Chapter 13

Rohana stood up, feeling the urgency to meet Kaiden as soon as possible. She needed to understand the situation before making any decisions.

“Jody, inform Duke Delcliff that I will be visiting him,” Rohana said as she closed the door behind her. Jody hesitated.

“What’s wrong?”

As she walked down the corridor and headed outside, Jody spoke up.

“Well… he’s already here, in the small drawing room.”

“What?”

“Duke Kaiden Delcliff. He’s been waiting for you since earlier.”

Kaiden, who had been standing, turned around. Seeing the sharpness of the sword casually hanging at his waist made him seem different than before.

“Duke Delcliff,” Rohana greeted him with a bow.

“Leave us,” she commanded, steeling herself. The attendants withdrew.

“You too, Jody.”

Jody, who had been staring at Kaiden, quickly regained her composure and bowed.

The heavy doors of the drawing room closed, and as Rohana sat down, Kaiden followed suit. Sunlight streamed through the white curtains.

“I thought it best to come early in the morning to avoid any further inconvenience,” his deep voice resonated in the room. He looked around calmly.

“No, I was just about to come see you myself,” Rohana replied.

A brief silence followed before Rohana spoke again.

“Is Lady Aurelia… alright?”

“She woke up early this morning.”

“That’s a relief.”

Another silence ensued. Rohana decided there was no point in beating around the bush.

“What do you want?”

Kaiden leaned back in his chair, an almost familiar smile playing on his lips.

“As I said before, I would like you to keep my involvement a secret from your father.”

Rohana, lips tightly sealed, watched as Kaiden continued.

“Brandt Hanover kidnapped Aurelia and was attacked at the port, losing consciousness and failing to carry out his plan.”

His calm voice filled the room.

“Meanwhile, I and the palace guards arrived. Let’s say Brandt panicked and abandoned Aurelia to escape.”

Rohana’s brow furrowed.

“We didn’t encounter each other that night.”

“Why?”

Rohana questioned.

“If you had reported us all at the scene, you would have been hailed as a hero.”

Despite Rohana’s composed question, Kaiden remained silent.

“My father, as you know, wouldn’t be swayed by such evidence. He’d deny it and move on. Even if it happened in Hanover’s port warehouse.”

“I understand.”

‘Why did you let such an opportunity slip?’

Above all, why didn’t you kill us? The words lingered on her lips, unsaid.

“You want us to keep the fact that you caught us at the scene a secret from everyone, including my father?”

Kaiden nodded.

“It would give Brandt Hanover a plausible excuse.”

It was true. If their father knew Brandt had failed simply because he hesitated, he wouldn’t tolerate it. And if he discovered Rohana’s involvement, even more so.

Following Kaiden’s suggestion that external interference caused Brandt’s failure, and that there was a strong force protecting Aurelia, might work in his favor.

Perhaps Duke Delcliff intended to use this card at a timely moment, just as he had with the Zitni trade issue.

“Make sure Captain Brandt understands this is for the best.”

“Yes,” Rohana replied calmly.

“Then, what do you want from us, Duke?”

Sunlight sparkled through the white curtains.

“Nothing.”

Kaiden’s gaze slowly moved from her face to her hair, loose and undecorated, and then to her simple grey dress. It was a long look.

“For now.”

As he finished speaking, his eyes turned to the window, and Rohana lowered her gaze.

“Instead, I have just one question.”

Kaiden leaned back, his sharp jawline and high nose standing out.

“Were you really in a relationship with Crown Prince Bardi?”

Rohana frowned slightly.

“What?”

Surprised by the odd question, Rohana couldn’t help but open her mouth a little.

“What does that have to do with…”

For the first time, there was a hint of disturbance in his usually stoic face.

“Is there any reason to continue the engagement in this situation? Even Duke Hanover wouldn’t be able to refuse his daughter’s words.”

Rohana let out a small, involuntary laugh.

“Why would that matter to you?”

He didn’t seem like a gossip. Ignoring the unspoken words, he continued calmly.

“Because it bothers me.”

He tilted his sharp jaw slightly.

“Why does it bother you?”

Kaiden, without answering, simply watched her with an intense gaze. He seemed determined not to move until she answered.

Sighing softly, Rohana looked away, her gaze softening.

“The world isn’t always full of good things happening.”

Rohana replied, echoing the words Kaiden had once said to her during the Zitni incident.

“And not every time someone can step in to save the day.”

Kaiden’s usually expressionless face momentarily flickered with a sharp, bitter smile. In that instant, Rohana understood why his gaze made her uncomfortable. His gentle yet authoritative look was reminiscent of a predator sizing up its prey.

“Royal marriages aren’t entirely my concern, so I can’t say what will happen,” she continued. It wasn’t something to fear, though.

In the bright morning light, his dark eyes gleamed strangely, just like before.

“Then whose concern is it?”

Rohana smiled briefly as she looked at him. She usually had no trouble steering conversations. Having lived two lives, such things weren’t difficult.

Yet Kaiden’s manner of speaking was something she couldn’t quite grasp.

“Duke, this is about marriage,”

Rohana replied slowly and honestly.

Not a romantic relationship.”

Though she unintentionally adopted a tone akin to instructing a child, Kaiden’s words were absurd enough to justify it.

“I see,”

Kaiden nodded unexpectedly, just as he had before the Zitni. He then stood up, and Rohana followed suit.

“Oh…”

At that moment, Kaiden turned back and slowly walked toward her, closing the distance between them.

It was evidently a custom in Nopthal to stand unusually close to others.

Rohana felt it would be too much to step back, so she awkwardly stood her ground as he approached.

Kaiden slowly reached into his inner pocket, a surprising move that made Rohana look up at him. He casually handed something to her.

“Figured you’d be worried…”

When Rohana cautiously extended her hand, Kaiden placed something in it with casual indifference.

As she slowly opened her hand, she saw a familiar object: the ornate diamond pin she had lost the previous day.

When Rohana looked up to speak, Kaiden had already turned and was walking briskly out of the room.

***

The meeting Kaiden attended immediately after seeing Rohana lasted until the twilight deepened. It was an imperial meeting attended by major lords from each region. For Kaiden, the Lord of Nopthal, it was his first attendance.

As the meeting ended and the nobles poured out, a youthful voice called out to Kaiden.

“Duke Delcliff!”

It was Franz, the young Marquis of Soyez from the south.

“Marquis Soyez,” Kaiden nodded slightly. The young marquis with short, dark brown curly hair grumbled.

“Apologies for earlier.”

Franz muttered sharply, his eyes contrastingly clear and round like those of a calf, despite his rough and arrogant tone.

“Was it Buudier who said ‘those damn Kark bastards’?”

Though he clearly remembered the words of the western commander, Buudier, who oversaw the coast and sea, Franz subtly tested Kaiden. Kaiden looked down at Franz with familiarity.

Watching the young marquis make strange apologies on behalf of Kark in front of a loyal subject of the empire who had defeated the Kark chieftain, Kaiden furrowed his brow.

“Why should I care?”

Kaiden’s slightly annoyed voice made Franz scratch his head. The smoke from his cigarette wafted into the twilight sky.

“Buudier knows nothing, of course. The sea is his world, after all.”

Ardgold had amassed enormous wealth through trade. The east was blocked by a large mountain range, and while the south was livable, it was severely lacking in resources.

Only the west was open to the sea, allowing trade with various countries, and at the center of that trade was Duke Hanover.

The barren and poor east was mainly inhabited by Kark, who used rejected magic, and it was Kaiden Delcliff who had pacified that region.

Kaiden touched his sharp jawline with a bitter smile.

“I hear your praises even here, Duke. They say the east doesn’t dare think of independence…”

However, at Franz’s continued words, Kaiden tilted his head and looked down at him.

“Are there still foolish traitors thinking of independence?”

“No, no… I meant that you’re governing so well that no one dares to rebel.”

Franz quickly retracted his words, waving his hands. At that moment, Heath appeared in the distance.

“Then,”

Franz greeted Heath in passing and disappeared. Heath was dressed in a white suit that matched his blue hair.

“Let’s head into town. I need to check out a pharmaceutical supplier. It’s a place I haven’t seen before,” Kaiden said, striding toward the stables. His black cloak billowed in the late autumn wind, and Heath hummed a tune, pleased to be out of the palace for a change.