Chapter 3
It was so humiliating that she hadn’t bothered to recall the process in detail.
Regardless, she assumed the flirtatious Ian must have been the one to seduce her. Lobelin never dreamed that she herself was the culprit behind this incident.
“Can you believe the nerve? I heard that lady even called His Highness a bastard and cursed him out something fierce.”
“Pffft!”
Hearing about her own actions—of which she had no memory—through the lips of her favorite character was a truly horrific experience.
If she could, Lobelin wanted to regress to last night and slap her own cheeks repeatedly.
Just what on earth did she drink to cause such a disaster!
“Bell, are you okay?”
“Oh, this is just… it’s so h-hot.”
Cornelia wiped away the tea Lobelin had just spilled with a worried expression.
Watching the snow-white handkerchief get stained with orange, Lobelin felt like the absolute worst scum of the earth.
‘I can never let the sweet Cornelia find out about last night.’
Lobelin, vowing to take this to her grave, asked again.
“S-so, what does the Crown Prince plan to do once he finds that woman?”
“What else? I’ll have her head immediately.”
Ian spoke firmly.
At that moment, the sunlight flashed as it reflected off the blade he held.
It was currently the Crown Prince’s swordsmanship training hour.
Unlike usual, Ian had dismissed the Knight Commander and was training alone with Duke Brian Raven.
“Sigh…”
Brian, who was sparring with him, let out a heavy sigh while holding his sword.
Brian Raven. He was the male protagonist of the original novel, one of only three dukes in the Empire, and one of the few individuals who could stand on equal footing with the Crown Prince.
In the original story, the two were rivals over Cornelia, but at this point in time, they were still on friendly terms.
As Ian’s aide, Brian often served as his sparring partner and discussed various matters with him.
“Even so, you cannot sentence her to beheading.”
“She sneaked into the Crown Prince’s bedroom. What if she had been an assassin?”
“You said yourself just a moment ago, Your Highness, that she wasn’t an assassin but a daughter of a noble house.”
Left with no rebuttal, Ian let out a small groan through his teeth.
Clang!
Simultaneously, their swords clashed again.
Unlike before, Ian’s blade carried a hint of irritation.
However, Brian disregarded this and continued his nagging.
“As you know, the procedures for an Aristocratic Trial are complicated in many ways.”
“Mm…”
“And really, you’re someone who never even attends banquets. Why did you have to go to that one and cause such a mess?”
Under Brian’s relentless blade, Ian was pushed back step by step.
Parrying the strike, Ian caught his breath and spoke.
“I only went because there were rumors that Count Cale was involved with the ‘Devil of Fernin.’ I was trying to investigate. …Regrettably, I came up empty-handed.”
“If that was the case, you should have just sent me.”
Brian shook his head.
Of course, he didn’t fail to understand why Ian had stepped forth personally.
Lately, the Heriet Empire had been plagued by a poisonous herb known as the ‘Devil of Fernin.’
Known to grow naturally in the distant Kingdom of Fernin, this poisonous herb was a horrific thing that caused a person to slowly wither away and die.
What made it even more terrifying was its extreme addictiveness, making people crave it with their own hands even while knowing it would kill them.
It was no wonder its nickname was the ‘Devil.’
‘He might act like it’s nothing, but he must be troubled inside.’
Ian was not the kind of person to sit idly by while the entire Empire grew sick.
Knowing this better than anyone, Brian could no longer scold him about last night.
However, there was one thing he had to confirm.
Brian carefully withdrew his sword, which had been pressing aggressively until a moment ago, and asked.
“Could she be someone from the Empress’s side?”
“If she were, all the newspapers and newsletters would be filled with slander against me by now.”
Ian shrugged.
Ian’s stepmother, Empress Carola, was an ambitious woman who sought to make her own biological son the next Emperor.
There was no way that cunning woman would have missed such a golden opportunity.
“I suppose that’s true. Then I won’t worry about that side of things.”
“Anyway, when will you be able to find her?”
Seeing Brian look relieved, Ian pointed his sword at him again and urged him.
Watching the enthusiastic Ian, Brian shook his head.
Brian was a quick-witted man.
What other reason would a man have for desperately searching for a woman he spent the night with?
‘He must have had a spectacular night…’
Since Ian was also a vigorous young man, Brian thought it wasn’t particularly surprising for him to be smitten with a woman.
The only problem was his status as the Crown Prince.
If word of this reached the Empress’s ears, it would be a headache in many ways.
Brian spoke as he lightly pushed away Ian’s sword with the back of his own blade.
“Your Highness, why don’t we just quietly bury this matter?”
“And why is that?”
“If the trail is too long, the Empress might step on it.”
“…”
Ian narrowed his eyes and sheathed his sword.
The expression on his face as he shoved the blade into its scabbard was clearly one of displeasure.
“The reason I suspect her is that she might be related to the poisonous herb. Just because she isn’t the Empress’s person doesn’t mean she’s innocent in everything.”
Ian put forward the hypothesis that Count Cale might have sent the woman to distract him.
Though it didn’t seem like that was the only reason.
Brian also put away his sword and sighed.
“But there’s no way to find her. You said you only saw her face briefly for a moment.”
“She had brown hair.”
“…Do you have any idea how many brown-haired ladies there are in the capital alone?”
“Her dress was also white.”
“Every woman at banquets wears white dresses these days, Your Highness. It’s the latest fashion.”
“…”
Ian was left speechless because Brian countered every word he said perfectly.
Brian was always right, and Ian tended to agree with him immediately…
But today, for some reason, he felt spiteful and had a stubborn urge to argue back.
And more than anything, he wanted to meet that woman who had been dominating his mind all day.
“…Duke.”
“No.”
But Brian remained firm.
In the end, Ian decided to pull out his last resort.
“Then I have no choice. I’ll just have to look for her clumsily on my own and get caught by the Empress.”
“…”
“She certainly won’t miss this chance, and the enraged Emperor will surely depose his lecherous heir. Then the throne will naturally go to the Second Prince—”
“Your Highness!”
Brian shouted in absurdity at the sight of Ian assuming such an extreme situation.
At that, Ian grinned.
“So, if you don’t want that to happen, I’m saying you should help me.”
Though he nagged a lot, Brian was a man of strong loyalty to his lord.
Ian knew well that, in the end, Brian would step up for his sake.
And because he knew that, there was a certain fun in teasing him.
Brian let out a deep sigh as he watched Ian pat his shoulder with a laugh.
“Sigh, fine. Only this once.”
After leaving the Imperial Palace, Brian headed straight for Marquis Bennett’s Estate.
Since he had been tormented by Ian all day, he intended to vent his frustration by badmouthing his boss to Lobelin and Cornelia.
On top of that, playing detective for such a ridiculous reason.
Brian shook his head, thinking that he really should have refused.
“Bri!”
Just then, Cornelia, who was sitting at a table set in the garden, called out to him in a bright voice.
Lobelin was sitting beside her, waving her hand.
At the sight of his two friends, the fatigue that had filled Brian’s face until a moment ago vanished into a smile.
“Gathering like this with only the ladies? I feel quite slighted, as if I’m being left out.”
“My goodness, we’re the ones who should be slighted. Who was it that became so hard to see after they started working at the Imperial Palace?”
Cornelia gave Brian a playful glare as he jokingly settled into a seat.
Lobelin watched the two of them with a satisfied expression.
‘They really are a well-matched pair.’
In the original novel, didn’t these two share a very passionate love?
The chapter featuring Brian’s confession—that he wouldn’t mind giving his life for her—had been flooded with comments.
Then, Cornelia, meeting Brian with an angelic smile just as described in the original, spoke with sparkling eyes.
“Bri. Tell us more about His Highness. Is there any new news?”
