Chapter 75
Cesare stood in the middle of the tavern, a blood-soaked sword in his hand.
He had killed dozens of people. It was the first time he had killed civilians. As the supreme commander of the Imperial Army, it was something he should not have done.
According to Traon Empire law, the men in the tavern were innocent. It was not illegal for them to do whatever they wanted with the corpse of a condemned prisoner.
But Cesare killed them. He had slashed their throats and was covered in blood, but the frustration did not dissipate. Instead, he felt even more suffocated.
The child he had cherished so dearly had been beheaded on the Guillotine.
The corpse was torn to pieces, and the severed head was hung in the tavern and ridiculed.
It was only in that moment, after killing dozens of lustful men, that Cesare realized what he truly wanted. The object he wanted to protect was not the Traon Empire. Cesare's laurel was only for Aileen.
But Aileen was no longer here.
Fully aware of this fact, Cesare felt something within him shatter. The sensation of rupture was not simply anger. It was the height of emotion, something he had never felt in his entire life.
For Cesare, who had always maintained an emotionless state, it was an unbearable agony. Cesare looked down at his blood-soaked hands and thought.
Who must I kill to end this pain?
But his brilliant mind could not come up with any answers. Only an endless abyss stretched out before him.
Snapping out of his hazy reverie, Cesare ran a hand over his face. He calmly organized his memories to recognize reality. He clearly distinguished the boundary between reality and illusion, and pieced together his shattered mind.
The sound of rain clung stubbornly to his eardrums. He was overwhelmed with the urge to mutilate himself with a sword, a gun, anything.
But this was reality. The world where Aileen existed. He had already committed a mad act, and if he showed any more, Aileen would not be able to bear it.
Cesare suppressed his meaningless desires and approached Aileen. Aileen, lying in bed, was a mess. He stared silently at her corpse-like pale face, then bent down and brought his face closer.
After listening to her breathing for a while, he slowly stroked the bandage around her neck with his fingertips. He swallowed a self-deprecating laugh as he recalled the handprints that would be etched beneath it.
"...It's a funny thing, Aileen."
His hand, stroking the white bandage, trembled slightly. Cesare muttered to himself, a futile soliloquy to someone who could not hear.
"To think I almost killed you with my own hands."
He had endured so much pain to bring Aileen back to life, yet he had almost ruined everything. He thought he was still okay, but seeing that he couldn't even distinguish between dreams and reality, he seemed to be quite broken.
He had to end it before he broke down any further.
"Aileen."
Cesare carefully lay down next to Aileen. Even though he knew that he was the most dangerous person to Aileen right now, he couldn't let go and held her small body close.
"Aileen..."
During the sleepless night, Cesare only looked at Aileen.
Aileen returned battered and bruised, with a bandage around her neck. She was at a loss as to how to explain this to others. She was especially worried about what to say to the Grand Duke's Residence employees or Sonio.
But no one asked Aileen what had happened or why she was hurt. It seemed that Cesare had told them in advance.
'Cesare...'
Aileen sighed, stopping her writing with the fountain pen. When she woke up in the morning, Cesare was already gone.
She had a mountain of questions to ask him, but she felt like she wouldn't be able to ask anything if she was actually in front of Cesare. She kept thinking about what he had said as he strangled her.
"I love you."
She didn't know Cesare before, but now she really didn't know him anymore. She always believed that he had a reason for everything, and she just waited no matter what he said or did.
'But you got hurt.'
She kept thinking about the red eyes that stared straight at her and slashed down with his palm. She was afraid that he would hurt himself again.
'What if the same thing happens again?'
The best thing to do was to find the cause and eliminate it. How could she get Cesare to tell her more honestly? Or were there other ways to find out about his strange behavior?
"Madam."
Sonio carefully called out to Aileen. Aileen snapped out of it. Because she had been holding the fountain pen still on the paper, the ink was smudged all over. She was startled and took the pen off and looked up at Sonio with a tearful face.
"It's okay. It wasn't an important document."
He replaced the paper with a new one. Aileen took a small breath in and out.
Thanks to the intensive training she had received from Sonio, she had grasped most of the work. Recently, Sonio had only been assisting and confirming. If she could fill in the few remaining gaps, Aileen would soon be able to handle the work on her own.
Aileen scribbled on the paper. Since she had hurt her neck, she had decided not to speak today, so she was unintentionally having a written conversation with Sonio.
[Please take a look at this.]
Aileen handed Sonio a piece of paper. She had forgotten about it for a while because she was thinking about Cesare, but today she was going to show it to him and ask for his opinion.
Written on the paper was the Archduchess of Erzeht's daily schedule.
She had carefully planned it in order to continue her Morpheus research and pharmacy work while carrying out the Archduchess's duties. It was a plan based on what she had learned while living in the Grand Duke's Residence.
Since it was a plan that she had only thought about on her own, she wanted to show it to Sonio and get his opinion. She had prepared about three other plans in case Sonio objected.
'What if they all fail?'
Aileen watched Sonio's eyes as he read the plan and wrote on the paper.
[I'll do the Archduchess's work in the morning, and then do research from lunch onwards. And then, after dinner, I'll finish the Archduchess's work... How about that?]
She was anxiously waiting for an answer. Sonio looked at Aileen with a touched expression.
"I told you that you don't have to worry about your duties as the Grand Duchess..."
He had a look of pride on his face, as if he were looking at his grown-up daughter. She was embarrassed to be praised so much for something that she should be doing anyway. Aileen scratched her cheek with the back of her fountain pen and wrote again.
[And I'd like to hire a new employee to assist me.]
Sonio was the butler in charge of the Erzeht Grand Duke family. Thanks to him teaching her the Grand Duchess's duties, she was able to adapt quickly.
But she couldn't just rely on Sonio forever. Sonio was busy enough assisting Cesare and taking care of other Grand Duke family matters. It was time to let him go.
Aileen couldn't stand the fact that Cesare's manpower was being wasted on her.
But for some reason, Sonio didn't readily agree. He was silent for a while, then said in a very sullen voice.
"If Madam wishes, I will prepare it."
It was an answer that dripped with disappointment, sadness, and sorrow. Aileen was startled and quickly scribbled.
[I really like it when Sonio helps me! But you can't just keep looking after my work forever.]
But Sonio's face didn't brighten up. He still muttered with a dark face.
"You're taking away the joy that an old man enjoys in his later years..."
In the end, Aileen promised to continue to receive a lot of help from Sonio in the future. After finishing the discussion about the plan, Aileen moved the fountain pen again.
[And Sonio...]
She hesitated and finished the sentence.
[Cesare is acting strange.]
Even if she didn't explain it in detail, Sonio would know what Aileen was talking about.
Aileen bit her lip. Then she decided to abuse the Grand Duchess's authority for the first time.
[Could you call His Excellency's knights?]
