Emperor’s Alternate - Chapter 72

Leyesha stepped off the mana train with a face drained of all thought, dazed and undone, her hair unkempt, her eyes hollow. She looked as if she’d run without pause the moment the volcano erupted — so shaken that she’d forgotten how to hold herself. Among all the faces Lecan had seen her wear, this was the most desolate.

‘You kept the handkerchief, did you?’

From afar, he watched her release it — white linen fluttering from her fingers into the open air, carried off by wind. Whether it was Leyesha herself or the knight trailing at her side, neither had the strength to notice his gaze. Lecan made no sound, cloaked his presence, and when Leyesha turned back toward the train, he followed her without a word.

From the shadows, he watched.

Even as his eyes lingered, Leyesha sensed nothing. His powers of concealment had grown more potent, no doubt due to the mana gem nestled at his side.

Through the journey back, Leyesha stared only into the void. She did not speak. She did not weep. She made no effort to mask or explain her silence. Even the casual crinkle of a street paper, unfolded across a tiled floor once they reached the capital, told Lecan everything he needed to know about what had passed in his absence.

The headlines screamed of scandal — his subordinates cornered, his allies defamed.

Yet even then, anger eluded him.

Perhaps it was because he had seen her expression. Because he had seen the way Leyesha looked when she believed he’d died.

It was simply an empty void — complete nothingness. And yet, it was precisely that blankness, like a sheet of pure white paper, that made her emotions so easy to read. Leyesha, who had driven him into mortal danger, and yet worried about him more than anyone else.

That night, Lecan had nearly held her in his arms. He had chased her all the way to her quarters in a moment of anger, but when he looked down into her eyes, shimmering with unshed tears, he made a vow never to come back again.

He had already struggled to restrain himself in the cave, but now, it felt as if he were losing all self-control when it came to her.

***

“Duke Tenekvan, do you swear to set an example for the nobility and pledge your life in loyalty to the Imperial House?”

“I swear.”

The Empress Dowager tapped Lecan’s left shoulder with her sword once, then laid the blade upon his right shoulder.

“Then rise, Duke. With this, all formalities are hereby concluded.“

“Congratulations, Your Grace.”

The long and solemn investiture ceremony came to a close with that vow and its recognition.

Lecan’s subordinates, lined up behind him, all raised their voices in unison, loudly congratulating him on his investiture. Despite this, Lecan could not tear his eyes away from Leyesha, who stood with her head bowed behind the Empress.

Lecan steadily rose to his feet. Leyesha, holding a flag bearing the new coat of arms of the Duke’s family, stepped forward with deliberate slowness.

“Your Grace, I present to you the new insignia bestowed upon you by the Imperial House,” she said.

As Lecan took the emblem she offered, he continued to gaze at her pale face, the scarf around her neck irking him.

Yet, Leyesha did not once meet his gaze.

Her fingers brushed against his, ever so subtly beneath the flag. Even that brief touch felt purposeful.

The one observing this strange interaction closely from behind was Lecan’s advisor.

“Is there a reason why he doesn’t serve you, my Lord?”

“Well…they already serve another lord.”

The advisor’s gaze turned to Leyesha. She was dressed in the attire of the Empress’s chief maid, a red collar marking her position. She was the same maid whom Lecan had crossed paths with in the hallway just before the late Emperor Teiles I had passed away.

‘…Could it be? No, it can’t be. With that young face… there’s no way they’re as skilled as my lord desires.’

The advisor, though skeptical, felt a strange sense of déjà vu. Lecan had been acting oddly lately. Out of the blue, the Empress had invited him to a ball, then there was his unexpected participation in a hunting competition… both of which were activities Lecan had never shown interest in before, making them all the more suspicious.

‘He must have attended the hunting competition because he received the handkerchief from Her Highness, the Princess. But then, even at the Princess’s funeral, my lord was oddly calm. If the handkerchief was a token, it’s strange that he would have lost it.’

The advisor observed Leyesha, whose beauty was far too striking for a maid. He might be wrong, but it was worth noting.