Chapter 259

When Princess Camille arrived at the Empress Palace, Abelus was already by the Empress’s side.

It wasn’t surprising. If the Empress had ordered Camille to return to state affairs, she must have secured some kind of agreement from Abelus first.

And it was just as unsurprising that Abelus, sitting in the Empress’s drawing room, wore a deeply displeased expression. He must have swallowed quite a few pride-crushing words before accepting that he had to reinstate the sister he had personally driven out.

Camille was sick of indulging her younger brother’s whims. After greeting her mother, she turned to Abelus and offered him an unpleasant smile.

“How have you been, Abel?”

The Empress didn’t notice the sneer aimed at Abelus. She only heard the frail voice Camille deliberately chose, and she examined her daughter with a hint of satisfaction.

Camille had never liked flamboyant clothing, but she always dressed appropriately for her position. Even when she wore dark colors, the fabrics were dyed with the finest materials, and even when her accessories were restrained, she still wore expensive jewelry with exquisite craftsmanship.

But today, Camille wore no jewelry at all, and her clothes were plain, like something a maid might wear. The Empress frowned.

“What sort of state is that? It’s not as if your father has passed away—why are you dressed like that?”

“Your Majesty.”

Camille deliberately put on a listless expression.

“The whole world calls me a sinner. How can I hold my head high? I only hoped passersby would mistake me for a maid and leave me alone, so I dressed like this.”

In truth, the Empress had been angry with Camille lately. She had repeatedly ordered her to return to state affairs, even sending a servant from the Empress Palace on purpose, and Camille had sent him back without budging.

She’s angry without thinking about what she did… Her daughter had tried to kill her father. Wasn’t she naturally a sinner? It was only because she was Jewel-eyed royalty that she was confined to the palace instead of thrown into prison.

Frankly, the Empress wasn’t particularly invested in the Emperor’s well-being. They were not an affectionate couple, and with an heir already secured, their duties were finished as long as they maintained authority in front of society. Still, it would be a lie to say she didn’t feel disgust toward her daughter.

She had been angry and had lost affection, but seeing Camille’s drained face in front of her softened that antipathy. She even remembered that before the incident, she had felt pride in her clever eldest daughter. The Empress spoke more gently.

“If you knew you should be ashamed, you shouldn’t have done such a thing in the first place. And you sent my servant back yesterday—what wind suddenly blew you here?”

“Your Majesty, I thought Your Majesty did not understand my heart. I was so upset that I acted rudely. When I realized it, I was so ashamed and sorry that I came in person to apologize.”

“Sister, aren’t you being too brazen?”

Abelus couldn’t hold back and cut in.

“Sister is the criminal who tried to assassinate the Emperor. You’re in no position to complain to Her Majesty, and you’re certainly not in a position to leave the palace simply because you want to apologize.”

“That’s enough, Abel.”

The Empress’s voice turned cold. In principle, Abelus’s words were correct, but something about Camille’s phrase—“understand my heart”—felt wrong.

Would a daughter who tried to kill her father ask her mother to “understand her heart”? Would she show herself with this kind of repentant face? The Empress also knew that the damned mistress had been playing with Abelus and slandering Camille as much as she pleased. Had her innocent son been deceived by that mistress again?

She had heard that many people witnessed Camille’s attempt to assassinate the Emperor, yet the Emperor had no external wounds. He only slept, occasionally screaming as if trapped in a nightmare. If Camille truly tried to kill him, there should have been a weapon, but nothing of the sort had ever surfaced. That was one reason Camille had not been imprisoned in the Tower of Sinners.

The Empress’s antipathy faded further. She sighed.

“I know a lot has happened. But as you both know, Abel is the one we appointed as Crown Prince, and Camille, you are a sinner. Still, if the Imperial Family does well, you will all do well. Do you understand what this mother is saying?”

She addressed them with childhood nicknames. Abelus looked ready to complain, but he swallowed it. He was probably imagining that once he defeated the Grand Duke, he could put his sister back in her place.

It didn’t matter. Once this was over, no one would be able to ‘put’ Camille anywhere.

Camille gently gave the words both the Empress and Abelus wanted to hear.

“If I can be of help to the Empire, I can do anything, Your Majesty. What matters is overcoming this crisis. Everything can be done in Abel’s name. I don’t care.”

“Yes.”

The Empress looked satisfied. Abelus looked tempted.

Camille smiled.

“Then, since our situation is urgent, may I say what I think we should do first?”

“Yes. What is it?”

“The reason the Imperial Family is struggling now is money, Your Majesty. I will offer all of my private wealth first. And I will tell you every weakness of the nobles that I know. I think our top priority is to squeeze as much as possible from everyone who can produce money.”

The weaknesses Camille held would naturally be information of a quality almost no one else possessed. Abelus’s eyes widened, temptation deepening.

Camille bared her teeth.

It was a beast’s smile.

“When I say ‘everyone,’ I mean everyone. There are two people in the Empire among the richest, yet they haven’t offered nearly enough. Our dear aunt, and Viscount McKinnon. Abel is kind-hearted, so you couldn’t bring yourself to speak firmly to our aunt, and Viscount McKinnon only ended up sending his son to the military… Is there any need to consider their resentment now, when the Imperial Family is in such a crisis?”

“Sister, that means…”

“Abel, let me speak as your hidden advisor. Summon our aunt from Tropur with an Imperial Order, and forcibly seize her land for a limited time—until the war ends. You can collect enough taxes from the foreigners there. And Joyce McKinnon.”

Megara had not touched Grand Duchess Moriah. Nellusion had not touched Count McKinnon. That was because they still wanted to survive in this court, at least unconsciously.

Camille had already abandoned such illusions. There was no reason to leave strength in the hands of the Grand Duchess’s allies.

Especially now, when the day she would achieve her ambition was rapidly approaching.

“Send him to the front lines to fight properly. If Viscount McKinnon wants to save his son, he’ll pour out every last coin he has!”

❖ ❖ ❖

A long-awaited inn. A long-awaited bath. Warm and clean again, Dianne announced brightly.

“I’m done bathing. You can come in.”

Creak. The inn-room door opened. Talfrin, dressed as a lower-class nobleman, stepped inside with an air that had become familiar.

The two who had left the Imperial Capital were taking the shortest route to Maindulante. They had moved away from the Capital for now, but with war underway, an alert had spread across the Empire, so they constantly changed disguises as they traveled.

Even booking the same room was part of that effort. No matter how shabby Dianne dressed, she still carried the air of a noble. A young lady traveling alone with only one male attendant would draw too many eyes. Talfrin, who could pass as a noble when he wished, now played the role of her husband.

A young lady and a man pretending to be a couple and sharing a room—if the McKinnon family knew, they would be shocked. But the two agreed it was the most efficient method. They were using false names anyway, so it wasn’t as if rumors would follow them home.

And honestly, what did it matter now?

They had learned how to share a room without troubling each other. Dianne took the bed, Talfrin took the sofa. When one bathed, the other gave space. Even if their preferred bedtimes differed, on this trip they slept when the sun went down.

Most nights, there was no bed or sofa at all. Sometimes they spent the night in the forest together, listening for signs of danger. But the rule generally held.

Today, they’d found enough time for a bath for the first time in a while. Dianne washed first, while Talfrin kept watch outside in case of trouble.

After everything they’d seen on the road, neither of them was embarrassed anymore. Dianne asked, as usual, without hesitation.

“What are you going to do? Should I ask them to bring fresh bathwater?”

Talfrin didn’t answer.

It was unlike him, who usually bragged and talked endlessly without needing to be prompted.

Puzzled, Dianne looked up and saw him staring at her with a complicated expression. She tilted her head.

“Why?”

Talfrin seemed to grind his teeth for a moment at her innocent face. Then he let out a deep sigh.

“I’ve received news.”

“What news? Judging by your face, is it bad? Did something happen to Riz? Or…”

It had been a long time since she’d minimized contact with outsiders, so Dianne barely knew how things were unfolding. Talfrin maintained contact with his subordinates through his own methods.

While on the run, what Dianne worried about most wasn’t herself, but Nerys and the McKinnon family. She worried for Nerys, who stood at the center of the war, and she worried for the McKinnons because her brother had joined the military after she disappeared.

When Dianne trailed off, Talfrin made a face as if he were grinding his teeth again, then nodded.

“Yes. There’s a problem with the McKinnon family. Your brother, Joyce McKinnon, was appointed as an aide to Count Wicaster three days ago and transferred to Parrish.”

Dianne didn’t understand what the problem was. Seeing her clear eyes, Talfrin’s stomach churned—like it always did lately when he looked at her. He explained, forcing out each word as if spitting it up.

“If. Our. Lord. Continues. Southward. Like. This. He. Will. Definitely. Pass. Through. Parrish.”

“So? The Grand Duke won’t kill my brother, will he…? Wouldn’t it be an opportunity for my brother to be taken hostage naturally by the Maindulante army? Then the excuse for our family to be used by the Imperial Family would disappear…”

She was already thinking that far ahead.

Talfrin knew Dianne had a strange instinct. Not as meticulous as Nerys, but she had a way of piercing to the heart of matters with unsettling accuracy.

Unfortunately, the people involved in this were too persistent to be overcome with intuition and boldness alone.

“Of course. But wouldn’t the Imperial Family—no, Princess Camille—know that too?”

Doubt and embarrassment flickered across Dianne McKinnon’s face, emotions that didn’t suit her at all. She should always be smiling brightly.

Talfrin should have said, ‘Nevertheless, my order is to escort you safely, so we’re going to Maindulante.’

Instead, he blurted something that wasn’t like him.

“If we move quickly, we might be able to catch up to the young Viscount.”

The moment he said it, he regretted it. What was he doing? There was no room to act on personal impulses in a war. He was already exhausted just protecting one Dianne McKinnon, exhausted enough that something kept rising in his chest. His wise Highness must have arranged everything already.

He wanted to save her brother right in front of her and erase the fear that had surfaced on her face.

But when Dianne’s expression brightened instantly, his regret faded.

Ridiculously quickly.

So Talfrin sighed.

“Let’s make a plan first.”

(T/N : Our boy Talfrin has fallen for our dear Dianne. haha!)