Chapter 23
Leonhardt had been beside himself all day.
He had searched every corner of the temple, the rear garden, and even the alleys near the city walls, but there was no sign of Elise.
The mere fact that she had disappeared from the temple was enough to make his head feel as though it would explode, and time continued to slip away.
“Still no word that you’ve found her?!”
After returning to the imperial palace, Esit summoned Ian and Leonhardt to his office.
The moment they arrived at the palace, Esit’s fury came crashing down upon them.
The veins on the back of his hand bulged as he slammed it against the desk.
“You can’t even find one mere woman, and yet you call yourselves the heroes of the Empire!”
“Your Majesty.”
“I don’t want to hear excuses.”
Esit clenched his teeth and added in a low voice.
It was already past noon. In the end, he had no choice but to make a decision.
“Damn it.”
The windows were tightly shut, and the air inside the room had grown heavy and oppressive.
“We can’t delay this any longer, can we?”
Esit dropped the documents onto the desk with a thud.
“The Saintess must return.”
“We’re looking for her.”
“Of course you’re looking for her.”
He gave a cold laugh.
“The problem is what happens after she returns.”
Leonhardt’s eyebrows twitched slightly. Esit did not miss the reaction.
“This incident has confirmed something. Elise, whom we intended to use as our puppet… is beginning to develop a will of her own.”
“……”
“That isn’t a good sign.”
He leaned back in his chair and interlaced his fingers.
“She would be much easier to control if she didn’t have something like that.”
At the blatant remark, Leonhardt’s expression hardened.
But Esit paid no heed.
“So we’ll need a more reliable shackle.”
“A shackle? She is the Saintess. We can’t simply force her to stay.”
Leonhardt murmured in a low voice.
Esit looked at him as though the answer were obvious. Then, leisurely raising one corner of his mouth, he spoke.
“Propose to her.”
“What?”
Leonhardt frowned slightly and asked again, completely caught off guard.
“…What did you say?”
“Didn’t you hear me? Propose to her the moment you find her.”
The room fell silent for a moment.
A proposal.
The word echoed strangely in his ears.
Normally, this should have been something to rejoice over.
After all, formally offering his hand to the woman he loved was surely the scene countless noble ladies dreamed of.
And he, too, genuinely loved Elise. If her power had not been so overwhelmingly great, he would have continued dreaming of a happy future with her.
But what was Elise’s fate?
She was destined to sacrifice herself for the Arianth Empire.
And asking her to place her hopes in another future once again was painful for him.
Because this proposal would not be a confession of love.
It would be a chain meant to put a runaway bird back inside its cage.
“Hah.”
Ian’s hollow laugh broke the heavy silence between the three men.
“So that’s how you’re going to do it in the end.”
“It’s the simplest and most effective method.”
Esit’s red eyes gleamed coldly.
“Being lovers isn’t enough. We need a formal engagement.”
“Your Majesty.”
Leonhardt’s voice cracked stiffly.
“An engagement is not something that should be decided in such a manner.”
“How amusing.”
Esit immediately scoffed.
“You have no problem courting a woman who will be standing at the stake in three months, yet suddenly a proposal feels sacred?”
“……!”
All color drained from Leonhardt’s face.
Esit did not let the opportunity slip by.
“You know it too, don’t you? Elise is drifting away from you.”
“……Your Majesty.”
“If you want to hold on to her, give her a name. Give her a promise. Establish an official relationship.”
His voice became utterly calm.
“And then lock her up in that name again.”
The atmosphere in the room grew heavy.
Leonhardt was unable to say anything for a long while.
“If you want to bind the Saintess again, don’t you think you’ll need a shackle of that degree?”
Leonhardt’s expression hardened at those words.
A shackle.
It was certainly an unpleasant way to put it.
But it was also an undeniable fact.
Elise was clearly distancing herself from him now.
No—perhaps she had already been drifting away for a long time. He had simply realized it only now.
“You have that ring passed down through your family, don’t you?”
Esit smiled maliciously.
“The ring that only the heir of House Gelina can give.”
“……”
“If you give her that, at least she’ll understand that you’re sincere. And since it’s the family ring, it will make the perfect wrapping for the proposal.”
The word wrapping grated unpleasantly in Leonhardt’s ears.
Yet, in the end, he could not refute him.
Even after realizing Esit’s intentions, he could not bring himself to refuse outright.
There was only one scene circling endlessly through his mind.
Elise smiling happily beside Damian.
Leonhardt clenched both fists tightly.
He wanted to see Elise again.
He wanted to bring her back to his side.
Before she could fall into Damian’s hands—or anyone else’s—he wanted to take hold of her again.
The moment he realized that desire, his expression turned cold.
He had to get Elise back.
And no matter what method he used, he had to bind her to his side.
So that she could never disappear again.
No—so that she would never even think of disappearing.
“…I’ll find her.”
The answer finally came after a long while.
“And…”
“And?”
“I’ll propose to her as well.”
“Good. Now you’re finally becoming useful.”
As Esit looked at Leonhardt, whose expression had become resolute as though he had made up his mind, the corners of his mouth curved in satisfaction.
At the same time, in a mansion on the outskirts of the capital, a small crystal orb was glowing softly.
It was a report from Seria.
Listening to the voice coming from beyond the crystal orb, Elise slowly smiled.
“As expected.”
“Why?”
Damian asked as he leaned casually against the sofa.
Elise rolled the crystal orb lightly beneath her fingertips as she answered.
“They say the Emperor ordered Leonhardt to propose to me.”
“Hah.”
A low laugh escaped Damian’s lips.
“That was faster than expected.”
“He’s desperate.”
Elise walked toward the window and gently pulled the curtain aside.
Far away, the rooftops of the capital glittered beneath the spring sunlight.
A cold light slowly spread through her violet eyes.
“He took the bait perfectly.”
As she lifted the corners of her lips with evident interest, Damian approached her from behind.
“Looks like fun?”
“Of course.”
Elise turned around and looked at him.
The smile on her lips was beautiful beyond compare, yet cruel at the same time.
“That man… will propose to me not out of love, but out of desperation.”
She lightly stroked the bracelet around her wrist.
“And I…”
Her eyes narrowed softly, gleaming like poison.
“I’ll accept it.”
Silence briefly settled over the room.
Then Damian slowly smiled.
“As expected.”
His green eyes curved with satisfaction.
“My lovely Elise.”
Outside the window, the spring breeze continued to blow.
But upon the board Elise had prepared, something far sweeter than the petals of a fading festival had begun to scatter—
ruin.
