CHAPTER 74……………………….
It was certainly a serious weakness, one that couldn’t be revealed carelessly.
I felt guilty, as though I had forcibly dragged out something too sensitive.
“What now… There’s no proper mental hospital or medicine here.”
Life must have been unbearably harsh for him.
Now that I thought about it, the Archduke still looked as though he was trembling from pushing himself too far.
His rudeness from five years ago was now completely forgiven.
“Yes, someone like Idd… I can trust him.”
When I first heard that Idd had cut open the thigh of the Kayhel assassination squad leader just to retrieve a ring, I had doubted him. But thinking back now, it wasn’t strange at all.
For the Archduke to have become a collector of mental illnesses, unimaginable things must have happened, and as his subordinate, Idd would have seen all sorts of horrors.
“Alright then. I leave it to you, Sir Mente.”
“It is an honor, Your Highness.”
I waved my hand dismissively.
Then I turned my gaze to the Archduke, who had kept his lips sealed tightly like a clam from the start.
“First, let me thank you for offering me shelter, Archduke.”
“……”
He gave a small shake of his head.
It seemed he was avoiding my gaze, and that irritated me. I had to keep reminding myself that he was a patient, treating him carefully.
“I may have time to spare right now, but you seem very busy. So I’ll get straight to the point.”
I used a bit of mind control, but my words still carried thorns.
Still, there was no reason to sugarcoat things during an important conversation.
Even if he was Idd’s superior.
I looked at the Archduke with cold eyes, making no effort to hide my distrust.
“You’ve kept yourself neutral all this time. Why take me in now? If it were the former Archduchess, Lady Priscilla, I could understand, but you’ve always gone to great lengths to avoid politics.”
“……”
As expected, the Archduke said nothing.
Instead, he gestured for Idd to come closer and whispered something.
Idd’s face twisted into a troubled expression that was hard to describe, but he answered in the Archduke’s stead.
“In truth, His Grace cares deeply for Ayla.”
“Ayla?”
“Yes. He said he wished to repay Your Highness for helping Ayla.”
How absurd.
Would he really throw himself into such a troublesome political battle simply because he cherished a subordinate’s child?
I couldn’t help but let out a short, mocking laugh.
“Let’s be honest. Can you really swear that my mother, Her Majesty, had no hand in this?”
“That is…”
Both of them sealed their lips shut.
I lowered my head and sighed deeply.
As I thought—the Emperor had intervened.
Well, at this point, if they were helping me, then I could only be grateful.
I pushed back the hair falling across my face and looked up again.
“Fine. That doesn’t matter anymore. Instead, I’ll ask something else.”
I turned back to the Archduke.
“You say you want to repay me?”
Of course, I knew he wouldn’t answer. Still, I asked.
“Then how far are you willing to go to help me?”
The Emperor’s support alone wasn’t enough.
I needed the Archduke if I wanted to return safely to the palace with Aslan.
“I have people I must take responsibility for.”
They could have abandoned me, securing peaceful lives for themselves—but instead, they followed me.
They had become my family. I couldn’t sacrifice their lives.
It must have been the same for the Archduke, because this time he didn’t whisper to Idd.
“Alright. I know you too have responsibilities, so I won’t force you. Providing me a safe haven is already more than I could ask. But if you aid in restoring me, I’ll solve one of your troubles in return.”
“A… trouble, Your Highness?”
Idd voiced the question in the Archduke’s place.
The Eckhardt Archduke’s household had no troubles.
They stayed away from politics, never entered high society.
Their land taxes alone were enough to keep them wealthy.
But while the household might have been without worries, the Archduke himself had one great problem.
“You want independence from Lady Priscilla, don’t you, Archduke?”
“……!”
His reaction screamed, How could you know that?
It wasn’t difficult.
When I first possessed this body, the Eckhardt Archduke was Lloyd.
And yet, I had seen far more of Priscilla’s face.
She claimed her son was lacking, so she appeared in his place. But in just a few conversations, I had noticed too many strange things.
It was obvious how someone with her personality would raise a child. The result was the masked oddity that was the Archduke.
“Even his mental illness must have been her doing.”
Politically strong, yes. But as a person, impossible to like.
Everything had to be perfect in her eyes.
If anything strayed from the mold she had set, she flew into a rage.
To her, the Archduke must have been nothing but a failure.
“With her stubbornness, she must have given up on him by now and pinned her hopes on a grandchild. But the Archduke is still unmarried.”
Lucky for me.
I brushed my hair back, exposing my ear.
The cat’s eye gem Idd had given me earlier shimmered beautifully in the light.
“Would you be willing to sell this gem?”
“Pardon?”
Perhaps it hadn’t become popular yet—it was still too early for that in the timeline.
Idd gave me a suspicious look, but I blinked innocently.
“Let’s sell it. It would be enough to shut Lady Priscilla’s mouth, don’t you think? A gemstone that looks like a cat’s eye. Isn’t it gorgeous? It would fetch any price.”
“Even if we wished to, we cannot. No one knows where it’s mined in the first place.”
Huh? Still at that stage?
Then where on earth had these earrings come from?
When I looked baffled, Idd dropped his voice, avoiding my eyes as he explained.
“This is the first cat’s eye ever discovered. Lady Priscilla ordered it to be discarded, saying it was unpleasant—too much like a cat’s eye. But His Grace secretly kept it and later gifted it to me.”
…Was he insane? He gave me something bestowed on him by his master—the very first cat’s eye?
I let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity.
Idd flushed, embarrassed, and hurried to explain.
“I-it was to show my gratitude…”
Good heavens.
I pressed my throbbing temples, while Idd, desperate to change the subject, went on.
“In any case, that was the first and last cat’s eye. Even if we wished to mine more, we don’t know where it came from.”
Fine. What mattered was that Priscilla had cast away her fortune with her own hands.
Had she known its true value, she never would have thrown it out.
Still, things seemed to be following the original timeline—the cat’s eye was destined to be sold.
My voice rose.
“Then let me tell you.”
“Pardon?”
“I said I’ll tell you. I know where it’s found.”
“How could Your Highness possibly know…?”
I cut off Idd’s curiosity and pressed him.
“Don’t ask about that. Just answer one thing.”
“What is it…?”
“Will you join hands with me—or not?”
As though to say, I have plenty of other business partners.
Of course, everyone knew I had nowhere else to go, so it was just bluster. Still, the offer was too tempting to ignore.
The Archduke and Idd exchanged glances, then both gave a small nod.
With a serious expression, Idd asked,
“What does Your Highness wish of us?”
“That is…”
At my reply, Idd’s pupils widened in shock.
Meanwhile, it wasn’t just the adults who had been preparing these past three days.
The mischievous children had been at it as well.
“Here, Ayla. This is the best spot to hear.”
Ayla placed her hand where Aslan pointed.
Just one wall separated them from where Minerva and the Archduke were speaking.
Please, don’t let Father make a mistake!
Ayla pressed her ear against the wall, praying desperately.
But no matter how long she waited, she couldn’t hear a thing.
Of course—she realized.
This wasn’t a hallway where sound echoed. Even in the next room, voices wouldn’t carry through.
And yet Aslan had his ear firmly pressed against the wall, concentrating intently.
“Aslan, can you hear something?”
“Mm. This is the best spot, I told you.”
“I can’t hear anything. Tell me too.”
“Mm, leave it to me!”
Aslan turned his focus back to the voices beyond the wall.
Hoping she might catch something too, Ayla pressed herself right beside him.
But still, nothing. She was about to sigh in disappointment when—
“Ah, ah… Ayla.”
Aslan suddenly stammered, yanking her back in a panic.
His face had gone pale.
For Aslan to react like this, it had to be something serious.
A chill drained the blood from her body.
“W-what is it? What did Father say?”
Had they been discovered already? After all that practice?
Ayla grabbed Aslan’s sleeve unconsciously, urging him to speak.
His eyes trembled as he forced out the words.
“M-mother…”
“Mother?”
Had his wife slapped Father?
Had she confessed to deceiving him all along?
Countless wild thoughts spun in Ayla’s mind.
“Mother… Mother…”
Gulp. Ayla swallowed hard, the sound unnaturally loud in the silence.
Finally, Aslan blurted it out and collapsed onto the floor.
“Mother told the Archduke she wants to marry him.”
