Chapter 118
She fiddled with the lukewarm teacup.
‘Has Miss Eshar been meeting with His Highness the Imperial Prince often these days?’
If even Lara was worried about them being ‘lovers’, then they must have been meeting frequently enough to draw attention.
They had occasionally met before, but… has something changed?
As someone in the mere position of a lover, she had neither the means nor the right to learn the Prince’s every move.
She had lived without knowing even a fraction of what Euphen did or who he met. He, too, never bothered to tell Lynette. As if thinking it was safer for her not to know at all.
What reason could the two of them have to meet so often?
She thought it over carefully, but only one answer came to mind.
‘Guiding.’
‘I have still been Guiding him, but…’
If Eshar truly had awakened, there would be no reason for Euphen to continue contacting Lynette.
He knew all too well what consequences Guiding would bring to her.
He was already restraining his abilities, doing whatever he could to lessen her burden.
There was no way he would conceal a situation where Guiding was no longer necessary.
Propping her chin on her hand against the armrest, she sank deeper into thought.
No matter how much she considered it, she found no other answer.
If it was not Guiding, then was it truly something political that she did not know of?
While she was agonizing, thinking only of Guiding, Euphen was surely doing everything he could to protect her.
And Eshar, being his closest ally, meeting with him more often was nothing unusual.
“Don’t you think His Highness the Imperial Prince and Lynette trust each other too much?”
“…Hm?”
“If you’re lovers, shouldn’t you be jealous?”
“…I am jealous.”
A small laugh escaped her. She was more jealous than anyone, so jealous of Euphen’s real Guide that her chest ached with bitterness. If she could trade her place for the other’s, she would give up anything.
‘His Highness is also quite conscious of Sillian.’
There were times when he had plainly shown his hatred, and even on ordinary days, it was obvious that he was aware of that man.
If Lynette’s feelings were the same, then Euphen too must have wanted to do anything to change his partner.
“Really? But His Highness allowed you to meet with that guard.”
Lara wrinkled the bridge of her nose as she spoke.
“And you just sit by while Miss Eshar and the Imperial Prince meet.”
“Does it look strange?”
Unable to say outright that it did, Lara only pressed her lips together, fidgeting with the braid of her red hair.
So this was how others saw it.
She realized it all over again.
Since they could not possibly know the entangled fates between the four of them, it must seem incomprehensible. That Euphen would allow Lynette to spend tender moments with another man, and that Lynette, in turn, would calmly watch the Imperial Prince spend time alone with another woman.
“Miss Eshar isn’t going to become the Imperial Princess, is she?”
“Most likely… no.”
Lynette nodded with composure.
Since they were already bound by fate, there was no need to tie themselves further with something like ‘marriage’. From Euphen’s position, it would be better to wed into a more powerful noble family, and Eshar herself would likely prefer that.
‘From the moment she took His Highness’s hand, they became, in the truest sense, bound by fate.’
Unless they withdrew entirely from the struggle for the throne, once she chose to stand with a royal who had thrown himself into the fray, Eshar too had staked her life.
And beyond that, the fate of the Merchant Guild too.
“So in the end, that still means she’s his lover. At this rate, you could be cast aside…”
Lara was speaking in a rather serious tone, when someone knocked at the door.
“Yes. Come in.”
At those words, Mari entered.
“Mari?”
“His Highness the Imperial Prince has called for you.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
Lynette instinctively turned toward Lara.
Hadn’t she just said that Miss Eshar came often? Wasn’t she with him even now?
Noticing her doubt, Lara gave a little shrug.
“Where is Miss Eshar?”
“She is with him.”
Mari answered calmly while taking out a dress.
What reason could there be for the two of them to summon her?
No matter how much she thought about it, Lynette could not find an answer.
‘Don’t tell me… they suddenly fell in love with each other?’
Perhaps because of Lara’s needless worries, such a foolish thought crossed her mind, and she barely stifled a laugh.
Since she only needed to change clothes, her preparations were quickly done.
Mari smoothed her slightly disheveled hair and fixed the pin once more.
Lynette followed slowly behind her.
Even as she walked, she could not guess the reason.
It seemed unlikely they would suddenly drag her into seizing the throne at this point.
She tilted her head slightly in thought.
At the door, Mari announced Lynette’s presence before opening it.
Inside, Euphen sat with a face stiffer than usual.
Eshar, calmly lifting her gaze, glanced at Lynette. The moment their eyes met, she gave a soft smile.
“Sit down, Lynette.”
The weight of the atmosphere made Lynette’s whole body tense.
As she carefully sat on the sofa, the silence stretched out.
The only one who looked at ease was Eshar.
She put her teacup down and turned her eyes to Euphen.
“If you cannot speak, shall I do it?”
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