CH:24
At last, the carriage carrying Amelia came to a stop in front of the temple.
They had been traveling for three full days.
“You’ve worked hard.”
Louis could no longer hide his exhaustion as he sat opposite her, just before the coachman knocked to ask if he could open the door.
“Open it.”
As soon as Louis gave the order, the carriage door swung open. Beyond it, Aaron was waiting and reached out his hand instead of the coachman. Louis casually took her cousin’s escort and stepped down first from the carriage.
“Priestess, what’s with the baby?”
Aaron, who turned his gaze to Amelia still awkwardly seated in the carriage with Ian in her arms, looked surprised. It was an absurd display of feigned ignorance—he was someone who definitely knew the child’s identity.
“Don’t tell me…”
“There was a newborn abandoned by the roadside. You’re not the type to ignore something like that, are you?”
Louis replied as if the question was foolish. Before Amelia could even open her mouth, the story was thus fabricated—and turned into fact.
“You couldn’t bring yourself to ignore another pitiful child, I see.”
A look of admiration and emotion flickered across Aaron’s face. His performance was so convincing that Amelia almost felt mocked.
“There are many here who can be companions for the child. You did well to bring them.”
Aaron even reached out as if to take the child from her. Amelia reflexively shrank back, making sure Ian stayed out of his reach.
“…I’d like to care for him a little longer.”
A chilling glint briefly passed through the smiling man’s eyes. Amelia instinctively licked her lips and offered an excuse.
“You must have grown attached during the journey.”
Aaron nodded as if he understood.
“You must be tired. Let’s go inside. I’ll personally escort you.”
She wanted to refuse. But she couldn’t very well reject Aaron’s escort in front of everyone. That was the result of years of indoctrination—and a habit ingrained into her body.
“Since the priestess has returned safely, everyone, return to your duties.”
Aaron turned and dismissed those who had come to greet them. Then, like Moses parting the Red Sea, he walked forward through the split crowd. Amelia followed him like livestock being led to slaughter.
In that moment, Amelia had only one wish—that the walk back to her quarters would last forever. But of course, that was impossible.
“Is the child truly that charming?”
They had just entered the reception room attached to her bedchamber when Aaron asked. Amelia was still cradling the baby tightly.
“Well, they say people are instinctively drawn to the young.”
She couldn’t let her guard down. Amelia remained tense, unsure when Aaron might suddenly try to take the child. Even as he spoke so nonchalantly, she couldn’t relax.
“I want to rest. Please, leave now.”
She couldn’t even go to the bathroom while Aaron and Louis were around. Amelia pulled Ian even closer and turned slightly away from Aaron. She pretended to be composed, but her fingertips holding the child trembled faintly.
“As you wish.”
Was he really going to leave? A faint glimmer of hope returned to Amelia’s face.
“Once you’ve answered one of my questions.”
Aaron crushed that hope in an instant. Amelia swallowed hard, feeling her throat tighten.
“I hear you haven’t let anyone touch the baby.”
“Because I didn’t want them to.”
Amelia lifted her chin proudly as she replied.
“You or Louis—either way, I didn’t want either of you laying hands on my child. What’s wrong with that? It’s not like we’re close enough to laugh and chat together.”
She exposed the awkwardness of their relationship, justifying her own actions. Louis frowned reflexively, while Aaron only nodded calmly, as if he could see her point.
“That could be true. I hadn’t considered that.”
Aaron didn’t say he couldn’t consider it—he said he hadn’t. There was only a one-letter difference in those words, but they clearly revealed how they viewed her.
She was merely someone to be monitored and used. Even the right to speak back was something allowed by them. The hierarchy was clear.
“I have one more question.”
His tone suggested the rest didn’t matter.
“I hear you wouldn’t even let Louis get a proper look at the child.”
“Louis saw me holding the baby plenty of times.”
Amelia snapped back. Indeed, Louis hadn’t touched Ian, but he had seen him and heard him cry.
“And the midwife must’ve told you everything—gender, features, all of it.”
It was her last desperate attempt. Throughout the confrontation, all Amelia wanted was to survive this moment. If she could just get through it, she would find a way to whisk the baby away.
“I don’t know what you’re so curious about.”
Amelia was now a mother. Just like her own mother, who had once desperately tried to send her beyond these walls. Amelia wasn’t going to just sit and wait for someone to save her again.
“Ah, the midwife.”
Aaron let out a sigh, as though remembering something forgotten.
“Well, she’s dead now, so I doubt she’ll be telling us anything.”
Amelia flinched. The woman who had kindly assisted her through childbirth, who had promised to help her hide the baby’s gender. And now, even though the secret wasn’t out yet, she was already dead?
“You killed her?”
“There’s only one person in this world with black hair and black eyes—you, Amelia Escliffe.”
Even if no one knew she was the priestess now, someone might learn the truth. And they couldn’t risk leaving loose ends. That was what Aaron was really saying. Amelia was too stunned to speak, her lips trembling. She instinctively realized now—many names that had vanished from her life, many forgotten faces, had likely disappeared this same way.
“Well, before she died, she did say some things. That’s why I believed the baby was a black-haired, black-eyed girl.”
“…”
“But Louis says he saw blond hair.”
Aaron didn’t care about Amelia’s shock. And honestly, it wasn’t surprising—he had always controlled and trampled her like this, as if her sorrow brought him joy.
“Show me the baby’s hair.”
It was phrased like a request, but it was an order. Louis stood silently beside his cousin, watching it all unfold—without a trace of guilt or regret.
“If there’s nothing to hide, there’s no reason not to show it, right?”
Amelia instinctively took a step back. At the same time, the last layer of Aaron’s feigned calmness peeled away.
“N-No…!”
She wanted to run. Amelia turned and grabbed the doorknob, but Aaron was faster—he reached her before she could open the door.
“No!”
She screamed in panic, but Aaron didn’t care. He pulled the baby from her arms. Her chest felt empty—no, cold—from the sudden loss.
“…Blond.”
The first thing Aaron did was remove the hat covering the baby’s head. The small hat, meant to keep the baby warm, fell limply to the floor, revealing Ian’s hair.
Golden blonde, just like his father.
“My god…”
Even Louis was left speechless. In truth, he had been suspicious and had informed Aaron. But he had hoped—prayed—that what he saw was just a trick of the light. It wasn’t.
“That bastard?”
Aaron spat the words with venom. He wasn’t completely sure. He didn’t know the exact appearance of the man Amelia had met. Only the vivid blond hair under a hood remained in his memory.
But Amelia began to tremble, as if confirming his suspicion.
“When did you sneak off and have your fun?”
Aaron shook the baby’s tiny body with one hand as if he might toss him away. Louis, alarmed, rushed forward and took the baby from him.
“Louis, check the child’s gender too.”
“…What?”
“Undress him. If she went as far as to hide his hair, she might have hidden the gender too.”
Nervously, Louis laid Ian on the table and unwrapped the cloth swaddling his body. Soon, the baby’s naked form was revealed. As expected, Ian had the characteristics of a boy.
“Take him away, Louis.”
“W-Where…?”
Louis asked, fumbling with the baby’s clothes.
“It doesn’t matter. He’s going to die anyway.”
Amelia’s face went completely pale. Aaron twisted his lips, watching her expression.
“P-Please!”
“…”
“Just… save the baby. I don’t even have to raise him.”
Amelia dropped to her knees and begged, pleaded. The boldness she had shown while standing up to Aaron was gone, swept away like sand in the tide.
“I said get rid of that useless thing, Louis.”
Aaron gritted his teeth and ordered. Louis was about to walk off with Ian when—
“This is a sacred place where no one is permitted entry without permission!”
There was commotion in the corridor leading to Amelia’s chamber. Someone had barged in, and the guards didn’t seem able to stop him easily.
“Louis.”
Aaron, moments ago boiling with rage, instantly calmed. With a flick of his eyes toward the chamber, Louis took the hint and quickly slipped inside with the baby. Meanwhile, Aaron silently pulled Amelia to her feet.
“Even if you are His Majesty the Emperor…!”
“Out of my way.”
At that moment, the door burst open—and the intruder appeared.
His name was Ivan Wade Escliffe. A man of dazzling beauty with radiant honey-blonde hair and gemlike green eyes, shining like the sun.
