“Since when has this person been in this place?”
Darian hyung-nim, who arrived a step late, stared at me as if looking at something filthy. Rather than “me,” it would be more accurate to say he was looking at the intruder Aila that way.
“From the beginning.”
I ended up blankly staring at His Highness’s face, more gaunt than when I saw him at the funeral but still beautiful. My head knew it was impious, but when I was Tiel, His Highness would generously forgive such disgraceful behavior, and that had become a habit. It seemed I couldn’t abandon these habits ingrained in my skin even though my body had changed.
But was the problem that I was currently Aila? His Highness brought his sword to my neck as if he wouldn’t extend such mercy to this body’s owner. To be precise, Aila’s dull eyes couldn’t even see the sword moving, so I only realized His Highness’s sword had touched my neck after blood flowed down my neckline.
Only then did I come to my senses and quietly lowered my eyes, but the sword still didn’t leave.
“This isn’t someone I brought. Aila Caesius, by whose order were you here?”
Darian hyung-nim, who memorized every face among the nobility, unfailingly remembered the scoundrel Aila’s face as well.
‘Maybe that’s fortunate.’
If it had been the body of someone upright and intelligent, it would have been harder to escape this situation. Someone who wanted to protect their family’s honor wouldn’t commit such eccentric behavior without a special reason.
I tried to think of things that someone not very bright, who saw all humans as romantic prospects and didn’t care about family honor, might do. I had no talent for such quick thinking, but there were a few things this body’s owner might do.
“I apologize deeply. An attendant who caught my eye came into view, and I followed without realizing it and got lost. I was sitting down to catch my breath for a moment, but I was worried I might interrupt the conversation, so I couldn’t get up.”
I knew well how not to provoke His Highness’s anger. Don’t grovel excessively, confess sins honestly, and minimize lies. The last part was already a lost cause, so I could only hope this body’s owner wasn’t the type whose lies showed.
“I apologize for recklessly wandering through the Imperial Palace. From next time, I’ll speak to a manager instead of rudely pursuing like this. Of course, if you forgive what happened today.”
The best outcome would be being bound by a prohibition spell preventing me from speaking about what I saw today, and the acceptable outcome would be falling under hypnotic magic that would erase today’s memories. The worst would naturally be His Highness swinging his sword right now.
‘No matter how much of a scoundrel he is, you wouldn’t immediately kill a marquis family’s child. Especially since they’re pro-Emperor faction.’
What concerned me was whether His Highness’s judgment right now was the same as when I knew him. Looking at how he treated Tiel and the Sayus Family, it seemed possible he might just cut my neck right away without thinking of the consequences. Dying once more was something I could do anytime. However, since my prophetic ability had returned, a small regret arose that it would be better to be helpful even a little before dying, so if possible, I wanted to live.
“Right. It’s all coincidence?”
The answer that returned was by no means positive, but His Highness withdrew his sword. I knew he was someone who could behead me in the blink of an eye even after this, but somehow I didn’t feel killing intent.
Relieved that His Highness hadn’t completely lost his reason, I bowed my head slightly lower. It was an action that came instinctively because my liege had always generously forgiven mistakes like this. Because of that, blood flowing from my neck dripped onto the grass, but no one paid it much attention.
“You know well how not to provoke my anger, and you don’t seem to fear death very much.”
Thorns were embedded in a sentence that seemed utterly gentle at first hearing.
‘His Highness is clearly still pondering whether to kill me or not.’
I’d often been told by other knights that I was quite clueless for someone working in the Imperial Palace, but matters involving my life like this were different. It was a problem directly connected to survival instinct.
“But that makes me feel quite bad. It’s as if you’re imitating someone.”
My prediction sadly hit the mark. The flat of His Highness’s sword tapped my head. He looked like a predator pondering what to do with a beast caught in a trap. I made my breathing as shallow as possible, worried even my breathing might be irritating. Just when sweat mixed with the blood flowing from my nape and dripped to the ground, it happened.
“Your affiliation and name.”
His Highness clearly heard my name and family from Darian hyung-nim’s mouth, yet asked again. This was both a warning of ‘I will be watching you’ and a signal of ‘I’ll let it go just this once.’ Worried he might take back that sentiment, I opened my mouth without delay.
“I am Aila Caesius of the Third Knights.”
“Right. The third son of the Caesius Family, Aila. If you value your life, discern circumstances from next time. You wouldn’t want your neck to fly off while trying to satisfy your vulgar body once, would you?”
“I will keep it in mind.”
Finally, the sword that seemed to press down on my body left. However, His Highness’s gaze bound me much longer than that. Before long, the gaze that seemed like it would hold me forever moved away as if it had never happened.
“The Sayus Family’s request is formally denied. The day you bring up this matter again, no matter who you are, you won’t be able to avoid responsibility for refusing orders.”
Then he continued the conversation as if I weren’t present. Darian hyung-nim’s lips twitched as if he wanted to object to something, but in the end, he could only answer “Yes.” It was a natural course of action since the Sayus Family wouldn’t want to publicly oppose His Highness, who had even defeated the Second Prince, their political enemy.
“Both of you withdraw. Don’t forget that the Imperial Palace walls were built with human ears.”
Worried hyung-nim might catch me, I left only a brief answer and quickly withdrew. I could only hope it looked like I was fleeing, unable to overcome fear from being overwhelmed by the two’s presence.
In the end, today’s harvest was only that all the rumors were true and that His Highness was still rational about matters not involving my corpse. Then it seemed there was nothing for me to do but wait from afar without getting involved with His Highness anymore, waiting for him to accept that ‘Tiel’ was a dead person. I decided not to think for a moment about why His Highness was obsessed with Tiel’s corpse.
‘Wouldn’t it be okay to carelessly leak prophecies that might help His Highness to the information broker?’
I didn’t know why he was obsessed with a dead person, and moreover with Tiel who was nothing special except for his prophetic ability, but it was probably just a simple whim. Originally, His Highness was very far from impulsiveness, but it was possible since it was right after dealing with a political enemy who had targeted his life for a very long time.
‘Her Majesty the Empress is still here, but she must have taken a big hit this time, so a brief gap should be fine.’
If I secretly helped like this without encountering His Highness anymore, wouldn’t the day come when this impious heart would settle? I tried to lighten my heart by hoping once more for something I had wanted all my life but ultimately failed at.
But just as I, who had decided to die, was thrown back into this world, things in the world don’t go as one wishes. Because exactly two weeks later, an invitation bearing the Crown Prince’s seal arrived.
