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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: A Peculiar Fear
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“If you wish to run, now is your only chance. Once you take my hand and leave the Imperial Palace, then…”
“Then?”
He omitted the answer and simply smiled again.
*Was he always so quick to smile? Yesterday, he was so on edge I could barely breathe.*
But why was his smile so terrifying?
*What on earth is he trying to say…*
I swallowed dryly and looked up at him.
It was ancient history, but among the imperial ancestors were several who enjoyed bathing in the blood of children or offering human sacrifices to pray for victory in war.
The Imperial Family was known for its fair share of bizarre occurrences.
*Andrea and Cavalla alone framed my mother's death as a suicide and branded me as insane.*
Given the environment I grew up in, I couldn't simply dismiss his words as a joke.
In this day and age, anyone who did something so absurd would be socially condemned and ostracized.
But that was only true among the nobles of the capital. How was I to know what things were like in the distant Ronheim?
Ronheim had only recently been incorporated into the Empire and remained an unknown land with little contact with the mainland.
*Could it be… that he’s been staring at me because I look tasty?*
When he entered my room, I thought he looked like a predator. Could that have been my instincts sending me a warning signal?
I asked cautiously.
“Marquis, will you eat me too, if things go wrong?”
“…?”
“Is this a threat? That you'll eat me if I'm of no use to you?”
I looked up at him, completely serious.
“If that's the case, you will never have to eat me.”
Because I will take away everything Andrea so greedily covets.
In the process, Calius stood only to gain, not to lose.
At my resolute expression, he suddenly bit his lip. Then, he let out a deep sigh.
*What's with that sigh?*
I couldn't fathom its meaning.
“Eating Your Highness… *Hah*.”
He sighed once more.
“…That will not happen.”
*Why does he keep sighing? Is he disappointed he can't eat me?*
I insisted, my voice firm.
“Yes. Eating me would be a tremendous loss for you. You'll see. Besides, as you can see, I'm so skinny there's not much to eat anyway.”
He sighed yet again and said.
“*Ahem*… I do not eat my business partners.”
“Then we're settled.”
Hearing his confirmation brought a small measure of relief. Of course, that didn't mean I wasn't scared at all.
But it was clear that I was far more valuable to him alive. I wasn't trusting him; I was trusting that fact. He would soon realize it too.
It was unsettling, but as long as my safety was guaranteed, I didn't care what kind of person he was.
The option to call off our deal, try to stop his cannibalism, or expose his true nature to the world to save his victims was beyond my capabilities.
It might be selfish, but right now, I had my hands full just trying to get myself out of the Imperial Palace.
He released me and gave a polite bow.
“If Your Highness's decision remains unchanged, I will see you on the day of our departure, my dear fiancée.”
His attitude suggested that persuading the Emperor and the Empress would be no problem at all.
* * *
The carriage carrying Calius departed from the Imperial Palace.
The moment it did, he burst into the laughter he had been holding back the entire time.
“Hahaha!”
He was laughing so hard that the coachman, curious about the commotion, slid open the small window connecting to the driver's seat and peeked inside.
Calius laughed until tears welled in his eyes.
“Marquis, will you eat me too, if things go wrong?”
“I'm so skinny there's not much to eat anyway.”
The way she had looked up at him while saying those things was just so adorable.
From the moment he saw Chloe again, only one thought had occupied his mind.
*She's still as cute as she was when we were children.*
He couldn't take his eyes off her.
He'd had to take so many deep breaths to keep from laughing at the serious look in Chloe's eyes as she clenched her fists and declared that eating her would be a loss.
*I was only trying to scare her a little.*
He had no way of knowing what Chloe thought of Ronheim.
Had she truly thought about what marrying him would mean for her?
He didn't know why she wanted to leave the palace, but if she had chosen him on a whim, he had hoped his words would frighten her into choosing someone else.
Ronheim was by no means a forgiving place.
If she hadn't asked him to take her there herself, it was a place he would never have even offered a casual invitation to visit.
*Once she gets to Ronheim, she might burst into tears, begging to go back.*
He was terribly worried about her.
Because as much as he had missed her, he wanted her to be happy.
As he thought this, Calius's expression darkened slightly.
*Was accepting this deal just my own selfishness? Wasn't there another way to help her?*
The thought had been nagging at him.
But rumors were circulating that she, perfectly sane, was mad.
Moreover, her emaciated body, just as she herself had described, was a cause for concern.
*The fact that she proposed marriage to me, even without remembering me, must mean she's desperate enough to grab anyone and run.*
While the amount of information Chloe knew was surprising, Calius had suspected from the moment he saw her at the party that she was being mistreated.
That was why he had accepted her proposal.
*So the rumors that the Empress and the Prince killed the former Empress and were now after Chloe weren't just rumors after all.*
Such rumors had circulated briefly over a decade ago.
But they had vanished at some point, thanks to the testimony of court officials who claimed Andrea and Empress Cavalla were diligently caring for Chloe, and that Chloe was equally fond of them.
After that, nothing more was heard for a long time, so he had assumed she was doing well.
Thinking of Empress Cavalla, Calius's expression turned cold and hard.
*I can't let Chloe fall victim to the Empress's schemes as well.*
Helping Chloe was the natural thing to do.
He owed her a great debt from the past.
Besides, he had his own score to settle with Empress Cavalla.
* * *
A late, rainy night.
Two servants working in the Imperial Palace moved furtively, trying not to leave footprints on the marble floor.
They were carrying a chest large enough to hold a person.
“Another person dead.”
one servant muttered anxiously, and the other snapped back in a hushed, angry voice.
“Don't say anything. Just shut up and hurry.”
“But this isn't the first or second time this has happened.”
“Shh, someone might hear you.”
The two quickly passed through the corridor and out onto a back path in the rain, as if trying to avoid being seen.
The squelching sound of their footsteps on the wet grass was swallowed by the rain.
But from behind a pillar in the corridor they had just passed, where it seemed no one was, a figure suddenly emerged.
It was a man with a long scar on his left eyebrow.
“…”
He stared intently at the servants' backs as they disappeared into the darkness, then followed the same path they had taken toward Empress Cavalla's residence.
The handmaiden standing guard in front of the chambers recognized the man and opened the door.
“Her Majesty is waiting for you.”
The man entered Cavalla's bedroom with an air of familiarity.
Decorated with crimson wall panels and black furniture, Cavalla's bedroom was intense and passionate, yet classical.
In the dead of night, the bedroom was tumultuous with gusting wind. Despite the rain, all the windows along the wall had been thrown wide open.
The room was filled with a damp, chilly breeze. Inside, Cavalla's handmaidens struggled to hide something behind their expressionless faces.
“You've come, Denev.”
Cavalla, who had just finished her bath, greeted the man and dismissed her handmaidens.
“I have something to discuss with the Marquis. You may all leave.”
With a voluptuous figure that her bathrobe couldn't conceal and a cascade of rich, auburn hair, Cavalla exuded an alluring aura.
She looked so young it was hard to believe she was old enough to have a son in his thirties.
As Cavalla passed by him, the man caught the metallic scent of blood, a smell that even a bath couldn't wash away.
The metallic smell of blood that lingered in the room despite the ventilation was coming from Cavalla herself.
“Sister.”
The man, who looked more like a rugged mercenary than a nobleman, was Cavalla's younger brother, Marquis Denev Blansco.
He advised.
“You should hire new servants to handle the cleanup—ones with tighter lips.”
Cavalla furrowed her brow.
“Were they blabbering on their way out again? Those damn loose tongues.”
Cavalla let out a short sigh but quickly regained her composure.
“Just take care of it as you always do.”
“Yes, Sister.”
Cavalla spritzed her face with toner and asked.
“By the way, what about the task I gave you?”
“I've looked into it. Marquis Rodrian's close aides happened to be gathered at a tavern, talking loudly.”
“Was there any good information?”
Denev took a step closer to Cavalla and whispered lowly.
“Just as the rumors said, there is a separate key to awaken the sacred relic that the Saintess of Ronheim possessed.”
Cavalla, who had been looking in the mirror, spun around.
“So it was true. No wonder it hasn't worked for over a decade, no matter what I tried.”
A sharp smile appeared on her lips.
“Where did they say the key is? Who has it?”
“Calius Rodrian. They say he is the only one who knows.”
Cavalla stressed, her voice thick with desire.
“We must, we absolutely must find it.”
“Yes, Sister.”
Denev bowed his head. As he did, a red bloodstain on the hem of Cavalla's bathrobe came into his view.
Cavalla followed his gaze, saw what he was looking at, and smiled faintly.
“I had a little fun today.”
It was a chilling smile.
