YWPWYLFDM 77

Chapter 77

“It’ll be a bit difficult… but, since it’s Your Majesty’s order, I’ll find a way to make it work.”

“You’re truly reliable. I’m glad you’re here.”

To anyone listening, it sounded like a conversation between an emperor and his vassal.

How absurd it was. Byron, who acted as if he had already ascended to the throne, trying to look dignified, and the man who called this fugitive “Your Majesty” and treated him with such deference—both were ridiculous to behold.

Eyla quietly turned the doorknob and opened the door. She wanted to listen more closely to their conversation.

“…It’s troublesome because a child was born.”

The man sighed. A child? Could this be the story Noah mentioned—her younger brother? Eyla pricked up her ears.

“Exactly. You’d have to be careful about bringing someone new in. After all, the nanny we trusted completely disappeared with the daughter.”

Byron chuckled softly and took a sip from his glass of liquor.

As she had expected, they were talking about the House of Vicehafen.

It seemed they were discussing the difficulty of sending Laura into the ducal household, now complicated by Noah’s birth.

“By the way, Your Majesty, what did you do back then? How on earth did you bribe the nanny…?”

In noble families, one would never entrust a child to a nanny unless she was completely trustworthy. The same went for Rodrick and Ophelia.

Yet Byron had somehow made such a loyal person betray them.

“…It wasn’t a bribe. I… threatened her. I kidnapped that nanny’s family,” he said.

And when the nanny brought Eyla along, he silenced both her and her family permanently to keep them quiet.

Byron laughed lightly, calling her a foolish woman.

Eyla, holding the doorknob as she listened, unconsciously tightened her grip.

How could someone be so cruel?

She had already heard from Winfred that the nanny had taken her away, but she had never imagined the details behind it. Thinking of a nanny and her family—whose faces she didn’t even remember—made her chest tighten. Even though they had separated her from her parents, they were also victims.

At that moment, the force in her hand made the doorknob squeak.

“…Did you hear that?”

“The sound? I didn’t hear anything. Maybe you imagined it?”

“No… I’m certain something came from the door…”

And, of course, the marquis heard it. A critical moment.

Eyla panicked and looked around. But there was nowhere to hide.

If she got caught eavesdropping now, she might truly die. Just imagining the curse over her body taking her breath away made her feel drained of all strength.

I mustn’t panic. I have to get out of here.

Even as she thought this, fear gripped her body, rendering her immobile.

As she braced herself for discovery, the door to the adjacent room suddenly swung open, and a rough hand pulled her inside.

It was Cloud.

“Clou—”

“Shh.”

Cloud pressed a finger to his lips, a complex expression crossing his face.

She didn’t understand the situation, but since Cloud had saved her from danger, she nodded and remained silent.

Outside, the marquis’s footsteps could be heard as he checked the surroundings.

Then, he knocked on the door behind which Eyla and Cloud were hiding.

Cloud, keeping Eyla in the shadows, cautiously opened the door and peeked out.

“…What is it, Marquis?”

“Didn’t you see anyone? My door was open. If someone had eavesdropped on the conversation with His Majesty…!”

His voice lowered, though his agitation showed.

“No, I didn’t notice anyone. It seems the door wasn’t properly closed when I left.”

“But there was definitely a squeak…”

“Probably just the wind,” Cloud said nonchalantly, lying with no trace of deceit on his impassive face.

“If a man like you, with heightened senses, felt nothing… then yes, maybe I was being too sensitive. Sleep well, then.”

The marquis nodded, calming himself. Cloud’s explanation seemed to have worked.

Eyla, meanwhile, reflected on what had just happened. How had she been noticed? Had she been careless out of anxiety? That carelessness had led Cloud to find her and the door to squeak. Whatever the reason, it was an irreparable mistake.

Once the marquis left, Cloud locked the door and slowly turned to look at Eyla.

She tried to calm her racing heart and stared back at him, still unsure of what exactly had just happened.

“…Why would you do such reckless things knowing you might get caught, Miss?”

Cloud spoke in a low, almost murmuring voice.

Miss.

Miss. Eyla snorted in bitter amusement without realizing it.

“‘Miss,’ am I? I’m the daughter of your enemy.”

“….”

Even though she revealed that he knew a secret she shouldn’t have known, Cloud’s stoic expression didn’t change. It was as if he already knew she had noticed.

“Not surprised, huh? You knew I knew?”

“…Yes, I suspected.”

Eyla felt her heart drop. Cloud had discovered everything.

“Since when?”

“…When you were unwell, you said strange things.”

That had been long ago.

Strangely, tears welled in her eyes. She let them fall freely, laughing hollowly.

“Then why didn’t you tell anyone? Why didn’t you rush to my ‘father,’ no, your ‘Emperor,’ and reveal everything?”

“…I don’t know.”

Cloud’s face contorted in pain at her sharp question.

He didn’t know. He didn’t understand why. The trump card he was supposed to use and discard had lost its usefulness, and he should have informed his master—but he couldn’t.

“You don’t know? Planning to betray Byron? What about your family’s grievances?”

Eyla barely realized what she was saying. The shock of Cloud knowing her secrets yet remaining silent made words spill uncontrollably.

“You knew more than I expected.”

“What does it matter? I’m already a dead woman. This curse… on my body…”

Fear overtook her, stopping her from speaking further.

Cloud held her life in his hands. If he ran to Byron and revealed the secret, she wouldn’t survive.

“I’m sorry, Miss.”

Cloud closed his eyes tightly, unable to look at her, wracked by guilt.

That such a small girl knew such a cruel truth weighed heavily on him.

“Don’t pity me!”

Cloud’s unfamiliar feeling angered her. She didn’t want pity from someone who had deceived her her whole life.

“How dare I pity you, Miss?”

Cloud carefully knelt before her. Once towering over her, he now had to look down to meet her eyes.

“You will not die. Nothing happened tonight, and there is nothing I need to report to my master.”

When Cloud opened his eyes, a single hot tear ran down his cheek.

“I am sorry. Forgive me not—for deceiving you, Miss.”

It was a sincere tear of repentance.

Eyla was left speechless. She had never imagined receiving an apology from someone who had ruined her life.

A hollow laugh escaped her. Could it have been this easy to get an apology?

She had grown up lonely, separated from her parents, eventually losing her father and almost her own life. Those memories were vivid…

Of course, one apology wouldn’t erase her resentment.

But…

To safely return to her parents, she needed Cloud’s cooperation. If he helped her, could she even continue to resent him?

“You’ll keep silent?”

“…Yes.”

“When I return, I’ll destroy everything you’ve orchestrated with my parents. What about your family? Laura, Capella? What of your brother’s enemy?”

Eyla pressed, still disbelieving. She wasn’t sure Cloud truly understood what keeping silent meant.

“Please, just save Laura. That child…”

Seeing Cloud plead for his niece, regardless of his own fate, stirred something inside Eyla.

It was both pitiful and revolting, a wave of nausea rising in her.

“…I have to return to my room. If I don’t hurry, Capella might notice.”

Eyla swallowed the rising nausea and spoke as calmly as she could.