Chapter 38
“The One Who Will Save Me and Kill You”
Carriaire realized that Heidi Eliana was a woman who showed her emotions far more easily than he had imagined.
When she learned that tea time would be in the bedroom instead of the office, her face clearly showed her frustration. And when he escorted her back to her room afterward—as if locking her in—she couldn’t hide it either.
“…It’s less than twenty steps from this tea table to my room.”
“Even if it’s only one step, a gentleman should escort a lady.”
Heidi frowned deeply at his teasing words, then stormed inside without a reply, slamming the door shut behind her.
“Is she naïve… or just honest?”
Carriaire’s gaze shifted from the closed door to the sealed letter on his desk.
It bore the crest of the Piace family—Crocan Piace.
Crocan was ambitious and shrewd; he never acted without gaining something. Carriaire doubted Crocan would join his plan only for the promised Remstone.
He sliced the envelope open with a letter opener. On the small piece of paper inside were brief words:
“The flower’s stamen is sure the flower is already broken. The stamen searched the hive many times to find the broken flower, but the bee has not moved.”
What does this mean?
Was Crocan Piace saying that even though he knew Heidi Eliana had been kidnapped, Delphian still wasn’t taking any action?
But even after Count Eliana went directly to Delphian at the Imperial Palace, begging him to save his daughter?
Carriaire couldn’t believe it. He opened another unopened letter:
“The bee is currently searching for another flower. It resembles the broken flower, but it’s not the same. This new flower blooms where the snake coils.”
Carriaire’s eyes sharpened. Suddenly, he remembered something he’d forgotten.
“Yesterday, Father told me this. No one in this house will trouble me anymore.”
“He said so himself—the father you trust more than anyone.”
“Lady Rebellia!”
“Rebellia Piace…”
Both letters pointed to one thing:
His carefully planned scheme had completely fallen apart.
But Carriaire’s gaze returned to the closed door.
“He’ll come. The moment Delphian Zeros realizes Heidi Eliana is here, he will come without fail.”
Even though his ten-year plan was ruined, what surfaced first was not anger but the memory of Heidi’s eyes—eyes full of unwavering trust in Delphian Zeros.
Just then, the door that had been firmly closed opened with a quiet knock.
I had expected tea time would be brief and held in the office, but Carriaire had thrown me off completely.
I looked at May, who was just as startled, then back at Carriaire.
From his calm expression, I knew this was all his doing.
“But… May said Your Grace usually has tea in the office…”
“I invited you. I couldn’t work while you sat there waiting alone.”
Yet, contrary to his words, Carriaire said nothing throughout the tea time.
After the silent hour, he stood and escorted me directly to my door—less than twenty steps away from the tea table.
“…It’s not even twenty steps from here to my room.”
“Even one step deserves a gentleman’s escort.”
“Looks like Carriaire is definitely trying to keep an eye on me…”
I slumped to the floor in frustration.
Despite pressing my ear to the thin wooden door, I couldn’t hear a single sound from the other side.
“Well, of course. He’s not going to mutter his plans to himself for me to overhear.”
I glared at the door as if it were Carriaire himself.
“Yes, I believed that once I got out of Zeros, everything would flow like in the original story… but honestly, who wouldn’t think that? Heidi was so lovable, and Delphian—he looked like he adored her more than anything!”
I had seen it with my own eyes. That’s why I thought all I had to do was make Delphian believe Heidi had been kidnapped.
“Aagh, so annoying!”
I ruffled my hair in frustration and dropped my head.
“Would it have been easier if I didn’t know anything?”
But then I shook my head. No—if I knew nothing, it would’ve just been an instant death ending.
I stood, dusted myself off, and tried to think straight.
There was still one thing I couldn’t understand from what Laperre had said:
Carriaire must have told Delphian about Heidi’s kidnapping. And if Delphian had seen Heidi next to me, he would’ve wanted to know what was happening…
“Delphian may be foolishly in love with Heidi, but he’s not so stupid he wouldn’t grasp this situation. Is something happening in Zeros that I don’t know about?”
I bit my lip, pushing the doubts away.
I didn’t have a book that could tell me the entire story from a distance. I couldn’t call Laperre to instantly figure out what was going on.
Right now, there was only one way to understand the situation.
“Face it head-on.”
I knocked softly on the door. After counting to three, I slowly opened it and met Carriaire’s eyes.
“Your Grace, may I speak with you for a moment?”
Carriaire simply looked at me without answering.
“…?”
I had expected him to reply right away, but his silence threw me off.
“It won’t take long, I promise! Just a moment of your time—”
“Alright.”
“…Huh?”
“I’m curious. What is it you want to tell me at this late hour?”
His voice was calm, but for some reason, my face burned red.
I cleared my throat awkwardly and stepped into his room.
He was sitting at the desk in the corner, watching me.
“I… I hope I’m not disturbing your work.”
“It’s too late to be saying that now.”
He let out a quiet laugh at my nervous words.
Unable to approach the desk, I sat at the tea table instead.
During tea time, he had been dressed in full uniform, but now he wore a simple white tunic.
“God… he really is unfairly good-looking.”
The moonlight spilled over his sharp, stoic face. Even with that cold expression, he looked stunning.
“…?”
Then I noticed a glass of alcohol on his desk.
At that moment, Laperre’s words from earlier came back to me:
“Carriaire’s most precious person was Zion. He spent the past ten years enduring only one thought: to make Delphian feel the pain of losing the one he loves most.”
“So…”
His low voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
“…Yes?”
“So, what is it you wanted to tell me at this late hour?”
Pull yourself together!
Carriaire waited patiently, and when our eyes met, the words just slipped out on their own.
“Don’t drink alcohol.”
“…What?”
“When you can’t sleep, warm milk is better than alcohol.”
“…?”
“That’s… that’s all I wanted to say.”
I stood up and bowed quickly before he could stop me, then darted back into my room.
I leaned against the door and slid down to the floor.
I couldn’t ask.
I couldn’t ask if Delphian Zeros—the one who was supposed to save me and kill him—still hadn’t sent any word.
Because Carriaire, who still mourned his brother Zion after ten long years, reminded me too much of…
…myself, who still longed for the mother that abandoned me.
