The Price of Saving a Vicious Beast - Chapter 21

The countess’s face turned even paler at the sound of his laughter. It was almost like that of a madman.

“It seems you’ve already forgotten. Without me, Adelaide would never have had the name Eport to begin with.”

“Your Highness, that is not what I meant.”

The countess bowed low, pressing herself to the floor. Her voice trembled like a leaf in the wind.

“How could I ever forget such a grace? I only wish to prepare a future for Adelaide that is worthy of the status Your Highness has bestowed upon her.”

“Adelaide’s future?”

“Yes. For the day… when she is left alone.”

Killian was already nineteen. How much longer could this relationship last? A year? Six months? No, even if he abandoned her tomorrow, it would not be strange at all.

Aside from her family, Adelaide knew no one but ‘Killi’, the false identity of Crown Prince Killian. The countess knew very well how deeply Adelaide depended on him.

“Please… consider the heart of a mother with a daughter, Your Highness.”

“No, Countess. Everything you’ve said is wrong.”

Killian rested his chin on his hand, watching her quietly.

“I haven’t grown tired of her yet. And I don’t intend to for quite some time. So the notion that she’ll be left alone? That’s incorrect.”

He arched a brow and spoke again.

“And you’re under a grave misunderstanding. Even if, as you say, Adelaide were to be left alone, you are in no position to pity her.”

“Your Highness!”

The countess cried out towards Killian. Killian let out a short, amused breath.

“Calling her pitiful, coming from someone who silently consented for six years? That’s hardly convincing.”

He idly turned the ring on his finger as he continued.

“As you’ve likely heard, Roem has been appointed as an envoy to Clayton. Once he returns, he’ll assist his father with matters in the noble council. A father as chairman, a son as secretary… how admirable. I don’t believe such a distinction has ever existed in any noble house before.”

With Roem mentioned, the countess’s lips pressed together tightly.

Everything House Eport possessed, had been handed to them by Killian. And what was given could be taken away far more easily.

The cold mockery in his eyes made one thing clear, no matter what she resolved herself to endure, the price would be greater still.

“Yes… that’s how it should be.”

Killian rose from his seat, looking down at the bowed countess with satisfaction.

“I like that you’re intelligent. That’s why I’ll overlook your insolence this once. Be wiser in the future, Countess.”

“…There is one request. Just one, Your Highness.”

Gathering what little courage she had left, the countess spoke again. Killian, who had been preparing to leave, turned his gaze back to her.

“A request? If it’s worth granting, I’ll consider it.”

“If Adelaide cannot associate with others… then at the very least, please clear away the disgraceful rumors surrounding her.”

The countess looked up at him as though spitting blood.

Madame Shirley was Killian’s person. The woman who had posed as Adelaide’s etiquette tutor for years had constantly reminded her of her ‘low-born blood’, crushing any chance she had of mingling with other nobles.

But that wasn’t all, in the central noble society, rumors about Lady Eport had spread like wildfire.

No one dared speak of it openly before the now-powerful Eport family, but where there was light, there was always shadow. Those who envied the family’s sudden rise used Adelaide as their weak point, spreading all kinds of malicious gossip.

Not long after Adelaide first became Killian’s friend, Bertholdt had conveyed the emperor’s intentions. When the time came, they would reveal a narrative that was a friendship that transcended the boundaries of status between Adelaide and Killian.

At the time, the countess had felt uneasy, as though Adelaide were being used as a tool for the crown prince’s image.

But now, that would have been far better.