TVS 10

Thump, thump, thump.

With Etti pressed so close, my heart felt like it might burst.

“…Your Highness.”

Etti kept staring at me, his brows drawn tight.
Even in this moment, as I lowered my gaze slightly under that sharp look, my eyes drifted to his lips.

How could our Etti even have such pretty lips?

Hm. Just as I began to feel a little embarrassed—

“…The documents.”

Those lips moved, releasing a dangerously low voice.

“Were they really burned?”

At his words, I flinched and met his eyes again.
His blue eyes were filled with a mixture of complicated emotions and suspicion.

“…The Elemore Duke’s top-class confidential documents.”

“…!”

My eyes wavered, losing their calm.
He seemed certain that those documents were related to him.

“They must have been stored very carefully.”

Having inherited Katrin Elemore’s memories, I had gone straight to the Duke’s study before the funeral had even ended.

Then I opened the waterproof and fireproof safe, took them out… and burned them myself.

I didn’t hesitate for even a moment.

Because my goal is to help my rain-soaked baby kitten, Etti, safely succeed in the revolution, fix the ending of <Star of the Revolution>, and return to reality.

‘Don’t worry. To me, you’re the most important.’

Swallowing the words I couldn’t say, I looked at him with trembling eyes. His brow twitched.

His blue eyes flickered with faint confusion.

I slowly opened my lips.

“…I don’t know what Your Highness has to do with my family’s top-class secrets…”

His gaze was filled with layered emotions.

Looking straight into his eyes, I spoke firmly:

“They were all completely burned. Not a single piece left.”

So don’t worry. Stress is bad for your health! Your HP will drop!

“….”

As the one responsible for the entire revolutionary army, the mere fact that those documents might have fallen into the Duke of Elemore’s hands would be a disaster for Etti.

“If you’re curious, you can visit the ducal house yourself and check.”

I shrugged lightly, maintaining a calm expression.

“So could you move this wooden hand of yours?”

Only then, as if my sincerity finally got through, his hand—braced against the pillar—slowly pulled away from me.

He must’ve been really worried.

To others, he might look like a strong and dignified man…

But my gaze lingered on his rough nails for a long time—whether from training or lack of proper nutrition.

Watching Katrin’s retreating figure—her expression stiff as if deeply uncomfortable—Ettius’s sharp blue eyes flickered.

The red dress, like something out of a fairy tale, left an afterimage in his mind long after she had disappeared.

He slowly raised a hand and pressed it to his forehead.

Despite the cold night wind, a strange heat rose from somewhere inside him.

Was she always that unpredictable?

Still, since her hostility had remained clear from beginning to end, it didn’t seem like she had destroyed the documents out of goodwill toward him.

She definitely doesn’t know what was in them. If she did, she would’ve immediately handed them over to the Emperor.

But then—

“….”

Standing still, his lips parted.

“…Etti…?”

The moon’s shadow that had darkened his face drifted away with the wind, and brighter moonlight softly illuminated his sharp features.

“…Absurd.”

The hand covering his forehead slid down over his eyes.

Only after a long moment did he lower it and begin to walk.

The violently shaking light in his eyes slowly settled.

“….”

He stopped in front of a shabby carriage.

With cold eyes, he looked back at the imperial palace he had just left.

Everything he had lost.

And everything he had to reclaim.

“….”

Standing still, he turned his darkened gaze and opened the carriage door.

But something placed inside caught his attention, making his brow twitch.

Dragged in by soldiers, Philios Regalo was thrown before the Emperor.

Pale as a sheet, he fell to his knees.

“Th-That’s impossible! The bribed servant clearly said that Lady Elemore would place something very important in the prince’s carriage…!”

The Emperor looked down at Philios, his expression stiff with displeasure.

“Oh, she certainly placed a lot.”

“R-Really?! Then… it could be money! Lady Elemore must be supporting the prince with a large sum and betraying Your Majesty—”

But Philios’s excited words were abruptly cut off by something the Emperor threw at his face.

“…!”

What flew at him and blocked his vision was nothing other than a single sheet of paper.

“Read it.”

At the Emperor’s cold command, Philios grabbed it with trembling hands and began to read.

“…!”

So the Elemore lady’s servant had loaded this into the carriage?

But this was…

<February 7 – Grand Opening of the Sistina Poorhouse. You are invited!>

“….”

“That is what Lady Elemore placed in the prince’s carriage.”

At the Emperor’s words, Philios’s eyes shook violently.

He reread the flyer in disbelief.

<Participate in the three-month-long Sistina Poorhouse event. Citizens holding this flyer will receive food packages and sleeping kits to rest comfortably even on dirty streets…>

“….”

Philios was bewildered.

No matter how he looked at it, front and back—it was just a poorhouse flyer.

The Emperor crossed his legs, lifting his chin.

“Lady Elemore’s talent exceeds expectations. Perhaps… she may even surpass her father.”

Philios flinched at the Emperor praising Katrin instead.

“To pile up poorhouse flyers in the carriage of a financially struggling prince—what greater mockery could there be? The humiliation must be indescribable.”

The Emperor spoke with admiration.

“Among those who call themselves my loyal subjects, none have tormented the prince this actively.”

Even if he was a neglected prince, there were still the council’s eyes behind him—and nobles had reputations to maintain.

But Katrin Elemore was different.

“Can’t you feel her malice? A very low, meticulous kind of malice.”

He smirked.

The corner of the Emperor’s lips lifted in satisfaction.

The prince who found his carriage filled with these flyers—did that calm expression of his finally crack?

Perhaps he threw them away in anger and fell into despair once again.

“…Y-Your Majesty…!”

The more satisfied the Emperor seemed, the more confused Philios became.

He had reported her to ruin her—yet it only earned her the Emperor’s trust.

Soon, the Emperor’s cold gaze pierced him.

“Katrin Elemore is the ‘real thing.’ Unlike a fool like you.”

“Gah…!”

“Guards.”

At the Emperor’s gesture, the soldiers stepped forward again.

“Throw this man into the underground prison for wasting my precious time.”

“Y-Your Majesty!”

Philios struggled desperately, his face pale, but the soldiers seized him and dragged him away.

All that remained where he had been… was a crumpled poorhouse flyer.

“As expected. What a stupid bastard.”

I spotted a familiar figure being dragged away by soldiers.

With a faint smile, I climbed into my carriage.

Heros took my hand and lifted the hem of my dress to help me in.

“You seem to be in a good mood, my lady.”

Looking out at the passing scenery, I replied:

“Reward that servant well—the one who pretended to be bribed by the Regalo Marquisate and passed along the message.”

I had known that if bribing the press didn’t work, Philios would try to drag me down using his well-connected mother.

He was exactly that kind of pathetic, underhanded man.

So this time, I deliberately leaked the information.

Thanks to that, things should stay quiet for a while.

“Understood, my lady.”