Chapter 21

“Diana. Why are you… here?”

“Hey, you…!”

The moment Dian and Diana recognized each other, their expressions changed. Diana sprang to her feet, and Dian, who had been backing away, quickly darted out of the dining room. Diana chased after him.

“Stop right there!”

Despite Diana’s shout, Dian only ran farther away. Diana gritted her teeth at his speed.

He’s always ridiculously fast when running away…!

But she’d lived with Dian for decades. As she ran down the corridor, she spotted some staff standing ahead of Dian.

“Hans! Jerome! Jack! Catch my brother!”

The staff, who witnessed the siblings running down the hallway, were startled but quickly tackled Dian at Diana’s command.

“Hey! Why do you only listen to Diana? I’m your master too!”

“Well, it’s obvious you have caused trouble again, Young Master.”

“Okay, that’s true, but…!”

Dian struggled, but it was pointless. Meanwhile, Diana slowly approached him. Dian flinched at the sight of Diana’s chilling expression.

“D-Diana. Long time no see? How’ve you been?”

“No. I haven’t been well, thanks to someone.”

“……”

Finally, Dian resigned himself and let Diana catch him. The siblings went into an empty room where they could talk in private. Once the door was firmly closed, Diana shouted.

“Are you kidding me? Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you? You were hiding at home this whole time?”

Realizing the brother she’d searched so hard for had been staying right at home, Diana pressed her forehead.

“Yeah, it’s my fault…. I should have thought less intelligently…. Never imagined you’d just be hiding at home so brazenly….”

“Hey, I’m not that bad, okay?”

“Bad or not, Dian Amber, is that really what you want to say right now? Do you know how much trouble I’ve had to deal with because of your mess?”

At least Dian seemed to know he’d done wrong, as he avoided Diana’s fierce glare.

“If you came to the capital, you should’ve just kept quiet and left. What was all that about? Why did you end up as the leader of the anti-Emperor faction?”

“I’m sorry, I really am, Sis. I didn’t mean for any of that to happen. You’ve been stressed with your aide work, so I went drinking, started complaining about the emperor at the tavern, and suddenly people with similar opinions gathered….”

“Brother, I told you. If you want to complain about the emperor, do it alone, quietly, where no one can hear you. But what? You went drinking and yelled about it with a crowd?”

It was a miracle he hadn’t ended up in the Imperial prison. Now Diana finally pieced together the events.

“So, you all started complaining, then decided to form a group, and you ended up as the leader?”

“That’s right. Even drunk, I guess I was the strongest one there. I didn’t lose in a fight anywhere.”

“Great, just great!”

At least he hadn’t done it on purpose, but that didn’t solve everything.

“So what now! The group still hasn’t disbanded!”

“What? Still?”

“Yes! That’s why I’m wearing weird masks and playing leader! All because you’re good at fighting but bad at thinking!”

Diana took a deep breath to calm her anger.

“…Listen. For now, don’t even think about going back to the capital. Stay quietly at home. Don’t wander off anywhere. And you know you can’t tell Mom and Dad about any of this, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Dian nodded earnestly at Diana’s warning. The room fell silent. Then, watching Diana’s expression, Dian spoke up.

“Um, I didn’t expect you to come home… Are you here on vacation?”

“Yeah, Mom sent me a letter asking me to visit. I was going to ask about you, too, but I never thought you’d be here….”

“Oh, right, of course! You’re not like me, you probably finished all your work before coming. Is His Majesty well? Nothing else going on in the capital?”

Dian changed the subject awkwardly.

“This is your first time home since the Prince’s Rebellion, right? So the palace is stable now?”

“It’s better than before. It’s not like the palace can’t function without me. My subordinates are all doing well, but there’s been a bit of noise lately….”

“Noise? What do you mean?”

“…Never mind. Let’s just go. Mom and Dad will be looking for us soon.”

Diana hurried Dian out, thinking of Evan and Sophia. With rumors about them as lovers spreading, she wondered if they’d been fighting while she was gone, but then shook her head. Surely those two knew to keep quiet and wouldn’t fight openly.

“Anyway, just behave. Smile like nothing happened. Got it?”

“…Yeah.”

Rather than dwell on it, Diana decided to spend time with her family.

*   *   *

“We’ve captured the anti-Emperor faction.”

Hamel entered Evan’s office and continued.

“As you instructed, even after the special street patrol period ended, we kept knights posted and noticed suspicious movements. After arresting the group and investigating, it turned out they were indeed anti-Emperor.”

It hadn’t been difficult to ambush the careless group. The knights Hamel had posted caught all the suspicious people, yielding meaningful results.

“They’re currently held in the Imperial prison. How should we proceed? Should we interrogate them further for more information?”

“No, that’s enough. The ones caught like this are just small fry. You can handle it.”

“Understood.”

The punishment for treason was death. As soon as Hamel left the office, those prisoners would meet a miserable end. Bowing his head, Hamel noticed Evan’s mood wasn’t good. Of course, capturing the anti-Emperor faction wouldn’t make him happy. So Hamel tried to comfort Evan.

“Please don’t worry too much, Your Majesty.”

“…….”

“We knights will do our utmost to root out those wicked anti-Emperor traitors….”

“I’m bored.”

“Pardon?”

But Evan’s next words were completely unexpected. Hamel, caught off guard, asked again, but Evan gave no further reply. Leaning back in his chair, Evan stared blankly out the window.

“…….”

Beyond the window lay the garden. Evan gazed at it for a moment, then got up and stepped onto the window ledge. Hamel, startled, asked,

“Y-Your Majesty, what are you…?”

“Garden walk.”

“At this hour? If you wish, I’ll escort you.”

“No need.”

Evan stepped onto the window frame and leapt out. Landing on the dirt outside, he slowly walked to the center of the garden.

The flowers blooming under the moonlight were breathtakingly beautiful. But Evan didn’t spare them a glance; he simply walked to a spot in the middle of the garden and stopped. Then he spoke.

“Come out.”

At Evan’s words, the quiet bushes suddenly rustled. Figures in black hoods emerged from the foliage, surrounding Evan.

“…….”

They stood silently around Evan, exuding a chilling atmosphere. But Evan didn’t even look at them, instead gazing past them with a smirk.

“Not your subordinates. I want the leader.”

At Evan’s words, the hooded figures parted to either side. In the center appeared a woman—Sophia. She met Evan’s gaze and smiled brightly.