#13. A Visit to House Hewitt

Marquis Belmont had fled. When the rumor spread, the ministers loudly claimed that Marquis Belmont must have truly ordered the attack on Prince Aidan. Even Lloyd’s supporters and those close to Marquis Belmont clicked their tongues, saying he had gone too far this time.

“He seems to have already escaped from the capital.”

The Emperor didn’t turn around at the Knight Commander’s report, continuing to stare out the window.

“What should we do?”

The Knight Commander asked again. Only then did the Emperor exhale deeply and turn to face him.

“Dispatch an elite knight unit to Marquis Belmont’s territory to capture him.”

“Understood.”

The Knight Commander bowed and left the office. The Emperor let out another long, sigh-like breath and ran his hand over his face.

Marquis Belmont had been his longtime friend. He was also the Empress’s guardian.

Lilith, the current Empress, had no one to support her unlike the previous Empress. She came from a poor noble family, and at barely nineteen, she was practically sold into marriage to Marquis McCoy, who was over seventy, to save her declining family.

Marquis McCoy, who had no heir, was obsessed with having his own bloodline even at his age. He took a young bride hoping to have a child somehow, but sadly died within a year. With no heir, naturally, all his property and titles passed to his wife, Lilith.

Some said it was divine punishment for being too greedy in taking such a young wife. Others whispered that Lilith must have murdered Marquis McCoy. Though Lilith became a young widow with titles and wealth, she still had no one to protect her.

That’s when Marquis Belmont led her into society. And there, she met the Emperor.

When the Emperor met her, she was barely twenty. However, perhaps due to experiencing too many of life’s hardships at such a young age, she was mature and her eyes held sadness. He fell helplessly for that aspect of her. Unlike the previous Empress who had been perfect in every way, he wanted to embrace and do everything for Lilith, who was full of imperfections.

A young and beautiful widow becomes the Emperor’s lover.

At the time, the ministers didn’t think much of it. If Lilith had been a young lady from a high noble family, like Kate Spencer who was now of marriageable age, they might have been more wary. But because she was a widow, they thought she was just the Emperor’s entertainment.

Things changed when Lilith became pregnant with the Emperor’s child. Since there was still no official heir from the Empress, some radical ministers even argued that Lilith’s child should be eliminated.

Lilith had simply loved the Emperor and carried the child of the man she loved. That was her only crime, if it could be called one.

Yet the ministers treated her like a witch who had bewitched the Emperor. Though they had turned a blind eye until then, they suddenly turned vicious when it became an issue of succession to the throne.

It was Marquis Belmont who protected her then. He stepped forward, saying that neither she nor her child would pose any threat to the throne, and that he would take all responsibility. At the same time, he advised the Emperor to sleep with the Empress and produce an official heir as soon as possible. He counseled that this would quell the controversy.

Indeed, when they heard news of the Empress’s pregnancy, the ministers seemed relieved and their criticism of Lilith subsided. They seemed to think that with an official heir, it wouldn’t matter if the Emperor’s lover bore his child.

Where did things go wrong?

The Emperor shook his head with a long sigh as he recalled the past. He knew that some were spreading baseless rumors questioning the relationship between Belmont and the Empress because they were too close. Still, he hadn’t separated them because Belmont was the only one she had. He was the only support for someone who had no backing.

Now Lilith herself was trying to cut him off. Why? He couldn’t understand that part.

However, regardless of his understanding, Belmont was not innocent in his attempt to harm Aidan. Though not the main culprit but an accomplice, he wasn’t blameless.

How far should he bury things in sympathy and pretend not to know? Perhaps his choices had pushed Lilith into an even worse situation.

‘Hic… Mother… sob, Mother…’

His heart grew heavy remembering Aidan sobbing quietly beside the previous Empress’s body.

Perhaps the mistake began then. The sin of burying the truth out of a desire to protect the woman he loved and his other child… That was becoming an ever-sharper blade as time passed.

What should he have done? He had lived with constant guilt toward the person who had died. The fact that he had been an inadequate husband who failed to properly protect and embrace her was a guilt he would carry to his grave. His only excuse was that at that time, he thought he needed to protect those who were still alive.

He closed his eyes while exhaling so deeply his chest heaved. Lilith, Lloyd, and Aidan… Was there really no way to protect all three? Perhaps the time to make a choice was approaching.

*

Clink. Only the sound of porcelain touching porcelain repeatedly filled the quiet reception room as the Empress set down her teacup. Lloyd, sitting across from her, could barely breathe. The Empress, who had visited him during his self-reflection period, had delivered the news of Belmont’s escape but said nothing more. That made it even harder to breathe.

“Might this not be for the better?”

The Empress raised only her eyes to look at her son at his words.

“Since we don’t know what Marquis Belmont might say if he’s caught…”

“How foolish.”

At her sharp words, Lloyd closed his mouth again.

“Why do you always think of only one thing? No one would believe Marquis Belmont’s testimony anyway. We need to guide public opinion in that direction.”

Lloyd still wasn’t quite convinced by the Empress’s words. Everyone knew about her close relationship with Marquis Belmont. So if he were caught and said he had acted on the Empress’s instructions, wouldn’t people believe him?

“Even if he’s caught, he won’t be caught easily. That might be fortunate. It buys us that much time.”

He stared at her meaningful words.

“Take care of everything in the meantime.”

Lloyd swallowed a groan when she said ‘take care.’

“While we might be able to handle Marquis Belmont’s subordinates somehow, Liam Smith will be difficult.”

The Empress’s eyebrows twisted at his response.

“Didn’t you plant spies in Aidan’s palace as well?”

“Yes, but… Recently, Aidan has been re-verifying the identities of all servants and knights working in his palace… He’s reassigned anyone even slightly suspicious to the outer palace, so it’s not as easy as before to gather information or get inside.”

Deep wrinkles formed between the Empress’s brows.

“Why did he suddenly change like that…”

She clicked her tongue after frowning deeply.

“Is it the Princess Consort who’s the problem after all.”

Lloyd felt something cold at her self-directed mumbling.

“Surely not…”

He couldn’t bring himself to voice the assumption that suddenly occurred to him. The Empress raised her eyes to look at him, perhaps hearing his voice. However, she added no further words.

*

“As you instructed, we’ve attached people to track the fleeing Marquis Belmont.”

Aidan just nodded at Kai’s report. Kai remained still, as if he had something more to say.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

“Honestly, I don’t quite understand.”

Aidan smiled slightly at Kai’s honest answer. It was natural to be confused about attaching surveillance to someone they had allowed to escape.

“Just because I’m not catching him immediately doesn’t mean I plan to let him off entirely. I just judged that he currently has some use value, but he’s still an enemy, that hasn’t changed.”

Despite the light answer, Kai didn’t seem entirely convinced.

“Did you have the assassins follow him to eliminate him at any time?”

The surveillance Aidan had attached to Belmont were actually assassins. As soon as his body recovered, Aidan had secretly recruited an assassin organization. They were people with no connection to the imperial family, hired purely with money. When asked why he created such an organization when he had the official knight order, Aidan’s answer was simple.

“Because we need people who can do things the official knights cannot.”

Even then, and even now, Kai couldn’t understand what that meant. They could sufficiently monitor Belmont using the knight order, and could arrest him anytime if needed.

“No. That’s not who we’re trying to kill.”

Aidan replied lightly with a smile. Kai understood less and less. If they weren’t going to kill him, why attach assassins?

“Who would be most anxious if Belmont escapes?”

“Well…”

Kai stopped as he was about to answer.

“The Empress and Lloyd. If they’re trying to pin everything on Belmont, would they really pray for his safe capture?”

Aidan waited briefly for Kai’s response after posing the question. But Kai couldn’t answer immediately. It was the Empress who had pleaded for Belmont’s capture to answer for his crimes.

“Outward actions aren’t always someone’s true intentions. Not everyone is as straightforward as you.”

Aidan answered as though he had read Kai’s thoughts, showing a meaningful smile.

“If it were me, I’d make that public display but dispose of him before he could be captured by the palace. Dead men tell no tales, after all.”

Kai’s eyes widened at this explanation.

“You mean Her Majesty the Empress or His Highness Lloyd might…?”

That they might try to kill Marquis Belmont?

Instead of answering, Aidan just smiled slightly, patted Kai’s shoulder, and turned away.

*