Chapter 10
Thump, thump, thump.
My heart felt like it was going to burst from how close Etias was.
“…Your Highness.”
Etias kept staring at me with his eyebrows slightly furrowed.
Even at this moment, as I lowered my eyes under his intense gaze, I found myself looking at his lips.
How can even his lips be this beautiful?
Hmm. Just as I started to feel a bit shy—
“…The documents.”
His lips moved and let out a dangerously low voice.
“Did they really burn?”
At those words, my body flinched, and I looked into Etias’ eyes again.
His deep blue eyes were filled with complicated emotions and suspicion.
“…The Duke Elemoer’s top-secret documents.”
“…!”
My eyes trembled slightly, no longer calm.
He seemed certain that the documents were secret records related to him.
“They must’ve been stored very carefully.”
As someone who inherited Catrin Elemoer’s memories, I had gone straight to the Duke’s study even before the funeral ended.
I opened the fireproof and waterproof safe, took them out myself, and burned them.
There was no hesitation at all.
Helping my soaking-wet, baby-cat Etias succeed in the revolution, fix the ending of <Star of the Revolution>, and return to my real world—that was my goal.
Don’t worry, you are the most precious thing to me.
Swallowing the words I couldn’t say, I looked at him with shaking eyes. His brows twitched slightly.
Soon, his blue eyes looked a bit confused, flickering with emotion.
I slowly opened my mouth.
“…I don’t know what connection Your Highness has with my family’s top-secret documents…”
His eyes held a mix of emotions.
I stared straight into his eyes and said firmly:
“Every single one of them was completely burned. Not a single piece was left.”
So don’t worry. Stress is bad for your health! Your HP will drop, your heart meter will fall!
“….”
For Etias, who was responsible for the entire revolutionary army, just the idea that those documents had fallen into Duke Elemoer’s hands must have been a nightmare.
“If you’re still curious, Your Highness can personally visit the Elemoer estate and check.”
I forced a shrug and acted calm.
“So could you please move these log-like arms of yours?”
Finally, perhaps feeling the sincerity in my words, his hands slowly moved away from the pillar around me.
You were really worried, huh.
Others might see him as a strong and reliable man.
But whether it was due to harsh training or poor nutrition, I couldn’t take my eyes off his dry, brittle fingernails.
Etias’ sharp blue eyes trembled as he watched Catrin walk away, her expression stiff like she was very uncomfortable.
The edge of her red dress, like something out of a fairytale, lingered in his mind long after she was gone.
He slowly raised a hand to his forehead.
Even in the cold night wind, he could feel a strange heat rising from somewhere deep inside him.
Was she always this unpredictable?
Still, considering her constant hostility, it didn’t seem like she burned the documents out of kindness toward him.
She clearly doesn’t know what was in them. If she did, she would’ve taken them straight to the Emperor.
And yet—
“…”
His lips moved slightly as he stood there blankly.
“…Etias… she called me that?”
The shadow of the moon, which had been covering his face, shifted with the wind. The light became a little brighter and softly lit up his sharp features.
“…Unbelievable.”
The hand that had been covering his forehead slid down over his eyes.
He didn’t remove it until a long moment passed, then finally began to walk.
His eyes, which had been shaking wildly before, gradually calmed.
“…”
He stopped in front of a shabby carriage.
Turning back, he looked at the imperial palace he had just left with cold eyes.
Everything he had lost.
And everything he needed to get back.
“…”
Standing tall, he turned his gaze and opened the carriage door.
But when he saw something someone had placed inside, a wrinkle formed on his forehead.
***
Philios Regalo, dragged by the soldiers, was thrown down in front of the Emperor.
He turned pale and dropped to his knees.
“T-this… This can’t be true! The servant we bribed clearly said that Lady Elemoer placed something very important in the prince’s carriage…!”
The Emperor frowned uncomfortably as he looked down at the groveling Philios.
“Oh, she placed plenty of it, that’s for sure.”
“R-really? Then—it must be money! Lady Elemoer must have funded the prince with a huge amount and betrayed Your Majesty—”
But Philios’ excited explanation was cut short as something smacked into his face.
“…”
What flew at him and blocked his vision was nothing but a piece of paper.
“Read it.”
At the Emperor’s cold voice, Philios raised a shaking hand and read it aloud.
“…!”
So this… this is what Lady Elemoer’s servant loaded into the prince’s carriage?
But it was…
<February 7 – Grand Opening of the Sistina Shelter! You’re invited to the opening event!>
“…”
“This is what Lady Elemoer put in the prince’s carriage,” the Emperor said.
Philios’ eyes shook like an earthquake.
He couldn’t believe it and read the flyer again.
<Join the three-month Sistina Shelter campaign. Citizens who bring this flyer will receive a bag of food and a sleeping kit for comfort even on dirty streets.>
“…”
Philios was completely stunned.
Front or back, it was clearly just a shelter flyer.
The Emperor raised his chin and crossed his legs.
“Lady Elemoer’s talent has exceeded expectations. She may even surpass her father.”
Philios flinched at the Emperor’s words, which sounded like praise for Catrin.
“Stuffing a poor prince’s carriage with piles of shelter flyers—what better mockery is there? The shame must be unbearable.”
The Emperor spoke with admiration.
“Even among those who call themselves my loyal subjects, none have been this bold in making the prince miserable.”
Even if he was the imperial disgrace, the prince was still under the watchful eyes of the council, and nobles had reputations to maintain.
But Catrin Elemoer was different.
“Can’t you feel the malice? A very low, cunning kind of malice.”
Pfft—
The corner of the Emperor’s mouth curled up in satisfaction.
The prince must have found that carriage full of shelter flyers. Maybe a crack appeared in his usually calm brow.
Maybe he even threw them away in frustration and sank into despair again.
“Y-Your Majesty…”
The more pleased the Emperor looked, the more flustered Philios became.
He had tried to ruin Catrin, but ended up making the Emperor trust her more.
Then the Emperor’s cold eyes fell on Philios.
“Catrin Elemoer is the ‘real deal.’ Not like a fool like you.”
“H-hiiik…!”
“Guards.”
At the Emperor’s signal, the soldiers stood next to Philios again.
“For wasting the golden time of the Emperor, lock this fool in the underground prison.”
“Y-Your Majesty!”
Philios, pale-faced, struggled, but the soldiers grabbed him roughly and dragged him away.
Left behind was only the crumpled shelter flyer.
***
“He never fails to meet expectations. That idiot.”
I saw a familiar figure being dragged away by soldiers.
With a faint smile, I stepped into my carriage.
Heroth took my hand and lifted the hem of my full dress to help me inside.
“You seem to be in a good mood, my lady.”
Watching the scenery pass by outside, I said,
“Give a proper reward to the servant who pretended to be bribed by House Regalo and passed along the message.”
I had expected Philios to try using his well-connected mother to smear me if he couldn’t bribe the press.
That’s just how low and pathetic he was.
So I had fed him false information on purpose, and thanks to that, I wouldn’t be bothered by him for a while.
“Understood, my lady.”
