Chapter 25. Unfinished

“I didn’t see you collapse myself, but a few nights ago, a carriage arrived late, and when I went out, the coachman was carrying you inside. According to him, your condition had been strange even before you got into the carriage.”

“……”

“It seemed like you had already collapsed in the carriage. When I received you, it looked like you had been writhing in agony.”

Was it during the process of returning to her original body? Or did she feel pain even after returning?

While Iella was making guesses, the woman, who had been lost in thought, suddenly exclaimed as if she remembered something.

“Oh! When I brought you to the room and laid you on the bed, you were mumbling for help. What else did you say…? Did you say it was hot?”

“What?”

“Yes, you kept saying you were sorry too. Fortunately, you calmed down and fell asleep after I comforted you a few times, but I was really startled.”

What on earth was that about?

Iella couldn’t understand. Those weren’t words that could come from her. So, were those words from Ailexia before the complete switch? But would Ailexia say such things?

‘Begging for help, saying it’s hot, apologizing. As if pleading with someone…’

At that moment.

Thud!

The pain she felt before collapsing hit her again without warning. She couldn’t respond to the sudden occurrence.

“Miss!”

She felt as if someone was compressing her, and her body collapsed involuntarily. She clawed at the blanket as if struggling to escape the pain.

‘Why…’

Having experienced it once, she instinctively knew.

‘It wasn’t over…?’

When she opened her eyes, she knew her body would be switched again.

Her vision darkened once more.

***

In the early dawn, when the dim light still lingered, a carriage sped through the quiet road. The darkened scenery quickly passed by outside the window.

Aster stared out, lost in deep thought, without moving.

“How long do you plan to keep visiting like this?”

Unable to bear the silence any longer, Robert asked directly.

As a capable aide, it was his role to understand his superior’s thoughts and feelings without words, so he had been trying hard to find an answer alone for days.

However, gauging the expression of his inscrutable lord was extremely difficult. It was easier to stay up all night dealing with documents.

How did Lady Shua always manage to distinguish him…

Even though he had been assisting the Duke for nearly ten years, she seemed to know him better than Robert did. Thinking of her kind face, Robert’s expression grew darker.

“After returning from the auction house, all contact and meetings were cut off. Not just for a day, but for several days. Isn’t the implication clear enough…?”

Lady Shua had become the only place of solace for his superior, who had nowhere to rest his heart. That’s why he had gone to the unpleasant and illegal auction house where even people were traded. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find her at the auction house.

They moved on a tip that a product resembling Lady Shua’s silver hair would be auctioned, but it turned out to be a soulless doll resembling a human. It was a place where insane things were naturally accepted.

‘Considering that, maybe it’s fortunate she wasn’t there…’

Suppressing a sigh, Robert glanced at his unresponsive master. There was no way Aster hadn’t thought of what he was thinking. But he couldn’t bring it up lightly to comfort him. Without any trace of her, no words could provide solace.

Robert clenched his fists on his lap. For now, he had to finish the matter concerning that woman.

“Given the situation, why not just bury it?”

Aster finally turned his gaze from the window to Robert.

“She cut off contact first. Even if she says something later, we have a reason to refuse.”

“Does she seem like someone who would accept that easily?”

“Well, no. But at least we don’t have to comply. If the deal is exposed, she would suffer more losses than we would, so she can’t pull any tricks.”

Robert’s words made sense. If the Emperor heard about it, Ailexia would suffer more than Aster, and she knew this better than anyone.

However…

“We can’t be sure. Given that she frequented illegal auctions, there’s a high chance she’ll do something unexpected. Besides, it’s a deal with written evidence. No matter how cunning she is, she can’t ignore the validity of the evidence.”

“Ah…”

“Silently overlooking it isn’t the way of the righteous Calver.”

The way of the righteous Calver.

With that one phrase, Robert said no more. Upright righteousness was the most revered trait among those who served Calver.

Robert’s eyes shone with respect as he looked at Aster.

But Aster turned his head away, avoiding his gaze.

His heart felt heavy, as if a stone had been placed on it. He felt suffocated by the praise and admiration for being the most fitting for Calver’s epithet.

He wasn’t upright or righteous. He was just forcibly fitted into that mold.

Like trying to fit a square into a circle by grinding and cutting off the edges. Just because you did that didn’t make it not a square.

As proof, he deceived Iella about his identity without hesitation.

He also hid his true intentions behind the guise of ‘righteous Calver’ when he visited Ailexia daily.

Feeling choked, he loosened his tightly tied cravat and closed his eyes.

[“Aster.”]

He recalled the kind voice calling him and the smiling face. After meeting Iella, it became a habit to think of her whenever he felt suffocated.

Although it was a place he obtained through deception, it became the place where he could be most himself.

But the peace he found was short-lived, and he suddenly opened his eyes wide. Damn it. The contemptible figure overlaid the familiar image.

[“Just for a moment, just for a moment.”]

The reason he had visited the secondary palace daily. Ailexia’s desperate voice, trembling as she clung to him.

…He couldn’t understand why that image kept coming to mind.

***

A few days later, the carriage carrying Aster stopped near the rear wall of the secondary palace. It was a place with the secret passage to enter and exit the secondary palace. Aster moved stealthily in the darkness, familiar with the path.

Today would be the last time he visited like this. He decided just before getting out of the carriage.

He had been shaken enough by absurd misunderstandings and incomprehensible actions. He couldn’t waste more time without finding any trace of Iella.

Moreover, it had been quite a while since the Emperor went hunting. Soon, news of his return would come. Then it would be even harder to visit the secondary palace secretly.

Even now, he was taking advantage of the Emperor’s absence, so it wouldn’t be long before this was discovered. The secondary palace was the place the Emperor watched most closely in the palace.

Maybe she already knew everything and was just pretending not to. If that was the case, he needed to cut off contact even more. There was no need to stir up a situation that was being tacitly ignored. But if Ailexia wouldn’t bend to his will…

‘The only option is to destroy the contract.’

It wasn’t particularly difficult. Especially since the Emperor was away. It was just that there was some risk of the situation escalating, which he wanted to avoid if possible.

However, it was better than leaving the variable of what Ailexia might do with her schemes.

Just as he finished his thoughts, Vanessa appeared in front of him. Aster lightly passed by Vanessa and climbed the stairs. He felt her startled voice and the hurried footsteps following behind him.

He had always observed the basic courtesy when visiting, so his sudden action was enough to warrant such a reaction.

But he had no intention of stopping. His long strides carried him to a halt in front of Ailexia’s bedroom. It wasn’t hard to find, as he had come to the bedroom door after being refused again during his previous visit, having pressured the maid to lead him there.

Back then, he left with a warning out of remaining courtesy, but this time, he wouldn’t end it there.

“Ailexia, this is the last time.”

Bang, bang, Aster’s firm fist knocked on the door, his stern voice echoing ominously.

“If you are thinking of using the contract as leverage, you should give up on that idea.”

“……”

“Do you think Calver can’t handle a piece of paper? Don’t make this bigger than it needs to be. If others find out, it will be more troublesome for you than for me.”

But despite his threatening words, there was no response from inside.

In the end, is that the only way?

Aster frowned and knocked on the door one last time. Suddenly, a loud crashing sound came from the quiet bedroom, followed by hurried footsteps approaching.

As his brows furrowed, the door, which had remained closed, swung open wide.

Her face was pale, and her deep pink eyes, stained with despair and anxiety, were trembling aimlessly.