Chapter 42

“It’s alright. I just have a special fondness for you.”

Isabelle, seeing Adelina’s discomfort, finally smiled gracefully and led her followers out.

“Ah! So annoying!”

Adelina jumped onto the bed and rolled around. Still not satisfied, she got up, messed up her hair, and rolled around on the bed again.

“Luckily, the paint was almost dry.”

Hailyn, paying no attention to her, brought a large sheet and began to wrap the painting again. It was a close call. The watercolor paint on the canvas hadn’t dried well, so she had to fan it until dawn.

Adelina turned on her side and watched Hailyn. The well-wrapped painting was placed back on the sofa table. The slightly tacky parts would be completely dry in a few more hours.

“Absolutely. It must not get wet. Until that day.”

“I will discreetly inform Queen Sweeney as well.”

Adelina turned over and lay flat on the bed, raising her hand to look at it.

‘It was really close. If it had touched my hand, the paint might have smudged.’

Pretending to touch Lexion’s portrait, she kept a slight distance, causing her fingertips to cramp.

+++

“He said he paid special attention to my eyes…”

Back in her room, Sweeney gazed intently at the two portraits Jaeyon had drawn for her. Chellus stood beside her, also entranced by the paintings.

“Truly. He painted them well.”

Jaeyon seemed to be a person of many talents, and Chellus felt a twinge of jealousy.

“I found it.”

Sweeney’s lips curved upwards as she bent over to closely examine the paintings. It was a genuinely satisfied smile, one not seen in a long time.

“What did you find?”

“The secret of my eyes.”

When Sweeney pointed with her index finger at the right eye in the portrait, Chellus also bent over to look closely.

‘Hahaha. Jaeyon, you rascal! What if you got caught!’

Inside Sweeney’s blue eyes, in darker blue letters, was the tiny inscription <Water Fairy>.

+++

“Did you hear? The Dragon Knights are returning after suppressing the rebels!”

“Really? Then they’ll arrive in ten days!”

The day after the Tiola Empire delegation departed, the palace was bustling with energy.

Hailyn listened to the palace maids’ chatter and entered Adelina’s room.

“The Duke is returning.”

“Really?”

Adelina got up from doing push-ups. Sweat trickled down her forehead as she beamed.

“And Her Majesty the Empress has granted permission for you to go out.”

Hailyn handed Adelina a pass from her pocket. Adelina, who hadn’t been allowed outside the palace even once, had persistently requested to go out to buy wedding rings, and finally received permission.

“While I’m out, I’ll stop by the Marquis’s residence. There’s something I need to retrieve.”

After a quick shower and change of clothes, Adelina tied her hair into a single ponytail.

‘Hahaha. Marquis Stephan, you hid a strange map without your daughter knowing.’

Looking at the map of the Aslan Continent in the mirror, Adelina had a rough idea of the location marked on the map Stephan had hidden in his secret vault.

‘There must be a remaining mirror shard there!’

The border area between the Kingdom of Iberis and the Petrus Empire. Rose’s maid probably stole the heirloom and buried it there.

‘Sorry, Lexion. Stephan. I don’t trust either of you 100%.’

Well, he’s not my real father, and he’s not my real husband. I’ve risked my life enough, so I’ve worked hard enough to earn a broken mirror as a reward.

However, whether that sly Lexion would willingly hand over the mirror after the wedding was uncertain.

‘I’m not such a naive woman, Lexion.’

Adelina decided to memorize the location by preemptively stealing the map. That way, even if Lexion broke the contract, she could go find the mirror herself.

“Let’s go! Hailyn!”

“Hahaha. Yes, Lady.”

Adelina shouted energetically and left the room with Hailyn.

+++

“Lady, stay still. You might get a scar on your pretty face. I can handle four by myself.”

Adelina and Hailyn, who entered Stephan’s room at the Marquis’s house, encountered assailants hiding there.

‘Damn! I should have stayed in the palace!’

Adelina adjusted her grip on the sword Hailyn had thrown to her and stood behind her.

Until a moment ago, everything was going according to Adelina’s plan. She stopped by the jeweler to buy the largest diamond rings.

• Lady, if I eat any more, I’ll die.

• What a shame. We’ll stop here for today.”

After ordering all kinds of desserts, she indulged until Hailyn was sick of sweets.

• Something old, expensive, and fancy.

Just in case, she stopped by a mirror shop and ordered the one with the most jewels to be delivered to the Duke’s house.

• I’ve never seen you read a book, Lady.

• Hailyn, my body is a living book. My mind is already full.

As the last stop, she went to the Marquis’s house to get emergency antidotes and ten books she wouldn’t read.

And when she came to get the map, she encountered these assailants.

‘They didn’t expect me to come!’

When Adelina entered Stephan’s room, it was already a mess. It looked like it had been ransacked for several days in search of something.

“Hailyn! You’re amazing! So cool!”

“Well, this much is nothing.”

As Hailyn boasted, she easily took on about four assailants alone. Adelina was relaxed enough to watch Hailyn’s every move and mimic them from behind.

“Lady, take the sword! You must kill at least two!”

“You told me to stay still!”

A moment later, Adelina, wielding a sword, pressed her back against Hailyn’s and glared at the assassins in front of her. The assailants’ swords aimed at her were threatening but not deadly, while those aimed at Hailyn were sharp and targeted her neck.

“Why are there so many!”

The four assailants had increased to ten before they knew it.

+++

“It’s been a while, Petrus’s hunting dog.”

At the same time, a sword was drawn to Lexion’s neck.

“You’ve grown a lot. The last time we met, you were just a snotty kid.”

Lexion, ignoring the sword, sat on a log opposite the man.

“You weren’t that tall back then either.”

The man with a black hood also sheathed his sword and sat opposite Lexion.

“What nonsense. Even then, I was a head taller than you.”

They were in a secluded forest cave at the estate of Earl Sopen, who had raised the rebellion.

In the cave, which looked like it could have housed a bear, there were only two logs for them to sit on, and people with black hoods and masks thoroughly guarded the surroundings.

Without even a single light stone, only their eyes shone brightly in the darkness.

“Lexion, did the Princess… pass peacefully?”

Lexion, who had a secret meeting with the leader of the Sopen rebels, heard the same question that day.

“Here. This is your Princess’s letter.”

Lexion handed a black rose brooch to the leader of the Sopen rebels. The black rose, the symbol of Ernst, closely resembled the brooch Rose wore until her death.

The leader of the Sopen rebels dropped the brooch on the ground and crushed it with his foot. Among the shattered fragments appeared a small ring and a paper note folded to the size of a fingernail.

“Did she suffer?”

“I gave her medicine in advance. She… shouldn’t have suffered.”

Lexion turned his head, pretending not to see the leader of the Sopen rebels clenching his fists and trembling.

This task, which required him to hand poison to a familiar young lady of Earl Sopen, was particularly difficult. Princesses who chose death for the independence of their homeland. They commanded the rebels of their homeland to join forces with Lexion.

• Lexion, you must succeed. Otherwise, I will haunt you even as a ghost.

• Of course, Princess. I will succeed.

The face of the Earl of Sopen’s young lady, who laughed even as she accepted the poison, overlapped with Rose’s face, who died ten years ago

“Thanks to you, I got to see the dragons. Quite a spectacle.”

The small commotion was an unavoidable plan to bring Lexion there. However, the leader of the Sopen rebels, who had to pay a much greater sacrifice than expected, gritted his teeth.

Now, to him, both Lexion and Austin were enemies he wanted to crush.

“I didn’t know the dragons would come along this time.”

Lexion turned to look at him. A prince of a fallen kingdom. A brother who lost his sister. 

He was so similar to himself… he didn’t even cry with his eyes.

“If you betray us, Ernst will turn into hell. I will personally kill every living thing on that land. Remember that.”

The leader of the Sopen rebels, whose eyes burned red, stood up.

“I will definitely succeed.”

Lexion also stood up following the leader of the Sopen rebels. As he passed by Lexion, he stopped and locked eyes with him.

“You must. On the day of success, I will hold my sister’s and people’s funerals.”

“On that day, I will offer the dragons as a sacrifice.”

“Don’t be so arrogant.”

The leader of the Sopen rebels twisted his lips and left the cave.

‘Crazy bastard. Even if he’s a swordmaster, to come alone.’

As the leader of the Sopen rebels and his escort knights left the forest, countless bodies, trampled by dragon claws and yet to be cleared, came into view.

“Phew…”

Lexion came out of the cave after everyone had left. The smell of blood outside was more pungent than the beastly scent inside the cave.

‘Sister, finally. Everything is ready.’

With this kingdom as the last, all preparations were complete. He had formed blood alliances with all the kingdoms surrounding the border of Petrus.

Stephan, who had been keeping up appearances in the barracks to avoid suspicion from others, suddenly stopped.

“Commander Austin.”

“Marquis Stephan Florin. Where has Duke Lexion gone?”

Austin strode into Lexion’s barracks.

+++

“Lady!”

At Hailyn’s urgent cry, Adelina withdrew the sword she had thrust at the enemy in front of her. Then she immediately swung her sword at one of the enemies attacking Hailyn.

“They’re only targeting you, Hailyn!”

“They probably need you, Lady, as a hostage!”

The depth of the swords wielded against them was noticeably different. While they only threatened Adelina, the swords aimed at Hailyn were sharp and targeted her neck.

“I’ll stand in front of you, Hailyn!”

“That’s absurd!”

Hailyn shouted incredulously. What kind of escort knight puts the person they’re protecting in front of them?

“Lady!”

However, Adelina quickly stood in front of Hailyn during the confrontation between the enemy and Hailyn.

“Damn!”

Seeing the quickly approaching sword hesitate, they must have judged it was better to take her hostage than kill her.

“To the wall!”

Hailyn and Adelina pressed their backs against the wall and faced the attackers.

The hesitant sword gave Hailyn an advantage. Using Adelina as a shield, Hailyn took down the attackers one by one.

“What is the Marquis’s knight order doing!”

When Adelina shouted loudly, the Marquis’s knight order finally entered the room, as if they had just noticed the commotion.

“Protect the Lady!”

“Damn it. Retreat!”

At the shout of the knight commander of the Marquis’s order, the attackers exited the room through the terrace window.

“Lady Adelina!”

“Sir Leophris?”

Adelina aimed her sword at Leophris, who rushed at her like a long-lost lover.