CH 17.3

Lila’s head, which had been frozen at the Crown Prince’s words, snapped back unnaturally, like she were making a squeaky noise.

Unaware that she was straining her entire body, she closed her eyes for a moment against her stiff neck, then opened them.

He glared at Theobald, unable to contain his vicious glare.

“This is…”

Mint-coloured eyes swept over the stiffened woman for a moment before turning back to Theobald. Equally sharp red eyes flashed darkly.

“The Duke has not been very polite since the last time. It is not your place to interrupt.”

“Why does His Highness insist on seeing my wife in private?”

“Huh! You haven’t even been formally married yet, and it’s against the law to bind her like that. Anyone can object during the premarital cohabitation period. Regardless of rank.”

“I’m very curious to hear what those objections are.”

Lucas said, coming over to stand beside Lila. There were only two chairs at the tea table. Lila’s expression relaxed at the warmth of his body against her shoulder. Though she was still tense.

“What’s the chamberlain doing… Even if the Duke is imperial, it’s still rude. How dare you interrupt my time with a half-imperial topic?”

Theobald’s red eyes flashed with ferocity. It seemed to him that Lucas was to blame for this dream-like turn of events.

If it weren’t for him, he would have made Lila his woman, just as he had in the dream, just as he had back in time.

In the past, which had become the future, Heinrich and Alfonso had bothered him, but now the thought of Lucas standing between him and Lila made his eyes sparkle.

“I will no longer overlook the Duke’s insolence. Get him out of here at once!”

At the sound of the Crown Prince’s furious voice, the chamberlain who had been waiting nearby scrambled to his feet.

Meanwhile, the scents of Lucas and Theobald clashed fiercely. Like intangible energies, they fought to keep each other from being pushed away.

Lila still couldn’t get her mind off the pulsing sensations. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t make sense of what was happening.

‘Yes, I saw the keyword ‘regression’, but… but is it real? Is the current world different from what I knew about the original, and if so, what happens next?’

A wave of fear washed over her. Her resolve that the original story didn’t matter was shaken.

She would have been afraid if she had been alone, but she was even more afraid that she had caused Lucas and Michael to go wrong.

Unaware of her panting, Lucas and Theobald kept their eyes on each other. Gritting their teeth and fighting a scent battle, they moved at the same time when they spotted Lila leaning over without making a sound.

Theobald scrambled to his feet, but Lucas was quicker, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her towards him.

“Lila!”

Her tightly closed eyelids didn’t move at his call. Lucas scooped her up into his arms.

Just like at the ball a few days ago, he gritted his teeth, knowing he hadn’t been able to help.

He didn’t want them to help him, but he was fed up with the people around him doing nothing but harm.

“Stop!”

Theobald shouted, panting as Lucas turned to walk away with her in his arms, but Lucas didn’t wait.

“Insolent!”

Theobald was furious at Lucas for disregarding his orders as Crown Prince.

He could not stand it. He couldn’t stand the thought of him taking Lila, who was supposed to be his, and him disrespecting him because he thought he was lesser than him.

Without a thought of decency, Theobald lunged and grabbed Lucas by the shoulders.

Then he punched him.

It was a loud punch. But Lucas didn’t even flinch. In fact, he bared his teeth and laughed.

“You can’t hurt me that badly, Your Majesty.”

Lucas winced at the stinging punch, and then it occurred to him.

He knew for sure it wasn’t physical strength like his own, but was it magic like Michael and his brother’s?

Turning quickly, Lucas strode away, leaving Theobald stiff with shock and insult.

Who cares what he’s capable of?

What mattered right now was his wife.

Gathering Lila, who was barely breathing, into his arms once more, Lucas took off running.

Forgetting that this was the imperial palace.

Back at the ducal residence, Lucas summoned a doctor to examine Lila.

“Fortunately, there’s nothing wrong with her. It sounds like she’s simply distraught… Did anything happen that traumatised her?”

Lucas’s eyes sank low at the doctor’s question. He’d rushed to the palace as soon as he’d been contacted by Jessie through the communications tool.

He was too late, though. By the time he arrived, her audience with the Emperor was already over. The moment he saw Lila with the Crown Prince, he felt his eyes roll back in his head.

Every time he’d seen her with another man, he’d felt an uncontrollable pang of jealousy, but he’d felt a great deal of speculation about the Crown Prince.

He wondered why.

Was it because of what the grey wolf had said?

Lost in his thoughts, he slowly opened his lips.

“So, she collapsed from a mental shock?”

“Yes. There is nothing physically wrong with her.”

“I see. Let me see you out.”

“Yes, Duke.”

As the doctor left the room, Vincent approached.

“Duke, the regional leaders have all assembled, and Mr Fabian has asked me to relay this to you.”

“Yes, I see. Tell Owen I’ll be down in a little while.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Lucas stared down at Lila, and sat halfway across the bed.

Her normally white face was pale as ice.

“You’re going to have to tell me what the hell you heard from the Crown Prince, my lady.”

I knew she had a secret, but he had promised himself that if she wouldn’t tell him, he wouldn’t ask.

But what if that secret cost him his wife?

“There’s no way.”

So should I pry into her secret now?

“What can I do, my lady?”

Lucas cupped her face wistfully and kissed her forehead deeply.

He rang the bell and rose. Turning to Jessie, who had entered the room as if she had been waiting, Lucas ordered.

“Never fall away from my wife.”

“Yes, Duke.”

Lucas straightened his clothes and left the room. He needed to finish his business and leave the capital as soon as possible.

* * *

In the mansion’s conference room, the men sat in a circle, exchanging witty banter.

“I heard that the Duke’s wife is so beautiful?”

“What did she do in her previous life to deserve such good fortune?”

“You don’t have to go back in time. Even in this life, that chilly man has a beautiful wife, that’s good enough for me, right?”

Giggling, one scratched his belly, another jammed his chin on the table with a sullen expression, one sat up straight, one leisurely crossed his legs and smiled, and finally Owen, who was pushing up his glasses, quietly warned.

“Don’t you dare say anything.”

“Oh, what do you think the boss will say about this? I’ll just ignore it.”

Knowing Lucas’s usual attitude, the regional leaders waved their hands in the air and chuckled.

But Owen remained serious.

“The story about the Duchess is different, and you’d better watch out for that.”

He had too much going on right now to cause trouble. He had a lot of work to do, and he didn’t want to be distracted.

Owen suspected that Lucas and Lila’s relationship ran deeper than either of them had realised.

Then Lucas walked in. He strode in with a sullen look on his face, and Owen stood up to greet him.

“You have come.”

“My Lord, why have you summoned us so suddenly?”

Each of them has a role to play in the upper reaches of Tenebris. They operated either in the Empire or in other countries, and were supposed to keep in touch.

But Lucas had called them together. So they gathered in the capital of the Empire. Lucas, who hadn’t said much, suddenly summoned them to his mansion.

He would have met them outside.

Noel, sitting at his leisure, asked with a gentle smile on his face.

“What was so urgent that you had to summon us to the mansion?”

Lucas turned in his seat and addressed the four regional leaders. His voice was not his usual high-pitched, impassive one, but rather a cold one.

“From now on, I want you to buy all food-related items, and I want you to unpack and dispose of everything that relates to luxury goods, whatever it is that nobles normally want.”

“What?”

Unlike the north, the capital was still in the harvest season, so buying food was not a problem.

Luxury goods, however, are different. Many of them were the mainstay of the upper echelons of the market, such as jewellery that had travelled a long way by sea and been crafted by renowned artisans in other countries.

They weren’t items to be disposed of.

“Begin with the necessities of daily life, and buy everything in the capital, even if you have to overpay for it.”

“…”

Owen, Noel, Anthony, Beau, and Dick could only gape in surprise at the sudden announcement.

Beau, who was giggling and scratching his stomach, suddenly turned serious. He turned to Lucas and asked.

Dick, who had been looking grave, muttered with a serious expression.

“Nobles, it’s none of my business, but commoners can starve to death if they don’t make proper provisions for the winter. If you know that and go ahead with it, I think I’ll be a little disappointed in you, my Lord…”

Anthony, who seemed to have a pleasant face, frowned. He didn’t say anything, but it was clear that everyone agreed with Dick.

Owen waited for Lucas’s response with a questioning look on his face.

“Of course not, I know you’re commoners… and even if I didn’t care about commoners, do you think you’d stand still?”

“Of course, we wouldn’t. Why, I love the Tenebris Company. They’re the only company that sells to the commoners for less.”

Beau replied with a snort of laughter. Then he asked again.

“Then, what is the purpose of the upper class?”

Lucas thought about squeezing the life out of anyone who bothered him and Lila for a moment.

It was a ruse he’d come up with, figuring they wouldn’t think of anything else if their survival depended on it.

“My purpose is to make sure that every noble residing in the capital has a belly full this winter.”

“Aha, if that’s what you mean!”

Dick chuckled, his voice bright and cheerful.

“Well, then, how do you intend to distribute them among the commoners?”

Owen asked dryly. Lucas had a quick answer.

“I’m thinking of putting them in my wife’s business as freebies.”