Leaving Rose out of it, in the room Astrid looked at me with surprise.
"...Why is the Empress's maid looking for you?"
"You really can't hold back your questions," I replied with annoyance.
"Oh, come on! Are you going to keep being this harsh with me?"
"I'll tell Adela to arrange a safe place for you, probably outside of Demor."
She raised an eyebrow in doubt.
"Are you sure your maid can handle something like that?"
"Don't underestimate her. You've already seen that she's much stronger than you."
Her cheeks puffed up and she looked away, offended. It seemed like she wasn't going to say anything else, but just before I could finally rest that day, she spoke again:
"Do I really have to leave? Even though it's not very fun to stay here all the time, if I go... I won't have anyone else."
I looked at her, trying not to fall for her words or her melancholic tone.
"Now you care about being alone? Shouldn't you have thought about that before acting the way you did?"
Her eyes suddenly became teary.
"Was it so wrong to want recognition from my family? You have a father who gives you everything even if you have no talent; I had one who looked at me like I was the worst stain in his life."
"Maybe that's true," I replied coldly, "but you said it yourself: we're two different people. Maybe your brother or your father don't support you or love you, but three years ago I was there for you, even without any blood ties that mattered."
She bit her lips in frustration.
"Start getting ready. As soon as Adela has everything prepared, you're leaving."
"You're cruel... and much colder than you appear to others," she murmured with a broken voice.
I didn't respond. Her words weren't an insult to me, but a simple observation of reality.
"I don't usually give second chances," I muttered to myself while she sank into her corner. "Few people are worth it..."
And I'm already being far too good to her. The fact that she doesn't see it that way only makes my decision to distance myself from her even more correct.
If she stopped to think for even a moment, she would realize that simply helping her represents a danger that no ordinary count's son would be willing to take.
…
The next day I was going to visit the Empress, but before that, a visitor who usually comes on Saturdays appeared.
And it seems someone couldn't hide from her.
Valeria Astaford looked at me with disbelief, shifting her gaze between the fugitive hiding in my room and me.
I really wonder what Adela was doing to let this happen.
But it seems she isn't here; she must have been making arrangements for Elara.
If I had woken up a little earlier, I would have seen Valeria entering my room as if it were her own house.
"Are you hiding the princess of Lucratis? Do you want to die?" she blurted out, her hand instinctively moving close to the hilt of her sword.
"Valeria, she'll be leaving soon. I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone. I've never asked you for anything, and yet I let you come bother me every Saturday."
Her face looked conflicted.
"She's leaving? How do you plan to get her out of here? Anyone who sees her right now will recognize her face. It's everywhere in the capital and across the entire Empire."
"We'll manage. You know I'm not that easy to deal with, Valeria."
She frowned, not believing my words.
"Being good with a sword doesn't mean you're an expert at hiding a criminal."
I didn't explain further and changed the subject.
"Anyway, if you came to talk about swordsmanship with me, I have other things to do today. So I'd suggest you get going. And next time, if you enter my room without knocking first, you can forget about me ever speaking to you again. Now then... out," I ordered, pointing at the door.
It seemed my words struck something in her, because she started running toward the exit anxiously. But before she actually left, she shouted:
"Now I have a secret of yours! Next Saturday, without fail!"
I let out an exhausted sigh and looked at Astrid, who still had the same look on her face: thousands of questions and no answers.
I didn't give her a second glance and headed straight for the door.
…
On the other hand, last night the Empress received her maid back. Her excited and clearly expectant expression died quickly when she saw her enter alone.
"Where is he?" she demanded, pushing her maid aside and waiting for someone to magically appear behind her.
Rose lowered her gaze and didn't dare look her mistress in the eyes.
"Your Majesty... Cassian said he won't come today. That he's tired and will come see you tomorrow."
Caelia's face darkened instantly, radiating such pressure that the air in the room became difficult to breathe.
"And you let him refuse like that?"
"I told him to think carefully, clearly hinting at what could happen if he didn't come… but… he said that if you did anything he didn't like, you could start thinking that you would never see him again."
Those words didn't sit well with the Empress. It wasn't like her to swallow this kind of thing, but something inside her began to feel genuine fear.
She had finally obtained something that truly excited her, and the mere idea of losing it was something she didn't want to imagine.
…
"Miss Elizabeth, the Marquis of Lothe has accepted your invitation. Though something felt strange about him, as if he had been waiting for this invitation with enthusiasm."
Elizabeth frowned at the report.
They hadn't been able to find much about the marquis, so they had always assumed he would definitely support his nephew, Leonardo.
Still, she looked at her trump card in case other methods didn't work and calmed herself.
Adela was there and watched the exchange with curiosity.
But she didn't think much of it and approached the marchioness to discuss several matters.
Though most of them seemed to revolve around a certain person and relationships that weren't entirely welcome to them.
"It seems the young master has been quite busy lately," Adela commented in a dry tone.
Elizabeth nodded, sharing the same hint of jealousy and concern.
"Do you think the fact that the young master knows the Duchess could end up in…?"
Adela let out a heavy sigh, cutting off the sentence before Elizabeth could finish it.
"I don't know, but the fact that that woman is so close to a certain shameless woman doesn't give me good vibes," Adela replied, clearly referring to Director Sylvia.
At the same time, Adela decided to change to a more positive topic for them.
"We should be grateful that it seems he won't keep Astrid around much longer."
Elizabeth looked at her with genuine surprise.
"And that is?"
Adela showed a pure, happy smile—one she rarely displayed.
"He asked me to find her a safe place, far away from the capital and all of Demor."
The corner of her mouth lifted in a triumphant gesture.