OPDPS 154

Aeryl removed the device from his ear. He couldn’t listen any longer.

Just as expected.

The core of the plan had always been this—the Emperor would abandon Aeryl of his own accord.

The Emperor had always seen Aeryl purely as a means for profit. And like any calculating merchant, when an asset became too costly to maintain and no longer offered returns, it was discarded.

Aeryl had pretended to be pregnant to make himself seem less useful, and the Grand Duke had demanded an outrageous sum to keep quiet about Aeryl’s escape. It was expected that the Emperor, once he saw the deal meant a clear loss, would cast him aside.

Aeryl hadn’t known what the Emperor would do—imprison him in this room forever, perhaps, or simply have him killed. But he had never intended to sit back and accept it. The Grand Duke had promised to extract him before it came to that.

‘All that’s left is to get out of here… So why do I feel…’

He had expected this outcome. He should’ve felt relieved. Maybe even satisfied.

But he didn’t. Not at all.

He felt wretched—so much so that if he stayed still any longer, he thought the feeling might consume him whole. He forced himself to speak.

“So? What now? What do I do?”

“Someone will come to help you,” Derbas replied.

“The Grand Duke’s insider?”

Derbas nodded. Aeryl had been wondering who it could be all along.

Just who had the Grand Duke managed to win over—someone willing to defy the Emperor’s command and help him escape from the palace?

As Aeryl adjusted his clothes and put his shoes back on, the door opened—and the Empress walked in.

“His Majesty has left.”

Aeryl nodded at her words. So the Emperor had gone off to “take care of” Dervan himself.

At least now there was no need to worry about Dervan’s tracking magic.

Though it was bitterly ironic—Dervan had only followed orders, yet the Emperor had discarded him without hesitation. Once again, Aeryl found himself scoffing at the Emperor’s lack of humanity.

But the Empress was simply standing there, gazing down at Aeryl in silence.

Why hasn’t she left? Why did she come back?

A dreadful thought crossed Aeryl’s mind.

It had been the Empress who had suggested making it seem like Aeryl had died.

Was she planning to deal with him herself?

Aeryl unconsciously glared at her.

The Empress sighed quietly.

“Did the Grand Duke never speak to you about me?” she asked.

“The Grand Duke? About Your Majesty? Never.”

It felt strange to hear that title from the Empress’s lips.

“The insider, Your Highness.”

Derbas, unable to watch any longer, cut in and gave him a hint.

“…Huh? Oh, right. The insider. So it’s… Her Majesty…? Wait, why?”

Why would the Empress side with the Grand Duke and help him, of all people?

She was the Empress—why would she ever go against the Emperor?

“I suppose. I wouldn’t trust me either. Now get up. We can talk on the way.”

Seriously?

Aeryl finished putting on his shoes and stood.

Derbas took off his brown hooded robe and handed it to him. It seemed Aeryl was to pretend to be a physician in order to leave the palace.

He quickly threw on the robe. He noticed that Derbas was now wearing the same clothes Aeryl had on underneath.

“You’re going to pretend to be me?”

“Yes. I’m very good at pretending to be dead.”

‘Still, isn’t that dangerous?’

Derbas might be able to escape using a spell if things got bad, but the palace was large. There was bound to be bloodshed before he made it out.

Aeryl looked at him worriedly, but Derbas just chuckled.

“Call it even—for the Great Purge.”

“…Didn’t expect you to have a conscience.”

“Well, the Grand Duke made me a promise, too.”

Of course he did. So the Grand Duke had used Valbean as a bargaining chip to strike a deal with Derbas. No wonder he had agreed to help so easily.

“Be careful. See you again.”

“Yeah. Later.”

In the blink of an eye, Derbas transformed from the physician into Aeryl, then lay down on the bed.

He wasn’t going to open his eyes, pretending to be dead—but wasn’t it a bit too lifelike?

“The physician will come to finish the rest. Let’s go.”

“…Yes.”

It still nagged at him, but Derbas was the type who clung to life just for vengeance. Aeryl had to trust that he’d survive.

He turned away and pulled up the hood, hunching his back and lowering his head to hide his face.

Apparently satisfied with the disguise, the Empress turned and began walking ahead.

They left the remote chamber, walked through an ordinary corridor, and got into a small carriage used to move about the palace grounds.

It rode for a short while before arriving at the Empress’s quarters.

‘Is it really okay to follow her so blindly?’

Aeryl stared uneasily at the Empress’s back.

That perfectly upright posture…

It reminded him of the past.

When he’d returned to the palace after leaving his mother’s family, he always remembered watching that straight back.

Even when he cried and screamed, that back had never once turned around.

Thinking of his childhood filled Aeryl with a rush of conflicted emotions and deep mistrust.

‘What am I doing, following this woman? What am I trusting her with?’

…The Grand Duke said not to worry. He had to trust the Grand Duke. Aeryl clenched his fists tightly.

The carriage came to a stop behind the Empress’s quarters. She stepped out first and entered a separate annex. It was little more than a glorified storeroom, but when she opened a door set into one of the walls, a staircase leading underground was revealed. The Empress lit a lantern hanging beside the door and began to descend. Aeryl followed her cautiously.

“You’re following well,” she suddenly said, startling Aeryl enough that he nearly missed a step.

“Yes.”

“You can’t possibly trust me.”

“…I trust the Grand Duke.”

“I see.”

What that was supposed to mean, Aeryl couldn’t tell. Since she’d started talking, he decided he might as well ask something that had been on his mind.

“Why are you helping the Grand Duke, Your Majesty?”

“There are several reasons. Watch your step.”

The staircase ended, and a flat passage stretched ahead. A faint sound of running water echoed nearby—glancing to the side, Aeryl realized they were walking alongside a waterway. The tunnel ahead remained pitch dark, and there was no telling how far they still had to go.

“The Grand Duke said he would turn His Majesty into a puppet. And honestly, I was already sick to death of him. Lately, he ordered me to interfere with the Grand Duke’s grain trade, then turned around and blamed the Crown Prince for the fallout.”

The Grand Duke had bribed the Emperor to stop the Crown Prince from obstructing his trade, and the Emperor had pocketed the bribe—then shifted the blame.

“He wasn’t always like this, but the older he gets, the shorter his foresight becomes, and the bigger his greed grows. I figured I needed to act before he ruined a promising young man’s future.”

“So… it was for my eldest brother.”

“I told you, there are several reasons.”

“…Yes.”

“The Grand Duke told me… in the end, His Majesty would kill you.”

That statement silenced Aeryl. The Empress didn’t go on, and neither did he.

She hadn’t disagreed—because she had thought the same.

Maybe he would end his own life, crushed by the loss of his freedom.

Maybe he would wither away after being married off to someone the Emperor chose.

Maybe he would try to run again, only to be beaten to death.

One way or another, it would be the Emperor’s doing.

“But earlier, when you were with His Majesty…”

“That was part of the plan—to get you out.”

“Ah…”

“I know I was a bad mother to you. It hit me recently—how you never once called me mother. But what can I do now? Things have turned out this way.”

“….”

Aeryl couldn’t bring himself to answer.

“But it was still me who carried you for ten months, who gave birth to you, who held you first when you came into this world. Even while my body was being torn apart with pain, all I wanted was for you to be born safely. So how could I let you die? I could never do that.”

She’d kept a calm tone until now, but as her emotions surged, her voice began to rise. Her words—and her reaction—left Aeryl at a loss.

He’d never imagined she thought of herself as a bad mother. That she’d even noticed he never called her mother.

He had thought she saw him as nothing more than a distant acquaintance—but maybe, to her, he had still been her child.

‘What is this feeling?’

He placed a hand over the left side of his chest.

Was it surprise? Shock? Disbelief? He couldn’t name the emotion.

“We’re here,” the Empress said, coming to a stop and pointing ahead.

“You can see the outside now.”

Just as she said, an iron gate stood at the end of the passage. Beyond the bars, pale moonlight glowed gently, and in the faint light, Aeryl could just make out the edge of a forest.

“This is as far as I go. Open the gate and follow the stream. Someone should be waiting to pick you up.”

“….”

Aeryl stared at the Empress’s back, hesitating.

He found himself wondering what kind of expression she was wearing now.

He felt like he had to say something—but couldn’t think of a single word.

“Go on. Don’t dawdle.”