The Curtain Falls on a Fool’s Dream
It was impossible to believe. She wanted to think it was all a mistake.
There was no way Zion could be on that ship. Perhaps their paths had simply crossed, or he was just late. Or perhaps, he had been captured by these terrible people first.
But even as she tried to convince herself that she had misheard, Lilian could not deny the voice that lingered in her ears. Zion was an opera actor. His voice possessed a unique, beautiful quality that was unmistakable.
She felt as though she might collapse to the floor, her mind completely blank. The knight holding her arm pulled her upright, but her legs had lost all strength; she could not stand on her own.
The knight tried to drag her away, but a voice rang out from the ship once more. This time, it was a clear, melodic woman’s voice.
"Ah."
The knight let out a flustered sound. The people lined up along the brightly lit deck were almost all from the upper class, and there were quite a few high-ranking nobles whose faces were well-known.
Once they had recognized Lilian’s face, a low-ranking knight like him could no longer force her away.
The person most bewildered by this situation was Sophia. Why was Lilian here? She had seemed to have calmed down just a moment ago.
'Did she pretend to be fine just to make her escape?'
She reflexively whipped her head toward Zion, but Zion was merely smiling, a faint smirk playing on his lips.
The blood drained from Sophia’s face as she realized this was all a conspiracy. Until now, she had thought Zion was just a pretty-faced gigolo. But what if he had seduced Lilian from the very beginning just to lure her into a trap?
If so, then this entire affair was orchestrated by Laila.
Sophia cast a sharp gaze toward Olivia. Olivia was ordering the boarding ladder to be lowered with a calm, composed demeanor that betrayed no emotion.
Feeling dizzy, Sophia looked back down at the landing. One of the servants who had been holding Lilian recognized her standing on the deck and looked up with a desperate expression, begging for instructions, but setting aside the fact that there was no way to convey them, there was nothing she could do anyway.
Too many people were watching. Now, all she could hope for was that Lilian would return to the Imperial Palace quietly, without saying a word or greeting anyone. If she did that, they could somehow fabricate a story.
She herself, and the knights who had seized Lilian, would have to take responsibility, but that was still the best-case scenario.
Supported by a servant, Lilian finally climbed the boarding ladder. Her hair was disheveled, her entire body was covered in dirt, and she had lost one of her shoes. She was trembling so violently it was pitiful to behold.
Even so, the nobles and dignitaries on the ship all recognized her and bowed their heads.
Olivia took off her own shoes and placed them in front of Lilian. But Lilian, looking half-out of her mind, did not even notice; she simply scanned her surroundings.
Then, she spotted Zion and called out to him in a trembling voice.
"Zi... Zion..."
Zion stood with his head bowed in an elegant posture, offering no reply. Lilian staggered toward him.
Sophia, horrified, rushed toward her to grab her arm. That, at least, must not happen. It would be better to be rumored as a madwoman wandering the streets at night than to have a scandal about trying to flee the palace, bewitched by a man. Especially when that man didn't even care for her.
But Lilian slapped Sophia’s hand away. Tears streamed endlessly from her wide-open eyes. Trembling like a willow in the wind, she asked Zion,
"Why are you here?"
She still wanted to believe this was all a mistake. Even as she looked at Zion’s neatly groomed appearance and his usual, cheerful smile, she wanted to believe her own eyes were failing her.
"You said you’d wait for me... in front of the Flower Nest. You said you’d wait until I came."
The tears flowing down her cheeks left stains, and they pooled on her lips, tasting of salt. Lilian asked, sobbing with great difficulty,
"But why are you here? You were supposed to come for me. So why!"
Zion asked as if he truly had no idea. Lilian swayed. Stepping on the floor that felt as though it were crumbling beneath her, she reached out to him desperately.
Zion did not pull away, allowing her to take his hand. Clutching his arm, she babbled in disbelief,
"Lies... it’s a lie, isn't it? You were threatened, right?"
"Who did it? Was it Sophia? Were you tortured? Did they say they’d kill you if you didn't abandon me?"
"You... you love me."
Zion looked at her with an expression of great discomfort, gently pulling his hand away and glancing at Sophia. The gesture and the look were so perfectly executed that anyone would think he was merely troubled by a woman clinging to him when he had no feelings for her.
That meaning was conveyed to Lilian as well.
More than the words "I don't know," that gesture struck her with the force of truth. Lilian choked on a sob.
"You said you loved me. You said I was your sanctuary and your salvation. You said you had searched everywhere for me."
She wanted to confirm it, just once. As always, she felt that if he would just say he loved her, she could forget everything else.
But Zion took a step back, his face filled with awkwardness.
A soft smile was added to the end of his cruel words.
Lilian staggered violently. The starlight spun in a ring before her eyes.
She collapsed on the spot, unable to overcome the exhaustion and the mental shock.
The salon guests, who had been watching from afar, cried out in surprise and rushed toward her.
Sophia squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists. Now, Lilian was beyond saving. No matter how indifferent the Emperor was or how little he expressed his will to the outside world, there was no way she could remain unscathed after causing such a scandal.
The unconscious Lilian was moved to a cabin, and the pursuers who had arrived on horseback left to fetch a carriage under Sophia’s orders.
The music had stopped, but Olivia instructed the staff to continue serving dinner.
Though no one had any appetite, the guests followed her wishes and sat back down. Although the ship was docked, they would have to return to the pier where their carriages were waiting to go home. In truth, even if they could have left immediately, no one would have.
Such a massive incident had occurred; they could not simply leave without watching it to the end or discussing it with someone.
At first, everyone was cautious and dared not speak, but soon, small whispers began at every table.
"Didn't I tell you? I said it was the Empress."
"This is no ordinary matter, Countess. Her Majesty the Empress has just fled the Imperial Palace for the sake of another man."
"I knew this would happen. No matter how much she became Empress, can one ever hide that base bloodline?"
"She must be mad for men."
This could no longer be called a mere scandal. It was a scandal when it remained in the realm of rumors, but this was a full-blown incident.
Too many people had witnessed the Empress being caught while fleeing, and her one-sided clinging. It was even more problematic because it wasn't a case of using money and power to lure a man into bed; it was a pathetic and ugly affair, even for an adulterous one.
There were many who whispered about what would happen next.
"Will His Majesty the Emperor show himself?"
"Is that even possible?"
"But even so, isn't this a problem that the Schwaben Duchy cannot handle? It is a private matter, and His Majesty the Emperor is the party involved."
"Her Highness the Princess will be in a difficult position as well."
Muffled conversations passed between every table. And some people realized the fact that the guest list and table arrangements for today’s salon had been planned with this in mind from the very beginning.
Usually, salons were designed to mix guests appropriately so they could make new acquaintances or engage in debates with strangers, but today, people who were very close or shared similar political views had been grouped together.