C177
"Will Princess Deborah accept Duke Visconti's engagement proposal?"
The 3rd prince asked, rubbing the cigarette's end on the table and extinguishing it.
"Unless there are special circumstances, she will marry after getting engaged. Is there any reason to reject the proposal of a man considered the best match in the social world?"
"Duke Visconti's sincerity is astonishing."
"Ha ha. Visconti and Seymour. It's a marital business where both parties get the best interest."
Count Rowan frowned as he poured wine for the 3rd Prince, and the noble beside him shook his head.
"Honestly, I envy Duke Visconti. I heard that Princess Deborah has a pretty sizable dowry. And the income is generous."
"Not just the dowry. There are rumors that Princess received a ruby mine as a gift from Duke Seymour."
Everyone exclaimed at the word mine.
It's because they are always short of money, as they spend a lot of time enjoying nightlife.
"When Duke Visconti appeared as the companion of the princess during the Spring Flower Festival, everyone was baffled, but now that I see it, he had more foresight than anyone."
"The father-in-law is the Tower Mage, and the dowry is a mine. Not only that, the princess is also leading the fashion in the social world unknowingly. She's a shy person if you put her next to you, but she's even willing to endure such a prickly personality. Ha ha."
Amid the snobbish conversation, someone raised a question.
"By the way, there are rumors that Princess Deborah, famous for her personality, is the incarnation of the Saint... Does this make sense?"
"Of course, that's nonsense. It's much more convincing that Mia Binoche is a Saint."
"Mia Binoche has pink hair that symbolizes the saint, and she has been serving in the slums."
"But there's no way famous scholars could commit perjury as a group, right?"
"In a fire, even the smartest scholars would have difficulty staying sane, right?"
The 3rd Prince drank alcohol one gulp after another while listening to the controversies about the incarnation of the Saint.
His alcohol-moistened red lips were strangely twisted.
Because he knew that Mia Binoche was a forgery created by his mother borrowing the devil's power, and the truth is that Princess Deborah is the real Saint.
"Lie..."
From a young age, his mother assured him that she would place everything precious in the world in his hands as if it were a custom.
"Javi. My chosen son. If you do as I say, you can put the whole world under your feet."
When he didn't feel safe, he trusted his mother's words and headed to the cold northern part of the country.
He returned to the capital after suffering so much, but what actually fell into his hands was a fake saint who wasn't even amusing.
The true Saint was taken by Isidor Visconti....
The mocking gaze of Duke Visconti and the sarcastic tone of Princess Deborah returned to him, perhaps due to the infusion of alcohol.
Isidor's eyes, which saw through the inclinations of others, had a corner that stimulated his latent sense of inferiority.
"I am a member of the royal family. I am the son of the emperor!"
"Why do you dare to ignore me? Why do they hold everything that should be mine?"
Feeling a knot in his stomach, the 3rd Prince tightly held the glass in his hand.
"Prince, are you okay?"
The glass shattered, and the nobles around them were stunned, but in his ears, only a buzzing continued.
"Now I'm tired of letting myself be influenced by my mother's words."
Blood began to accumulate in his empty hands; he clenched and opened his fists slowly with a suspicious smile.
* * *
In the dream, Nayla looked at the blood-red moon. It was an ominous light that was different from the Red Moon she saw in photos while browsing the Internet.
And Nayla trembled uncontrollably under the red moon.
"Knowing that I was a foolish person, while accusing me of being a puppet. Why are you pushing me away again?"
Murmured to herself sadly.
"Are you tired of me?"
Nayla was internally shocked by the man who resembled Isidor, after he said that good women are not to his liking.
But when she was a step away and looked at the memories of her past life through the eyes of a third person, she felt she could understand why the man suddenly pushed her away and became moody.
"... Nayla was very popular."
At the time of crossing the desert, there were only the two of them, that man and Nayla, but after overcoming adversity and returning to the capital, quite a few reinforcements welcomed her.
The eldest son of the Histach family was Nayla's childhood friend, and the Archmage twins Seymour loved her like a daughter.
It wasn't just that. Those who believed they were invited by George and the Montes family were also close to her.
"...I was jealous."
While biting my tongue, my vision suddenly started turning red, and the sky gradually darkened with the sound of a sinister crow.
Nayla's memories were getting closer, and I opened my eyes with a cold sweat.
"Ah...."
As soon as I saw the familiar ceiling, I sighed in relief.
It was a dream, but the scene of the opening of the gates to the demon realm unfolded vividly before my eyes, so my heart pounded violently to the point of pain.
I turned my head, wiping the cold sweat from my neck.
The sky outside the window is the same as always, only with thick dark clouds flowing slowly.
However, the dark red sky I had seen in my dream kept flashing, so I couldn't fall back asleep and tossed and turned for a long time.
Suddenly, the faint light of dawn entered through the window, and to change my mood, I gently tossed into the air the lucky coin Isidor had given me.
I stood up after looking at the coin's face for a while.
"I woke up early for the first time in a long time."
Normally, I sleep until I feel like it, but I woke up early and took a walk in the annex.
Meanwhile, I heard servants chatting in the backyard garden.
"Oh my God! Are they decorating the boat with flowers?"
"Yes. The reason Duke Visconti gave the princess a boat and the lavender diamond was to propose engagement."
While wondering if Isidor's actions would seem romantic to others, excited shouts erupted here and there.
"Moreover, I heard they bought fireworks. Is he planning to propose on her birthday night?"
"It's romantic just to hear it. A proposal on a boat!"
As I listened to their talk, I scratched my chin with an ambiguous mood.
"The rumors are spreading much faster than expected."
The person who originated the rumor that Isidor would formally propose to me on a white boat carrying my nickname... was me.
That's right, the accomplice, as always, was Isidor.
-----------------------
That day.
So, from the moment I found out that the 4th Queen Jamilla was behind my life, I felt worried.
The other party already knows that I am the true Saint, so they will try to end my life.
Again, since we are convinced that the 4th Queen is behind this, it can be said to be a draw, but the problem is that there is no substantive evidence to investigate the Imperial Family.
Moreover, the fact that she had been hiding her identity for a long time in the imperial family, which had strictly rejected black magic, was evidence that it was difficult to find proof that the 4th Queen was a witch.
"...First, we have to lead the enemy from darkness to light."
Due to the long period of repression, it would have been difficult for witches to hide.
The Imperial Guard tried to catch the witch, the main culprit of the library fire, but in the end, it failed.
"It's better to let them come out on their own."
I approached the white pawn on the chessboard on Isidor's office desk.
"Let's cast the bait first. By deliberately committing an arson in the library, they also seem to be in a hurry."
"You're going to use bait."
I nodded at Isidor's words.
"This will be faster than finding evidence that the 4th Queen is a witch. We lure them with a delicious bait and then hit them all at once. What do you think?"
He didn't easily respond.
What they are looking for is my life, so Isidor was concerned that I might use myself as bait.
"Don't worry about that. My dream is to live a long and healthy life."
"..."
"Isidor. How about using a boat as bait?"
I slowly moved the bishop diagonally.
"At the end of the day, my birthday is approaching, so I thought of this plan..."
"Tell me."
"Can you lend me one of the boats in the south?"
"..."
"If you organize a party on board, you can naturally leak information that you are on a boat to your enemies."
I continued speaking slowly as I watched the bishop be taken down by the black pawn.
"Maybe the enemy will consider a boat a much more intrusive place than a library. Especially in the lower stretches of the Renee River, the flow is strong, and there are large forests nearby, so it's easy for the enemy to sneak in and attack the boat."
A boat floating on the river is ultimately bait to lure out the enemy.
"But, I don't know if they will catch me..."
At my murmur, Isidor looked at the King, which had become his checkmate.
"Let's give them the chance to be caught."
Isidor understood what I meant and immediately presented me with a large boat the next day.
Moreover, he even auctioned off a rare jewel.
So, people came to the conclusion that Isidor would propose to me on the boat very naturally.