Chapter 186
“Yeah. You’d better be careful. If you try anything unnecessary, it might explode.”
“But aren’t you curious? You still haven’t seen all of Magnus Napier’s ‘secrets.’”
“……”
At that question, Eugenie’s displeased expression gradually softened.
How had she felt after learning Carter’s secret that way?
Of course, there had been shock and devastation at being deceived for so long. Perhaps she should have been furious that he had tricked her so thoroughly and entered into marriage under false pretenses.
‘And yet…’
The reason she couldn’t truly bring herself to be angry—even though she had been the one deceived—was because throughout that entire process, the boy she had known all her life had been desperately shouting from the shadows.
He hadn’t even asked for her love. He had only wanted one place by her side as her man.
“It’s fine if you become someone else’s wife. But just for today—just this one day—I want to be your groom.”
“Groom Carter Arthur Livingston vows to take Bride Eugenie Norton as his wife and to love her always, no matter what.”
Carter had been confused and full of contradictions. But the way he had looked when he draped the veil over her in the prayer room, he had looked just as nervous and hopeful as he did when he first confessed.
So… no matter what came of it, she wanted to ask him directly.
And Magnus Napier as well.
“I’ll ask him myself. I don’t need your help anymore.”
“Hm. Is that so?”
Alokes smiled regretfully but he stepped back without protest. In truth, Sylvea was summoning him with increasing urgency; he could hardly delay any longer.
“Then we shall meet again, Eugenie Norton. The end of my five hundred years.”
Leaving her scowling face behind, he laughed lightly one last time and vanished toward the capital.
* * *
After the tree pervert disappeared, Eugenie briefly considered going to inspect the mine alone.
But that thought was postponed when her husbands arrived at the new hideout. She had already been informed through the communication earrings, and when she hurried back, she was greeted by faces that felt as though she hadn’t seen them in a hundred years.
“Brother Alfred! Cassius!”
“Eugenie!”
“Lady!”
Despite the fact that a quarter of Troys Castle had been blown away, the two of them looked mostly intact, aside from a few bandages stuck to their cheeks.
“I’m glad you’re both safe. And…”
Even Elaine Sabnac was there. But when their eyes met, the lavender-haired woman subtly looked away.
‘You said you could see through lies.’
After all that trouble to save her, she had known Carter wasn’t truly bound by the contract and hadn’t said a word. That would have to be addressed later.
But there were far more urgent matters.
“What about Napier? How is he?”
“We just moved him into one of the spare rooms. Don’t worry.”
“Brother Alfred… where’s Percival? Didn’t he come?”
“……”
Alfred answered with visible discomfort.
“There were casualties at the border with Ravenic.”
“What—”
“It hasn’t been publicly disclosed yet… but Duke Troys won’t be able to leave that area for a while.”
Alfred deliberately downplayed it. In truth, the number of dead at the border could hardly be counted on one hand. Despite the ceasefire, the majority of the opposing forces had been wiped out. If mishandled, this could easily become the spark for another northern war.
Cassius muttered under his breath as Eugenie stood frozen.
“The timing’s unbelievably perfect, isn’t it?”
“……”
“As if it couldn’t have erupted at a more convenient moment.”
Eugenie slowly nodded.
The unrest that had been shaking Hermeland for the past few years had never been a coincidence.
‘They even stirred things up in Honegold and Ravenic.’
Back then, Carter and the temple had been operating behind the scenes. Now Carter—missing and unaccounted for—had begun moving openly. And this time, he had left bodies in his wake.
‘The trouble in Ravenik is to keep Percival tied down.’
If so, the next incident would likely erupt in the southern straits. In Wilberforce territory.
“Brother Alfred, contact your homeland—”
But just as Eugenie tried to warn him, Alfred opened the door to the room where Magnus lay.
The words died in her throat. His condition was…far worse than she had imagined.
It was very bad.
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