Chapter 24

“What? Say that again, Countess. Who sent what, where?”

Leopold’s voice hardened as he spoke, his tone severe.  

He recalled the woman he had encountered at the imperial palace banquet the previous night.  

Euphrasia.  

She was a false illegitimate child of the Count Olden family, the Duchess who had given birth to the Herrington Young Master, and, moreover, almost certainly the half-sister he had been secretly seeking for years.  

‘I’ve finally found her…!’  

Thus, her real name was likely Euphrasia Kettlin, and her status a member of the royal family of the Kingdom of Kettlin.  

The news brought by Countess Monte early in the morning erased any lingering doubts he had.  

Yet, the situation was far too dire for him to celebrate. This, too, was because of the news delivered by Countess Monte.  

“Albert, that ugly, scheming boar, has sent a mountain of gifts to the Herrington family. He claims it’s to congratulate the Duchess and the Young Master on their birth.”  

Tension shadowed Leopold’s face.  

“That’s not all, is it?”  

“No, the problem is—”  

Clara, clenching her teeth in frustration, continued, 

“It wasn’t sent officially under the name of the Kingdom of Kettlin.”  

“Isn’t it chilling how someone with the face of a boar schemes like a cunning monkey?”  

Suppressing her harsh words, Clara took a breath to deliver the core of the matter.  

“They say it was sent under the name of the kingdom’s First Prince, Your Highness. What could he be plotting, defying your orders to conceal your presence here in the Empire?”  

“Albert serves Isabella. If you thought he’d obediently follow my orders, that was naive.”  

Leopold smirked bitterly.  

It was evident that Albert’s every action was dictated by Isabella’s intentions.  

Furthermore, the fact that Isabella had used his name in the Empire meant—  

“Still! There’s no reason to reveal your identity in the Empire, is there,Your Highness? Unless… Could it be that she wanted to expose your failure to pay proper respects to the Emperor while hiding your identity?”  

“That’s not it.”  

It was something far more serious.  

Leopold was a Prince in name only, unable even to freely use the surname of Kettlin.  

If his greedy younger sibling, who constantly sought an opportunity to kill him, had her way—  

Even the half-sister their father, the King of Kettlin, had longed for his entire life would be in danger the moment she became a threat.  

As Leopold organized his thoughts, his complexion turned pale.  

He could guess Isabella’s intentions.  

‘She already knew.’  

The reason Albert had stared so intently at Euphrasia during the imperial banquet wasn’t because, like Leopold, he suspected she might carry the kingdom’s bloodline.  

Albert had known Euphrasia’s identity all along. He had been waiting for the right opportunity to harm her.  

It was likely that even before the delegation’s departure, a plan had been set in motion to ensure Euphrasia’s death.  

And the scapegoat for it would be—  

‘Me.’  

Last night.  

At the banquet, where an ominous feeling had loomed over him, he had returned with an uneasy heart.  

Having not slept a wink, his groggy mind suddenly sharpened.  

“I need to go. Prepare a carriage—no. Never mind.”  

“Pardon? Your Highness, where are you suddenly going? Surely not to the Herrington estate? Alone?”  

Clara, startled, raised her head abruptly.  

But Leopold clenched his fist without a word. From between his fingers, a fierce wind began to seep out.  

This was a matter Leopold had to face alone.  

Even though he had brought only trusted friends and subordinates on this journey, it was impossible to reveal every secret and disgrace of the royal family.  

Moreover, time was of the essence.  

By the time he prepared a group and arranged for horses and carriages, Euphrasia might already be in mortal danger.  

Even with Duke Herrington, a Sword Master, by her side—  

Isabella, like a snake, would have made ample preparations for such a scenario. Trusting solely in the Duke would be unwise.  

“I’ll be back.”  

Leopold, offering Clara a faint smile to reassure her, kicked off the ground.  

In the blink of an eye, his shadow disappeared. His speed was like the wind itself.  

***

Fortunately, contrary to Leopold’s fears, Euphrasia was unharmed.  

Far from being in danger, she was the one threatening Eric with her sharply raised eyes.  

“Give it to me. You don’t really want to see me lose my temper, do you? That would be quite unpleasant.”  

“You’ve become quite arrogant, Madam. You even dare to throw tantrums in front of me now?”  

“I dislike being called ‘Madam’. Are you just going to keep playing meaningless word games?”  

“Why is it meaningless? Because you’re leaving soon?”  

In his palm, a small glass vial containing a pink liquid swayed.  

Having forcibly taken the vial from Demian, Eric had dismissed everyone in the drawing room, including the old butler, and curled his lips into a sly smile.  

“Yes, you’re right. So, hand it over quickly. As you said, I want to prove my innocence and leave with a clear conscience.”  

“So, in the end, you obtained the Elixir of Truth with your own power.”  

Eric, examining the liquid in his hand, tightened his grip on the glass vial.  

The Elixir of Truth was so rare that even he had only seen it a handful of times in his life.  

Those occasions had all been in the imperial palace.  

Why it was now in his hand was beyond him.  

What was so special about this elixir? How desperate must she have been to obtain it, even enlisting the help of a complete stranger, the First Prince of Kettlin?  

When and how had she contacted the First Prince of Kettlin?  

More importantly—  

Euphrasia was now free to leave whenever she wished.  

The moment Eric had acknowledged her and the child, he had lost any grounds to keep them.  

Yet, her stubborn insistence on drinking the elixir to prove her innocence seemed—  

To Eric, it looked like nothing more than an attempt to provoke him.  

If that was her intention, she had succeeded.  

He was indeed starting to get angry.  

Thinking of the Kingdom of Kettlin only fueled his anger. The audacious face of Leopold, which had irritated him to no end, came to mind.  

‘Could it be that the so-called First Prince of Kettlin…?’  

Eric scoffed at his own suspicion.  

Impossible. A man as crass and vulgar as that could never be royalty.  

Those born and raised in noble bloodlines carried an innate dignity that couldn’t be hidden.  

Leopold, however, lacked any trace of such noble bearing.  

Regardless, Eric had no intention of handing over the Elixir of Truth to Euphrasia.  

He decided to indulge in a rare bout of stubbornness, reserved exclusively for her.  

“Everything that enters my house belongs to me.”  

Euphrasia’s jaw dropped, stunned into silence. Eric grinned, satisfied with her reaction.  

“And Madam, you know you can leave anytime, don’t you? Do you really have time to argue like this? If you truly intended to leave, you would’ve left the estate long ago.”  

“That’s—!”  

“Honestly.”  

Eric’s blue eyes locked onto her.  

“You’re secretly satisfied with life here. You don’t really want to leave. Everyone treats you as the lady of the household, bowing their heads to you. And Louis is growing up in an environment where he’s showered with love and attention. Isn’t that right?”  

His gaze seemed to pierce straight into her soul.  

She should have denied it immediately, but she missed the timing.  

Flustered, Euphrasia stammered, her lips trembling.  

“T-that’s not it. I just want to end our deal cleanly and with dignity. My desire to escape hasn’t changed, so you’d better prepare plenty of child support.”  

“What should I do? I’ve changed my mind.”  

Eric’s teasing expression turned serious in an instant.  

“…I don’t want you to leave.”  

Even I don’t fully understand my feelings yet.  

So—  

The plan I failed to execute last night, the one I couldn’t even begin—  

I want to recreate that moment, the atmosphere of that first night we met, at least once more.  

Those lingering regrets…  

Swallowing the words that threatened to spill from his tongue, he met her gaze with steady eyes.  

“I mean it.”  

“What scheme is it this time?”  

But her response was cold.  

Euphrasia, with an even colder expression, held her child tightly, hissing like a cat with its fur raised.  

“Mean it? Oh, sure. You must mean it. You want to keep me locked up here like a pet, toying with me for your amusement whenever it pleases you?”  

Euphrasia, her anger triggered, lashed out at Eric.  

You’re trying to control me to the very end. You’re the worst. How could I have relied on, trusted, or hoped in someone like you, even for a moment?  

How foolish of me.  

Unable to hold back any longer, Euphrasia stepped toward Eric. With one arm holding Louis, she extended the other.  

But Eric was faster.  

In an instant, he opened the vial and swallowed the shimmering pink liquid in one gulp.  

Gulp.  

His throat moved deeply, and then he looked straight at Euphrasia, his lips parting to speak.