ESL Chapter 66

“I am a knight of the House of Mihael. We are searching for a dangerous criminal — please allow us to inspect your carriage for a moment.”

At those words, Arhvina’s face stiffened and her body began to tremble faintly with tension. The sound of the carriage door opening reached her ears, and the cool dawn air crept inside.

“What is your destination?”

When the voice that had been coming from outside the carriage drew closer, Arhvina’s trembling only worsened.

“As you can see, my wife is gravely ill. We are on our way to a physician who lives near the royal palace.”

At Zender’s reply, the knight belonging to the House of Mihael shifted his gaze toward the woman lying with her head resting on his lap.

“…..”

The knight took in the spots scattered across the woman’s hands, arms, and neck, and her violently shaking body — and without even checking her face, he furrowed his brow as though he had seen something he wished he hadn’t, and turned away. The sound of the carriage door closing followed, and once the carriage set off, Zender’s hand gently patted Arhvina’s trembling shoulder.

“You did well. You may relax now.”

Only then did Arhvina let out the breath she had been holding and pushed herself upright. Even so, her body was still trembling faintly.

“We will reach the palace shortly.”

At Zender’s words, she looked out the window. The royal palace was indeed close. Because Lanster had already issued his orders in advance, passing through the palace gates proved no trouble at all. Once through, Thomas — who had come out to meet them — took a seat beside the coachman and guided them along the road toward the Crown Prince’s palace.

“Luciel…”

The carriage came to a stop, and as Arhvina stepped down with Zender’s hand in hers, her pale lavender eyes found Luciel waiting for her. She moved to go to him, glad to see him — but then realized she would have to let go of Zender’s hand, and hesitated for just a moment. Perhaps sensing her dilemma, Zender released her hand first and stepped back.

“Zender. It has been a while.”

As Luciel approached with a smile, Zender dropped to one knee and paid his respects to the sole heir of the House of Mihael.

“Zender Kman of the Black Kavan. It is an honor to be in your presence, Lord Luciel. I have carried out your orders and escorted Lady Goth here.”

Lady Goth… Arhvina felt a dull ache in her chest. She knew that Zender called her that in the presence of others. No — that was how it had to be. To address someone by name was a sign of a certain closeness between them. But for some reason, today of all days, that form of address made her feel as though she might cry.

“You’ve worked hard. And the others?”

“Bringing them all the way inside the palace would have been too dangerous, so I had them wait at a tavern near the palace.”

“Well done. You must be tired from escorting my aunt, but there is one more thing I need from you.”

“Speak.”

“It seems my uncle has taken the daughter of Jacques Rombel, captain of the knights, and a few council elders hostage. He has likely hidden them somewhere in the capital. Without them, we cannot drive my uncle out at next week’s council meeting. Can you find them?”

Luciel did not order Zender to find them — he asked whether he could. The decision of whether to follow his instructions rested with Zender, leader of the Black Kavan. Not that Luciel believed he would refuse, given the justness of the cause.

“I would be glad to carry out your orders.”

Thinking that he would have to mobilize every Black Kavan stationed in the capital, Zender lowered his head.

“Thank you. I am counting on you.”

After giving Zender’s shoulder a light pat, Luciel’s gaze turned to Arhvina.

“Aunt.”

Aunt… How long had it been since she had last heard that word? Tears pricked at Arhvina’s eyes as she took in the sight of Luciel, who had grown into a young man in the time she had not seen him.

“Luciel… it has been so long…”

“I am glad you are safe.”

Warmth settled into Luciel’s eyes. To him, Arhvina had always been a kind person. Even as a child, he had been able to see that she genuinely wanted to be good to him. And yet, because she was his uncle’s woman, he had not been able to trust that kindness. By the time he was grown, he had come to understand that she was a different sort of person from his uncle — but since he had spent most of his time in the Kingdom of Hamel, there had been little opportunity to see her. In the meantime, she had divorced his uncle and left.

“Ugh… hic…”

Caught off guard by the warmth in Luciel’s gaze, Arhvina felt all the emotions she had been suppressing surge up at once, and she could not hold back her sobs.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, Luciel… I… I’m the one who did that to Rosia… I should have taken her with me, somehow… somehow…”

She felt guilty toward Luciel as well. If only she had protected Rosia, Rosia would never have had to die. Luciel would never have had to be falsely accused and go into hiding like this. Watching her, Luciel let out a quiet sigh.

“This is not something you need to apologize for, Aunt. The one who must apologize and pay for this crime is someone else entirely.”

“Luciel…”

Tears streaming down her face, Arhvina unclasped the bracelet on her wrist and held it out to him. Ever since it had nearly been taken from her while she had it stored in a wooden box, she had kept it on her wrist.

“What is this?”

Looking at the bracelet, Luciel recognized it as the one he had seen on Rosia’s arm when she had come to find him before her death.

“Rosia… this is what Rosia left behind… a gift for you… please, undo it… free that child from her grief…”

Hearing Arhvina’s tearful voice, Luciel received the bracelet. In his hand, the recording orb at its center shimmered with a faint glow.

****

“So that is Luciel’s aunt.”

At Lea’s words, Lanster gave a small nod.

“Arhvina Norman Goth. She was the daughter of the Marquis Goth’s house. She is still a beautiful woman now, but I am told she was considered one of the great beauties of her time as well. The number of men who sought her hand was beyond counting — and yet the acting duke of the House of Mihael was the one who ultimately had her. Come to think of it, what a despicable man he is. He took a beautiful woman and did nothing but make her weep, and then divorced her in the end… I, for one, am confident I would never make her cry.”

Lanster glanced over at Lea with what he considered to be a rather charming smile. Though Luciel did unsettle him, his pride as a man could not allow him to forgo even a single attempt at wooing such a beautiful lady. That pride, however, was quickly shattered.

“Surely you weren’t in love with Luciel’s aunt yourself? At your ages, the gap would be rather…”

“…..”

Same kind… same kind… Birds of a feather, indeed… Lanster buried his face in his hands and shook his head. At the sight of the Crown Prince like that, Lea found herself suppressing a smile — until Luciel’s voice made her turn her head.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing much. But what’s that?”

As Lea’s gaze fell to the bracelet in his hand, Luciel held it up to show her.

“Evidence to clear my name. I received it from my aunt.”

“Evidence…? Come to think of it, the bead in the middle — isn’t that a recording orb?”

Lea recalled that it looked similar to the recording orb Razen had prepared when they had previously gone to rescue Luciel, and asked.

“That’s right. Apparently, when it receives a strong impact, it automatically records the surrounding situation. They say it captured what happened at the time Rosia was murdered. She wanted to pass it along to me — that’s why she was trying to meet with me.”

“That’s wonderful.”

Lea’s eyes curved up slightly in delight as a soft smile spread across her face — and at that, something deep and quiet settled in Luciel’s gaze. She was beautiful. Enough to sweep away every last shred of his reason… He wanted to pull her toward him right then, to hold her close and press his lips against that full, rose-petal mouth. But he clenched his fist and forced that impulse back down. Not yet. He could not let her notice his feelings yet. Even if she did catch on, it had to be after he had already sunk so deeply into her that pushing him away would be impossible.

‘I know that — and yet it still irritates me. Especially when another man gets to look at her like that.’

Luciel smiled crookedly and, making sure Lea didn’t notice, brought his foot down hard onto Lanster’s.

“Ugh!”

Lanster had been staring at her with a flushed face and a dazed expression, entirely transfixed by Lea’s smile — and the bolt from the blue that struck his left instep made him forget all decorum and let out a groan.

“I do believe I told you not to look at my friend that way, Your Highness.”

The whisper — audible only to Lanster — carried a chilling edge of warning.

Oh, come on… What am I supposed to do when she’s that pretty… I was only looking at her with genuine appreciation, as if admiring a work of art… It’s just male instinct…!!!

Lanster felt like he was about to go mad with how unfair it all was. He found Luciel thoroughly aggravating — the way he had treated him so harshly, and yet now stood looking at Lea with soft eyes as though nothing had happened. Petty as it felt, he was tempted to tell on him — but then he realized, come to think of it, that not once had he ever been properly introduced to Lea.

“Good heavens…”

Left gaping in bewilderment, he watched the retreating figures of Luciel and Lea walking away together, and let out a resigned sigh.

“Still, you’re a far better sight than you were before, when you felt nothing at all. I’ll let it go.”

With a quiet smile, Lanster followed after the two of them at a leisurely pace, careful not to get in the way.