ESL Chapter 38

“Ah…aaah! Aah!”

The anguished screams of a woman who seemed to be dying endlessly flowed from behind the curtain. And at some point, those sounds abruptly stopped, replaced only by the fierce sounds of flesh violently colliding and a man’s thick moans of pleasure.

The curtain was drawn back, and Lloyd walked out naked, leaving the woman lying face down as if dead. A servant quickly approached and helped him into a robe. Meanwhile, other servants carried away the unconscious woman.

“So… you failed?!”

Haen bowed his head at Lloyd’s ominous question.

“I apologize, Your Highness. They tried to subdue him, but people gathered and they had no choice.”

“You’ve been failing constantly lately, haven’t you, Haen? Even that girl from Count Roman’s family who we thought was dead is still alive.”

“…I interrogated those in charge, but they insisted until the end that they killed her. We dealt with them cleanly to prevent any problems.”

“Wretched insects…”

Haen felt that the prince was in a very foul mood and quietly bowed his head in silence. Looking down at him, Lloyd felt the anger he had barely suppressed while violating the woman rising again. He had never been interested in men, never wanted to embrace one. No matter how handsome or beautiful the man was, it was the same. But that common brown-haired servant standing next to Helen today was different.

He was captivated by a strange androgynous beauty that seemed too much to think of as male. The moment he saw him, Lloyd felt lust—the desire to roughly abuse him. He imagined staining that pure white body with welts, watching those undaunted eyes fill with fear and despair, and thought that would release all this rising anger.

His appetite was whetted by thoughts of this new entertainment and the pleasure it would bring. So he ordered his subordinates to inconspicuously drag the brown-haired servant away. In the meantime, he had released some of the anger that had surged at Count Roman’s house on a woman who had been prepared in advance. Since he had planned to make that servant the main course, he had been rougher with the woman than usual. But the three who went couldn’t even bring back that scrawny fellow. Not getting what he thought he would have made his thirst strangely worse.

“Send more men and bring him to me again.”

At Lloyd’s command, Haen’s eyes briefly showed surprise. If it was for disrespectful behavior toward the prince, they could openly drag him in. But he had ordered them to bring him secretly. The thought crossed his mind, but he quickly erased it. He was Prince Lloyd’s dog, and he just needed to act as his master wished.

Lloyd took a slow deep breath to control his surging anger again. He thought that if he’d known they couldn’t bring that servant, he should have played with that woman a bit longer, but it was already too late. As his head slowly cleared, Lloyd recalled something important he needed to address.

“By the way, I heard His Majesty is planning something interesting at this debutante… Did you look into it?”

“Yes. From what I’ve learned, it seems he will announce candidates for Crown Princess at this debutante.”

Lloyd’s eyes gleamed sharply at the mention of Crown Princess.

“That means he’s now deciding on the Crown Prince too.”

“Yes. That seems to be the case.”

“So who are the Crown Princess candidates?”

At Lloyd’s question, Haen raised his head to look at him and answered.

“That’s somewhat strange. There are three young ladies in total, but His Majesty isn’t saying who they are. He said to hear it directly at the debutante.”

“The nobles must be anxious. I hope it’s a stupid, obedient girl. Well, if she’s feisty, that has its own pleasures in taming her.”

Lloyd smiled coldly.

****

The next morning, Lea came down to the dining room for breakfast, lost in thought. The report she received from Ian before going to sleep last night was unexpected. Those who attacked her had entered the imperial palace, and upon investigation, they were discovered to be the Second Prince’s confidants.

‘Why would the Second Prince target Joseph? Is he displeased that we’re restoring Count Roman’s family since they joined hands with them? But then it would make more sense to kidnap Helen or Sean… I really don’t understand this part… It would be better not to take on Joseph’s appearance for a while.’

She decided she should ask Abel to change her hair and eye color when she had time, and entered the dining room. Confirming that her father hadn’t arrived yet, she took her seat. Since her return, there had been an implicit agreement to have breakfast with her father, and they kept to it unless there was something special. Her mother was the type who slept a lot and had a habit of not eating breakfast, so she would substitute it with simple fruit in her bedroom. After waiting briefly, Duke Kaien entered the dining room.

“Father, you’re here?”

As she stood to greet him, the Duke sitting across from her looked at her with worried eyes and spoke.

“I heard you were attacked yesterday. What’s going on with the Second Prince?”

“I don’t know either. Joseph has no connection with the Second Prince. But just in case, I’m not going to take on Joseph’s appearance for a while.”

As she sat down and answered, the Duke nodded slightly in understanding. Then he quietly added.

“Be careful.”

She smiled at her father’s sincere words, and as the maids began bringing food, she brightened. Perhaps because she had worked so hard yesterday, she was very hungry. As she ate deliciously, she made a slightly awkward expression at her father watching her with fond eyes. She had become quite accustomed to it now, but sometimes affectionate gazes still made her feel shy. The Duke also understood her feelings, so he opened his mouth to ease her awkwardness.

“Is the matter with Count Roman’s family finished?”

“Not completely yet. I’m going to check after breakfast.”

“Take enough people with you. The shadows too. I’ve already told Ian and Hugo.”

At the Duke’s words, Lea quietly looked at her father. The sight of her father trusting and waiting for her, noticing and preparing what was needed without her having to say anything, felt like a great tree. Suddenly, at the thought that she now truly had someone she could rely on, she smiled gently and said quietly.

“Thank you, Father…”

At her smile, the Duke’s eyes showed slight bewilderment, then he cleared his throat and answered.

“It’s only natural… child…”

The Duke’s ears were slightly flushed.

****

After finishing breakfast and returning to her room to prepare to go out, Lea boarded the carriage Jerome had prepared. Unlike yesterday’s ordinary carriage, today’s was the Kaien Ducal carriage. She too was in her appearance as the Duke’s daughter instead of Joseph from yesterday.

As her carriage departed, eight knights selected from the Kaien Knight Order followed on horseback, and five shadows including Ian followed invisibly. Of these, five knights and two shadows were scheduled to remain at Count Roman’s house to protect Helen and Sean. The rest of the personnel were purely manpower Duke Kaien had attached to protect his daughter. She had said it was fine, but her father wouldn’t yield on this point alone. At his words that it was a parent’s heart separate from ability, she couldn’t refuse either.

When the black carriage engraved with the symbol of Duke Kaien’s family arrived at Count Roman’s house along with the knights, the butler and servants quickly ran out and bowed. One of the accompanying knights dismounted, opened the carriage door and extended his hand, and a girl with beautiful, enchanting jet-black hair slowly descended from the carriage. The employees of Count Roman’s house couldn’t take their eyes off her appearance. They had heard rumors that Duke Kaien’s only daughter had returned, but this was the first time seeing her directly. They had said she was the spitting image of Duke Kaien, and she truly was an astonishingly beautiful girl.

“I’ve come to see Lady Roman.”

The butler, who had been standing blankly, was startled at Lea’s question, bowed politely, and said.

“She’s in the hall. I’ll escort you.”

“Please have everyone except those assigned to guard me wait here.”

As Lea turned to the knights and spoke, three of the eight knights quickly fell in behind her.

Following the butler into the hall, she saw Helen and Ken looking exhausted. Helen was talking with a law enforcement officer, and Ken was watching beside her. And against one wall, she also saw an imperial knight leaning and dozing off. Having the guard knights wait at the entrance to the hall, as she approached, Ken noticed first and turned his head to look at her.

“You’re here?”

“Yeah. Looks like the situation is mostly sorted out?”

At her question, Ken yawned lightly as if sleepy and answered.

“Well… since it was an order directly from the Third Prince, they were enthusiastic. The will they had was ruled fake and they were dragged away, and they decided to investigate Count Roman’s poisoning severely again. Helen is talking with the law enforcement officer about when to appear as a witness.”

“You worked hard. Sorry I went home to rest.”

“Your expression doesn’t look sorry at all though.”

Looking at the grumbling Ken, she let out a quiet laugh and said.

“Go get some sleep. You can’t go back in that state.”

“That’s true. Then shall I go sleep as the employer suggested, with peace of mind now?”

“Yeah. But say goodbye before you go.”

At Lea’s words, Ken, who had been about to leave to sleep, paused and looked at her. After looking down at her for a moment, Ken suddenly asked an unexpected question.

“You’re coming out at the debutante, right?”