Chapter 84

“Since time is short, let’s get straight to the point.”

“…”

Edelina couldn’t quite wrap her head around the current situation.

Why was the Saintess wearing a maid uniform, and why was she wearing a wig?

‘Ah, now that I think about it, even back at our fief…’

She had visited disguised as a maid back then too.

Was it a similar situation this time?

The Crown Prince didn’t seem to realize that she was the Saintess, so that was likely the case.

‘Just what could she be thinking?’

While Edelina was lost in various agonies, Crown Prince Theodore looked at her with a face full of pity.

‘The poor thing.’

Just how much hardship must she have endured for a person to look so dazed?

‘The Order’s tyranny is crossing the line more and more.’

Until now, the Empire and the Holy State had remained silent because they both had things to gain from each other, but they were gradually crossing a line that was becoming hard to overlook.

‘They’re nitpicking over nothing and daring to execute an innocent subject of our Empire at will?’

It was true he had stepped up for Edelina as Hereis’s close friend, but it was also for the prestige of the Empire.

If he let Edelina die, wouldn’t that be equivalent to a declaration that the Empire had surrendered to the Order?

Furthermore, the Order’s lackey who spearheaded all of this was a distant branch of the Imperial family?

Theodore gnashed his teeth.

‘He should be protecting her, yet he acts like this. That damn bastard!’

Theodore swallowed a heavy sigh and brought up the main topic.

“I’ve heard much from Hereis about how clever you are, Lady Peyers. I went through a lot of trouble to arrange this meeting because I thought someone like you might have a way to break through this situation. If there’s anything you need, I will help.”

In other words, he was telling her to somehow find a breakthrough despite having no specific plan.

‘Isn’t this a bit too reckless?’

To tell someone who was in prison until just a moment ago to suddenly devise an escape plan—what kind of common decency was that?

‘Even with His Highness the Crown Prince’s help, I’ve already…’

Just as Edelina was trying to suppress her cold, sinking heart. The Crown Prince suddenly began showing strange symptoms.

“If nothing comes to mind, an escape… would…”

“Y-Your Highness?”

Thud!

The Crown Prince slumped to the side and collapsed right onto the plush sofa.

“Your Highness! Are you alright?”

Startled by the sudden turn of events, Edelina urgently shook the fallen Prince’s shoulder.
Drawing on her slight medical knowledge, she placed two fingers on his wrist.

The pulse was a bit slow, but it seemed fine…

“Ah, first I have to call someone…!”

“You don’t have to.”

Edelina snapped her head up to find the Saintess, who had left earlier, already standing before her again.

‘W-when did she come back in? No, wait, was the kitchen that close? It wasn’t nearly enough time to physically bring hibiscus tea—which takes at least thirty minutes to brew—along with refreshments…

While Edelina held a completely useless internal debate about how the Saintess could have returned so quickly, the Saintess looked down at the unconscious Prince with total indifference.

At that, Edelina, who had momentarily forgotten about the Prince, spoke hurriedly.

“B-but His Highness suddenly collapsed…! Even if he looks fine on the surface, he needs to see a doctor!”

“It’s fine. I’m the one who did it.”

“Pardon?”

“It won’t affect his health, so don’t worry about it.”

It’s fine?

While Edelina was wondering what that meant, her eyes instinctively landed on the Prince’s cup on the table, and she reached out. When she caught a whiff of the residue on the rim of the cup, a faint, familiar scent brushed against her nose.

“It’s… sleeping pills.”

“Correct. I was told that a single pill would put someone into a sleep so deep they wouldn’t notice even if they were carried away for five hours.”

“Why would you do that to His Highness…?”

“It wouldn’t matter much if the Crown Prince heard, but I put him to sleep just in case. I have something to tell you.”

“To me?”

The Saintess let out a chuckle and asked why else she would have come all this way.
Then, immediately wiping the smile away, she continued in a serious voice.

“Lady Edelina. Do not give up.”

“Pardon?”

“You looked like you had given up. You even left a will for me.”

I suppose it was that obvious.

Edelina lowered her head.

“That is, well, I’m sorry. You’re right… I shouldn’t, but I kept having nothing but negative thoughts.”

“If you were to die here, how would your father or Sir Hereis go on living?”

She hadn’t expected to hear such words from the Saintess. As the fact she had been ignoring because the present was too overwhelming was dragged out into the open, her heart sank as if it were falling. She was choosing her words, unable to answer the dizzying sensation readily, when the Saintess continued.

“Isn’t it obvious they would both blame themselves, thinking you died because of them? No, it is because of them. Sir Hereis brought you here, and your father made the mistake of asking Cardinal Samuel for a favor, which is why things turned out like this.”

“T-that’s not true! If I hadn’t done something that warranted being reported in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened!”

“Do you think those two would see it that way?”

“…….”

No. If it were Hereis and her father, they would turn the blame on themselves.

“If they lose you like that, will they even be able to live proper lives anymore?”

No. They would probably live the rest of their lives carrying that guilt.

The thought of that made Edelina’s heart ache as if it were being crushed. On the other hand, Edelina also felt it was unfair. It wasn’t that she wanted to die. But what was she supposed to do when things were unfolding like this?

Feeling pressed despite her status as someone about to die, a sense of rebellion rose within her. Edelina stood up abruptly and cried out.

“My heart feels like it’s tearing apart too! I know very well that this is an unforgivable thing to do to my father and Hereis! But it’s not like I can live just because I want to!”

“No. If you don’t give up until the end, you can live.”

“What?”

Edelina felt doubt first at the Saintess’s cryptic remark, but her heart, which had sunk, began to beat little by little with the expectation that she might live.

“U-um, Saintess. What on earth do you mean by…?”

“No matter how unfavorably the trial proceeds, you must deny everything until the end. Can you do that?”

“What in the world are you…?”

“I cannot tell you right now. Just trust me and do not say a single word during the trial that could be used against you. If you just follow this one instruction, I will take responsibility and ensure you are cleared of all charges.”

Knock, knock!

…!

“Um, Your Imperial Highness. Your time is up…”

“You should leave now. On your way out, tell them the Crown Prince will be staying here longer and that no one is to enter under any circumstances.”

The Saintess whispered so her voice wouldn’t carry outside.

Indeed, the sight of the collapsed Crown Prince must not be seen.

Edelina gave a silent nod and stepped out of the room.

“So… ah.”

“…”

Why was this?

I felt like I could hear a nostalgic voice.

“Seo So-shin!”

Gasp!

I snapped my eyes open, gasping for breath like someone who had barely surfaced after being submerged underwater for a long time.

“How can a kid be sprawled out sleeping until this hour?”

White fluorescent lights beat down on my eyes.

‘…’

It was a familiar ceiling.

Following the voice that rang so clearly in my ears, I turned my head to see a familiar silhouette tidying up my cluttered room.

“M-Mom?”

“Good grief. You’re at that age and you’re missing work because you’re oversleeping? I don’t know why a kid who never did this even as a student is acting like this.”

When I asked what she meant, she replied that a coworker thought it was strange I’d been absent without leave for a week and called my emergency contact, so she came to my studio apartment.

Does that mean I’ve been asleep for an entire week?

The first thing that came to mind was my biggest worry.

“What about the company?”

“Your boss marked it as leave. I guess you’ve been doing well at work?”

Could such a thing actually happen?

I thought I wouldn’t be able to thank them enough even if I did it a hundred times.

“Oh my. What is this now?”

Mom’s gaze landed on my computer.

Specifically, on the monitor that was still on.

“Sur……vive?”

“Whoa! Mom!”

I bounced off the plush bed instinctively, trying to hide the monitor.

I’m not sure why I did something so stupid instead of just turning the computer off.

“Are you watching that noisy broadcast again?”

“N-no. Don’t worry about it…”

“How can I not worry! Didn’t you skip work just to watch this!”

“There’s no way. I could just watch it at work… No, I only work.”

“I put you through school and got you into a good university and a good company for this! You pathetic brat!”

My mother, consumed by spite, tried to pull me away from the monitor.

“Let go!”

“N-no!”

“I said let go!”

“Mom, seriously, what’s wrong with you~!”

As I cried out in desperation, my mother suddenly released my hand.

As my body fell backward, I saw her face go rigid.

“Do I really look like your mother to you?”

“Aaaaagh!”

Crash!

‘F-ck, it was a dream.’

When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar chandelier.

I took a calm breath and looked around.

I picked myself up from where I had tumbled ungracefully off the chair and was rolling on the floor.

Hiss— wheeze—

The Crown Prince was still in a deep sleep.

I didn’t know how many minutes had passed, but it seemed I hadn’t been out for that long.
It appeared I had dozed off while waiting for the Crown Prince to wake up.

Letting out a low sigh of relief, I set the chair back up and sat down.

‘That was a total nightmare.’

The fact that my mother, who passed away a long time ago, appeared was already nonsensical.

I was so stupid for not realizing immediately that it was the mother of all nightmares…

‘Or maybe I just didn’t want to know.’

“Ugh…”

The eyelids of the Prince, who had been lying there peacefully, began to flutter.

“Gasp! W-what!”

The Crown Prince bolted upright and scanned his surroundings.

“D-did I sleep? No, that’s impossible?”

And as soon as he spotted me, he rushed over, grabbed my shoulders, and started rambling.

“L-Lita. What happened?”

“…”

“Where did Lady Peyers go?”

“Lady Peyers has already returned. It seems Your Imperial Highness was very exhausted, as you fell asleep in the middle of the conversation.”

“What?”

“It was my oversight for serving tea that relaxes fatigue and tension. I should have prepared tea that awakens the senses.”

The Crown Prince seemed to be reflecting on whether he had really been that tired. Whatever conclusion he reached, he stared at me with eyes full of suspicion. Actually, he was glaring.

“It’s true I was excessively tense and under a lot of stress. But even so, there’s no way I’d just suddenly fall asleep like that.”

“…”

“It would be more believable to say you spiked that tea with sleeping pills.”

I thought he was just a comic-relief lecher, but he was sharper than I expected.

“It seems there is a misunderstanding. If that were the case, there would be no reason for me to remain here until now.”

“…Then why are you still here?”

“Because I was afraid Your Imperial Highness might do something unnecessary.”

It would be troublesome if he acted like Marquis Peyers and ruined the plan. I phrased my warning to do nothing indirectly. The Crown Prince, who obviously understood, crumpled his face in displeasure.

“Something unnecessary?”

“Do not worry too much. Everything will turn out fine.”

…?

I continued firmly.

“Hard as that may be to believe.”