I Became the Master of a Harem in a Dark Romance Novel - Chapter 13. Secret Outing (2)

Chapter 13. Secret Outing (2)

‘Why, why is Arthur here?’

Iella couldn’t understand it at all. Her mind, hardened like a stone, spun dizzyingly. She was so confused that her body also froze.

Just a few days before she entered Ailexia’s body, when she met him near the duchy, she hadn’t heard anything about him leaving the North. She was certain because she was supposed to meet him the day after her birthday.

Above all, during the two years they had been friends, she had never seen him leave the North. Even the monster subjugation beyond the northern border, one of the long-standing roles of the ducal family, had been on hold for a while, and he had said he didn’t plan to go out for some time.

It was an explanation he gave consistently every year when she asked two or three times out of concern. He would say that the number of monsters had significantly decreased, so they only needed to go out when the number increased, and he reassured her kindly every time without showing any sign of annoyance. There was no way he could be wrong.

So, the scene of him standing right in front of her was something she couldn’t easily accept.

“Arthur?”

At that moment, a cold voice, like the icy wind of the North, buzzed and pierced her ears.

“Did you just call me that?”

Before she could defend herself, another icy voice poured over her, seeping through her tightly wrapped robe.

It was then that she snapped back to reality.

She was currently in the form of Ailexia, not his friend, Iella.

‘…I’m screwed?’

The truth felt chillingly terrifying. Iella firmly pressed her lips together, which had been hanging open in a daze. It felt as if time itself was flowing more slowly here.

His last words echoed in her mind, but she couldn’t open her mouth hastily because she didn’t know what to say.

Iella didn’t know what kind of relationship Arthur had with Ailexia. Arthur didn’t appear in the novel. Of course, she couldn’t rule out the possibility that he appeared in the parts she hadn’t read. She didn’t remember the entire novel perfectly.

However, she could be sure of one thing. There was no mention of any relationship or entangled scenes between the two in the novel. The male characters in the harem were only given a few lines of description for the deep and intense love-hate narrative with the main male character.

There was no way a knight from the ducal family, who didn’t even belong to the harem, would be given any significant part. There was no way a mere knight from the North, who spent most of his time there, would know Ailexia, who was busy in the capital.

‘Should I go back inside now?’

A strong impulse surged. She couldn’t even begin to fathom how to resolve this situation.

Wouldn’t it be best to go back through the hole and pretend nothing happened, restoring the wall to its original state?

‘That’s nonsense.’

Of course, she knew better than anyone that it was nonsense, so Iella swallowed her tears inwardly.

‘I’ll have to act like Ailexia for now.’

In the end, Iella, who thought of the best she could do at the moment, clenched the ground with her pale, trembling fingertips.

To force her frozen body to move, she had to inflict another pain to recognize. In that sense, the rough surface of the ground, full of dirt and small stones, was a very good tool.

As her tender skin was rubbed without hesitation, causing a sharp pain, the stiffness below her neck seemed to ease slightly.

As she applied more strength to her fingertips, she soon managed to move her body according to her will. Iella naturally straightened her bent body and put on a displeased look with arrogant eyes.

However, just before she opened her tightly closed lips, he, who had been watching her with cold silver eyes, sneered.

“Ha, right. I forgot for a moment.”

‘What? What did you forget…?’

It was Iella who was rather flustered by that.

If she hadn’t been pretending to be Ailexia, she might have stupidly asked back. Of course, her throat was parched like a dry desert, fearing what he would say next.

“You ignoring me is nothing new.”

“……”

Her vision went dark.

‘Should I call this consistent?’

At this point, she wanted to throw everything away. She felt utterly miserable.

‘How can everyone I meet be a minefield? And all of them are self-made minefields!’

Ha, she felt like letting out a hollow laugh. In reality, Iella had a subtle expression that was neither crying nor laughing. The determination she had filled up to the brink of escape was collapsing before the bleak reality.

“Enough. I dislike this as much as you do. But I will inform His Majesty of this matter…”

“Wait!”

Correction. Her determination flared up again in an instant.

Letting the Emperor hear about this was out of the question. That crazy Emperor might do something unimaginable this time!

For example, he could put iron bars on every door of the secondary palace, build multiple layers of fences in front of the wall, or even station guards inside the secondary palace! If that happened, escape would be a mere dream.

She might say she wanted to throw everything away, but in reality, she didn’t. She would never accept a situation where she couldn’t return home forever.

Iella straightened her back immediately.

It would have been better to look down, but it was impossible unless she made him kneel since he was two heads taller. Instead, she glared as much as she could. Ailexia’s eyes were naturally haughty, so that alone would be effective.

“Do you have something to say?”

“……”

“You don’t even know what I’m going to do.”

It was a blatantly unreasonable attitude, considering she had been caught sneaking out. Iella knew it too. But who was Ailexia? She was a peculiar guest of the imperial family, an unruly soul in the secondary palace, known for her brazen unreasonable behavior and capriciousness.

“…Still unchanged.”

As expected, there was not a shred of doubt in his expression, which was frowning deeply, and his words, which implied he knew it would be like this.

Iella decided to use this momentum to push him away, pretending to interrogate him instead.

It would work for now, but the moment she tried to pass by him, this unreasonable act would no longer work. As long as he was there, today’s outing was out of the question.

Fortunately, although the wall behind her was closer to the palace where the Emperor resided, it was still part of the secondary palace. Using that as an excuse would be enough to send the knight of the ducal family away. ‘…It should be enough, right?’

With a determined heart, Iella signaled to him with her glaring eyes. She was pleading for him to do nothing and just let her pass.

Unbeknownst to her, it combined with the intended effect, making her look fiercely glaring.

At that moment, Vanessa’s voice cut through the tension between them. Not yet aware of the situation, Vanessa, who had just emerged from the hole, stood up, dusting off her dirt-covered hands.

“Fortunately, it was just a small stray cat. It must have come in through another palace. There’s nothing to wor…”

Her gaze, which had been fixed on Iella’s deep pink eyes, suddenly met bright silver ones. The voice, which had been full of concern for Iella, abruptly fell silent.

A cold wind swept between them, chilling them as if it were winter, though it wasn’t. Iella quietly closed her eyes.

‘Goodbye, my hard-earned outing…’

Freedom was short and intense.

“Are you still going to say I don’t know?”

Eventually, it was he who broke the quiet silence first. His expressionless face, as if he wasn’t surprised, made it clear that no more excuses would work. His eyes, still sharp, slowly rolled over to stare intently at Iella.

Feeling a sharp sting, Iella let out a deep sigh as if to release her tension and began thinking of a solution.

Then, she suddenly noticed something strange.

Ailexia’s status was not officially known. Initially, there had been a lot of talk among the people. But now, she was almost treated on a level of someone who’s part of the imperial family.

This was why Ailexia could act so recklessly. The foundation of this treatment was the rumors tied to the former emperor and the current emperor’s indifferent attitude.

‘In such a situation, could a knight from a noble family, who’s not even an imperial knight, treat Ailexia this way?’

Until now, she had been preoccupied with preventing the emperor from finding out about her escape. But as she thought about it more, it seemed strange why she hadn’t realized it earlier.

If he were an imperial knight, she might have brushed it off, recalling the disrespectful conversation she had overheard recently. But he was a knight from a ducal family. Even if he were a noble, it would be difficult to show such an attitude towards Ailexia, who was treated almost like the imperial family.

Even if it stemmed from resentment, it was still strange. He mainly operated in the North. How many times could he have encountered Ailexia? Even if they had met while following the duke, he wouldn’t be in a position to directly confront Ailexia, let alone hold such resentment.

‘Could it be because of the rumors about Ailexia’s conduct?’

Even if that were the case, showing such an attitude directly was beyond disrespectful; it was recklessly imprudent. Who knew how the unpredictable Ailexia might react?

“Duke! You were here?”

‘Right, if he’s a duke, that changes things, doesn’t it?’

“I’ve been looking for you for a while. There’s information you need to hear about the auction entry… Ah.”

At that moment, a neatly dressed man came running from afar, panting heavily. Pushing up his disheveled glasses, he caught his breath and then abruptly stopped speaking when he saw Iella and Vanessa.

He quickly glanced at the Duke, then back at Iella, and made a hissing sound as he hurriedly bowed his head. However, Iella saw his face, which looked as if he had just stepped in something unpleasant, or seen a mad dog.

“I apologize for not greeting you properly, Lady Ailexia. I am Robert Chelsh, the aide to Duke Calver.”

“…What did you just say?”

“Pardon?”

“Duke, what?”

She had no intention of pointing out his expression. In fact, she didn’t have the mental capacity for that. Iella felt like she had misheard. Arthur being a Grand Duke, that was impossible. She asked again to confirm her thoughts.

“Ah, I introduced myself as Robert Chelsh, the aide to Duke Calver.”

Unfortunately, the man who introduced himself as Robert drove a nail into her heart with his words.