IRER 69

Chapter 69 Scheming Woman

“Could it be… you remembered?”

At his question, Brody, who was about to say something, suddenly shut her mouth tight.

Of course, she had remembered the kiss in the potato field long ago. But whether she should admit to remembering it, or pretend otherwise, was what troubled her.

“Well… I actually just heard it all from Teddy earlier.”

In the end, Brody gave an ambiguous answer. It was the truth—but only half the truth.

“Teddy?”

Aidan looked puzzled at the sudden mention of Teddy’s name.

No one but he and Brody could have known about what happened inside the room… so was it something outside?

“What exactly did Teddy say?”

“He said everyone saw it. In the potato field! Me! With Your Highness…!”

Waaah! Mid-sentence, Brody covered her face with both hands. Her ears, which her palms couldn’t completely hide, had turned bright red.

Aidan blinked and, before he knew it, the corners of his lips were curving up. He quickly raised a hand to his mouth to cover it.

He thought it was unexpected—she, who usually handled everything calmly without much fluster, was now embarrassed over something like this.

“Oh, huh… I see. So there really were people who saw?”

“Your Highness didn’t hear anything about it?”

“It’s rare for anyone to share personal gossip with me.”

“….”

Thinking about it, that was true.

Who would dare approach this cold, stone-faced Grand Duke and say, ‘By the way, we saw that very steamy love scene yesterday in the potato field~’ while cracking a joke?

Even if, when you got closer, he wasn’t truly so stern or cold, the image he had built up until now was just that.

‘But with me, he’ll be teased directly! Connie and the other women will definitely bring it up when they see me! And the soldiers—even if they don’t say anything, they’ll grin and snicker behind my back.’

It felt unfair somehow. Of course, she was the one who had done it to Aidan, so she had no right to complain… but still!

Seeing her spiral into panic, Aidan spoke up.

“Well, the place was wide open, so perhaps someone really did see. But if they were far away, all they’d know is that we were… close together, nothing more.”

Though he had intended it as comfort, his words were no comfort at all to Brody.

So she blurted out,

“Why didn’t you just knock me out if I started acting weird?! A good smack to the back of my head!”

Aidan paled.

“I-I couldn’t do that. You might get seriously hurt.”

Why not?! It happens all the time in dramas! Don’t tell me it doesn’t work in real life?!

“If I got a bruise, Your Highness could just lick it better!”

“Li—lick…? No, that’s….”

Brody babbled nonsense, then screamed into her pillow and buried her face deep inside.

❖ ❖ ❖

The truth was, Aidan wasn’t very bothered by whether others had seen or not.

When they rode Kais together to Fort Ferdan, hadn’t she been seated in front of him? That must have looked pretty similar, and everyone had already seen that.

“That’s different. I only sat there because of motion sickness.”

“And in the South?”

“That too. I needed Your Highness’s help because of Duke Jax.”

Aidan nodded.

Apparently, for Brody, the line between “embarrassing affection” and “not embarrassing” was drawn at whether or not it was practical.

While he was organizing his thoughts, she continued,

“And, um… I heard I clung to Your Highness… I’m sorry for showing such a scene to people because of me. Ugh, it’s so mortifying.”

“If it’s because of me, don’t worry. I truly don’t care much.”

“….”

That was a relief. If Aidan had scolded her for lowering the dignity of the Grand Duchy, things would have been ten times harder.

Still, Brody felt a bit wronged.

The kiss was because I was worried about his headache. I was distracted, so… yes, it happened in public. But still!

She knew she couldn’t blame his headache, though. Half of it was an excuse. The other half… if she was being very honest, maybe she just wanted to kiss him.

She couldn’t remember exactly what she was thinking then. But during the banquet yesterday, she had been in high spirits.

She wanted to share that joy with someone. She’d thought all evening that, if she saw Aidan, at the very least she wanted to hug him.

….

It was the alcohol. It was all because of the alcohol. My shameful memories are alcohol’s fault.

As that familiar refrain echoed in her mind, Brody sighed.

“Anyway, I’ll be more careful so it never happens again. There won’t be a next time.”

“….”

And thus, this incident was concluded in a way that left Aidan feeling somewhat regretful.

Soon the conversation moved on, started again by Brody.

“The Chief of Staff is recovering smoothly. Taking his medicine well. Teddy’s watching over him right now. We agreed to switch shifts at dawn.”

“I see. Thank you, for taking care of River.”

“It’s nothing.”

In fact, she was glad—caring for River gave her an excuse not to go outside. And Teddy, perceptive as ever, hadn’t teased her any further about the potato field.

Brody sighed and went on,

“But… aren’t you curious?”

“I’ll wait. You’ll tell me when the time comes.”

“….”

Sigh. This man… really.

Yes, she had planned to explain eventually. But still, how could he trust her so blindly?

He knew she had once infiltrated the enemy camp to assassinate him. He knew she had belonged to the Duke’s household. He even knew she was covering for the person who attacked his Chief of Staff.

Yet he trusted her anyway.

Brody tried to be as truthful as possible. Her knowledge of Caleb—the woman now unconscious—came from the novel, so she couldn’t reveal that part. She wasn’t sure how persuasive she could be without it.

“Do you remember I said I only had a passing acquaintance with that woman?”

“Mm.”

Seeing him sit across from her attentively, Brody began.

“Her name is Caleb Miller. She used to be the head lady-in-waiting in the Duke’s household.”

Aidan’s eyes widened.

“The Duke’s? You mean Duke McCarthy’s household?”

As expected, he reacted sharply to the mention of the Dukedom. Brody nodded, her voice slowing a little.

“I wouldn’t say I knew her well. But we recognized each other’s faces.”

“Why only that much? If you were both in the Duke’s household, wouldn’t you know each other better?”

Brody gave a bitter smile.

“I wasn’t a lady-in-waiting, nor a noblewoman. I never truly belonged anywhere. Back then, I thought Duke Jax kept me hidden because I was ‘special,’ but now I think he just wanted to isolate me. Anyway….”

As she spoke about her position in the household, she saw Aidan’s face darken. Quickly, she cut herself off and returned to the point.

“When war broke out between the North and the Empire, Caleb was dismissed. Simply because she was from the North.”

“The North? She’s from the North?”

“Yes. Her husband was a knight who died young, so she went to the capital looking for work. She was very capable, earned recognition, rose through promotion after promotion until she became head lady-in-waiting. She was quite famous. That’s why I knew of her.”

“I see. So she’s Northern-born, dismissed from the Duke’s service. But then… why attack River? Shouldn’t her resentment be toward the Empire or the Dukedom?”

Brody nodded.

“That’s the puzzling part. Maybe she wasn’t in her right mind. Instead of targeting someone specific, she may have just lashed out at whoever was near.”

“Even so, she’s dangerous.”

“Haah….”

He was right. She sighed.

“We can’t just ignore the fact she attacked the Chief of Staff. But at the very least… I want her treated first.”

Aidan stroked his chin, then said,

“Do you really need to go that far for her?”

His cold response surprised her. Normally he showed such compassion for the people.

He went on,

“She must hold a grudge against the Dukedom. If she recognizes you, she may try to harm you.”

“Do I look like a Duke’s person to you?”

Brody gave a wry laugh.

“To me, you don’t. But from her perspective… who knows?”

“No, I know. It’s not about sympathy. It’s that… in some ways, she and I are alike. Both betrayed by the Dukedom.”

Aidan’s gaze wavered slightly.

Brody seized the chance.

“She reminds me of myself. That’s why… I can’t ignore her. Sorry, I know it’s not the best thing to say when your Chief of Staff has just been hurt….”

It was a lie. She wasn’t motivated by sympathy, but by her foreknowledge. Still, to sway him, she appealed to his sense of empathy. After all, this was about someone’s life.

“Don’t worry about River. His wound wasn’t life-threatening. Besides, what soldier gets cut down by an untrained woman wildly swinging a blade? It’s embarrassing. And he nearly endangered the Grand Duchess as well. On top of that, he owes you his life. He has no excuse.”

“….”

I suppose that’s true.

Caleb might owe River an apology, but River himself owed Brody his life. She had risked using her plant magic to protect and heal him.

Yes. That debt was repaid.

Brody’s eyes gleamed with a mischievous smile. I can definitely make use of this later.

“But… are you all right, using your powers like that?” Aidan asked.

Brody understood his meaning and nodded.

“Yes, I’ll be fine. Probably….”

The “probably” was whispered so softly it was barely audible.

Aidan’s brow twitched, but she pretended not to notice and smiled sweetly.

“Then I’ll treat her first. If punishment is due, we can wait until she recovers her sanity. Is that acceptable?”

“Very well. I’ll ask the villagers about her. We need to know why she ended up here.”

“Yes, and if you learn anything, please let me know too. If… you’re willing to share.”

“Of course. Didn’t I say I trust you?”

Blushing, Brody ducked under the covers.

“I need to wake early to switch with Teddy, so I’ll sleep now.”

After taking her own medicine and having a hangover-friendly dinner with Teddy, her hangover had eased. But between the wound from the Princess’s attack, the sleepless wedding night, the outdoor bivouac, and the banquet’s aftereffects, fatigue weighed heavily. She fell asleep almost at once.

Aidan watched her breathing softly in slumber, then sighed.

Did she realize? That everything she was doing now was exactly what a model Grand Duchess would do.

He went to the sofa, lay down, and drifted into a restless, short sleep.

“Your Highness! Your Highness!”

At dawn, Aidan was jolted awake by Brody shaking his shoulder.

She never did that—had something happened? Alarm shot through him, the hairs on his neck rising.

“Your Highness! I’m hurt! Please heal this.”

Right before his eyes, she held up an injured finger. She winced, pressing it close to his lips.

Startled by the sight of her wound, Aidan immediately grabbed her finger and licked it.

Cool energy spread, and the tiny cut vanished without a trace.

Brody beamed and thanked him cheerfully, then turned to leave.

“….”