Chapter 56

A sinister chuckle seeped from Leophris’s twisted lips. At that laughter, Hailyn turned her head and glared at him fiercely.  

“If you lay a finger on Lady Adelina, I won’t leave you be.”  

“What did you say! You insolent!”  

Leophris, his face beet red, raised his hand and struck hard toward Hailyn’s face.  

“Ugh!”  

Hailyn, who caught that hand and twisted the arm, coldly stared at Leophris’s distorted face as he groaned.  

“I don’t cut off such things. I cut off necks.”  

The tip of the dagger hidden at the end of the black robe’s sleeve touched Leophris’s neck.  

Bwoong— A long ship’s horn sounded, carried by the damp sea breeze to them.  

“It’s the ship heading to the Tiola Empire. It’s the last ship. Please hurry to board!”  

At the sailor’s shout, people who were saying their farewells hurriedly began to board the ship.  

“Remember my words.”  

Hailyn let go of Leophris’s hand as if throwing it away and immediately boarded the ship.  

‘Adelina. I will never leave you be! I will repay all this humiliation!’  

Leophris, his neck red with anger and embarrassment, ground his teeth as he watched the departing ship.  

+++

“The Duchess is missing!”  

A few hours later, the maid who went in to prepare Adelina’s dinner found the empty bedroom and immediately reported it to the captain of the knights.  

“Search for her! Surely! She couldn’t have left without being seen!”

The head knight’s irritated shout echoed through the Duke’s residence late in the evening.

As night fell, large raindrops began to fall on the lake of the duke’s residence.  

The birds living by the lake had already moved to the bushes or trees, tucking their young into their bosoms to shield them from the rain.  

“The Duke and the Marquis have not returned yet either!”  

The butler, who heard the maid’s words that Adelina had disappeared, rushed into the bedroom and shouted.  

His appearance, usually always sophisticated and elegant, was completely different, and the captain of the knights looked at him reproachfully.  

“Today, didn’t they go to Inis Port to see off the maid of the Tiola Empire…?”  

This was already a matter reported to the Imperial family.  

Even the knights had been sent for surveillance…  

‘No way! Did they stow away leaving the wife behind?’  

Why? In autumn, they would go to Ernst leaving the wife anyway…  

Suddenly, a chill ran down the captain of the knights’ back.  

An unknown anxiety caused cold sweat to run down his back.  

“Immediately! Follow that ship!”  

“It’s already been half a day since it departed. Moreover, a typhoon is approaching now…”  

At the subordinate’s report, the captain of the knights stopped as if nailed to the spot.  

“Damn it! Report to the Imperial Palace immediately!”  

In this situation, there’s no choice.  

Adelina is needed even more.  

“Tiara! Check if the rose tiara is there!”  

At the captain of the knights’ order, the head maid and the maids opened all the drawers of the dressing table and the dress closet.  

“The rose tiara is here.”  

In the top drawer of the dressing table, the rose tiara lay quietly on white silk.  

Except for the dresses given as gifts to Hailyn, all were intact.  

“I see… Then, it seems she didn’t run away.”  

“But… there are no other jewels left…”  

The captain of the knights, who had felt a momentary relief, shouted with bloodshot eyes at the head maid’s words.  

“Find the Duchess. There are no traces of her leaving through the front door of the duke’s residence.”  

They had monitored thoroughly.  

They had set up 24-hour guards even below Adelina’s bedroom to prevent her from escaping through the window.  

“Damn it! Our heads will roll!”

They searched the duke’s residence and the capital area thoroughly once more, but they could not find a single strand of Adelina’s silver hair anywhere.  

+++

That night, Evans and the Dragon Knights arrived at the southernmost border of the Marquis of Gair in the eastern Kingdom of Iberis.  

The young dethroned prince of the Gair Kingdom, which had fallen ten years ago, was currently ruling this place.  

For the past three years, as rebellions large and small continued to occur, Evans planned to take this opportunity to tour the fallen kingdoms near Iberis and show the threatening presence of the Dragon.  

“How have you been, Young Master?”  

Evans looked down imposingly at the 15-year-old boy without even dismounting from the Dragon.  

“Yes, Prince. My… father and sister… are they well?”  

The boy’s voice trembled finely as he sought his blood relatives whom he hadn’t seen even once in ten years.  

“Of course. As long as the Young Master doesn’t start a rebellion, the two will live peacefully in the capital.”  

Seeing the boy clasp his trembling hands tightly to hide them, Evans finally seemed satisfied and entered the mansion after dismounting from the Dragon.  

Following Evans, the Dragon Knights entered the mansion confidently and were guided by the maids.  

Blood vessels stood out on the neck of the boy who had bowed his head.  

“Well done, Young Master.”  

“Let’s go in. We must treat the guests with courtesy.”  

When the butler standing next to him lightly grabbed and released the boy’s hand, the boy raised his head and erased the blood vessels from his neck.  

“Your Majesty.”

When Evans finished a quick shower in the pre-arranged room and came out, the butler knocked on the door.  

“Come in.”  

“A carrier pigeon has arrived from Iberis. It seems they knew you would come here.”

“Is that so?”  

Evans examined the small cloth brought by the servant who came in with the butler.  

Seeing the swan emblem and the dragon emblem engraved on the cloth, the corner of his mouth slightly lifted.  

The dragon emblem was used for messages sent to the Petrus Imperial family.  

‘How did they know I would come here?’  

After accepting the message, Evans ordered everyone to leave and then poured a glass of cold water into a glass.  

Quenching his thirst after just finishing a shower, he leisurely unfolded the cloth.  

“Sweeney!”  

Crunch. The glass held in Evans’s hand shattered into pieces.  

+++

The communications department of the Petrus Imperial Palace clicked their tongues as they spotted pigeons flying through the fierce wind.  

“What urgent message could it be to send carrier pigeons at this time?”  

The staff carefully untied the cloths attached to the legs of the three pigeons.  

‘It’s from Iberis. Did Queen Sweeney send a love letter to Prince Evans?’  

Since she had never sent a carrier pigeon except for the usual end-of-month reports, they unfolded the cloth while indulging in trivial thoughts.  

“Report to His Majesty immediately!”  

As one of the communications department staff hurriedly ran to the Emperor’s Palace, three more pigeons flew in and landed on the terrace of the communications department.  

<Iberis is no longer a vassal state of Petrus. Furthermore, I hereby notify the annulment of my engagement to Prince Evans.>  

As if to ensure nothing was omitted, the same message was tied to the legs.  

+++

In the lowest part of the ship heading to the Tiola Empire, not a single ray of sunlight that passed through the seawater reached.  

A space where if even a slight hole were made in the wall right next to it due to hitting a reef, the dark seawater would gush in.  

The air here seemed to be heavily imbued with the scent of death.  

A coffin submerged in water. People called this space that.  

No matter how cheap the fare, there were almost no guests who used the cabins here.  

Therefore, it was mainly used as a storage space for non-perishable supplies.  

Among the tightly stacked chairs, two men sat with only two faintly lit light stones.  

“Duke, I think I might have claustrophobia.”  

Stephan, who didn’t even get seasick, stood up with a yellow face, holding a light stone.  

“How weak. Just go out for a moment. If you’re caught, you’ll be thrown into the sea immediately.”

“I’ll just catch my breath for a moment.”  

‘Is that guy really claustrophobic?’  

Even on the swaying ship, Stephan, with his large frame, balanced well, and Lexion tilted his head skeptically.  

Once alone, Lexion gently pressed his left chest and then took out something wrapped in black cloth from his bosom.  

When he unwrapped the cloth, an oval hand mirror the size of his palm appeared.  

It was studded with small jewels all around, as if catering to someone’s taste.  

“Adelina.”  

Lexion called Adelina’s name as he looked at his face reflected in the hand mirror.  

+++

‘Yahoo! I finally entered the mirror!’  

This morning, Adelina, who entered the mirror, felt a sense of relief seeing that Lexion had safely stowed away on the ship and cheered.  

‘I was so exhausted from acting gloomy for two weeks!’  

To deceive people, she had shed tears and sighed deeply, and as she acted, she felt like a real wife abandoned by Lexion.  

[Adelina, do you want to become real?]  

‘Oh my! God! Nice to meet you!’  

The god in the mirror seemed to have been waiting for Adelina, as it started injecting encyclopedias as soon as she entered.  

The mirror was something Stephan had secretly brought from the border area just before the wedding when people’s attention was entirely focused on her and Lexion.  

• To reduce others’ attention, I made it look like an ordinary hand mirror.

It was made into an oval princess-style mirror for easy carrying.  

Lexion had only mentioned the existence of this mirror and kept it thoroughly hidden, showing it only this morning.  

‘Cunning guy. You didn’t trust me. In case I entered the mirror first.’  

That fellow. Quick-witted.  

In this world, there’s no one to trust. And she’s not that trustworthy either.  

‘God! How grateful I am, for you to inject so much 19+ content…’  

Perhaps feeling sorry for injecting encyclopedias upon meeting, the god continued to inject 19+ romance afterward.  

‘Please. Stop! Stop it! My nose is going to bleed!’  

But… it should have been just one or two!  

‘There are 100 lewd demons in my head…’  

Adelina, who had been injected with too much 19+ content in a short time, felt dizzy.  

“Adelina.”  

In the dim light, a voice calling her was heard, as if Lexion had taken it out from his bosom.  

‘Lexion!’  

She answered softly from inside the mirror.  

If she spoke loudly, the mirror might shatter like last time.  

“Did you read a lot of 19+?”  

How… how did he know…  

‘Enormously.’

Well. Since he already knows everything, she should answer honestly to maintain her dignity.  

“Ahem… Then… Shall we practice together?”  

With Lexion… that? Doing this and that, that?  

The novel she had just been injected with… was a very kind book with illustrations included.  

Recalling those illustrations, it felt like a fire was burning in Adelina’s head, and sirens were blaring.  

‘Go away! You lewd demon!’  

It’s a relief she’s in the mirror.  

If she were outside, he would have seen her blushing face.  

“Why didn’t you bring the rose tiara?”  

Lexion, who chuckled softly, spoke while gently touching the surface of the mirror.  

Adelina also touched the surface of the mirror following Lexion’s fingertips.  

‘In case… if my bag was searched, it would be discovered immediately…’  

She wanted to bring even a fake one…  

It seems she can’t even have a fake.  

As Adelina’s voice was filled with regret, Lexion’s hand paused.  

“Shall I make you another one? More splendid and more beautiful?”  

‘It’s okay. You’re going to become a king now, so save money and use it for the people. And… I’m not real anyway.’  

Like herself…  

Adelina shook her head left and right, shaking off her regret.  

She found herself foolish for momentarily coveting the tiara when she would be in the mirror anyway.  

“Adelina Ernst. What you do is real.”