PLMYP 23

Chapter 23 —

The head guard stood in front of the completely stopped carriage and cleared his throat with a cough. Then he politely knocked on the carriage wall.

“Excuse me, Marquis Blair. We’ll be opening the carriage door for a moment.”

“Go ahead.”

Because only approved people could enter or exit, every carriage had to be inspected when passing through the main gate of the Imperial Palace — both when entering and leaving.

The only exception was the Emperor’s carriage.

“Just like before, we’ve confirmed that only Marquis Blair and Count Elpheus are inside.”

The head guard glanced through the carriage and said no more.

That was it. The inspection was over — and Lloyd was shocked. He knew very well that the guard inspections were never this easy.

“What kind of inspection is this… Ugh!”

“We’re performing official duties. Please don’t interfere.”

A knight coldly pushed Lloyd back. His eyes were icy, full of annoyance, as if Lloyd was nothing more than a bother.

That’s when Lloyd finally realized — he had truly become a nobody.

‘Why? Why is this happening? What did I do wrong?’

He couldn’t understand. He had never done anything bad enough to deserve this treatment — especially not to the Emperor.

How could he have, when he had never even seen the Emperor up close?

“What’s going on over there? Isn’t that the young lord of the Matthias family? Why isn’t he going inside?”

“Oh, it’s nothing serious. That man has been banned from entering the Imperial Palace starting today. But he kept begging us to let him in, so we were kicking him out.”

“Oh dear. What did he do to get banned from the palace?”

“I don’t know the details, but His Majesty was extremely angry. He must have committed some serious disrespect.”

“Oh my. If it were me, I’d be so embarrassed I’d go straight home. What kind of nerve does he have to keep asking to be let in?”

“My thoughts exactly.”

The head guard and Irenea laughed together, chatting like Lloyd wasn’t even there.

Lloyd’s face turned red from the shame, and he trembled with fury.

What hurt him the most was the presence of Leonard, sitting next to Irenea in the carriage and looking down at him.

“…Now I understand. I didn’t know what was happening, but I get it now. Leonard Elpheus! It’s you again! You’re the one always holding me back!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Leonard replied coldly.

Then he turned away and spoke softly to Irenea, clearly done with Lloyd.

“What a waste of time. Let’s go home.”

“Shall we?”

Irenea smiled sweetly at Leonard and gestured at the head guard that they were ready to leave.

The head guard nodded and moved to close the carriage door himself.

Just then, Lloyd suddenly let out a bitter, angry laugh.

“You pathetic coward! You’re not even capable on your own, so you cling to a woman like a leech and whisper in her ear like a pillow talker? Leonard Elpheus! Don’t you have any pride as a man?”

“Wow, you sure talk a lot when you’re jealous.”

“What… what did you say?!”

Leonard finally looked at Lloyd. From his seat in the carriage, he naturally looked down on him — his eyes full of pity.

“You think if you insult me like that, my fiancée will look at you again? You’re pathetic, desperately begging for a single glance.”

Leonard shook his head and muttered in a voice everyone could hear, even though he sounded like he was talking to himself.

“Not even ashamed of being dumped? If it were me, I couldn’t even show my face.”

At least two people snorted. One was definitely the head guard.

Lloyd’s face was now so red it looked like it might explode.

“W-W-What?! Who said I got dumped?!”

“Now you feel embarrassed, huh?”

“Rey, that’s enough. I’m sure Young Lord Matthias still has some pride left,” Irenea said.

Though she pretended to stop Leonard, her words made it worse. And her next words were even more biting.

“Sorry about last time. But I prefer strong men who can protect me.”

As if proving her point, she leaned on Leonard’s shoulder and held his arm.

“Good thing your broken nose healed well. Your face looks fine, so I’m sure you’ll find another fiancée soon. Cheer up!”

With that sarcastic ‘cheer,’ the Blair family carriage slowly rolled away.

Lloyd stood there, staring at the retreating carriage. He only came back to his senses when the door shut behind it.

“W-Wait…!”

“This is your final warning. Keep bothering us, and we’ll have to take you to jail.”

“If you want to get into the palace that badly, go ahead and cause more trouble.”

The guards all looked at Lloyd with clear disappointment in their eyes.

‘That guy could’ve been one of us?’

‘There really must’ve been something shady going on.’

Someone nearby even whispered that.

Lloyd shook with humiliation, but he couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t throw a glove or start a fight with the guards at the palace gate.

‘Damn it, damn it, damn it…! Leonard Elpheus…!’

How could some nobody come out of nowhere and ruin his life like this?

Lloyd cursed Leonard in his mind as he returned home in shame.

And when his father heard that the Emperor had banned him from the palace, he ordered Lloyd into house arrest.

Just like the Second Prince, who had also gotten into serious trouble with the Emperor.

---

Inside the moving carriage, Irenea glanced out the window and let out a quiet “hmph.”

‘So Lloyd Matthias is banned from entering the palace…’

That could only mean one thing: Lloyd had been kicked out of the Second Prince’s circle. You couldn’t be a close aide to the prince if you couldn’t even enter the palace.

‘Poor guy. Even the old rope he was clinging to snapped.’

Lloyd had originally been the top graduate of the military academy and was supposed to join the Imperial Knights.

But after losing miserably to Leonard in a duel, people began to doubt whether he was truly top of his class — and his entry into the Knights was canceled.

Then the Crown Princess’s inspection team investigated the academy. Several teachers were exposed for taking bribes and manipulating grades or allowing nobles to bully commoners.

However, there was no corruption found in the final exams.

So Lloyd really had earned the top spot on his own.

Even so, his canceled knight appointment wasn’t reinstated.

Now he was a graduate from the military academy, but dishonored. That left him with very few options.

And now, on top of that, he had angered the Emperor.

‘If it were me, I’d just go back to my territory and live quietly like I was dead.’

Who knows? If he did well in managing his land or succeeded in business, maybe the Emperor would take notice again.

‘Too bad he’s not capable of that.’

As Irenea smirked, remembering Lloyd’s disgraceful ending in the past, Leonard — also lost in thought — suddenly asked the coachman a question.

“Where are we headed now?”

“Home, of course. Oh, but we need to pick up our things. I’ll tell him to go to Ivy Street first.”

Irenea knocked on the wall to change their destination. The coachman nodded and turned the carriage.

Just then, Leonard spoke with an apologetic expression.

“By the way, I forgot to mention something. I need to go to the Miles County to repay a debt.”

“Oh…”

Don’t go.

Irenea almost said it out loud.

She knew what would happen at the Elpheus estate while Leonard was away repaying that debt.

“Do you really have to go yourself? Can’t someone else do it?”

“The deadline’s too close. It’s risky to send someone else. They’ve already extended it multiple times, and this is the final deadline.”

Elpheus had to repay this time, no matter what.

If not, it would prove that Elpheus couldn’t pay its debts, and the Miles family would have the right to take anything they wanted in repayment.

In the past, thanks to the Second Prince and Lloyd’s schemes, Leonard had been forced to auction off a family heirloom and still couldn’t repay the debt.

Back then, the Count of Miles demanded something else: Zenith.

More specifically, her dowry — he wanted to take that in place of the debt.

‘I can’t stop Rey here.’

Paying the debt had to come first.

With a small sigh, Irenea smiled at Leonard.

“Well, it can’t be helped. A round trip to Miles County from here takes about ten days, right?”

“I should get there in three days, so I’ll be back sooner than that.”

“Don’t overwork yourself. You can’t get hurt, not even a little. You still have to marry me in a month.”

After saying that, Irenea leaned forward slightly and puckered her lips toward Leonard.

She thought he would naturally kiss her — but Leonard just blinked awkwardly, looking surprised.

She was secretly flustered.

‘Ah. That was a mistake.’

She had slipped back into old habits with Leonard so close by.

Luckily, she had a perfect poker face as a businesswoman.

Without showing a hint of her embarrassment, Irenea asked him boldly:

“What are you waiting for?”

“What do you mean…?”

“You know what I mean.”

She wrapped her arms around Leonard’s waist to keep him from escaping and leaned in again, lips puckered, eyes closed.

 

“You must not have read the agreement properly. If we’re going to be apart for more than a day, we have to share a goodbye kiss.”