Chapter 114
Please be kind
“Crown Prince! What kind of outrageous nonsense is that!”
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty. Ha, truly, you’re an utterly foolish woman with no sense of your own origins.”
At his blatant mockery, Bianca’s face turned bright red, unable to even think of a retort for a moment. Calix, breathing heavily, tried to contain the deep anger rising within him.
From Lea’s words and Bianca’s reaction, he understood. That Lea had been exposed to violence for a long time.
That was why, whenever he got even a little angry, she would freeze up completely, just as she’d been conditioned by his mother.
He hadn’t even had a chance to tame her himself, and yet someone else already had.
How dare anyone, even her birth mother, lay claim to something that was his.
Unforgivable.
Calix strode forward and stopped right in front of Bianca, who was sitting on the sofa. The head lady-in-waiting and other palace staff tried to approach, but couldn’t. Partly because of the sharp, cold look in his eyes, and partly because of the transparent barrier blocking their way.
He had set up a barrier of wind, carrying on a private conversation that the staff could not overhear.
“If you just thought a little more, couldn’t you realize now is not the time to provoke my dear sister? From now on, there will be two Guides in this country… Not an old Guide, but a young, dazzling new Guide will appear. Does that not scare you?”
With his pointed remark, Bianca was suddenly faced with what she truly feared most. Calix looked down at her gold eyes, now clouded with anxiety, and felt even more displeased, as her eyes resembled Lea’s.
If you only looked at the eyes, it almost felt as if he was threatening Lea herself.
“I don’t care if you fake a pregnancy, or if you drain the imperial treasury. But Your Majesty knows well, don’t you?”
“…What are you talking about?”
Though she tried to sound sharp, her eyes already betrayed her fear, and it did not move him in the slightest.
“If you lay a hand on my Guide, you know very well what Espers are capable of. Didn’t you already have some fun with that, Your Majesty?”
Calix emphasized the words ‘Your Majesty’. With his hands in his pockets, he bent down, lowering his face to Bianca’s ear, and whispered quietly.
“Before I rip off those precious ears and tail of yours and present them to His Majesty the Emperor, keep your hands off my Guide. Did you understand?”
His voice, cold enough to seem as if it could cut off her ears, was so chilling that Bianca even felt a shiver run through her. It wasn’t as though she’d never been threatened by an Esper before, but this was frightening.
In Leonis, there were many Guides, and anyone of a different race was easily ostracized. After coming to a place like this, where Guides were rare, she had been treated like a goddess.
She had only just begun to taste that addictively sweet power… now she’d have to share it.
But Bianca could no longer answer Calix. It was a threat from someone who, somehow, had figured out her true identity.
Besides, you could never afford to provoke an Esper who called someone “my Guide” and showed such possessiveness. It could really cost you your life.
The only card left for her to play was one.
“If you do that, His Majesty the Emperor might have you killed, you know?”
This was her trump card. But Calix merely scoffed, his face full of mockery, and shot back with a short retort.
“If he can kill me, let him try.”
At his confident words, Bianca broke out in a cold sweat. For an Esper, who was tied to the life and death of their Guide, the only one they treated with even more instinct than their own Guide was a superior Esper.
In that sense, the hierarchy of power and ability was as clear-cut as with any beastkin. Luke’s abilities as an Esper might have been outstanding, but Bianca wondered if it was all glory of the past.
Calix looked down at Bianca, who had lost all color in her face, and spoke his final words before disappearing.
“Please, at least, be kind to the one who will become your ‘daughter-in-law’, Your Majesty.”
Even as he said it, Calix couldn’t help but think.
Oh, what a truly messed up family tree this was.
Discussion
0 CommentsReactions
No comments yet.