Chapter 94
* * *
Derek instinctively sensed that the Imperial Crown Prince had figured out Luna’s true identity. He also realized from Ilion’s previous appearance that something had been installed in the Crown Prince’s palace.
As proof, the Crown Prince hadn’t come to Lea’s palace lately. He hadn’t even left his own palace, which made things difficult for Derek.
He had a strong feeling that he couldn’t leave Lea in that place any longer.
“The rumors have already spread too far. What now?”
The rumor that Lea was a Guide had already circulated among the nobles in the capital. And not only that—the rumor was spreading across the entire Empire.
The capital rumors were Zion’s doing, but the ones spreading farther were Derek’s work. He had used the intelligence network he’d built himself.
“If only the Lady were present, everything would be certain.”
Because it was still just a rumor, the nobles hadn’t fully accepted it. The deeply rooted belief that the Empress was the only Guide still persisted among them.
What’s more, because of the rumor that the Empress was pregnant, her faction remained strong.
Derek couldn’t forget the image of Lea covered in blood. The sight of white bandages stained red still appeared in his nightmares from time to time.
He wanted to kill Bianca for what she had done to Lea.
But an Esper could not kill a Guide.
Partly because of the law, but more importantly, because there were many Espers who supported the Empress.
“I guess I have no choice.”
He hadn’t wanted to join forces with Zion unless absolutely necessary, but more than that, he hated the idea of Lea remaining in the Crown Prince’s palace even more. So he came down to the lobby to go meet Zion.
“Young Master Derek, are you heading out?”
The head butler approached and politely asked. And not just him—passing servants bowed to Derek on their own and offered him warm greetings.
They were all like puppets moving exactly as he had programmed them to, and Derek looked at them with the gaze of someone admiring his own creation.
“Derek, where are you off to in such a hurry?”
At that moment, the Marquess of Felitier was descending the stairs. Beside him was Derek’s older brother.
“I’m going to the Imperial Palace for a bit.”
“Then why don’t you come with us?”
“You’re heading to the palace too, Father?”
“Haha, I mentioned it before, but I must have forgotten. As you said, our family will no longer support Her Majesty the Empress.”
“That’s right. It was the first time you insisted on something so passionately—it really moved both me and Father.”
“…Ah, yes. So you’re going to meet Her Majesty the Empress?”
“Of course. The more final the farewell, the more polite one must be. Remember that.”
“You’ll need to get used to Father’s lectures. He’s always like this.”
“Yes, Brother.”
The nauseating words flowed out easily. Derek found it laughable to see his father and brother moving exactly as he had manipulated them, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed it.
Before meeting Lea, he might have shed tears of joy at receiving this kind of attention.
But not anymore. Now, there was only one person who could bring him joy.
With the hope that he could be of help to her, Derek put on a hollow smile.
“Then I’ll ride with you and Father.”
“Good. Shall we head out then?
Derek, you know, the other day…”
To an outsider, it would look like a heartwarming family scene—if not for Derek’s ice-cold blue eyes.
* * *
Lea let out a long yawn. Had she been in human form, she would never have done so in front of him, but she was gradually getting used to being a fox.
Would it be so bad to live out her life as a fox in the mountains?
Being a fox was surprisingly freeing.
She couldn’t leave and was chained up in the palace, so all sorts of thoughts kept popping into her head.
“Luna, want a cherry?”
“Kaang.”
But the one good thing was that she could look at Calix, who gave her his attention in such a relaxed manner.
Discussion
1 CommentShaira_Yu
If only I have spare money to buy coins, I’d want to binge read the chapters so bad huhuhu (つ╥﹏╥)つ
Thank you so much Translator-sama 💖💖💖