CHAPTER 83………………………………….
This situation felt strange.
For over ten years, I had dealt with people trying, one way or another, to use me.
I thought my relationship with Giovanni was one of mutual utility. But the proposal he had just made was undeniably advantageous to me.
I realized he would soon leave this place. In other words, this was like his final gift.
How should one respond to someone who doesn’t seek to use you, but only wants to help you live well? My calculating mind could not make sense of it.
‘A final…’
I murmured the word repeatedly in my mind. It felt strangely bittersweet.
Giovanni was still watching me.
He swished his hand.
“It’s fine. You’ve already been marked by the princess, and your title has been revoked. Even if you buy a noble title, you’ll be shunned.”
“Then what do you intend to do?”
I looked at his puzzled face. A spark flickered in my mind, and a completely unexpected path appeared.
“Is your offer still valid? The scout proposal?”
Giovanni’s eyes widened.
“I’ve been working hard in the kingdom and managed to save some money. I’ll invest it in you, Your Highness.”
“…….”
“It may be a small sum for you, but money is always useful, isn’t it?”
“Why this?”
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime investment. For the man who will become Emperor.”
Giovanni’s expression became subtle.
I knew.
He had little desire for the throne.
“Even if you don’t become Emperor, I think you’ll achieve great things, Your Highness.”
“…….”
“You said you would make me your aide, right? At this rate, I won’t do as a mere ordinary aide. You’ll have to give me a close, trusted aide position to make it worth it.”
Kitchef frowned with a face that clearly said “what?” and scoffed at that.
“Big dreams, huh.”
I ignored him lightly, focusing only on Giovanni.
A smile spread across Giovanni’s face as he looked at me with unreadable eyes.
A chillingly exquisite, manly smile.
I sensed that whether he became Emperor or not, he would be a ruler whom few could approach. Anyone who saw him would feel the same certainty.
I smiled back, my chest swelling strangely.
Just like then.
Like the first dance at the Empire’s diplomatic banquet, holding his hand, my heart raced the same way.
“I’ll clear my charges and come to you as a free woman, Your Highness.”
From that moment, another bond with him would begin.
It was the most peaceful day I had felt since the exile.
An unusual stillness hung over the princess’s palace.
The tension from its mistress had spread.
Soft, delicate skin. Small, fragile hands clutching the hem of her skirt.
Princess Laratou’s maid glanced anxiously at her.
At first, I didn’t realize it. That her first innocent love could be so persistent and deeply rooted.
Did it have to start out so intensely?
‘I wish she could have had a light romance with a decent young man from the kingdom instead.’
Who would have thought that the princess, who had ignored everyone, would give her heart to the Fifth Prince of a hostile empire?
And the Fifth Prince had no interest in her.
Seeing her restless nights and tears, the maid’s heart ached.
It was natural to hate the man who caused this.
The Empire’s prince, towering and foreign in his appearance, had not even offered a friendly greeting to the princess.
‘What does the princess see in such a barbarian…’
“It’s the first time since that day.”
Princess Laratou spoke first.
The day she had been chased by the Empire’s brute and returned drenched, completely at odds with Igrene Lorenst. Giovanni nodded silently when that day was mentioned.
“Thanks to you, we solved the problem without complications.”
“Thanks to Your Highness, I could catch him too. Otherwise, I’d have suffered even greater anxiety.”
Princess Laratou’s demeanor was calm, but the blush rising on her face revealed just how nervous she was.
“The remaining brutes should be caught quickly as well.”
“That’s why I came.”
“Excuse me?”
Thud!
Kitchef appeared from behind Giovanni, setting down two large burlap sacks on the floor.
One sack, big enough to fit a person, was placed between Giovanni and Princess Laratou.
The princess tilted her head, eyeing the shabby brown sack that looked like it might carry crops.
“What is this?”
Kitchef bent slightly and glanced at Giovanni.
“These are the brutes you wanted captured.”
“These are the brutes?”
“Better not to look, but…”
Princess Laratou’s expression hardened. Unlike her maid, who relaxed when told humans were inside the sacks, the princess’s reaction was far different.
“Show me.”
Her voice trembled, yet remained firm.
Giovanni raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“It might be better not to.”
“I was constantly anxious, not knowing where the assassins were targeting me. I couldn’t sleep without confirming the end.”
“If that is your will…”
Giovanni gestured to Kitchef, who opened the sacks.
The corpses inside revealed their pale, bluish faces. Short screams echoed, and some averted their eyes, unable to bear the sight.
Unlike the others, Giovanni and Kitchef remained impassive.
Kitchef cut their hair and showed the black tattoos etched into their scalps.
“They are indeed the ones.”
Princess Laratou’s face went pale. Giovanni’s calm voice reached her.
“We tried to capture them alive, but they bit down on poison hidden in their mouths. After their comrades were captured, they had prepared a new batch.”
“…….”
“The ones caught previously had two comrades. Now, there are no more brutes targeting you. Rest easy.”
A sigh of relief escaped the maid.
Hearing that the princess had suffered in the forest with Karsatuna had shocked them greatly.
With no way to know when the brutes would appear, Princess Laratou had avoided going out, enduring each day cautiously.
Finally, the dangerous, anxious days were over. Relief was inevitable.
The maid assumed the princess would be happy, but a sudden laugh startled her.
Princess Laratou laughed.
It was not joy or delight, but a hollow, exhausted laugh.
All eyes turned to her.
“You’ve brought the brutes I was looking for. Ha ha, thank you. Truly… thank you, but…”
Stopping her laughter, she murmured.
“I suddenly had a strange thought.”
“What’s strange?”
“I doubt Your Highness did all this for me.”
She bit her lip, speaking in a calm voice that clearly required effort.
“Have you heard about Igrene?”
“She was exiled, wasn’t she?”
“…….”
“Now that the brutes are caught, her name is cleared.”
“Cleared?”
Princess Laratou’s eyes, briefly narrowing with cold scorn, startled even the maid who had served her her whole life.
“Can it really be called clearing her name? Even if the brutes are captured, seeing them as corpses, no one can prove she wasn’t involved.”
“She is innocent. Igrene was the first person from the Empire she met.”
“Perhaps it was a secret first meeting?”
Giovanni did not answer.
Princess Laratou bit her lips again.
“So you went all the way to where Igrene was.”
Giovanni did not deny it. Angered by his reaction, the princess snapped sarcastically.
“You go to such lengths for her?”
“You are mistaken. Those brutes were captured by Igrene.”
“There’s no need to lie.”
Giovanni looked uneasy at her disbelief.
“To go so far in her favor…”
She looked helplessly angry.
And that was all there was to see.
Princess Laratou could hardly bear it.
She thought her childish, clumsy affection had ended, yet why did her heart still burn so fiercely? Why did she want to scream and stamp her feet?
The princess, experiencing love for the first time, did not know that emotions do not vanish like water stains.
The lingering feelings were violent and persistent.
She could not endure it. She could not allow it to end this way.
She bit her lips painfully and glared at Giovanni.
“When will you return to the Empire?”
“…….”
His silence made her flinch slightly, but she quickly straightened her shoulders.
“You’ve stayed long enough, so you’ll return soon, right?”
“…….”
“Then, please go on a date with me before that.”
All the palace staff gawked.
‘The princess?’
‘The princess!’
‘What will His Highness think?’
‘A barbarian!’
All their exclamations were directed at her.
Her face was bright red. Her heart seemed about to burst through her ribs, yet she mustered all her courage and spoke.
“You went on a date with Igrene at my father’s urging. Please give me time as you gave her.”
She gripped her skirt tightly.
“That’s not difficult, is it?”
“Difficult.”
The blunt refusal shocked Princess Laratou.
She knew he was indifferent, but she did not expect such an outright rejection.
Her eyes burned with emotion. Tears threatened to spill.
She bit her lips painfully.
“Difficult?”
“…….”
“With Igrene…”
“She and you are different.”
At that, Princess Laratou smiled again, tears brimming in her eyes.
“Everyone says ‘different’ to elevate my value, but yours—Your Highness—is the opposite.”
