Chapter 50.2

Chapter 50 – Answer To The First Question

Aileen’s lament erupted even before Lisa could finish her words. She turned toward the window again. From what happened during the day, Lisa got bruises all over her body. Although Kaligo’s aura was formless, his power was truly destructive.

His attack intended to kill her, truly. It must have been for the purpose of finding that necklace, but it didn’t make sense to kill her who knew about the whereabouts of the said necklace.

To make matters worse, Aileen started questioning Lisa as to what had happened to her. “Why did you do that?”

“Why…? It’s of course for your sake, Imperial Princess!”

“Is that all?”

“What?”

Aileen turned from the window and looked at Lisa. “I am asking you if that all was to only arrange a meeting with me and Grand Duke Kaligo.” Her face which had always been smiling kindly, was now colder than the surface of a frozen lake.

“…”

“Lisa, I’m going to pretend this engagement never happened.”

“N,o!” Lisa, who was lying on the bed like a corpse, jumped up and shouted.

“…”

“Ah…”

Aileen’s eyes narrowed at Lisa’s reaction. “…As expected.”

“Ah, that…”

“Did you make a deal with my father?”

“M-Miss Aileen.”

“What did my father offer you? A mine? Or a territory?”

“…”

Aileen sighed. “I was a fool to have believed that you were a close friend.”

“…”

“Take a rest for now. We’ll talk again tomorrow when the sun comes up.” Aileen turned coldly and left Lisa’s room.

Bang! The sound of the door closing sounded heavier today.

* * *

Ashia had gone to visit the Magic Tower early in the morning. Although it was still a place where no one welcomed her amicably, her purpose in visiting was inevitable. What she wanted to know and what she should know—she hoped that she would find a clue about it in the ancient books at the Magic Tower.

She went back to her store and sat on the sofa, then began to turn the pages leisurely. Less than an hour after she started reading the book, the door of the store made a rattle and opened.

“Welcome.” Standing up, Ashia saw a person walking into the store and sighed. “Ah…”

“…Shall we talk?”

“…”

Aileen entered.

“Sure, come in.”

Ashia gladly acquiesced to her request. She locked the store door again and guided Aileen to the sofa. She left Aileen, asking her to wait for a while.

The atmosphere felt different than when Aileen first came. Was it because she changed her thoughts about Ashia?

After a while, Ashia served warm milk. “I’m sorry, this is all I can offer.”

“No, I like it.”

Ashia also sat down opposite her.

Aileen immediately opened her mouth, “May I ask what your relationship is with Grand Duke Kaligo?”

“…”

Aileen nervously fiddled with the glass of milk, without even making eye contact with Ashia.

’Is this how it feels like to be a mistress in front of the legal wife?’

To be honest, Ashia wasn’t in a situation where she should be treated like a mistress. “It’s nothing.”

“…Really?” For a moment, Aileen’s head that was drooping quickly turned to Ashia. Her expression seemed to be one of liking that answer quite openly. She blushed and lowered her head shyly. “But… yesterday, the two of you…”

“Ah…”

“Are you mocking me? There’s no way you two wouldn’t have some sort of relationship.”

“…I’m not mocking you, Your Highness.”

Aileen raised her head again and looked at Ashia.

“There’s really no word to define the relationship between the two of us. Even if he meets another woman now and gets drunk with her, I don’t think I am in a position to stand in the way and stop him. This relationship, what do you think I should call it?”

“…”

“I was just saying that there wasn’t some sort of relationship between us as I couldn’t come up with how I should define what is it between us.” Ashia smiled bitterly as she lowered her eyes. It was funny that she had to make excuses for her relationship with him and at the same time, she was sad that she couldn’t clearly define her relationship with Kaligo.

“Then.”

“Yes.”

Aileen, who was swallowing dry saliva, asked Ashia. “Do you love him?”

“…”

“What about his feelings? Are they directed at you?”

Ashia’s eyes widened slightly then returned to their original state. She thought about it dozens of times a day before putting such thoughts out of her mind because she didn’t want to be too serious thinking about it, or because she thought it would be such a luxury. She admits that he had shown her almost all of his heart, but she had feigned complete ignorance about his feelings at the end of it. She just glossed over it as his feelings were simply liking her, being attracted to her, and being shaken by her.

Aileen had been persistently burying her feelings that she had no thoughts of dating or marriage.

Her gaze hovering on the table, Ashia’s gaze turned to Aileen. Looking at those fearful, anxious eyes, she slightly tilted her head. Her slightly closed lips twitched.

“I don’t know about his feelings.”

“…”

Aileen waited nervously for Ashia’s answer, swallowing her dry saliva.

“I think you can answer the first question, Your Highness.”

“…”

’The first question…’

Aileen flinched. There was a slow smile showing in Ashia’s insensitive expression. Her smile shook Aileen’s eyes. For some reason, the answer after that refreshing smile was just as expected. Then came Ashia’s answer.

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