Chapter 97
As I was falling to the floor, someone caught me. Cradled in a stranger’s arms, I raised my head at the lavender scent that filled my nose.
Michael, who had caught me, held my body with a surprised expression.
“Why are you here when you should be in the Grand Duke’s territory?”
“Michael?”
Over Michael’s handsome face with its stronger features, I saw the face I had seen when he was young. Grown up, he had truly become the appearance of a male lead from a novel.
‘I’m fortunate to meet him right away.’
It had been a long time since we met in an unofficial setting. I knew that our childhood friendship might no longer mean anything to him, but still…
I needed his help to free the Grand Duke.
“Your Highness, I have a request.”
His previously composed brow slightly furrowed. Just as I sensed his refusal and was about to resign myself, he pressed my head toward his chest with his palm.
“Hmm?”
As I tried to push away from his chest, I understood the situation and quietly yielded to his forceful hand.
Michael took off his outer garment and covered my head with it.
I had been so focused on meeting him that I hadn’t noticed the approaching presence. A voice that seemed to belong to a knight asked.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince. We heard there was a magical disturbance in this area.”
“This is someone I summoned, so do not interfere and return to your post.”
“Understood. Please inform us if any dangerous situation arises.”
“I will.”
The knight followed the order, suggesting Michael’s position in the imperial palace had grown stronger. Only after the presence had moved sufficiently far away did Michael remove his outer garment.
“Were you able to breathe?”
His face, bathed in sunlight, came closer, revealing his expression.
‘He’s worried.’
Below his golden eyelashes, I could see eyes filled with concern. His cold features, when faced directly, contained the same gentle warmth as before.
He didn’t seem to think of me as anything other than a friend.
“This is the place where I used to meet Tristan secretly. I received a signal from the ring, so I thought he was coming.”
“You met with Tristan?”
“We don’t have a personal friendship, but we’re connected through work. Though neither of us considers the other a friend.”
There were many people at the mansion who were connected to Tristan through work. For instance, a group similar to my fan club that shared crystal ball recordings.
Though I thought it couldn’t be that, I still asked with an uneasy feeling.
“You haven’t joined any strange organization related to me, have you?”
“…Did Tristan tell you?”
With an embarrassed face, Michael showed me the cufflinks on the inside of his sleeve. Engraved on the button was the logo of the group that had recently changed its name to “Grand Princess Love Association.”
For a moment, I felt my mind go blank.
‘So it’s spread even here.’
The fact that he had joined that group meant that Michael was also the type to watch my crystal ball recordings and like them.
As my eyes narrowed, a look of awkwardness crossed Michael’s face. I had thought he only wanted to deal with me officially and didn’t want to be involved with me anymore.
Trying to accommodate him, I had even refrained from asking about his well-being.
“But you never showed any sign of it? You hardly even speak to me when we meet.”
“That was the membership condition Tristan set.”
“I thought you disliked me.”
“How could that be? Besides, you can speak comfortably with me. Liat.”
He said such brazen words with a straight face and smiled slightly. His face with relaxed eyebrows looked as innocent as when he was young.
I was annoyed with Tristan for keeping in contact with Michael behind my back and hiding that fact. He should have told me this when I said I was going to meet Michael.
Michael added in a voice that seemed self-deprecating.
“Once is enough for me to endanger you by pretending to know you.”
Realizing what incident he was referring to, I spoke up.
“Were you alright that day?”
“As you can see. I was planning to approach you when my power grew and the relationship between the Grand Duke’s family and the imperial family was mediated.”
Improving the relationship between those two families was almost the only possible solution to prevent the rebellion.
If the relationship between the two families improved and this was announced to the public, the justification for rebellion would disappear. Voices opposing rebellion would also emerge within the Grand Duke’s territory.
‘Does Michael think the same?’
Despite being the male lead of the original story, I wondered how much I could trust him as a member of the imperial family. After setting me down on the floor, Michael asked what he had been curious about all along.
“So why did you appear instead of Tristan? Your presence here means he’s been detained?”
“You already knew Tristan would be captured.”
“Yes.”
“I saw Tristan being taken away but couldn’t stop it.”
I recalled the moment Tristan was captured and lowered my eyes. Tristan hadn’t said anything to me until things had reached that point.
“Kid. Don’t worry about Father. As long as I and your brother are here, both the Grand Duke’s family and you will be fine.”
He had comforted me but hidden the most important thing. If I had at least heard about it beforehand, I would have worried, but we could have thought about solutions together.
After silently listening to me, he spoke.
“Liat. If Tristan didn’t tell you anything, it was probably for your sake.”
Michael, who was a head taller than me, reached out and ruffled my hair. Like the Grand Duke, everyone seemed to have a grudge against my hair.
I calmed my emotions, drawing strength from his awkward consolation.
“Why was Tristan taken away?”
“My father wants to use this opportunity to get leverage over the Grand Duke. You probably know this much.”
But that process wasn’t as easy as the Emperor thought. To frame someone with a non-existent crime, the Grand Duke’s solid will needed to be broken.
The Emperor chose the simplest and most straightforward method.
“Targeting the heir would cause too much backlash, so they decided to detain Tristan in the imperial palace.”
“So they’re threatening the Grand Duke using his child.”
“Not exactly an honorable tactic.”
Michael, who delivered this scathing assessment despite it being about his own father, studied my expression. I pointed out something that bothered me in his explanation.
“But I would have been a better child to detain.”
Wouldn’t it have been easier to target me, who didn’t have an established position like Tristan? Michael, looking caught off guard, covered his face.
He answered with an air of really not wanting to say it.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Then why Tristan?”
“Because I blocked it. Changing the target to Tristan was the best I could do. Tristan agreed too.”
Who agreed to what?
I never asked for such consideration. Michael suggested with a troubled face.
“Let’s move somewhere else to talk.”
After confirming there was no one around, he pressed a corner of the wall. The wall receded, revealing a passage just wide enough for one person to pass through.
Michael, with one foot in the passage, looked back at me.
At that moment, a certain conviction struck me. Tristan had allowed himself to be captured to protect me.
‘I was supposed to be the one protecting.’
I had forgotten that Tristan also wanted to protect me.
Regardless of the original story or my future, I didn’t want to see my family get hurt. Since the day I started occasionally using the word ‘Father’ for the Grand Duke, I had already kept that feeling in my heart.
That was my sincere feeling that I could no longer ignore.
***
Inside the passage was a space similar to a drawing room.
It was impressive that he and Tristan had secretly created such a space within the imperial palace. Michael invited me to sit on the sofa as I slowly looked around the interior.
Seeing my gaze demanding an explanation, Michael began to speak.
“The Saint requested a private audience with my father through me. I only learned about the oracle afterward.”
“So the Saint didn’t ask Michael for help?”
“Not at all. I probably didn’t inspire enough trust in her.”
So that’s how it happened.
I understood why the Emperor had taken the drastic measure of capturing Tristan. It was natural for him to become bolder in his actions when he thought the Saint was on his side.
Michael apologized to me in a somber voice.
“I deeply regret how things have turned out. I’ll make sure Tristan doesn’t face any problems.”
“It’s not your fault, Michael.”
After saying the original story couldn’t be changed, she sought cooperation from the Emperor rather than Michael. I couldn’t understand what the Saint was thinking.
Her claim that she was doing this for me didn’t seem like a lie. The oath she had made using her divine power couldn’t be broken.
The Saint believed that this approach was for my benefit.
“Were you already acquainted with the Saint?”
“…A little.”
“I see. So that’s why. When my father mentioned taking you hostage, the Saint’s expression looked troubled.”
Michael described that day’s situation in detail. Even how noticeably relieved the Saint was when he changed the target to Tristan.
“It will probably become a battle of endurance, so perhaps it’s best to wait and see?”
The vassals also didn’t think the Grand Duke would be detained for long. However, knowing the original story, I couldn’t be so nonchalant about the situation.
It seemed better to act as quickly as possible.
“Michael, can you give me access to the imperial archives?”
“Are you saying this knowing what will happen if you’re caught? My father will try to detain you as well.”
“I’ll leave immediately after checking the materials I’m looking for. Then I’ll meet with the Saint with those materials.”
“Even if you have talent with the sword, it’s dangerous to wander around the imperial palace relying on that alone.”
He tried to persuade me that reckless actions should be left in childhood. But this was a point where I couldn’t back down either.
“Please, Michael.”
Originally, I had planned to use information from the original story to gain Michael’s cooperation. But I changed my plan and revealed my true feelings.
“Can you remain calm when someone important to you has been captured?”
“……”
“I want to try doing what I can.”
There was a time when being with these two grown men felt like a miracle. The tedium that countless painful lives had bestowed upon me had gradually faded away at some point.
‘It started with Juno.’
I liked the future I had now, where I could trust people. Having given up even on reaching the ending of the original story, I had nothing to hold me back.
“How could I refuse when you ask like that?”
Finally relieved, I smiled happily. Michael, his face slightly reddened, brushed his lips.
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