Shadows from the Past
Raphael raised both hands and stared at them in silence. His eyes held the troubled look of a scholar grappling with some profound question.
He watched his hands so intently that he did not notice the strong tea on the table growing cold. He was so absorbed that he failed to register Jeremy's puzzled glances from beside him.
It was understandable. He was lost in deep contemplation after experiencing the most significant event of his life.
Touch was not unpleasant.
The implication of that feeling was enormous for Raphael. It was the first time he had ever felt such an emotion, and the person who had evoked it was none other than Princess Cayena.
Am I all right now?
Perhaps he would no longer find contact with others repulsive. He decided to test it immediately.
“Jeremy.”
Jeremy, who had been eyeing his master's sudden odd behavior with suspicion, started in surprise at the call.
“Y-yes! What is it?”
Raphael abruptly extended his hand toward him.
Jeremy tried to interpret the meaning of the gesture. It made no sense whatsoever. He gave up and asked,
“……What would you like me to bring you?”
“Hold my hand.”
Jeremy was bewildered. The two of them alone in the study, his master's strange behavior, and this rather suggestive request. He cautiously reached out. Their hands met. It was an undeniably strange sight.
“……”
Raphael felt as though hives were breaking out across his entire body. He jerked his hand away as if he had grabbed something he should not have touched.
Jeremy, suddenly rejected, withdrew his hand with a sour expression. It was the first time since he had begun serving Raphael that his master had asked to hold hands.
Why is he acting like this all of a sudden……?
His master occasionally did eccentric things. Jeremy supposed it was simply part of his unusual nature.
Did something happen with Her Highness the Princess?
According to what he had heard, Raphael had escorted Princess Cayena.
Jeremy widened his eyes in search of any hint of a pink atmosphere, but his master remained as dry as ever. There was not the slightest trace of the sweet excitement one might expect from a boy experiencing his first love.
Jet-black hair, crimson eyes, a perfectly sculpted face that seemed unreal, and lips that never smiled. He looked exactly as he always did—like an arid desert.
Basten kept insisting there was something between him and Cayena, pushing the rumor of a romance, but Jeremy shook his head.
That could never happen.
The idea of Raphael falling in love was beyond imagination.
“Jeremy.”
Raphael called him again.
“Yes, my lord.”
He is not about to ask me to embrace him, is he? Jeremy waited quietly for his master's next words.
“Do you know anything about Henverton Gillian?”
Henverton Gillian?
Of course he knew. The man was the son of a vassal family to the ducal house and the heir to Viscount Gillian.
“Yes. He is the eldest son of Viscount Gillian. I have heard he is currently receiving lessons in succession.”
“Is he unmarried?”
“Yes. He had a fiancée, but they broke off the engagement about two months ago. It seems to have been after he danced with Her Highness Princess Cayena at the banquet……”
Jeremy's expression twisted as he spoke.
Now that I think about it, I heard that Young Master Gillian committed some discourtesy toward Her Highness today.
He had never thought highly of Viscount Gillian to begin with. The viscount himself was known to be shameless, with more than five mistresses. His son Henverton also kept company with friends of poor character.
“Look into that young master for me.”
It was an unexpected order, but Jeremy bowed his head at once.
“As you command.”
It was only natural to gather information about Henverton Gillian, the next heir of Viscount Gillian, a vassal house to the duchy. Of course, Raphael had never before ordered an investigation into anyone without reason.
What on earth did Henverton Gillian do?
Raphael could not forget the fearful expression Cayena had worn today. The look of relief she had shown upon seeing him also came to mind.
“……”
Something deep inside him felt strangely itchy.
* * *
After her first outing in a long while, Cayena felt utterly exhausted. The rain only made her body feel heavier.
“I will prepare your bath.”
Recognizing her fatigue, Vera went to ready the bathwater and bath salts herself.
Cayena leaned back against the sofa and pressed a hand to her forehead. Sharp memories related to Gillian clawed their way up.
I should not dwell on unnecessary thoughts.
It was better to forget unpleasant memories. In this life, she had no intention of becoming entangled with him. She would marry the illusion she had created and cast off the role of villainess in this world.
The Gillian viscount's household wielded significant influence in the empire through its production of military horses. If she hoped for Raphael's cooperation, she could not touch the Gillians.
If I must, I suppose I could bring them down.
During her previous life as Viscountess Gillian, Cayena had discovered several problems connected to the Gillian viscount's family.
Still, I have no desire to prolong my stay in the imperial palace by stirring up such matters.
She only wished to live out her days quietly in some remote countryside where the scenery was picturesque and the sunrise and sunset were at their most vivid. She had already endured far too much.
Alone in her bedroom, Cayena gazed at the tapestry on the wall and spoke in a slightly lowered voice.
“Why don't you come out now, Rezef?”
* * *
After Cayena collapsed from eating the nut cookies, Rezef had been confined to his bedroom under indefinite house arrest. Knights were stationed in the drawing room and corridors to prevent him from leaving.
The emperor's contemptuous gaze surfaced in his mind.
“One day, I will kill them all!”
“Your Highness! Such words are dangerous!”
Unable to contain his rage, Rezef shouted and began smashing the room to pieces.
“Aagh!”
Servants struck by the objects he hurled fell one after another. Rezef paid them no mind. Servants were expendable. Only those born of noble blood deserved to be treated as people. Just as the emperor treated him with disdain.
“Y-Your Highness! Please calm yourself!”
Injured servants continued to pour out of Rezef's bedroom, differing only in the severity of their wounds.
Yet the prince's room could not be left without any servants, so new ones were sent in. Those around them sometimes advised the newcomers to leave a will, just in case.
“If word reaches His Majesty's ears, the situation will only worsen.”
It was the first time Zenon had seen the prince lose control to this extent. If things continued this way, there was a real possibility that the prince he supported would be deposed by the emperor. That must never happen.
“Shut up!”
Rezef was aggressive and violent. Nothing seemed capable of stopping him.
Damn prince……
Zenon left to summon the nobles.
Only after destroying everything in sight did Rezef finally calm down. The servants who had been holding their breath began to clean the room.
What exactly went wrong?
Should he have killed Emperor Esteban earlier, even at the cost of forcing the issue?
He felt not the slightest affection for his father. That was why he did not hesitate to think coldly and cruelly.
Yet before long, his indefinite house arrest was reduced to ten days.
“Her Highness the Princess knelt in the central palace and pleaded on your behalf.”
Zenon, who was permitted to enter the bedroom, relayed the news.
Shortly after that, he was informed that the authority of the Inner Palace had been temporarily transferred to Cayena. Everything proceeded smoothly, one step after another, as if it had all been predetermined.
His position was shrinking.
“Your Majesty……!”
The power he had built was no illusion.
Yet the emperor treated Rezef as though he had no power at all. If Rezef were truly his son, he would not have done this. If the emperor despised him because he was the product of an illicit affair, then the emperor himself was the one who had committed the wrongdoing!
The emperor's eyes were always cold. He looked down on him. As a child, Rezef had not understood. Now, he had no intention of trying to understand.
There is no need to wait. The throne is something one seizes for oneself.
A day passed while he remained confined to his room. News arrived that his sister had come to visit.
Of course she did.
Cayena could not do without him. She would surely say that the authority of the Inner Palace was too much for her. She was meant to be a candle that burned itself out to illuminate Rezef.
But Cayena did not relinquish the authority of the Inner Palace. It was strange. She would never do such a thing.
The villainess is a marionette.