The Cat Who Weeps in the Dark - Chapter 66

Ordinary citizens couldn’t inspect the treasury, but reduced expenditures were noticeable. To quell the people’s suspicions, the Empress—who controlled the palace’s budget—offered plausible excuses: “The funds were used to bolster the military during the war,” or “They went toward relief for war victims.”

That might have fooled the public, but Helion wasn’t deceived. Having fought on the front lines and witnessed the people’s suffering firsthand, he knew the truth. There was no way that much money had been spent solely on the war and its aftermath.

Even without hard evidence, his instincts were certain. This war had begun with the empire’s lie—that the kingdom had threatened its crown prince. In exchange for tolerating that lie and the war, the empire must have been paying hush money to the kingdom all along.

While the kingdom grew poorer, the royal family only grew richer. Just this fact alone made it painfully obvious who the true mastermind behind the war was—yet the foolish people of the kingdom directed all their resentment solely at him, the scapegoat on the surface.

Not that it mattered. At this point, blaming anyone wouldn’t undo the war that had already happened.

And the dead won’t return, either.

Helion pressed his fingers against his tired eyes. What he had been staring at was the guard deployment plan. For this delegation’s visit, he had three main duties:

Greeting them, attending the welcome banquet, and seeing them off.

But that didn’t mean those were the only things he needed to worry about. Between those events, Helion also had to arrange every single guard detail for his own protection.

“Wouldn’t it be better to leave this to Sir Cheche and get some rest, Your Highness?”

He sensed someone approaching from behind. Tilting his head back, Helion looked up at the speaker.

“Are you asking me to play with you, Katie?”

“Of course not,” she replied smoothly. “I’m merely suggesting that since the Captain of the Guard is handling it, there’s no need for Your Highness to overexert yourself.”

Today, Katie’s tone was unusually sweet—the softest voice Helion had ever heard from her.

And for good reason. Katie was practically floating on air.

In fact, just this morning, her mood had been at rock bottom. The excitement she’d felt upon hearing about the delegation’s visit had long since evaporated.

What if he tries something like yesterday again?

The memory of their horrific coupling made her hesitate even to take a step forward.

No. Wait—he did put it in, thrust, and finish, right? Maybe he’s already sick of me.

She’d considered the possibility, but it wasn’t enough to be sure. Yesterday, he’d only inserted half of it.

Half!

Unbelievable, yet undeniably true.

Which meant Helion might still want to shove in the remaining half.

No way.

Just the thought made her lower body ache, and she instinctively clutched her stomach.

But when she finally arrived at Helion’s chambers, he wasn’t on the bed as usual—instead, he was seated on the sofa.

“Rest today, Katie. Focus on your duties.”

In other words, she didn’t have to serve him at night as part of their deal—she only needed to guard him as a knight.

Oh my god! He really is sick of me!

At that moment, Katie realized a single sentence could make the world beautiful again. They say spring comes after winter— enduring yesterday’s torment had been worth it.

Of course, that didn’t mean Helion looked any more pleasant to her. Even now, she maintained a careful distance from him as she stood.