Chapter 9

Genoa slowly blinked his heavy eyes. As he did, a droplet that had formed on his eyelashes fell with a plop. A maid approached to dry his wet hair with a towel, but he raised a hand to stop her and spoke to Bane who was watching him.

“I’m tired.”

“I apologize. I originally intended to help you rest longer, but the princess complained of a cramp in her shoulder, so I had no choice but to wake you from your nap.”

Genoa recalled when he opened his eyes in the carriage as he accepted the glass of water Bane handed him.

“While I sympathize with the duke’s fatigue, look at my condition. I too am someone who needs rest. I’ll come to make up for your lack of sleep after I’ve had my own rest first, so please wait.”

The princess had briefly turned back while getting out of the carriage, silently reproaching him with resentful eyes before entering the mansion. Realizing that the princess had been trapped in the carriage without being able to properly tidy her disheveled appearance or rest, Genoa felt quite embarrassed.

Today must have been an exhausting day for the princess from beginning to end. Of course, Genoa couldn’t deny that he had significantly influenced how this day had become special for the princess.

“I should apologize to the princess when she comes to my bedroom later.”

“Pardon?”

Bane asked in confusion at Genoa’s quiet mumble. But Genoa showed no sign of concern.

“Never mind. Is the princess in her room now?”

“That’s what I understand.”

“I want to go see her.”

“My lord!”

Bane turned pale and blocked his path. In response, Genoa tilted his head slightly and asked.

“Why are you so alarmed? Is the princess still dangerous to me?”

“That’s not it, but……”

Seeing Bane’s sensitivity regarding anything related to the princess, Genoa made a joke with humor in his voice.

“Ah, then perhaps I’m the dangerous one. Visiting at this hour in this state would indeed be fatal to a woman’s heart, wouldn’t it?”

A nearby maid dropped her towel with a thud as he swept back his freshly washed, still-damp hair.

Though it was a joke, Genoa’s current appearance would certainly have an unfavorable effect on the princess’s heart if she encountered him at her door at this hour.

“This is no joking matter, my lord.”

“You’ve always been that way.”

“That may be so. But visiting a lady’s room at such a late hour……”

“Didn’t you once complain that I was treating a prisoner too well? Have you suddenly developed a sense of chivalry?”

“……I never quite complained.”

“A man who changes his words so easily lacks charm, Bane.”

Genoa patted Bane’s shoulder a couple of times as if in regret. Then he said reassuringly.

“Anyway, if I wait here patiently, the princess will come looking for me on her own. I had no intention of going to her first.”

At those words, Bane’s chest visibly rose and fell with relief. Noticing his clear reaction, Genoa’s eyes briefly gleamed with a cold light.

“Your attitude is quite interesting, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Now, not only within the Ivanstein mansion but throughout society, no one thinks of the princess as an enemy prisoner. Even the Second Prince seems to have developed quite a fondness for her.”

“……”

“Only you consistently sense a threat from her from beginning to end.”

The Bane that Genoa knew was a consistent man. He possessed loyalty as stubborn as his personality, and while it occasionally came close to crossing the lines Genoa had set, he treated Bane quite generously. This was because he knew very well that every move and word from Bane was used solely to assist Genoa Ivanstein.

The only time Bane’s behavior felt bothersome was regarding the matter of the princess of Reibritton.

When it came to the princess, Bane acted excessively. He showed emotional reactions and displayed hostility bordering on irrationality beyond reason. Genoa hadn’t overlooked this but had left it alone because it was useful.

“Well, the war with Reibritton is still unfinished, and I haven’t yet found a reason why the princess would cooperate with us amicably……”

“Bane.”

Hearing his name spoken softly, Bane tightly pressed his lips together. He was a man who knew well that at times like this, he should quietly listen to his lord’s words, which was why he had been able to remain by Genoa’s side for years.

“The threat you feel from the princess isn’t about such official matters, is it?”

“……!”

Bane’s eyes widened. Watching his agitated eyes, Genoa curled the corners of his lips into a smile, like a benevolent master overlooking the antics of a cute puppy. With such an expression, Genoa gave Bane a choice.

“I’ll wait, so report to me when your thoughts are organized. Of course, if you don’t feel the need to report your personal concerns to me, you don’t have to.”

Though he knew what choice Bane would inevitably make, Genoa remained a generous master until the end. In fact, giving him time at all was special treatment for Bane, perhaps even something that could be called an honor.

Genoa only needed to gauge the answer Bane would bring with time. Having neatly concluded the matter, Genoa addressed Bane again in a level tone.

“By the way, Bane.”

“Yes.”

Genoa looked at his faithful servant whose expression had hardened severely. He had always known when to retreat appropriately, and this time would be no different. Aside from waiting for his answer, Genoa’s irritation was another matter.

“I don’t want to keep the promise I made.”

“Which promise are you referring to?”

Bane seemed to have noticed something but pretended not to, letting his words trail off. Partly because he didn’t want to spoil Genoa’s mood, but also because he didn’t want to hear it.

“I’ve come to dislike the idea of the princess flying away from here.”

“Ah.”

Bane sighed, realizing the inevitable had come.

But Genoa knew. Now that he had said this, if the princess tried to escape from Ivanstein, the first person to capture her would be Bane. It meant Bane could no longer sigh and sharpen his edge against the princess.

This was Genoa’s own kind warning and notification. That he would no longer listen to Bane’s concerned words about the princess.

“So I’ll need your help.”

“Command me.”

“Inform the First Prince that I have the emperor’s will, which he left before his death, in my possession.”

“Are you planning to move up the coronation?”

“Yes.”

A beautiful smile spread across Genoa’s lips.

The more chaos the Raon Empire fell into, the better. Could there be a more appropriate way to cleanse the history of this damned mansion’s basement?

He dismissed Bane from the bedroom with a few casual gestures. Then he opened the window wide to let the moonlight flood into the bedroom.

“Hmm.”

It was quite a good night. A mysterious light as enigmatic as Genoa’s hair poured into the room.

He was someone who often included calculations of how his appearance might look to women. If he waited just a little longer, the princess would walk in with a light knock on the bedroom door. Genoa imagined the expression she would show then.

She would probably enter with a disgruntled face, and when their eyes met, she would roll her eyes slightly to avoid his gaze. Genoa would approach such a princess with a smiling face and make various jokes.

Then the princess would surely make his mood pleasant with her sharp retorts, even while trembling slightly.

Ah……

Genoa’s Adam’s apple moved prominently as he sat on the windowsill looking toward the bedroom door. It was a night of uncharacteristic conflict and confusion.

“I’m also reluctant to disappoint the princess.”

Genoa had promised the princess freedom. Since she had so vividly expressed the most important color in his grand design, granting her appropriate freedom in return was the honorable thing for a gentleman to do.

But when had Genoa ever been an honorable gentleman? He wasn’t a man who valued honor enough to overlook something he found distasteful, despite knowing he was acting against his own wishes. But before refusing to overlook it, he first needed to provide a suitable reason.

In the current situation, the reason why the most appropriate royal marriage between the Second Prince and the princess of Reibritton didn’t appeal to him wasn’t solely because he had to give the princess freedom, so Genoa needed another reason. For instance, a reason like there being an even better method that he hadn’t thought of yet.

“Ha……”

As his thoughts progressed this way, Genoa couldn’t suppress a hollow laugh. It was because he found himself unfamiliar—trying to find other methods while setting aside the easy one.

What was it about Amelia Reibritton that occasionally made Genoa uncover conflicting sides of himself—either becoming overly relaxed or overly cautious around her? Was that why Bane was so guarded toward the princess—because he sensed this in Genoa? No, Bane’s anxiety wasn’t just because of that.

Like Genoa, Bane probably kept recalling the familiar girl’s face when looking at the princess.

‘It was your fault for running away, Mel.’

Genoa blamed the young girl who, being already dead, had not grown up in his mind.