RTPM 24

Chapter – 24

The town house of Count Lebel was often left empty. Kylion’s father, Count Lebel, had been appointed governor of Addis on the eastern continent for decades, so there was rarely any reason to use it. Even Kylion himself seemed unfamiliar with the place, glancing around from the moment he stepped inside. Still, he was a nobleman through and through. In a situation like this, he knew exactly what had to be done first.

“Forget everything you saw today. I trust you understand what I mean.”

“But, Young Master, if there is anything you would have me do—”

“Wait outside.”

He dismissed the steward hovering around him. He bore no ill will toward the man—whose face he barely recognized—but that only made caution more necessary. After a brief moment of thought, Kylion pulled out his wallet and handed over a gold coin.

“Go now and send a capable physician from nearby to the house.”

“Are you injured, sir?”

“Shh. She’ll wake.”

Kylion pressed a finger to his lips as he glanced back at Evangeline, lying on the drawing room sofa. She had said she would only rest briefly in the carriage, but had fallen asleep as if collapsing. Considering the distance they had traveled without her stirring once, she must have been utterly exhausted. After sending the steward away, he slowly approached the sofa.

“…Eva.”

Sinking down onto the carpet beside it, he gazed at her with complicated emotions. Her face, already small to begin with, now seemed as if it might disappear entirely. The rosy glow that once tinged her fresh cheeks was gone; she was so pale it was hard to believe she was alive at all.

“What on earth happened to you?”

He muttered bitterly.

Even as a child, Evangeline had never been particularly healthy. Whenever she caught a cold, she would lie in bed for an entire week, causing the Count endless worry. And each time, it was Kylion who visited her every single day, staying faithfully by her side.

“Thank you so much, Kylion. I was waiting for you.”

Even when bedridden, little Evangeline had been prim and aloof. She was so different from the other girls their age that he found her endlessly fascinating. He, who tired of everything so easily, would lose track of time whenever he was with her. Back then, he had been too naïve to imagine they would ever part.

“…You left just to live like this?”

A surge of anger rose in him so fierce he could barely speak. If she was going to leave so suddenly, she could at least have lived well. Though, if she truly had been living well, his heart likely wouldn’t have been at ease either.

As he stared at her, something seemed to draw him in. He reached out to brush aside her disheveled silver hair. At first, he meant only to tidy it—but once a part of her touched his fingertips, it became hard to pull away.

Clack.

Just as his hand was about to touch the pale cheek beneath her hair, the sound from outside the door made him freeze. He looked startled by what he himself had almost done. Hastily withdrawing his hand, he stood as the knocking grew louder. He had asked for a physician; no other visitor was expected.

“The patient is asleep right now, so if you could keep your voice down—”

“Who is asleep?”

“…Your Grace, the Duke of Teze.”

Kylion’s face drained of color the moment he flung the door open. Though this was his first formal encounter with him, there was no mistaking who he was. Even drenched from head to toe by the rain, the man’s presence was overwhelming.

“I asked who is sleeping, and where.”

“…Your Grace.”

Pressed down by the duke’s overbearing aura, Kylion straightened his back at last. No matter that he was the Duke of Teze—this was not a situation in which he could act so brazenly.

“What brings you here?”

“Is that what matters?”

“…Your Grace, this is my home. It is hardly an hour to receive guests. As Chairman of the Senate, I trust you would at least observe basic courtesy.”

“Then what is my fiancée doing asleep in your house, if she is not a guest?”

“That’s—”

“From where I stand, the one who should be observing courtesy is you.”

Gray eyes gleamed coldly beneath black hair. He did not even attempt to hide the irritation—the peculiar arrogance—that flickered within them.

“If you have nothing more to say, choose one of two options. Step aside, or lead me in.”

“That is rude, Your Grace.”

Kylion did not back down easily. The memory of how she had looked at the cemetery still burned inside him. Now that she had no one left, at least he would protect her.

“This is unreasonable. Even if you are Chairman of the Senate, you cannot issue commands so freely in my own house.”

“Oh? Is that so?”

“……”

A faint scoff escaped the duke. Kylion’s fists clenched. It might have been more bearable if the man had erupted in anger instead. That expression—one of utter disdain, as if amused by the situation—swept Kylion away first.

“If you’re so confident, then settle this by law. Nowhere in Imperial law does it say a homeowner must yield to an uninvited visitor!”

“That applies to law-abiding citizens of the Empire.”

“…Your Grace.”

“Captain Kylion Lebel. For a naval officer, you seem to have forgotten your superior.”

Kylion sucked in a breath, finally understanding. The Duke of Teze was not only Chairman of the Senate but also the Supreme Commander who held authority over all military forces. Though largely nominal and rarely exercised directly, the position could not be denied.

“You should know how military law deals with insubordination.”

“Your Grace! I—”

“If that uniform is something you can cast off so lightly, then by all means do so. The Empire has no need for such a weak soldier.”

“…Ha.”

Kylion’s arm dropped limply to his side. Taking that as his cue, the duke stepped inside without waiting. Yet he himself was not as composed as he appeared.

The faint scent of Evangeline drifting through the house made his throat tighten visibly. His cold profile turned briefly toward the second floor, where the bedrooms would be. Kylion shook his head.

“That’s not it. Eva isn’t in the bedroom—”

“I know.”

Cutting him off shortly, the duke headed straight for the drawing room. Evangeline, unaware of the commotion outside, lay there with a face utterly at peace. Without hesitation, the duke lifted her into his arms. As he passed Kylion—whose fists still trembled—he let out a cold sneer.

“If she had been in the bedroom, you’d already be dead.”

◇ ◆ ◇

Addis, where Evangeline had lived, was the most prosperous and vibrant port city on the eastern continent. Ships constantly came and went, filling the harbor with lively noise, and strange animals she had never even seen in books were common sights. It was there she discovered her unexpected talent for taming animals—despite not being particularly active herself.

For the sole reason that his daughter smiled brightly there, her father had established their base in Addis for five full years. Though a merchant’s life meant constant wandering, they always returned to Addis in the end. The sharp scent of spices, the brilliant bolts of silk.

Whenever she stepped into the port and felt the heavy, humid air, Evangeline knew she was home. Her face and neck would flush red almost immediately.

“Mm…”

Was she truly home?

With her eyes still closed, Evangeline frowned slightly. The breath she drew felt warm and thick, yet amid the suffocating sensation there stirred a strange anticipation. She did not want to dwell on hazy memories that made her head throb. She only wanted to return to the happiest moments she had known.

Her father holding her hand from the deck.
Kylion waving to her from the harbor.
And—

“Are you awake?”

“Ah…”

At the voice of a man who did not exist in those memories, her eyes flew open. The blurry haze of her vision gradually cleared. But as the objects around her came into focus, confusion flooded her eyes.

“W-Why am I in Your Grace’s room?!”

“You shouldn’t be up yet.”

Sitting in a chair before the fireplace, Dekarno crossed his legs at an angle. The documents scattered before him suggested he hadn’t truly been working—but if not, he was hardly the sort of man to sit idly without reason.

“Lie down a little longer. The physician said you overexerted yourself.”

“…Your Grace.”

“It would be better for you to stay here for a while. I didn’t realize the annex was that drafty.”

His tone was excessively calm. Evangeline blinked slowly.

Seen like this, it felt as though nothing had happened at all. As though everything were perfectly peaceful.

He worked. She lay down and drifted back to sleep.

If time simply passed like this, perhaps that would not be so bad. It was the peace she had longed for desperately while burning with fever.

But now, she knew.

Something like this would never last long.