The carriage door closed, and the carriage slowly began to move. As the wheels began rolling and their rhythm echoed steadily, Kael leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes.
The main gate of the imperial palace gradually receded into the distance, and he went over what had happened in the audience chamber today.
Archel Orse.
Her attitude had suddenly changed somehow. Was it because of that Commander? The way that bastard looked at Archel was different from the way one looked at a liege or superior.
He couldn't tell where things had suddenly gone wrong, but an unpleasant feeling pounded against his chest.
Kael recalled the first time he had met her. She was the emperor, but to him, she had seemed nothing more than a young, fragile noblewoman. Her father had died early, forcing her to inherit the throne at a young age and lead the empire without a single elder of the imperial family to support her. That was all the impression she had left on him: a small, delicate young lady.
It had been the same even when his family demanded a marriage proposal with the imperial family and he began meeting her frequently. He had Sophia, the woman he loved, so there was no chance of him falling in love with Archel. He had only continued seeing her to buy time, and all he felt toward her was something like a sense of debt or guilt. He treated her kindly because he felt sorry for her.
Unlike the rumors that Archel was cold and calculating, a woman who never showed her emotions, the more often they met, the more readily she let her guard down in front of him. He liked seeing that side of her, and when she smiled, it felt as though his guilt was being diluted. So he tried to make her smile, even if only for the duration of their meetings.
But the moment he realized that the feelings she showed him went beyond mere fondness, he began seeing a precognition whose meaning he couldn't understand. It showed him seated in the grand hall of the imperial palace, in the highest seat of honor.
When he saw the same precognition time and again, anxiety began to take root, and meeting her became uncomfortable. It was uncomfortable, too, that Archel had feelings he could never return.
Even so, he couldn't treat the innocent Archel coldly, so he continued to be kind to her. He had realized how she felt, yet he was still continuing their meetings according to his family's wishes. He was using her to protect Sophia.
And then Sophia died. It was a suspicious death. She was found dead on a hill in the outskirts of the capital, a place Sophia had no reason to visit.
While he continued meeting Archel, rumors about a marriage between the imperial family and House Edelhardt began to spread. The woman who had smiled prettily and told him she trusted him came back cold and rigid. After seeing Sophia like that—expressionless and cold—he lost several days of his memory.
He couldn't remember what he had done or how much time had passed. He remembered nothing at all.
His first memory after coming to his senses was of facing his uncle, Oscar. Oscar had apologized, saying he hadn't known Kael had a lover, and the words he spoke struck his mind like a bolt of lightning.
“I felt so sorry for you that I looked into it a little… It seems the Empress had a hand in it. I… I suppose she couldn't tolerate the idea of you having a lover.”
As he spoke, Oscar Edelhardt handed Kael a cufflink bearing the imperial seal. It was a familiar cufflink—a red one used only on garments worn by members of the imperial family.
His mind flared white. The emotions that had wandered lost were transformed into fury all at once. From that moment on, Kael sharpened the blade of vengeance against Archel Orse.
As he recalled the past, Kael's fingertips curled lightly over his knee. His tightly clenched fist trembled.
After Sophia died, he thought he understood what his precognition meant. Archel Orse was not meant to sit on the imperial throne. He would pull her down from it and claim the seat for himself.
For Sophia's sake, he would kill Archel and take away everything she held most dear.
With that thought in mind, he acted like a madman hopelessly in love with her. He visited her frequently with bouquets of flowers and spurred on the marriage negotiations he had been dragging out.
He wrote and sent love letters while thinking of Sophia, sharing his pointless preferences and even details of his private schedule.
Archel seemed to be falling for him without a hitch. Whenever he said he was going somewhere, she made time to meet him. Whenever he mentioned that he had seen something he liked, she brought it to their next meeting and gave it to him as a gift. When he smiled, she smiled with him, and whenever he took one step toward her, she took two. It was obvious that even the most insignificant words could sway her heart.
And yet.
Kael slowly opened his eyes.
The hand that accepted his bouquet and passed it to her maidservant. The look in her eyes as she reacted to his words while keeping one foot somehow withdrawn. The way she never met his gaze even when they were together, seeming intent only on ending their time there.
It was strange that she had ignored all his letters and kept putting off their luncheon. Something had changed.
And that knight.
Ren Cassius.
Kael narrowed his eyes.
A knight who wielded the Mark of Annihilation as a power. As long as that man stayed by her side, he couldn't see any precognitions concerning Archel. He needed to use his precognition to learn anything about her changed attitude, so why had she started keeping that man at her side of all people?
The way he didn't so much as twitch an eyebrow at Kael's words despite being far lower in status was both laughable and irritating. How dare he.
As the carriage gradually slowed to a stop, Kael set his thoughts aside and rose. When he opened the door and stepped out, the head butler bowed politely and took his coat.
“Your Highness, Duke Oscar is waiting for you in the study.”
Kael nodded and headed straight for the study. Oscar Edelhardt also appeared troubled, since the luncheon kept getting postponed and disrupting his schedule.
When Kael opened the door and entered, he saw Oscar Edelhardt standing by the window. Despite being nearly sixty, his back was straight, and his sharp gaze seemed to reveal his stubborn nature. He didn't turn around even when Kael entered.
“How did it go?”
He asked the question while looking out the window.
“She’s more difficult than I expected.”
Kael answered briefly as he sat on the sofa. Only then did Oscar turn around. His eyes slowly traveled over Kael.
“Even though you went to her yourself?”
Oscar frowned as though he couldn't understand. He took a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet and approached. He picked up ice from the bucket on the table, put it in a glass, poured in the whiskey, and handed it to Kael.
“For now, I scheduled the next luncheon for sometime next week.”
“That’s late.”
Kael gave the glass he had received a quick swirl, then tossed back the liquor. Downing hard liquor in one gulp had become a habit of his since Sophia's death.
“And Ren Cassius is staying at the Empress’s side.”
“What? You mean the one with the Mark of Annihilation?”
Oscar's eyes shot wide at Kael's words.
“She hasn’t figured anything out, has she?”
“It’s impossible to know yet. As long as that bastard stays beside her, my precognition doesn’t work either.”
Oscar prepared a glass for himself and walked back to the window, where he stood once more. It was what he did whenever he had a lot to think about. His cold eyes were reflected in the glass.
Kael emptied the rest of the whiskey into his mouth and rose from his seat.
Recalling such unpleasant memories had left him especially exhausted today, and he wanted to rest. Oscar watched him leave the study in silence, taking the hint that there was nothing more to say, then tossed out a remark.
“...You were the one who chose to avenge Sophia, Kael. Don’t forget that.”
Kael’s steps faltered for a moment, but he soon left the room.
Kael closed his eyes.