/
I swallowed dry saliva.
It was because a twisted expression appeared on Hermia’s face. It was a familiar smile from Cassius… the smile of a predator holding its prey in its hands.
“If I let the Young Lady in… I should get something, too.”
“…What do you want?”
“Save Cassius Brudenell.”
Hermia answered as if singing.
“The Duke of Brudenell is an important ally to me. It’ll be difficult if Lord Cassius dies like this and the Ducal family reverts to the Imperial Family.”
I tried to hide my relief.
‘…She doesn’t know about the will.’
If she had known about Cassius’ will, she wouldn’t have made such a condition. Rather, after executing him quickly, she would hold me in her hands and try to move as she pleased.
I looked straight at Hermia.
“Your Highness… Will you help us escape?”
“Escape?”
At my words, she tilted her head.
“I can’t do anything like that.”
“But, just a moment ago, you told me to save…”
“It isn’t enough to simply save his life. The Young Lady would know that as well, right?”
“…There’s also a way to clear his name.”
“Ha.”
Words of disbelief came out of Hermia’s lips.
“Did you really go crazy?”
“I’m not crazy.”
I answered desperately.
“The evidence is lacking right now though given enough time, we can clear the Lord’s name.”
“What false accusation? Are you saying that he put on a false charge on himself?”
My stomach was burning at her words. I couldn’t tell her that I was the reason Cassius Brudenell voluntarily covered the crime. Nevertheless, wasn’t it close to impossible to understand this situation without telling the truth?
Fortunately, Hermia seemed to have organized her thoughts in a way that helped me.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. I also want Cassius Brudenell to inherit the dukeship smoothly.”
Her green eyes shone.
“Try to save him. I’ll do my best to help.”
“…What should I do?”
I wasn’t a fool. If she could say this much, it meant that Hermia knew how to save Cassius. It was the difference between letting me know early or late.
Her green eyes lit up.
“It’ll be a method that the Young Lady wouldn’t like.”
“If you’re asking me to make a fuss about committing suicide if I don’t save Cassius Brudenell, I’ll decline. It won’t work at all.”
“It’s not like that.”
Hermia shook her head.
“It’s the only surefire way to delay the execution of Cassius Brudenell by more than half a year.”
“…What is it?”
Even though my head was screaming that I had to decide after hearing Hermia, my heart was already screaming that I should accept whatever condition she presented. As if she noticed my heart, Hermia’s lips drew an arc.
“Under Imperial law, there are only two things that can delay the sentence of a death row prisoner. One is when His Majesty the Emperor directly orders it. Still, you must know that it’s hard to expect this way…”
She then paused for a moment before she finished her words, “…The other is when there‘s a child to be born, male or female.”
I stared at her blankly.
Yes, as she boasted, the only surefire way to delay Cassius’ execution was correct.
However…
Hermia laughed.
“It won’t be an easy decision, so it’s okay to think about it slowly.”
ﾟ· : * ✧ * :· ﾟ
In the dungeon deep inside the Imperial Palace, Cassius Brudenell leaned against the stone wall and stared intently at the dense iron bars. Prisoners had neither obligations nor rights, only sitting or standing still was allowed.
Except for one meal a day for survival, there was no interaction with people.
Because of that, the time to think was overflowing. Naturally, there was only one person dominating his head the entire time.
Evelyn Garneid.
Cassius closed his eyes as the ever-changing blue eyes, like the sea, came to mind. It wasn’t hard to read the emotions in those eyes every time they turned to him.
Usually, it was fear… and usually disgust.
Occasionally, different feelings emerged though only for a moment. Evelyn Garneid essentially hated him. So, this kind of ending wouldn’t be too bad. He would be the person she would never forget, even if she tried to forget him all her life.
“Duchess of Brudenell…”
He murmured quietly.
Evelyn would be embarrassed and reject it at first, but she would eventually accept it. And, she would do better than anyone.
In fact, Cassius didn’t think she didn’t do well. It was because if Evelyn thought that the title of Duchess was a burden, she would either return it to the Imperial Family or leave it to someone else, and she would be fine. The existence of the Duchy of Brudenell was none of his business.
For Cassius, the satisfaction of surrendering everything he had to Evelyn was enough… The only loophole in this perfect plan was Evelyn.
‘…Would she find out?’
In his own way, Cassius prided himself on hiding his intentions well.
Of course, Evelyn might even find out that he didn’t kill her maid.
Still, the murder of his father was of a different level. He didn’t regret it because it was the only way to get Evelyn out of the tight trap that the kingdom of Bynell had drawn so far. The problem was if she found out the truth.
‘She’ll try to find me no matter what.’
In preparation for that time, he asked Princess Hermia to stop her, but she wasn’t very trustworthy. Cassius already knew that Hermia cared for Evelyn more than him.
Tak, taak.
Cassius raised his head.
‘What?’
Judging by the dull footsteps, the guard was approaching him.
‘…Has it already been a day?’
The only way to know the flow of day and night in the dungeon was the meal given by the guard once a day. However, he felt it had only been half a day since the last meal.
The next moment, unexpected words came out of the mouth of the guard standing outside the bars.
“You have a visitor, so get ready.”
“…A visitor?”
Cassius asked doubtfully. He’d rather be interrogated or executed, instead of having a visitor.
‘No way…’
He hadn’t been this nervous since he was in prison.
“Young Lady Garneid has arrived. She said she’d give the Lord time to prepare, so…”
“I won’t go.”
Almost simultaneously with the guard’s explanation, the answer came out.
Cassius sighed inwardly. He really couldn’t believe the promises made by the Imperial Family. Even though she promised to stop her, the Princess let her come at once like this. Apparently, she didn’t even try to stop Evelyn.
“You have to go.”
The guard looked perplexed as he went on.
“If you don’t go, I have no choice but to bring the Young Lady here… Will you be okay with that, my Lord?”
“…I’ll go.”
In the end, Cassius forced himself to stand up.
If he had no choice but to meet Evelyn, it’d be better to meet her in a slightly tidy manner. Perhaps because of his status, he was in a solitary cell that would protect his human dignity, so he would be able to simply wash his face and dress up before seeing Evelyn.
Cassius was well aware that Evelyn liked his face.
He even took advantage of that a few times.
But now, it was true that he was so unmanaged that he was afraid that she would be disappointed to see his sloppy self. After briefly dressing up, Cassius followed the guard’s guidance, handcuffed, as he quietly walked to the visiting room.
“Lord…!”
As soon as the door opened, the first thing that caught his eye was Evelyn, who was completely pale.
“Lord… What is this…”
He smiled bitterly.
To think that Evelyn Garneid was worried about him… It was a fact that he should be happy about, but considering the current situation, he couldn’t really be.
“…It looks like Her Highness the Princess didn’t keep the promise she made to me at all.”
It was an insignificant remark, but Evelyn seemed to be at a loss for words.
Soon, Cassius sat down on the iron chair and waited patiently for her answer. He had already finished organizing his thoughts on the way to this place… Evelyn must have wanted to clear his name, and somehow, she would try to break him out of prison.
Of course, it wasn’t an impossible solution. The Duke of Brudenell hadn’t completely collapsed yet, and if his mother, the Duchess, and Evelyn joined forces, he would be able to escape at least himself. Though obviously, the entire Duchy would have to pay the price.
Cassius had no intention of doing so.
The Duke’s family was a precious asset to bequeathed to Evelyn, so there should be no harm done to the property.
Finally, a word escaped Evelyn’s mouth as she bowed her head.
“Why… why did you go this far? Why?!”
“Evelyn.”
He opened her mouth to appease her.
“I couldn’t help it. The enemies’ traps are so sophisticated…”
“So, you want to die?”
“Yes.”
As soon as he answered calmly, Evelyn raised her head.
He could see the glistening traces of tears running down her pale cheeks. Yet, her deep blue eyes were burning with emotion that didn’t match her tears.
“I’m sorry, but I think we have to postpone the Lord’s execution.”
“…What are you talking about?”
Evelyn’s throat moved slowly.
“I… am pregnant.”