CH 58

[Renée’s POV]

A knight I saw the other day was running hurriedly.

The knight with a small scar on his face did not get to the point until he came close.

“Vice-Captain, now……!”

No, he was trying to get to the point, but when he found me, he shut his mouth. Then he covered his mouth with his hand and began to whisper to Zion.

Eum, I guess it’s a problem if I knew?

“……what?”

“I think it would be faster to go right away and check for yourself.”

I don’t know, but as if it was a serious matter, Zion looked back at me with a furrowed brow.

“I’m sorry, Lady, but I….. Something’s come up and I’ll have to go. Duke, Your Majesty…”

“I understand so you can go.”

“I’m sorry.”

So Zion apologized succinctly and quickly disappeared.

Naturally, I was curious.

“What’s going on?”

“Follow me, I’ll show you to the audience room.”

“Don’t you want to know what’s going on?”

On the way to the audience room, I thought it would be better to listen to a sharp answer than to maintain a suffocating silence, so I tried to ask, but Aiden neatly ignored me.

Phew, I really can’t get close to Aiden no matter what.

When the two of us were alone, I naturally recalled how he had ridiculed me a few days ago in the palace infirmary.

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‘Asha…? You shouldn’t call Anastasia like that, you.’

A cold voice with a mocking tone.

I raised my eyes slightly, repeating his words that I still can’t forget in my mouth.

Aiden’s back, walking at a slightly faster pace, a few steps ahead of me, looked so big and hard that it was difficult to talk to him.

The sight reminded me of what Reden once said seriously.

‘But remember that one thing. What you’ve been doing for the previous times doesn’t go away.’

‘No matter how much it was because of the mission, you did a lot of things that you shouldn’t do to people.’

‘Anytime is fine, so be sure to apologize.’

Looking at Aiden’s back, if Reden’s words come to mind, is it because I think I should apologize to Aiden?

Even when I was possessed right now, there was no plan to ‘apologize for what Renée Blair did’.

There was only ‘not committing evil now’ to avoid the karma accumulated by Renée Blair.

If I don’t commit evil deeds, people around me will naturally see Renée Blair as different from before, and then, like in common fantasy novels, people who have looked at me badly will forgive me for the past.

I was ashamed to think so. I thought it would progress easily.

But the reality was not like that.

The maids and Catherine are indeed more comfortable with Renée Blair, who has changed because of me, but if you ask them, ‘Then will you forgive Renee Blair for what she did in the past?’ it would be difficult to get a positive answer.

The same is true of Anastasia.

She’s the kindest girl in the world, but does she forgive Renée Blair? If you ask me if she would embrace me…

A sigh came out of my mouth at the decided answer.

It would be hard to hear the answer I wanted from Anastasia, but it is obvious without looking at Aiden.

So if I, being selfish, want to get closer to Aiden, the first thing to do is to apologize to Aiden.

But what apology do you make to him?

Rather, the vague apology of ‘sorry for bothering you’ is poisonous. He might be even more contemptuous of what I’m talking about now.

So if I’m going to apologize, if Aiden’s being cold to me is strangely sad and hard, then after you know exactly what the hell ‘Renée Blair’ did to him… …

“Ouch!”

I bumped into something while walking without looking ahead properly because I was struggling with the beginning of my thoughts.

It didn’t hurt, but reflexively I looked up and saw Aiden standing there.

What?

I didn’t know why he stopped when he said he would guide me to the audience room, so I quietly stuck my head out.

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Not far away, I saw a woman dressed as a maid belonging to the royal family.

Dark hair, smiling face. In the curved eyes, rare pink eyes stood out.

As soon as our eyes met, she grabbed the hem of her skirt and greeted me according to etiquette.

“Hello, I’m Rose, the maid who serves His Majesty.”

“…Yes? Ah, uh…. Hel, how are you?”

“Oh my! No matter how much I say I belong to the royal family, what do you mean by honorifics to a maid? I don’t know what to do.”

Looking somewhat lively, she approached with a single step.

“Hello, Your Excellency. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.”

“……What… … What are you thinking?….”

“Omomo! I’ve heard from His Majesty that you two are childhood friends, but I can’t believe that the Duke honors a maid just like Miss Renée! You seem to have a really close relationship! As always, please speak comfortably, Your Excellency.”

Aiden’s expression was not good when his words were cut off.

No, beyond bad, it was terrible. It looked like he couldn’t believe the situation.

But on the other hand, I hadn’t finished grasping the situation yet, so I had no choice but to watch the two of them in silence.

She put her hands together and trembled, then turned her gaze to me.

“Embarrassingly, His Majesty says that it will be a little later than the promised time. I can’t keep Miss Renée waiting, so I was ordered to help her take a walk in the garden.”

She was a maid with a strangely light tone.

To match the name Rose, I looked at her flower-like eyes and scratched my cheek.

“I can just wait.”

“I can’t do that. I want you to speak more comfortably than that.”

It’s rather me who can’t do that.

With a smile that was tantamount to a forced smile, I looked at Aiden again without convulsions.

Not as much as before, but he still looked unhappy.

I’m not an idiot.

Aiden tried to use an honorific title for Rose, who introduced herself as a maid, and even the dignity that flowed out as if it was ingrained in her body, although she acted lightly and tried to hide it.

The two things were telling me.

The fact that Rose was no ordinary royal maid.

‘Whatever it is, I’m sure she’s a royal? Then who? A royal princess?

Regardless of who it is, Aiden, the Duke, can’t say anything and stays still, so it’s clear that she’s a higher-ranking person than me.

“Then can I know when His Majesty will be free? I’m sorry to ask for guidance, so I was spending time alone… .”

“Oh my, our Miss Renée. Why are you doing this when you know what punishment will be given to those who do not obey His Majesty’s orders?”

Ah, yeah. Necks decapitated.

When I kept my mouth shut with a knowing face, Rose smiled softly like a flower in full bloom.

“You can leave now, Your Excellency.”

“No, I’m not. Follow…”

“Eyyy, everyone in the palace knows you’re busy, Your Excellency.”

Aiden shut up like a lie.

“Just yesterday, you tried to reject His Majesty’s order because you were busy. I know everything.”

“……No. I’m free. Let’s go.”

After a few bloody conversations, Rose grabbed my hand and said she would show me the garden, the pride of the royal family.

Looking at the way she spoke and pressed Aiden as if she wanted to, and the way she treated him without hesitation, she seemed to have no intention of hiding her identity.

The question is who is she among the royal family……. As expected, she’s a princess, right?

I wasn’t sure because I’d never seen a portrait of the princess, let alone her face, but it seemed comfortable to think that way.

Then why did the princess come to see me even while dressing up as a maid?

My curiosity was soon resolved.

The garden in midsummer was so splendid that many flowers bloomed, so it hurt my eyes.

There was a place in the middle of the garden where there was a sense of alienation, and Rose brought out a chair to sit there.

I sat down with a happy heart, and Rose pulled a chair and sat next to me.

She didn’t seem to care if Aiden sat across from her or not.

“I heard the news a while ago. I heard you made a contribution at Horrenne House.”

Aha. You came here because you were curious about what happened then. I lowered my eyes, roughly noticing the royal princess’s intentions.

But it’s strange. The half-dragon related matters are top secret, so why does this princess bother to dress up as a maid and ask?

If she had appeared as a princess and asked, it would have been possible to spit it out without knowing what to do with the difference in status.

By any chance, is it a test? Do you tease lightly in front of people who are not related to you?

Such headache-inducing calculations did not suit my aptitude. Eventually, I turned around.

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“Well, by the way, I’m afraid His Majesty is busy, but trying to make time for nothing because of me. If I knew this would happen, I should have set the date later…….”

“Omo! Omo omo. What kind of sad thing are you saying?”

Rose waved her hands gracefully and rested her chin on her palms like calyxes*.

TL/N: Also known as Sepals. Image for ref

Her pink eyes shone gray under the parasol that sheltered her from the scorching sun.

“Miss Renée is the only high-ranking aristocrat under His Majesty who has not met him. Even if he doesn’t have time, he’ll make it and see you.”

“What? No, it’s…….”

“Huhu. Other than that, I have no intention of talking about what happened that day. I thought it’d be different if I approached you in a friendly way.”

Rose muttered something meaningful.

I straightened my back to her. It’s because now she seems to have the mind to reveal her identity.

I was contemplating whether or not to pretend to be surprised out of courtesy if she revealed her identity, but Aiden, who had been silent, turned his head and looked somewhere.

Wanting to see who was there, I turned my head to follow him, and Rose also looked away.

“Oh my. The rat must have escaped.”

Huh?

The weather is nice today, Rose who said lightly, leaned her upper body toward me.

“If it’s hard to say, can you show it to us?”

“What?”

“How did you subdue the half-dragon that day, and without cutting off his arm?”

“……What?”

“The Marquis personally reported it to me, but I couldn’t believe it.”

The hot sun was cutting her face diagonally because of the parasol that had not been able to cover the sun.

Eyes that glow gray in the shade and pink eyes that shine transparently under the sunlight.

Looking into those eyes, I opened my mouth as if I had been hit in the back of my head.

‘This person is not a princess!’

The five senses, no, the sixth sense were telling me.

This person is not a princess, but is higher ranked than a princess…

***

[Zion’s POV]

“There’s a fire in the underground prison.”

That’s what Hezzard said after rushing in.

It was ridiculous, but if it was true, it was a very serious matter, so Zion immediately headed to the underground prison.

Whether it was true or not was immediately known even without arriving at the dungeon. I could see thick black smoke rising in the distance.

“Damn it. The prisoners inside…….”

“All but two have been taken out.”

“Two?”

“Bradley Brothers.”

On the other side of the splendid royal palace, when we reached the dungeon, a voice other than Hezzard answered.

Zion narrowed his eyes slightly at the voice and turned his head. A silver-haired, golden-eyed man was caught in his vision.

“Sir Solen.”

“Even though I always tell you, you must have a bad brain. Those of no lineage like you will be called by their surnames, but knights from long-established families like me should be called by their first names… …”

“This is not the time to be fussing. The Bradley brothers couldn’t get out?”

Zion neatly cut off Lord Solen’s words.

The pride of the royal family and the leader of the First Knights representing the Royal Knights, Lord Solen’s expression hardened.

He clenched his teeth so hard that even tendons stood out in his jaw.

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But Zion’s nerves were leaning toward the underground prison, which was burning with fury.

This time, Hezzard answered.

“Yes. First of all, only the Bradley brothers are out of sight, and it is difficult to get close to them because the ignition point is inside the two of them.”

“Any possibility of jailbreak?”