"Well, all you want from me is death."
Cabelenus's face visibly contorted.
He glared at Alicia before roughly brushing his hair back.
Everything was perfect, except for this woman.
“...Do you truly want nothing from me but death?”
His voice, seeping through clenched teeth, betrayed a hint of anxiety.
"You don't have to worry about it. I'm really okay."
But all he got in return was a response devoid of any desire.
“...I’d rather you be the temptress people speak of.”
Cabelenus muttered weakly, his hand pressed to his forehead.
If Alicia had truly been the villainess people described, he wouldn't have been so anxious.
If she had been the kind of woman who would abandon her own family for money and power, he could have easily kept her with those things.
But Alicia was not that type of person.
She had nothing and nothing she desired.
'I shouldn’t have spared your life from the start... No. That's not it.’
The idea of killing Alicia was no longer an option.
Although it was unpleasant that his daily life had become a mess, Cabelenus could not bring himself to regret keeping Alicia alive.
Cabelenus looked at the faded grey eyes and let out a hollow laugh.
In fact, he already knew.
It wasn't a problem that could be solved no matter how much the clothes were made to fit Alicia's body.
Even when she was dressed in thick, heavy necklaces, earrings, and rings — anything he could gather — and her neck ached from the weight, she always looked awkward.
Although it was clearly hers, she never looked comfortable in it.
She always appeared nervous and uneasy, like someone who had stolen someone else’s clothes.
Even if one had no desires, constantly seeing and acquiring good things could naturally create desire, but Alicia was different.
She knew how to excessively restrain herself.
He didn’t like that about her.
Someone who had nothing could leave at any moment.
Knock, knock—
At that moment, the sudden knock snapped him out of his thoughts.
Cabelenus frowned slightly and looked towards the door.
"May I come inside, My Lord?"
"Come in."
“I have brought the list that My Lord requested.”
Gazeff walked straight towards Cabelenus without even glancing at Alicia.
The sight of the two dining together was now a familiar scene to Gazeff.
"What happened to the wagon from Schwarhan?"
"If there are no issues, it should arrive by tomorrow."
"Fortunately, it's not as late as I thought."
Cabelenus stood up immediately after checking the documents he received from Gazeff.
And just as he was about to leave, he turned back to look at Alicia.
"What are you doing? Why aren’t you following?"
She thought she might be left behind, but that wasn’t the case.
Alicia carefully rose from her chair.
And, with exactly three steps.
She followed Cabelenus, maintaining a distance that was neither too close nor too far.
"There are more poor people than I thought. We’ll need to send the goods again, so prepare the wagons quickly and send them back. And make sure to properly check the items and lists in the wagons."
"I'll proceed right away."
"When distributing the goods, do not give them away for free. Make sure they pay for them, whether the amount is large or small."
"Of course."
It wasn’t intentional, but as Alicia followed Cabelenus, she naturally overheard their conversation.
However, there was no opportunity for Alicia to intervene in the conversation, so she ended up gazing at the surrounding scenery instead.
The climate in Neustein was so warm that flowers bloomed year-round in the garden, making it pleasant to simply take a walk.
"Alicia Neustein."
When Alicia’s steps slowed as she became lost in the scenery and the distance between them widened, Cabelenus called her name.
His voice was almost monotone and bland, but strangely addictive, so she occasionally slowed her pace on purpose.
Cabelenus was displeased that Alicia had no desires, but she simply did not need anything.
Alicia enjoyed following in Cabelenus's footsteps.
For Cabelenus, it was merely a time to travel, but for Alicia, it held a different meaning.
Because in moments like these, she could observe him to her heart's content, and no one would say a word.
She simply enjoyed the time spent looking at his broad back, following in his footsteps, and occasionally hearing him call her name.
Of course, this man she was following was completely unaware of that fact.
・・・・・
"Did you look into what I asked?"
"Yes, I looked into it as you commanded."
Gazeff held out the envelope he was holding to Cabelenus.
Cabelenus immediately opened the envelope and checked the paper inside.
The paper contained information about the youngest princess of Neustein, Alicia.
"There's less information than I expected."
As he was reading the paper, Cabelenus's gaze stopped.
There was no need to read for long.
Even considering the short time available for the investigation, the amount of information was too little.
"I'm sorry. I tried to gather as much information as possible, but for now, this is all I could find."
Gazeff hurriedly bowed his head at his superior’s comment.
The lack of useful information was a disgrace even to Gazeff, who prided himself on perfection.
"I didn't think the information about her was so confidential."
"The other princesses are one thing, but that slave, no… the youngest princess of Neustein is a bit special."
Gazeff looked at Cabelenus with a troubled expression, trying to gauge his reaction.
Slaves were treated like property, so there was no need for formal titles. However, Alicia was publicly regarded as his superior’s woman.
Knowing how much his superior cared for her, it seemed wise to be cautious.
“What do you mean by special?”
“The princess is not a pure Neustein, but of mixed blood.”
“That much can be inferred from her appearance alone, right?”
Cabelenus raised an eyebrow.
The Neustein Kingdom was a closed-off country.
The Neusteins valued pure blood and persecuted people of different appearances.
Alicia, who did not possess the typical appearance of a Neustein, inevitably stood out as different.
It wasn’t hard to notice that she wasn’t a pure-blooded Neustein.
"I didn't mention that solely because of her appearance. I brought up her bloodline because it is suspicious."
"What’s suspicious? Illegitimate children of the royal family are a common issue."
"It's not about her being illegitimate. The issue is the princess's mother."
Gazeff took a quick deep breath before continuing.
"It's well-known that the king of Neustein brought her from a foreign land when he was young, but upon investigation, no one knew anything else about her. There were rumours that she was a street prostitute, a mercenary, or a dancer, but those were just rumours. Moreover…"
Gazeff’s brows furrowed.
When Cabelenus ordered him to find out about Alicia, he thought it would be finished quickly.
But no matter how much time passed, the investigation into the princess of the fallen kingdom was progressing slowly.
It wasn’t because he wasn’t doing his job properly.
Considering that Alicia was a poorly treated princess, there was strangely little information about her, and especially about her mother, there was nothing at all.
It was as if someone had erased her existence.
“Do you have any interesting stories that might catch my attention?”
Cabelenus cocked his chin to the side.
"On the day the princess was born, all those related to her mother were annihilated."
"That's interesting. Tell me more. Was it murder?"
"At first glance, it looked like suicide, but given the circumstances, it seems more likely to be murder."
Perhaps they should have realised something was off from the start when Alicia didn't look like a typical princess.
Just as unusual as her first impression, Neustein's youngest princess was equally suspicious.
The more they tried to dig into her, the less information they could obtain, as if it were slipping away.
"A murder made to look like suicide. So someone must have deliberately covered it up."
"Yes. That seems highly likely.”
Gazeff gave a subtle nod.
"Was it Queen Neustein?"
A badly crumpled piece of paper fell from Cabelenus's hand.
Despite the effort to gather information, what they ended up with was insignificant.
Rather than learning about Alicia, it was more a record of the atrocities Queen Neustein had inflicted on her.
For example, the reason why Alicia had a scar on her thigh was because she was so mesmerised by the word 'secondary palace' — things like that. [1]
Cabelenus's face remained expressionless, but his piercing gaze burned with intensity.
If Queen Neustein hadn’t been on the guillotine, Cabelenus might have torn her apart with his own hands today.
"I also found the queen suspicious, so I checked separately, but it wasn't the case."
Noticing Cabeleus's displeasure, Gazeff quickly shook his head and changed the topic.
Lately, his lord had been showing more emotion.
There was no good in unnecessarily upsetting his mood.
"Then who’s the hidden figure?”
"It seems to be King Neustein."
"King Neustein?"
Cabelenus tried to recall King Neustein's face but gave up.
He wasn’t good at remembering people’s faces.
He vaguely remembered someone begging for his life, screaming that he would give up his kingdom, his treasures, and even his daughters if only his life would be spared.
“King Neustein was not a true royal; he was a son-in-law. He married the princess, who later became the queen, and inherited the throne. Naturally, he had to be mindful of the queen's wishes and seemed to be intimidated by her.”
"A king who couldn't even keep his position — how pathetic."
Cabelenus clicked his tongue.
"Yes. That's correct. But what's interesting is that King Neustein's behaviour changed drastically from a certain point onward."
"In what way did he change?"
"Originally, King Neustein was under the queen's thumb. The royal family and major nobles all sided with the queen, so it was only natural that he couldn't assert himself. But at some point, that changed. The king, not the queen, started to lead the kingdom."
Gazeff took out the history book of the Neustein dynasty, which he had brought separately for Cabelenus.
While further investigation was still needed, connecting the suspicious points alone allowed for some speculation.
"Is that the same point I’m thinking of?"
Cabelenus's eyes gleamed like those of a beast spotting its prey in the darkness.
"Yes. King Neustein gained power only after the youngest princess's mother entered the castle."
"It's definitely too unsettling to brush off as mere coincidence."
"That’s why I intend to look into it a bit more."
Gazeff handed over the book he had brought separately to Cabelenus.
"What is this?"
“This is a history book that describes the history of the Neustein Dynasty.”
"Is the answer in here?"
Cabelenus's eyes narrowed.
"Whenever I learn new information about the princess, I plan to compare it with the history of King Neustein. Although I haven't been able to match everything due to lack of information, if my speculations are correct, Princess Neustein might be a different person than we think."
"Different in what way?"
"I will tell you about that when everything becomes clear."
A smile naturally spread across Gazeff's lips.
When he thought he was just investigating the princess of the ruined kingdom, Gazeff saw it as merely an extension of his duties.
But the tightly concealed secrets about her were enough to pique Gazeff's interest.
"Is there any other information?"
"...I'm sorry. Besides what I've mentioned so far, I think I'll need to look into the other details more."
Gazeff bowed his head even deeper.
Even if he found a clue, it was meaningless unless it led to the truth.
He had yet to achieve any solid results.
But instead of reprimanding his subordinate, Cabelenus paused to think.
Gazeff was a capable subordinate that Cabelenus had personally selected and kept by his side for a long time.
If he hadn't produced satisfactory results, it meant that this task was quite challenging.
Alicia might hold a greater secret than Cabelenus had imagined.
"Well, it’s fine. We still have time. Just don’t disappoint me next time."
"Yes. Of course."
"You can spend as much money and time as you need. I don’t care what methods you use."
‘Just bring me what I want, and that’s all.’
Cabelenus stroked his chin slowly, wearing an arrogant expression.
From Alicia’s attitude alone, it was clear that she had led a life far from easy.
But that wasn’t enough.
What he wanted was neither to uncover Alicia's identity nor to learn about her mother.
In order to prevent Alicia from thinking about anything else, he needed to know more about her.
Translator's Corner
[1] The word used was: 별궁 (byeolgung) which means "separate/secondary palace." In historical or royal contexts, it refers to a secondary palace or a place where a ruler's concubines reside.
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