Chapter 42

***

Devan had a very strong opinion that the debutante should be done first, before the wedding.

The Crown Princess immediately moved up this year’s debutante by a few months.

It was too early, and that was two weeks later.

Fortunately, Count Diego, who valued reputation, taught me well one of the manners as a noblewoman.

I didn’t need to learn how to dance for debutantes, nor did I need to learn how to be a socialite.

“My Lady, are you going to your room?”

“Yes.”

The maid of the Imperial Palace followed me quietly.

I had barely finished the fitting of my dress.

The tedious preparations for the debutante were almost finished.

“Lady Evelyn!”

At that moment, I turned my head at the cheerful voice.

Karen, dressed in armor, saluted playfully at the end of the hallway.

He still hadn’t given up calling me “Lady,” even though the old butler had repeatedly told him that he should call me “Grand Duchess”.

Actually, it was comfortable for me too.

“Sir Karen.”

Karen approached closer.

It had been a few days since he had arrived at the Imperial Palace, but this was the first time we had talked alone.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Is it because the Lady is busy?”

I shrugged at his sly tone.

His attitude suddenly changed after he noticed that it was my fault to return to the capital.

That didn’t mean he was polite and respectful of me, though; he was more friendly.

I glanced at the servant. She was still following me with her head down.

“Would you mind giving us some space?”

The maid moved her lips and gave me a troubled look.

“Come on.”

I said in a deliberately curt manner.

She was the maid that Astrilla had assigned to me.

Not only did I not know the Crown Princess well yet, but I had a history of suffering by the maidservants, which was vey uncomfortable for me.

She also had a look in her eyes that was more like watching me than assisting me.

Perhaps she’ll also tell the Crown Princess about my current talk with Karen.

Karen naturally stood next to me, blocking her view. Walking fast and widening the distance, the maid didn’t follow me anymore. I opened my mouth only after confirming that she couldn’t hear my voice.

“You said you didn’t know anything from Ellywoon?”

I glared at him.

“The Lady and His Highness didn’t expect anything from the start, did you?”

That was true.

White mana stones had already been collected and evidence destroyed, there was no way that the temple would have left a trace in Ellywoon again.

What I had hoped for was to get more testimony from witnesses, but it seemed that we had gotten none.

Karen said in frustration.

“By the way, can you tell me why in the world we are chasing a demon corpse and what that white magic stone is? I also heard you’re looking for a fallen dragon around the capital.”

“I think it would be faster to ask Devan. So did you find the dragon?”

“I’ve already joined you ………. I think it would be faster to ask the guards than me.”

He gave me back my words.

Ugh.

I bit my lip tightly. It was because Killian, the Captain of the Kingsguard, came to mind.

It had been a week since I arrived at the Imperial Palace, and there was no news about Killian.

Not even the Crown Princess seemed to know anything about him, though I didn’t ask her directly.

I was only getting more and more anxious as time went by. I had a feeling that he was going to do something.

“I heard you met Pelos.”

Karen changed the subject without much ado.

“Oh, you said he was a friend of yours. Yes, um,……. He was a good man.

“It’s okay to call him weird.”

“He’s a little eccentric.”

“Is he in the temple?”

“Probably so. Maybe……”

The image of Pelos sneaking into the Imperial Palace in his armor a few days ago came to mind.

“Maybe not.”

“Do you know something? Of course, he’s a guy who doesn’t know where he’s going to bounce.”

I nodded in agreement.

Then, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, Karen asked.

“Anyway, Lady, I heard you’re going to debut?”

“How did you know?”

“I know everything. So, do you have a debutante partner in mind?”

Karen jokingly pointed at his face with his finger.

“What does the finger mean?”

“If you don’t have a partner, I can be your partner. It’s a hand gesture that expresses my big grace and generosity.”

I stared at him with an absurd expression.

“You’re a fool, aren’t you?”

“What?”

Karen frowned as he lowered his finger.

“You keep calling me ‘Lady’ and you seem to have forgotten, but I’m a Grand Duchess.”

“…… So?”

“So of course my partner would be Devan.”

“Oh ……. I see.”

He pouted his lips a little.

It seemed that he was really expecting to go to Debutante rather than having any regrets about his partner’s seat.

“I was wondering because the Lady was eager to get me to come to the imperial Palace.”

“Even if it wasn’t Devan, it seems unlikely that I’d go with you.”

“What? Why is that?”

I added with a mischievous expression at Karen’s frustrated face.

“My preference would be Pelos, not Sir Karen.”

At that moment, I heard a heavy voice from behind me.

“That’s unexpected.”

Startled, I turned my head. It was Devan.

He said he had a pile of documents to process after coming to the palace, and I had not seen his face properly for days.

He strode up and stood between Karen and me.

“What’s unexpected?”

“I thought you didn’t like the flamboyant ones like Pelos.”

“He’s handsome. If he doesn’t open his mouth.”

We moved on, leaving Karen behind.

“Wait a minute. Your Highness, Lady!”

Ignoring the urgent cry, I asked Devan.

“Do you have any new information for me?”

Karen hurriedly stuck close to Devan’s side, and he frowned a little.

“New news?”

“Whether it’s a dragon, Eunice, white magic stones, or anything…….”

Karen was listening to our conversation with an interesting expression on his face.

Devan noticed the look and pointed with his chin to the end of the hallway.

“Karen. I told you to finish the formation of the Detached Palace Kingsguard by the end of the day, do you have time for this?”

“Huh? I thought Your Highness would give me a few days.”

“Today is the end of the few days.”

Karen clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Devan pushed him even more.

“Then get out of my sight.”

Karen opened his mouth slightly and fell silent. His eyebrows were drooping, and he looked heartbroken.

As he disappeared with a droopy gait, Devan casually took the lead.

“Are there any other Kingsguard in the annex? Are they under the Crown Princess?”

“I didn’t originally separate them exactly, but I thought it would be better to keep them separate.”

“Why? Can’t you trust Her Highness? Or is that ‘blood storm’ you mentioned before?”

When I whispered in a low voice, he gave me a puzzled look.

“Won’t you tell me what the Princess and Your Highness talked about?”

‘’It’s confidential.”

Devan gave me a complicated look.

I had a hunch that maybe the fact that he’d seemed particularly busy the last few days wasn’t unrelated to this.

The blood storm.

It sounded like a rebellion was going to happen.

Is Devan trying to drive Astrilla out and sit in the Crown Prince’s seat? He didn’t seem like a person to do that, and he didn’t seem like a person who wants to do that. Then, what kind of storm?

“More than that, I have something to tell you about the news you’ve been longing for.”

I opened my eyes wide. He seemed to have finally figured something out.

What is it? The dragon? Eunice? White magic stones? Or …”

He looked into my expectant eyes and laughed out loud.

“Cordelia. It’s that girl.”

***

The table was filled with food that was fresher and more spectacular than anything I had eaten at the Grand Duchy.

It seemed that the chef had done everything in his power to repay Devan for bringing him to the Imperial Palace.

If not for that, it would have been because the ingredients in the palace were far more abundant.

My nerves, however, were directed towards something different than food.

“Tell me more quickly. Why Cordelia? Can I see her? Or do you have new news? It’s not bad, is it?”

A feeling of unease came over me.

The temple had sent a dragon to abduct me. It meant they were that desperate.

That also meant that Cordelia’s condition was serious.

No way… Is she dead?

“It’s not bad, and it’s not very new news, you might see the girl.”

“Really?”

I asked like a scream, my eyes wide open.

Devan’s one eye crinkled at my roar.

“How? How can I see her? Did the temple allow it?”

“No way. Or more accurately… you might be able to see her.”

“Please explain properly.”

Devan gracefully cut the blood dripping meat and popped it into his mouth.

I was even more anxious at the sight.

“I got the information that she’s still in the temple from an informant I trust. I don’t think she’s dead. Well, she didn’t look very healthy. Apparently, the priests gathered their divine power and stopped it for a while.”

“By stopped, you mean……………”

“It means that they stopped all the functions in her body.”

I bit my lips.

Just from what I had heard, Cordelia’s condition looked quite dangerous.

“So? How can I see her?”

“I know where she is, so………” Devan shrugged.

“……..Am I going to see her secretly?”

“Yes.”

Devan lifted the edge of his lips slightly.

“Most of the temple space is opened up on the day of the wedding. Only for the two of us, the protagonists of the wedding.”