Chapter 219

“It must be about Princess Teresa.”

Leroy loosened his tie in front of the mirror as he spoke.

Iona, who had been lost in thought about that name’s owner, was a beat late in responding.

“Princess Teresa? You mean the current emperor’s late sister and Archduke Ernst’s deceased sibling?”

“That’s right. There have been rumors for a long time. They say she was confined to the palace because she was pregnant.”

An imperial princess having a child out of wedlock.

It was an uncomfortable topic to discuss.

Leroy, seemingly uneasy about speaking of a deceased person’s private affairs, furrowed his brows before continuing.

“The previous emperor must have done a thorough job of keeping things quiet, since few people know about it now. But judging by the Archduke’s reaction, it wasn’t entirely baseless.”

When he dismissed the attendants as soon as they entered the room, Iona assumed he was planning to undress himself this time. But now, it seemed like he had simply wanted to discuss this sensitive topic in private.

Still wearing her extravagant dress, Iona collapsed onto the sofa.

Given the distance between Count Nigel’s estate and the grand duchy, the Archduke had prepared a guest room so that she and her husband could stay the night.

She should have washed up and gone to bed quickly if they were to leave for Bilfaud early the next morning. But after that intense encounter, sleep eluded her.

Iona quietly mulled over what Leroy had just told her and what the Archduke had said.

Before long, she let out a chuckle.

“So they suspected that I might be the princess’s child?”

All her life, her origins had been a source of mockery and ridicule. And now, she was being mistaken for a princess’s daughter?

Life truly had its ironies.

She spoke in a light, almost joking tone.

“So Hayden met the princess when he was young? If that’s true, it’s quite the revelation.”

“If it’s true?”

Leroy sharply echoed her words, pointing out how she wasn’t taking the Archduke’s suspicions seriously.

Iona simply shrugged.

“Because it doesn’t make sense.”

“The Archduke seemed certain about the relationship between the former count and the princess.”

“He was probably just one of several suspects. If there had been solid evidence, Hayden wouldn’t have lived to old age unscathed. The princess, after all, was imprisoned for her actions. Do you really think the emperor would have let the man who got her pregnant walk free?”

Leroy had no response to that.

Even the Archduke had initially jumped to conclusions, only to later acknowledge his mistake and back down.

Iona had no intention of indulging in the fantasy that she was, in fact, a hidden princess of the empire.

However, the way the Archduke had reacted—his immediate distress upon learning she was Hayden’s illegitimate child—remained vivid in her mind.

‘That just shows how much Princess Teresa meant to him.’

To the Archduke, she must have been family in a completely different sense than the current emperor.

More than twenty years had passed since her death, yet his anger over her fate still burned.

Such lasting grief would have been impossible if they had been distant.

That raised another question—what kind of relationship had the emperor and Princess Teresa shared?

Just as the Archduke opposed the emperor but had cherished the princess, had she done the same?

Had she, too, been close to her younger brother while standing against her elder one?

‘It’s a shame Hayden is dead.’

If he were still alive, she could have asked him directly about what had happened back then.

Of course, whether or not his words could be trusted was a separate issue altogether.

As Iona quietly imagined what Hayden might have been like in his younger years—

There was a knock at the door.

Since she hadn’t been deep in thought, she was easily pulled out of her reverie by the sound.

After a brief knock, a familiar voice followed.

“It’s me. May I come in for a moment?”

It was Erich.

Iona instinctively turned to look at Leroy.

She wanted to check if he was in a state to receive guests. Fortunately, he had only taken off his jacket.

When she gave permission to enter, the door handle turned immediately.

Erich, who stepped inside, looked a bit awkward as he offered an apology.

“I hope I’m not disturbing you at this late hour.”

“It hasn’t even been that long since dinner. Come in and have a seat.”

Iona responded casually, gesturing to the seat across from her.

Erich didn’t refuse her invitation.

As he settled in front of her, Iona observed him intently for a moment before speaking.

“So it’s true—you really are staying as a guest at the Archduke’s estate.”

At Iona’s words, Erich made a face as if he couldn’t understand what she meant.

“Otherwise, how else would I have been able to invite Archduke?”

“I almost doubted your intentions for a moment after seeing how the duke treated us today.”

“Ah, well... that’s just how he is. He has a rather stubborn side.”

Even while putting it as tactfully as possible, Erich nodded as if he understood.

Perhaps feeling somewhat guilty, he quickly added an excuse.

“To be honest, I was surprised when he said he would invite you two today. But it’s not like I had the authority to stop him. I’m merely a guest who happened to be indebted to him for a short while.”

It didn’t seem like Erich had a particularly close relationship with the duke.

That made it all the more puzzling.

If they hadn’t known each other beforehand, then how did Erich end up staying at the duke’s residence?

It was true that offering shelter to passing guests was a noble’s duty—though this was a custom that applied only among aristocrats. However, Archduke didn’t seem like the type to adhere strictly to such traditions.

Given that the duke harbored resentment toward the current emperor, it made no sense for him to welcome a royal knight like Erich into his castle.

Unable to hold back her curiosity any longer, Iona spoke frankly.

“There’s something I’ve been wondering for a while now.”

“What is it?”

“How did you end up getting acquainted with the duke?”

At her question, Erich averted his gaze as if avoiding the answer.

That alone confirmed Iona’s suspicions. She pointed her index finger at him.

“As I thought—you got caught spying on him, didn’t you?”

“No.”

Erich replied with a firm expression.

It was obvious that there was something he didn’t want to reveal.

And Iona knew exactly how to get the answer she wanted in situations like this.

It wasn’t that she had some deep understanding of Erich personally—rather, there was a shared sensitivity that all knights of the Imperial Order had in common.

Fear of their commander.

“If you don’t want to answer, that’s fine. I’ll just ask Sir Saskia instead.”

“The reason I got caught near the duke wasn’t... because I was investigating him.”

Erich’s mouth opened almost reflexively before Iona had even finished speaking.

When she gave him a silent look urging him to continue, he made a troubled face.

Just then, Leroy, who had been adjusting his loosened tie, approached them.

With an amused voice, Leroy spoke.

“So, you were caught while investigating the Nant Tribe, then?”

At his words, Erich stiffened, his expression turning uncomfortable.

As if defending himself, he explained,

“The Empress’s spies have been frequently moving in and out of the wastelands near Bilfaud. There’s nothing out there but mountains, canyons, and the Nant Tribe, so I thought maybe they were in contact with them.”

“So you snuck deep into the mountains alone just to keep an eye on them? You really are reckless.”

Erich muttered in a small voice, “There weren’t any other viable leads at the time...” as if trying to justify his actions.

But rather than immediately explaining how he encountered the duke, he fell silent for a moment.

Then, in a subdued voice, he asked,

“Did you know that His Grace the Archduke has a son?”

“Of course. I thought he’d be joining us for dinner today, but I noticed he wasn’t present. I was wondering about that.”

“It would’ve been impossible for him to attend. The Archduke’s son is currently missing.”

Iona paused at the unexpected revelation.

The duke’s son was missing?

Since arriving in the north, she and Leroy had conducted their own investigations and gathered intelligence through their subordinates.

Yet nowhere in their findings had there been any mention of the Archduke‘s son being lost.

Leroy turned to Erich and asked in a serious tone.

“Is the duke hiding it intentionally?”

“Yes. He disappeared during a battle against the Nant Tribe two months ago, and there hasn’t been any sign of him since.”

-- End Of The Chapter --

 

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