Chapter 54

“Ah, I see. Lancelot.”

“Yes, please give your command.”

“Summon the Duke of Kavert to the castle immediately.”

“Y-Your Highness! Please, not my father!”

“Since you dared to covet what belongs to the Crown Prince, you should see with your own eyes what price that carries.”

“P-please, anything but that…”

“Do either of you have anything else to say?”

“…No, Your Highness.”

Lord Gasil and Lord Ian quickly bowed their heads and left the garden. Left alone on the ground, Young Lord Kavert sobbed helplessly.

Before long, the knights seized him and dragged him away.

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

“I, I can manage on my own.”

“With your hands shaking like that, do you really think you can even get undressed properly?”

“…If I take it slowly, I can do it. If it’s too difficult to assign a palace maid, I’d like to bring someone from the Count’s residence instead.”

“I’ll consider it. It’s more complicated than it seems to bring a maid into the imperial palace, so it won’t be easy to arrange immediately.”

When Dexter spoke as he carried her into the bathroom and gently set her down, she gave a faint nod.

It was his own mistake. He shouldn’t have allowed any guests into the garden, and he had failed to consider that Bianca might take a walk at night. Even though her expression remained composed, her body betrayed her with its trembling.

“It must be difficult for you to undress, so I’ll only help with that.”

“…Your Highness won’t listen to me anyway, so do as you please.”

Dexter drew in a long, deep breath. The sight of her torn clothes alone made his blood boil.

“Next time, do something, even if it means killing them.”

“…How could I possibly harm the young lord? Even when I screamed at him to stop, he didn’t listen. I have nothing, so what could someone like me possibly do?”

“Lady Astri.”

She had a way of frustrating people over the strangest things. Was she trying to say she had done nothing because she was too afraid? In moments like this, she reminded him painfully of his former self. Of the time when he had been utterly powerless, and the memory made his blood boil.

“Have you forgotten who stands beside you now? To say you have nothing…”

His grip tightened as he loosened the corset laces. Simply being by his side meant she already had everything. He was a man others desperately longed to reach, but could never even approach.

After untying the last of the laces, he carefully removed her clothes piece by piece. Her thin chemise came into view, the sheer white fabric clinging to her damp skin. The humid air made the material cling even tighter, revealing the faint outline of her body beneath.

“Your Highness probably doesn’t think that being by your side is what caused all of this.”

“…What?”

“It was Your Highness who said this place was safe. Ah… or did you want me to find out firsthand what happens when I don’t follow your orders?”

“Bianca Astri.”

“They are Your Highness’s close friends. Even if I’m clueless about social circles, I know at least that much.”

“Are you accusing me of doing something so vile just to teach you a lesson?”

“You said it yourself, Your Highness, that everyone but you harbors the heart of a beast.”

Seeing the look in Bianca’s eyes, Dexter gave a hollow, bitter laugh. Those blue eyes, filled with such fierce hostility, left him momentarily speechless.

“So you think I ordered my friends to defile you? If that were true, wouldn’t slicing off Young Lord Kavert’s ear be an excessively harsh punishment?”

“…I heard Young Lord Kavert was searching for me. Your Highness must have found him bothersome.”

Dexter swept a hand through his hair and let out a low, humorless laugh.

“Do you really think I’m the type to rely on someone else’s hand for something like that? If you think so, then you still don’t know me at all.”

“Then it must be a very unpleasant coincidence. Thank you for saving me. I’ll remember that the weapon in my hand is Your Highness.”

Seeing the hollow emptiness in her eyes made his chest twist sharply. Where had all the anger and resentment he once harbored toward her vanished to? All that was left was fear… a gnawing fear that this might only deepen her hatred of him.

“It wasn’t me. Though I doubt you’ll believe it.”

Bianca gave a small, indecipherable smile at his words and quietly made her way to the bathtub. Dexter watched her retreating back, stepping carelessly over the discarded clothes, and felt a painful tightness in his chest. Would anything change if she acted as if nothing had happened?

No. She was simply bearing it all alone, knowing nothing would change no matter how she acted.

“Lady Astri.”

As he called after her, Bianca paused in her tracks.

“…Yes, please speak.”

Watching her act like everything was fine, even when it clearly wasn’t, only drove him even crazier.

“Enduring everything won’t change anything. No one will acknowledge it. Don’t you know that better than anyone?”