Chapter 235
“What do you intend to do?”
After finishing her meeting with Abelus and being escorted back, Megara was dragged into a small chamber in the Imperial Palace by Nellusion. He locked all the doors and asked in a menacing tone.
Megara’s pleasant expression from moments ago turned cold, and her eyes burned.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Answer me. Are you in your right mind? You said the club belonged to the Grand Duke? That the Grand Duke used both of us to send the Crown Prince there? Do you understand what kind of consequences those words will bring?”
“How amusing, Duke. If either of us had been in our right mind, would we have been taken in by Nerys like that?”
Raising a hand praised as the most beautiful in the Imperial Court, she covered her mouth and laughed. But her eyes remained razor-sharp.
“I’m afraid my husband might misunderstand. Open the door.”
“You seem to be mistaken, Lady Megara.”
Nellusion crossed his arms. His tone was polite, but his gaze was as cold as ice.
“The Crown Prince is not your husband.”
“How shocking. I never knew the famous Duke Elandria, renowned for his courtesy to all, took such pleasure in calling a woman a whore. I didn’t realize you shared the hobby of those lowborn men whose only sense of pride comes from belittling women who don’t love them.”
“That’s not what I meant. I’m saying you should think more carefully about your position and act accordingly.”
A formally married couple almost never returns to being strangers. The temple does not acknowledge divorce without an extremely good reason.
But a mistress is different. If Abelus happened to be in a bad mood that night and uttered just a single word, Megara could be thrown out with no room for argument. For her, voicing radical opinions on matters of national policy was poison unless she was absolutely certain they would bring good results.
“You’re more timid than I thought, Your Grace. Do you think the troops sent by the Imperial Family will lose to the Grand Duke’s army and come crawling back?”
“I simply think there is no need to take a foolish path. There is no reason to believe that launching an unprepared military operation will end well.”
After learning that the Morier Trading Company belonged to Nerys, Nellusion had concluded that she might have been preparing for this for a long time. Sending experts to quietly make money, publishing that provocative serial in the newspapers…
Yet he could not understand. Why would she prepare for this situation?
Now that he thought about it, Abelus seemed to have hated Cledwyn far longer than Nellusion had assumed. But he had always suppressed that hatred in his own twisted way. Since Cledwyn never left his own lands, they could have gone on living like strangers without serious problems, as long as they left each other alone.
So why prepare for this—no.
‘Trigger it.’
Logically, the Imperial Family’s military strength should far exceed that of the Grand Duchy. So it was not entirely foolish for Megara to casually suggest a show of force. It wasn’t as if they were planning a full-scale war, merely to frighten the other side a little. The Grand Duke would never come to apologize just to save his pride, but they could at least inflict considerable damage.
Even so, Nellusion felt uneasy. Nerys had torn the Elandria Dukedom to pieces on her own. As a cautious and intelligent child, she must have something hidden.
Seeing his sour expression, Megara scoffed.
“You talk about my position, but that’s exactly why I’m doing this. His Highness thinks we’re having a secret affair. So open the door. I just barely managed to divert his suspicions. If he starts doubting me again, you may walk away with your life, but I will be finished.”
“My subordinate is keeping watch. His Highness won’t hear anything unless it becomes absolutely necessary.”
“Why didn’t that great subordinate of yours do his job last time, then? Useless.”
“That was because you barged in without warning, so I had no choice but to go somewhere more noticeable than this. In any case, if that’s your only reason, stop it. There’s nothing to gain from rushing into a show of force like this.”
“That may be true for you, Duke. Did you say ‘only’?”
Megara glared at Nellusion fiercely.
“Do you know how much damage my family is taking right now? I can’t just step back like this. I can’t let things end the way Nerys decided they would.”
“What if I force you to back down?”
Nellusion’s face went cold. His usually handsome and gentle features could look even more chilling than those of the Grand Duke of Maindulante with just the slightest shift.
Even when confronted with his true nature, Megara still scoffed.
“How?”
“Don’t forget how many weaknesses I hold over you.”
“And don’t you realize those weaknesses are your own weaknesses as well?”
“Even if they reveal that I framed Princess Camille, I’ll be confined at worst. But for someone of your status, it will be execution.”
“Ha!”
Megara let out a full, unrestrained laugh.
“You’re so sure of that because you’re the Duke now, aren’t you? You think the Imperial Family won’t demote you any further, unless they erase the name Elandria from the list of the Three Heroes.”
In fact, that was exactly what Nellusion was thinking. But when Megara gave him that mocking look and said what came next—
All his thoughts stopped.
“But what if you’re no longer the Duke? Look here, Young Duke. For someone who shamelessly held a funeral and claimed the title even though his father is still alive, is there really no lower place to fall? Truly?”
He wanted to snap back, but Nellusion had no words. His lips moved soundlessly a few times before he fell silent.
He felt hollow. Megara clearly knew. She knew that the former Duke of Elandria, Nellusion’s father, was still alive.
Under those circumstances, he had no choice but to back down to Megara. He could not act recklessly until he figured out how she had learned that truth. Not only was there the risk that she might reveal the secret immediately, but there was also the possibility that his father had already been making secret contact with several nobles, Megara among them.
But he had never once left someone who defied him alone.
‘Nerys.’
Her indifferent face flashed before his eyes, as vivid as if she were glaring at him in person.
‘Is this what you wanted?’
For us to drag each other to ruin?
Seeing Nellusion’s shadowed expression, Megara rattled on triumphantly, regaining some of the arrogant ease of someone certain she held the upper hand.
“Don’t worry too much. I’ll be careful enough not to get caught.”
“Princess Camille, for one, will object. You need to act more cautiously.”
“What does it matter if someone who’s confined objects or not?”
“Didn’t you hear from the Crown Prince? Princess Camille has Shadows who would gladly give their lives for her. No one knows how many there are but her.”
If the conflict could not be avoided, he needed to hold the reins himself. Otherwise, these fools might become impatient and ruin everything without his knowledge. With that in mind, Nellusion bared his teeth in a kindly smile and informed her:
“I have heard about them. But she still can’t leave the Imperial Princess’s Palace…”
Megara, who had been speaking so confidently, trailed off and grew thoughtful. Soon, she asked sharply,
“The person who told His Highness that we met last time. Could it be—”
“That’s probably right.”
He had mentioned “somewhere more visible than here,” but the Council of Nobles was not a place anyone could just walk into. The subordinates Nellusion had stationed there were all capable in their own way.
Nellusion spoke with certainty.
“Even though she’s confined, with her hands and feet tied, the Princess still wields influence in the Imperial Court. Now that things have come this far, we need to stop her from causing another unexpected stir in front of the Crown Prince.”
Nellusion’s proposal to get rid of Princess Camille held an intention he did not share with Megara.
If Camille had read the serial Betrayal, she would be grinding her teeth by now. To expose so publicly a secret the Imperial Family had hidden for so long. Considering the temperament of the Imperial Family, who valued status more than their lives, Camille would never let Nerys go if she had the chance.
If Camille acted on her own desires, Abelus would not be able to move against Maindulante just yet. And once he was fully prepared, everyone in Maindulante would die without any chance to turn things around. Nerys included.
Nellusion did not want that latter outcome. So he said to Megara’s proud, confident face:
“I will help you, Lady Megara, if you keep my secret. Incite the Crown Prince a little, enough to deliver a decisive blow to the Princess. You can do that, can’t you?”
❖ ❖ ❖
A wind full of floral scent swept through.
With its doors open, the glass greenhouse felt like paradise. The sour fragrance from the trees, and the brisk northern wind that blew through this season, made it all the more pleasant.
Sitting on a beautiful lounge chair beneath one such tree, Nerys smiled. The letter in her hand rustled in the breeze.
“What are you reading?”
Standing at the greenhouse entrance, Cledwyn asked softly as he looked at her.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, scattering over her white lace dress in shimmering patterns. Her slender wrists extending from her voluminous sleeves and her small face framed by the cool neckline were, to him, the most beautiful sight in the world.
Especially now that she smiled more often.
“Hello.”
Nerys widened her eyes, as if she had only just noticed Cledwyn, and smiled.
Every step he took toward his wife, who was always by his side, felt like a prayer to God. Cledwyn walked slowly to her, then leaned down and kissed her hair. Her blonde hair, like the morning sun, scattered softly with the scent of flowers.
Each strand of her bright blond hair was very fine and delicate. She had so much of it that she often complained it was difficult to manage on her own.
He loved seeing her in the sunlight, when the light passed through the spaces between those fine strands and created a clear, dazzling sheen like topaz.
Nerys pretended to complain for no reason.
“You mussed it, so you’re responsible.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Cledwyn stroked her hair with his hand and played along. Exactly as she’d expected.
Nerys glanced at the letter and spoke thoughtfully.
“It’s news from the Imperial Capital.”
“Good news?”
“News you’ve probably already heard.”
“Ah, the news that Abelus is finally going to act?”
Even Shadows could not easily spy inside the Imperial Palace, but when the Imperial Family made a major decision, the shockwaves spread. It wasn’t hard to guess. Especially when everyone in the capital was now hanging on Abelus’s every move.
“That’s right. Megara is really smart and quick on her feet. And she’s good at isolating people.”
The method of stripping everyone away from a person and leaving them utterly alone, so they will only believe what you say.
But Abelus was different from the Nerys of her previous life. Megara was different from the old Megara as well. And there were many clever people in the capital besides Megara.
Now, how far would things follow their expectations?
“The Marquis Tipion territory is in chaos. The food we’d been supplying through the temple—seems like the territorial officials discovered it and took it away. People who thought they’d starve to death held a gathering.”
The new Marquis Tipion, who had paid enormous taxes and bribes to the Imperial Family, considered it a waste if he couldn’t spend money like a great noble after inheriting such a long-awaited title. And the subordinate lords and officials under him were sycophants who only needed to please their lord.
Nerys rested her forehead against Cledwyn’s shoulder and asked in a whisper,
“Is everything ready?”
“I’ve been preparing for it my whole life.”
She had planted a seed of discord.
A seed of discord that would have remained dormant forever if they hadn’t set it on fire.
The couple held each other close.