Chapter 88: Chapter 87

New Facts (8)

As Gehrig walked out with a bright face, Evanstein’s lieutenant, whom she had seen several times in the mansion, entered the room. When she saw him, Aris was very happy, but she sat still, thinking that he might not have welcomed her greeting.

“May I join you?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, are you sent from Duke Verdick or the knight’s commander?”

“It is the Duke who sent me.”

“What did he say?”

“Is it okay if I say it now?”

The lieutenant asked Gehrig for permission. Because it was Gehrig, not the Crown Prince, who the Duke asked to deliver the message to. If it were anyone else, they would have said it right away with the Crown Prince’s presence, but Verdick was an exception, as they’re a high-ranking noble, who had much greater power than that of the Imperial Family.

Gehrig nodded his head, hoping that the conversation would move forward quickly. Since the three of them had gathered like this, it seemed that perhaps he could send Aristasia today and receive the money, whether it was from the Crown Prince or from Duke Verdick.

“In a week, Duke Verdick will visit in person.”

“Older Brother?!”

“Yes.”

When the lieutenant gave Aris the answer to the question she had unknowingly asked, her face turned red. It’s only been a week since she has seen his face, but it felt like she hasn’t seen him in a very long time, so she’s very happy. But as much as she rejoiced, the Crown Prince’s face got even worse.

The lieutenant left immediately because he had said everything he had to say, and there was an uncomfortable atmosphere between Gehrig and the Crown Prince.

“Can I tell you in a week, Your Highness?”

“What?”

“…… You know”

“Ha!”

Gehrig was in a bind too. It was because it was so understandable that the Crown Prince wanted to take Aristasia quickly. And Gehrig was also in need of a lot of money in a hurry. However, he could not easily let go because he did not know how much money Verdick,  who had built a relationship with Aristasia, was going to offer. He wanted to take as much as he could, as it was an opportunity that would never come again in his life.

The Crown Prince angrily slipped the hair that had fallen and covered his forehead, rose from his seat and went outside. Gehrig sighed in relief that everything was finished safely, saying that his luck had passed without a hitch, and Aris was dragged to her own room again.

She thought today’s event would end like that.

However, when Aris woke up from her sleep, the place she opened her eyes was not on her own bed, but on an unfamiliar place. Her sleepiness ran away in fear, and when she got up and looked around, she unexpectedly saw a place and a person very familiar to her eyes.

“Crown Prince.”

“Are you awake?”

The Crown Prince was sitting, leaning his back with a relaxed smile. The place where the Crown Prince and Aris are now was in the Crown Prince’s carriage, where he had loaded her body not long ago.

If it had been Leon or Evan sitting in front of her in the Duchy’s carriage, Aris would have shed tears of joy, but now that the other person was the Crown Prince, she felt as if she had been kidnapped.

“How did this happen?”

“I can’t wait any longer.”

“…… I don’t think my father would have let me go so easily.”

“I’m not the kind of person who can move only with a gigolo’s permission.”

The Crown Prince spoke as if it was obvious and had a faint smile on his face. It was in contrast to the impatience he had shown before, or using his power to somehow get Aris into his hand.

Aris thought that Gehrig, who was contemplating which house to sell Aris for more money, would not hand her over to the Crown Prince ahead of the meeting with Duke Verdick, and she soon reached an answer.

“You killed him.”

The Crown Prince smiled brighter and nodded his head at Aris’s neat words.

“There is no relationship between blood, isn’t it? To your father who didn’t even know you were there.”

“What do you mean no relationship between blood? If you had woken me up, I would have taken my anger out on him.”

It seemed that if she didn’t kick him anywhere, her anger wouldn’t go away. But there was something more curious than kicking Gehrig, who was already dead.

“No matter how you are the Crown Prince, isn’t it difficult to cover up murder in a place that attracts people’s attention?”

“Then didn’t I come back quietly during the day? There are the butler and maids who will be witnesses.”

“Even if you secretly brought me in at night, wouldn’t many people who saw me doubt the Crown Prince?”

“Fufu, who do you think can see you?”

“…… You want to lock me up.”

“You are not a Verdick, so you don’t have to be the Empress or Crown Prince’s wife, right? So all I have to do is lock you up in a hidden room in my palace and go there every time I want to hold you.”

She was a fool, thinking that it was at least a little bit better to go to the Crown Prince than to be sold somewhere by Gehrig. It was a problem that Aristasha had never thought about, that she would fall into danger of being reduced to a plaything and not seeing a single ray of sunshine.

“Even so, if I disappear, wouldn’t the Crown Prince be the first to be suspected of kidnapping me?”

If Aris had been as close with Evan or Leon as before, they would have been by far the ones that would be most suspicious of. However, since both Evan and Leon had not shown their noses since they separated a week ago, it seemed unlikely that anyone would put them on the line.

“You’ve almost been kidnapped before.”

Of course there have been times. That is why, when living as Lady Verdick, she lived in the room next door to Leonhardt, where he spent hot nights with a lot of courtesans…… Has she not heard vividly of it?