ICM Chapter 111
Erwin stared at the Empress Dowager, who possessed the exact same heterochromia as him, with a dumbfounded expression.
All the nobles surrounding them were unable to continue speaking as they looked at the two people.
“How could this be…”
“What is this…”
“Good heavens, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager’s eye color…”
Whispers from people in shock. Silence permeating the hall where the music had stopped.
The heterochromia of golden and blue-green eyes was a trait unique to the Maiheller bloodline. Just as violet pupils were the symbol of Arkpella, it was absolute proof of blood that could not be forged by any means.
The Empress Dowager belatedly sensed something ominous in the gazes focused on her. Without realizing it, she raised both hands to feel around her own eyes. As if trying to confirm her own eyes that she couldn’t see herself.
‘Did I not take my medicine? That can’t be. No.’
The ladies-in-waiting who approached late to stop her froze when they confirmed the Empress Dowager’s pupils.
“Your, Your Majesty…”
“What’s wrong? Why is everyone acting like this?”
The Empress Dowager’s vision kept becoming blurry. As if submerged in rippling water, the faces of those looking at her and her son running toward her late all swayed hazily.
This was a nightmare. The nightmare that had made her anxious her entire life. The kind of nightmare where her identity would be exposed and she would be thrown to the ground the moment she sat at the pinnacle of power.
“What are you all doing! Take Mother away immediately!”
Even the Emperor was shocked upon seeing his mother. The Empress also bolted up from her seat with a stunned expression.
They tried to handle the situation urgently, but it was already too late. In a gathering with too many people, the Empress Dowager wandered about, exposing herself in all directions.
“No, this is a dream. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
The Empress Dowager roughly pushed away the lady-in-waiting who tried to hold her. She needed to know what was wrong. She had to explain. This wasn’t something she had done.
“What are you doing! I told you to escort Her Majesty immediately!”
Even the Empress’s ladies-in-waiting were mobilized and rushed toward the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager, who was already not in her right mind, resisted violently.
“No, I said no!”
The Empress Dowager scratched the face of the lady-in-waiting who tried to hold her and pulled at her hair. It was fierce resistance unbelievable for an elderly woman’s strength.
It was maddening. Or perhaps the Empress Dowager had already gone mad. She could see nobles whispering in each other’s ears wherever her gaze fell. Even though she couldn’t hear their voices, she could see what they were saying.
‘Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is not of the Grand Duke’s bloodline.’
‘She was an illegitimate child of the Maiheller Marquis family.’
‘Proof of dirty blood born from adultery.’
“No! I said it’s not my fault! Aaaahhh!”
****
Her heart raced wildly. Ashika was as shocked as the people watching. To think that the Empress Dowager was not a member of the Grand Duke’s family but an illegitimate child of the Maihellers. The implications of that fact were more shocking than expected.
‘Iben came today for this.’
The alchemist’s drug that changes eye color. And the drug that returns the changed color to its original state. She didn’t know how the drug was administered, but this incident would cause tremendous ripples.
‘I need to get Iben outside.’
While people’s attention was focused on the Empress Dowager, Ashika headed outside. Just before leaving the hall, she realized that Marquis Maiheller’s gaze was directed not at the Empress Dowager but at her, but there was no time to think.
While passing through the corridor after leaving the banquet hall, she saw servants running urgently. Seeing that the palace guards were with them, it seemed the situation was taking a serious turn.
Ashika headed to the second floor where there were several rooms. Suddenly, there was a woman running urgently behind her.
“Lady Igraine.”
“Do you know me?”
“Yes, I was asked to deliver a message. The woman in the purple dress asked you to come to the ladies’ lounge on the second floor. She says it’s urgent.”
It was Iben. It would be difficult for Iben to quietly leave the palace alone. In her urgency, Ashika couldn’t even respond and ran straight toward the lounge.
Perhaps because the entire imperial family was in the banquet hall, there was no one in the second-floor corridor.
‘First, I’ll have someone bring spare dresses from the carriage for her to change into.’
Since everyone’s attention was focused on the Empress Dowager, probably not many people had noticed Iben. So she thought it would be good to hide in the lounge and then slip out when the nobles were leaving.
‘Could Marquis Maiheller have seen her?’
Iben had only stayed in the banquet hall briefly. Since Marquis Maiheller was far away, he might have only seen her from behind, but one never knew.
With various thoughts, Ashika opened the lounge door.
“Gasp.”
However, what awaited Ashika there was someone completely different from what she expected. The moment she tried to leave in surprise, a strong force grabbed her arm.
“Ah!”
The lips that were about to scream were crushed by a large hand. Her pushed body hit the wall directly, and the face she didn’t want to see again came right up to her nose.
“Hello, my heartless former fiancée.”
“Mmph, mmph!”
“We never had such intimate contact even during our two years of engagement. Should I be happy about this?”
It was Coral with gleaming eyes.
“Originally, I wasn’t planning to rush like this. There’s chaos in the banquet hall, right?”
Ashika tried to push Coral away with her free hand. But Coral instantly grabbed that too and pressed her against the wall, crushing her with his entire body.
“Ahhh!”
Coral held both her hands with one hand, raised them above her head, and blocked her mouth again. No matter how much she struggled, it was difficult to resist being crushed by his weight.
“Soon the guards will move and the banquet hall will be sealed. But I’m going to take you out from the middle of the palace crawling with knights. Still don’t understand?”
With her mouth blocked, Ashika’s eyes widened. That couldn’t be possible. Kidnapping. And from a palace crawling with knights.
“There’s someone who can make that possible. Someone who can buy off palace people and make kidnapping a high noble possible. I don’t know why you fell out of that person’s favor, but thanks to that, I got an opportunity. An opportunity to have you.”
The gleaming gray eyes were not those of the man she knew. The corrupted emotions were nothing but anger and obsession.
“Mmph, mmph!”
“Ugh.”
Ashika shook her head and pushed Coral away with all her might. In the moment Coral lost his balance and his body swayed, she barely managed to slip away.
“Ha. This is really.”
Coral let out a hollow laugh seeing her run away.
Ashika staggered and ran toward the inner part of the lounge. However, the lounge wasn’t very spacious. With Coral blocking the door across the sofa and table, there was no way to escape.
Realizing this, Coral stopped chasing.
“I felt it when we broke off the engagement too, but you’re really bold. How did a woman who was so timid that she’d tremble just from me leaning in for a kiss think to kidnap someone and push through with breaking off the engagement?”
“Hah, hah… Don’t come closer.”
Ashika panted heavily, her shoulders heaving. Her hair, decorated with jewels and put up, had half fallen down in disarray, and her clothes were also a mess.
But only her jet-black eyes hadn’t lost their light. Angry black eyes glared at Coral.
“You think I trembled from fear? That wasn’t it – it was from disgust. Just receiving your gaze made me shudder with revulsion. So how could I marry you?”
“Now you can even say such things, how impressive. I heard you got a man – is that really true?”
Ashika didn’t answer. She hated the very thought of Drushia being mentioned by this bastard’s mouth. But not denying it was answer enough for Coral.
“Ha. You kept me waiting for two years, then went and slept with another guy? My fiancée has no conscience.”
“I was never going to marry you anyway. I just realized it too late. So stop this. What can you do by taking me like this? Kidnapping? Do you really think that’s possible?”
Igraine would chase her even if they had to search the entire empire inside and out. There was no way to hide Ashika unless he killed her and buried her somewhere.
Even at Ashika’s words that were close to threats, Coral smirked.
“Normally it would have been difficult. I wouldn’t have even dared to think of it. But you see, I heard an interesting story.”
An ominous feeling came from the man approaching with a confident face.
“You have a fatal problem that makes it impossible for you to live in the empire, right?”
At his certain tone, Ashika’s heart sank.
“Seems like there is something bothering you. I heard that whether you’re kidnapped and disappear or die, it doesn’t matter much?”
“I am Ashika Igraine. The moment you touch me, you and the Marquis Oclein family will have to fight against Igraine.”
Not just Igraine. Drushia would also never forgive Coral. He would chase to the ends of the continent, not just the empire, to find her and tear the culprit to pieces. She was certain that would happen.
Suddenly she felt regret. It was the request Drushia had made to her numerous times. Please trust and lean on me. I’ll help you. Hold my hand. How could she regret having pushed away those earnest helping hands all this time?
“Keke.”
Coral couldn’t contain his sneer. He was delighted that the woman who had always looked down on him from above was now cornered with nowhere to go.
“Igraine and Talion. If those two joined hands, they’d seem invincible, right? But what a pity. It won’t go as you wish.”
Ashika’s face hardened instantly.
“Young Lord Oclein, whose orders are you following?”
“There’s going to be turmoil in the empire from now on. It’ll be interesting to watch that from my side.”
“Don’t tell me… it’s Marquis Maiheller?”
She recalled the Marquis who had been watching her just before leaving the banquet hall. The man who knew Iben’s identity and had been obsessed for a long time. Perhaps he even knew Ashika’s secret.
Coral’s face flinched, then he stepped toward Ashika. He seemed to have no intention of stalling any longer.
“Your brother, did he really die in a carriage accident?”
When she heard the news, she had thought the timing was too perfectly coincidental.
“No use racking your brain. You won’t need to use your head from now on. Only your body will be needed.”
The chuckling laughter was base and sinister. Ashika urgently continued speaking.
“You killed your brother to get the position of Young Marquis? Is that it? So you joined hands with Marquis Maiheller?”
“Ah, I liked it when you were quiet. Why have you become so noisy?”
“The Marquis isn’t the kind of person you think he is. If you knew the Marquis’s true identity… Ah!”
Coral waited no longer. He grabbed Ashika’s hand as she tried to escape and pulled out a medicine bottle from his pocket.
“You know what? With this drug, I can make you into my doll. The position my pathetic brother was fumbling around with, and you who acted so arrogantly, will all end up in my hands.”
Ashika’s eyes widened.
‘Puppet Sorcery!’
It was an alchemist’s drug. The drug that had almost completely destroyed Drushia. Even Drushia had been intoxicated by the drug and hadn’t come to his senses for a while.
“Stop it, Young Lord Oclein. Coral!”
Coral forcibly stuck his fingers into her mouth to make her open it. Ashika swung her free hand and bit Coral’s hand with all her might.
“Ahhh!”
“Let go! You psycho!”
Her body was shoved hard by the startled Coral.
“This is really!”
With an exasperated cry, a strong impact was delivered to the back of Ashika’s neck. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe. Her body, having received the strong impact, lost balance and swayed. Her vision flipped and her head hit the hard floor again.
With a thud, her vision went completely black. Ashika’s consciousness was cut off just like that.