Chapter 28 – If You Want

   

TL: Kay (kkrivulet)

“Nothing changes. I am still going to welcome her as the Grand Duchess.”

Cabellenus, who noticed Gazeff’s uneasy gaze, said firmly.

“……Are you sure you will be okay?”

“It’s not like Schwarhan’s master to keep his head down on a problem that has not happened yet.”

[T/N: To “keep your head down” means to avoid trouble or involvement in a difficult/dangerous situation by behaving quietly in hopes that people do not notice you.]

“I beg your pardon. I dared to worry about the lord.”

At his superior’s arrogant smile, Gazeff realised his mistake and quickly bowed his head.

He was worried just in case, but in fact, it was ridiculous.

Cabellenus, who Gazeff had seen so far, had always been a man who made the impossible possible.

Something like fear did not suit him.

“Even so, it is always better to eliminate bothersome things wherever possible.”

Even if she did not cause problems, Alicia had a lot of useless thoughts. It was better not to leave room for trouble.

“What shall we do, then?”

“I need to erase Alicia’s traces.”

“What do you mean by ‘erase’?”

“Princess Neinstein is said to have died here. Additionally, we will need to erase all the information about her.”

Cabellenus’s eyes shone sharply like a beast biting the neck of his prey.

“Then, the lady…”

“Unfortunately, or fortunately, Alicia does not have the appearance of a Neinstein.”

“It would be good to generate rumours that stand out.”

“Can you do it?”

“Of course.”

Gazeff grinned triumphantly. From the moment Cabellenus spoke, there was already a perfect plan in Gazeff’s head.

“After erasing all the information related to the lady, we will make it look like she died. Then we can let the servants witness it, which will make them into witnesses who will then spread the rumours.”

Alicia was a celebrity in Neinstein.

It was safer to take advantage of her fame rather than to try to erase her presence unconditionally.

“There’s going to be a lot of noise.”

“It will remain intensely in people’s memories. And, as time goes by, people will forget about her, and in the end, there will only be fragmentary memories.”

Gazeff nodded briefly.

Cabellenus did not care much, but her status as a slave was a flaw in the first place.

It was not a bad thing to manipulate her identity, as it was more advantageous for Alicia to become the Grand Duchess if they could take off the label of a slave.

“Not bad.”

“However, if that happens, the identity of the lady will be ambiguous.”

After freeing Alicia from slavery, he planned to let her be adopted into a suitable family and then marry him, but that was before Gerpenus set forth the conditions that he had to fill.

Her identity was better off as a slave until Gerpenus approved of their marriage.

The requirements as the Grand Duchess of Schwarhen had to be severe as many others were aiming for the position.

There was no reason to put her in danger by placing her in the spotlight.

“I have no plans to drag out this issue for long anyway, so it’ll be fine.”

“Yes. I see. But…….”

Gazeff obscured his words and examined Cabellenus’s mood. Even though he knew it was an overpass of his authority, he could not help it.

The most important thing for Gazeff, a loyal servant, was his lord’s safety.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to inform His Majesty about the girl? If His Majesty knows about her powers, then such an offer for His Majesty is–”

“Because it’s His Majesty, that’s not possible.”

Cabellenus firmly cut Gazeff’s words.

Gerpenus loved his half-brother, Cabellenus.

Cabellenus knew better than anyone that his heart was not a lie.

However, that was also why Gerpenus should never discover Alicia’s identity.

If Alicia really had a special power, and Gerpenus found out, his choice would be obvious.

Cabellenus exhaled a short breath and lowered his eyes.

* * *

“Something happened, so you shall be leaving first.”

“By myself?”

“I’ll be sending Gazeff to accompany you, so don’t worry too much.”

“If Lord Gazeff comes with me, I won’t have to worry about anything, but…….”

“I thought I told you to break the habit of blurring the ends of your words.”

Cabellenus briefly clicked his tongue.

Although Alicia thought she had become more accustomed to asserting herself, she still had a habit of swallowing her words.

“It doesn’t matter what you say. So, don’t complicate it in your head, and just say it.”

Alicia glanced at Cabellenus and carefully moved her lips.

It was still strange and hard for her to express her thoughts, but she had no choice but to do so before Cabellenus.

The tenacious man did not hold back his stubbornness until he got what he wanted.

“……I feel sad at the thought of not being with Your Grace.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Pardon?”

In an instant, a redness spread across Alicia’s pale cheeks.

“Come here.”

Alicia hesitated and carefully entered Cabellenus’s embrace.

The man’s arms, which wrapped around her waist as if he had been waiting, was quite firm.

“Soon after you leave, I’ll join you right away. So, don’t look elsewhere for no reason.”

“Look elsewhere?”

“I’m telling you not to think of useless thoughts. You always seem to have a lot on your mind.”

Cabellenus slowly smoothed down her hair.

Unlike his rough hands, the man’s touch was very gentle and cautious, so it was always a wonder.

“You’ll be leaving within this month, so if you have any luggage to pack, let Gazeff know in advance and leave it to him.”

“I don’t really have anything to take with me…….”

“Again, you’re blurring the end of your words.”

Cabellenus raised his head briefly. Alicia pondered for a while and then carefully opened her mouth.

“……If you don’t mind, may I bring just one thing?”

“What is it?”

“I heard from Lord Gazeff that the royal family’s belongings are stored separately. I was wondering if I could take my items that are in the storage.”

Alicia’s voice grew smaller and smaller as she spoke, and by the end, it was barely audible. But that alone left a look of surprise on Cabellenus’s face.

It was a surprise that Alicia made a request.

“It’s nothing great. It’s just a few plain pieces of papers.”

Alicia, who misunderstood Cabellenus’s silence, hurriedly added.

“Calm down. As you said, it’s no big deal since it’s just a few plain sheets of papers. You don’t have to be so nervous. I’ll try to get it for you if that’s what you want.”

Cabellenus reassured the tense woman’s back with his palm.

Alicia carefully raised her head and looked at Cabellenus.

“Will it be okay?”

“It’s not difficult.”

Cabellenus’s eyes quickly glanced over her expression.

Alicia’s face was unusually excited.

It was fascinating, so Cabellenus immediately added the following words.

“Or, how about going to find it right now?”

“Now?”

“Not just a few sheets of paper, but you can check with your own eyes to see if you need anything else. Once we leave for Schwarhan, we will have very little chance to come back here.”

At Cabellenus’s favour, Alicia looked at him with a puzzled face.

“……Can I really go find it now?”

“If you want.”

A light smile spread over Cabellenus’s mouth. The mere fact that Alicia asked for something made him feel pretty good.

“I don’t want much. I just–”

“Then, you can hope for many things from now on.”

“…….”

“If you want, I can give you more than just a few sheets of paper.”

Cabellenus said, getting up from the bed with Alicia in his arms.

It was not difficult to hold a thin, light body.

On the contrary, he was happy that the woman wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I–I can walk on my own…….”

“I can’t understand what you’re talking about if you don’t say it properly.”

“…….”

“I’m telling you that if you have something to say, don’t look around and just say it. If you swallow it in your heart, you won’t be able to do anything in the end.”

Alicia’s face turned white at Cabellenus, who walked without hesitation.

At this rate, she would go out into the hallway while being held by Cabellenus.

Alicia chewed her lips as they approached closer and closer to the door and finally opened her mouth.

“……please, let me down.”

The voice was close to a whisper, but it was enough to stop Cabellenus from walking.

“See, it’s easy when you try.”

Cabellenus let Alicia go lightly.

Although it was regrettable that the warmth disappeared, the result was not bad.

“Come to my side, not behind me.”

Of course, there was room for improvement as she still naturally retreated to walk behind him.

Cabellenus slowed down, imagining how long it would take Alicia to become an acceptable Grand Duchess.

He had never walked in step with someone’s pace, but when he saw Alicia, who seemed too overwhelmed to follow his steps, he naturally slowed down.

And, for a long time, only the footsteps of the two rang out in the silence.

“Your Grace, how are you–”

“Open the door.”

At Cabellenus’s gesture, a soldier standing guard opened the closed door quickly and lit the lamp.

It was not until the light came on that he could see the condition of the room clearly.

The interior was not very clean, and the luggage was piled up roughly.

As soon as he confirmed the fact, Cabellenus immediately regretted it.

His emotions had previously taken over, so his thoughts were too short.

[T/N: The sentence refers to how Cabellenus noticed how excited Alicia was about retrieving the pieces of paper, so he suddenly suggested visiting the storage area for the royal family’s and without much thought.]

No matter how indifferent Alicia seemed, the Neinstein royals were her blood relatives, and the items in the room were their belongings.

“I’m afraid it’s too unreasonable to find it in this state. Tomorrow, at dawn, I’ll have someone…….”

Cabellenus frowned, unable to complete his words.

Since entering the room, Alicia had only looked at one place with a bewildered expression.

And the moment Cabellenus tried to call her name, her feet had already moved.

Tak, tak, tak–

Without stopping, her hands hastily opened and closed the furniture.

She was looking for something.

“Alicia.”

“Sorry, I’m sorry…….”

Alicia barely returned to her senses at Cabellenus’s call, looked back with a frightened face.

There were several crumpled sheets of papers in her hand.

Cabellenus approached Alicia with a frown on his forehead.

“What is that?”

“…….”

“Alicia.”

When Cabellenus called again, Alicia barely managed to look up at him.

Even though she had become better, the terrible memories popped out of nowhere, and it scared her and made her feel nervous reflexively.

But what stood before her eyes was Cabellenus, not Queen Neinstein.

There was no reason to be afraid.

After taking a deep breath, Alicia handed over the papers she was holding with her trembling hands to Cabellenus.

“……This is a portrait of my mother.”

“This picture? But this is…….”

Cabellenus frowned at the old parchment.

The paper that Alicia handed to him had words written on it, not a picture.

“The picture is on the back.”

As Alicia spoke, he turned the paper over and found a picture of a woman.

Cabellenus looked at the smiling woman in the picture and pondered for a moment on what to say.

It was not like him to hesitate, but when he saw Alicia’s reddened eyes, his mouth would not open.

“……she looks very similar to you.”

In the end, that was the only comment Cabellenus could bring out.

Alicia once again observed Cabellenus’s reaction and then slowly relaxed the tension from her body.

“My mother is much more beautiful.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, she was a great beauty.”

Alicia looked at her mother’s portrait with wet eyes.

“But why is there a portrait in a place like this? Who drew it?”

“It’s embarrassing, but I drew it.”

“You?”

Cabellenus’s gaze returned to the portrait.

When he learned that Alicia had drawn it herself, the drawing seemed to look a little different.

“It’s been several years since I actually wasn’t allowed to draw.”

“It sounds like someone didn’t like the fact that you drew.”

“Because no one liked what I did.”

Alicia laughed awkwardly and avoided his gaze.

She had thought that she would never forget it, but over time, her mother’s face gradually became more blurred.

She started drawing because she did not want to forget her mother’s face.

The drawings that started with worn-out pen nibs on discarded pieces of paper were clumsy, but to her, nothing was more memorable than being able to draw her mother’s eyes, nose and mouth.

But no one liked Alicia’s drawings.

On the day she was caught drawing, she was accused of stealing expensive paper and pens and was beaten up.

Not only was she banned from drawing, but they took away all the portraits she had drawn as well.

The only time Alicia was able to see the drawings robbed from her was when Queen Neinstine was upset.

Whenever Queen Neinstein was in a bad mood, she would have Alicia kneel at her feet and burn her portraits one by one.

The scene of Alicia, who screamed at the portraits of her mother burning in the fire, was delightful entertainment for Queen Neinstein.