IWIAHC Chapter 26

Whereas the Emperor's ring had been dark red with rather an ominous feeling, Aiden's possessed only clear, calm energy. Like the faint light his soul emitted.

[Lily. Is that it?]

"Yes, yes. That's it."

Called back to her senses by Aiden, Lily hurriedly secured the rosary and placed it in the pocket not containing the ring.

After returning the rosary case and side table to their original positions, she selected one of the books typically placed in noble chambers.

With slight exaggeration, her movements were frantically swift—as though she might generate wind itself.

She descended the stairs at full speed, not concerned about her earlier fall.

Just as she passed the second-floor landing, she encountered an imperial knight.

"You seem rushed. Did you find what you needed?"

The knight surveyed Lily's entire form with sharp eyes.

The search had indeed taken too long. Her knuckles whitened around the book. Her heartbeat sounded loud enough for her own ears.

'What if they search me? What on earth should I...'

She needed to act brazen, but having committed too great a transgression, found it utterly impossible. Her entire face burned and the area beneath her eyes twitched.

Displaying such obvious guilt naturally made the knight suspicious.

'Right. Under these circumstances, I might as well go to the extreme of appearing terrified.'

Having determined her approach, she clutched the book while trembling.

"It—it appeared."

"What do you mean?"

"It appeared!"

Lily drew close to the knight. Eyes opened wide, the arm holding the book near enough to touch the knight's armor.

[Lily...]

A disgruntled voice came from beside her, but Lily had no mental capacity to spare for that.

"You heard the sound from the fourth floor too, didn't you? You couldn't have missed it. Truly, if I weren't assigned to the office, I would never have set foot in the main building. Oh! Unless there are ghosts or something!"

She continued this performance of madness while attempting to rush down the remaining stairs. However, the knight blocked her path.

'Right. I never expected this to go smoothly.'

Lily snapped her head up to check the knight's eyes.

'Oh?'

The knight's pupils had dilated more than before, displaying rather a flustered demeanor. By no measure did this appear to be an attitude of pursuing falsehood.

"What do you mean? Such things occur even in the ducal castle?"

Lily distinctly heard him say "even in the ducal castle." "Even." Meaning similar incidents occurred in the imperial palace as well?

'Ah, the Emperor's soul was there.'

Lily immediately recalled the answer. The knight appeared to desire further discussion on this topic. His suspicious gaze had completely vanished.

Victory had shifted to her side.

"What—what was I saying just now?"

While maintaining her frightened appearance, she denied her previous words.

"About ghosts..."

"You must have misheard. I said nothing."

"No. Clearly..."

"Shh."

Lily raised her index finger, stopping the knight's words. Then, eyes opened wide, she whispered to the knight in a terror-stricken tone:

"Unless you wish to be branded a heretic for speaking such absurd nonsense about ghosts, you'd best forget that subject."

'You brought it up first,' the knight's expression protested unjustly.

"Pretend you heard nothing. Understood?"

Lily drove the point home and attempted to descend past the knight. However, he had no intention of letting her go peacefully—catching Lily's wrist.

"Wait a moment."

In that instant, Aiden's patience snapped.

With a thud, a candlestick embedded in the wall was struck by invisible force and fell. Another piece of the main building's remaining furnishings was destroyed.

Lily looked up at the wall with dizzy eyes. The Emperor would visit the main building today, and now it was a disaster scene again...

"Did you see that?"

"Pardon? See what? I saw nothing."

"Don't lie."

The knight surveyed the surroundings with a serious expression.

"When did these phenomena begin occurring in the ducal castle? Could they be related to His Grace's collapse?"

While saying this, he tightened his grip on Lily's wrist without considering his own strength.

Lily involuntarily released a small groan.

"Ngh..."

Had the knight been able to see souls, he would have collapsed ignominiously upon seeing the Duke's face glaring as though to murder him.

Lily met Aiden's eyes with effort while shaking her head desperately.

At this rate, the candlestick sprawled on the floor would likely pierce the knight's skull. Indeed, a faint rattling sound had begun.

"Do you know anything at all? I'm currently..."

"You're hurting me!"

Lily struck the knight's arm with her book. Compared to disposing of a corpse with a skull pierced by candlestick, defying a knight was simple work.

The knight finally recognized his inappropriate behavior and released Lily's arm.

"My apologies."

She descended three or four steps to retrieve the broken candlestick. Then, scanning the surroundings with anxious eyes, she entreated:

"I have nothing I can tell you. No one from the ducal house will open their mouths. Security is strict in the imperial palace as well, isn't it? So forget everything you just saw."

They exchanged glances briefly. The knight struggled over whether to press further, then reached his conclusion.

"I understand your meaning. Nothing good comes from making such matters public."

Thick skepticism permeated his voice. The knight inspected the book Lily had selected and dismissed her.

Outside, Lily glanced back at the main building.

'Should I have heard more?'

She briefly considered it, then shook her head. This wasn't her affair to pursue.

Entanglement with the imperial palace exceeded what a mere maid could handle. Aiden had been watching—he would manage it.

Right now, she needed to return to her quarters and stay put as quickly as possible.

'Let's see. How is Your Grace doing?'

Lily observed Aiden while pretending to admire the scenery. He walked directly beside her.

Quite unlike moments ago when he'd seemed capable of dragging someone straight to hell, he appeared more bewildered than ever before—rather endearingly so.

'Is leaving the main building that pleasant for him?'

Lily slowed her pace. Returning to quarters was urgent, but she wanted Aiden to savor this moment.

When time permitted, taking a full tour around the castle with the rosary would be lovely. Especially the garden bathed in twilight—absolutely essential.

Even with its master asleep, the ducal castle's garden was maintained beautifully.

Wind blew, and not far away came a commotion of leaves striking one another. Aiden stood with eyes closed briefly, as though sensing the air's flow.

Lily stopped entirely to wait for him.

Standing motionless in the middle of the path would certainly draw strange looks. Lily ordinarily despised attracting such attention, but right now it didn't matter.

When the leaves finally settled again, Aiden opened his eyes.

Meeting Lily's gaze, he smiled warmly. A smile so gentle that his reputation as cold-blooded could only be considered mistaken.

This gratifying scene was ruined by the Emperor's soul following far behind them. He continuously attempted to flee in the opposite direction, yet moved with them at a fixed distance like something leashed.

Watching this made it blazingly obvious that the Emperor had behaved dishonorably toward Aiden. Though caught by the cult leader's sorcery, the Emperor wasn't a completely innocent victim.

She narrowed her eyes. Sensing something, Aiden asked urgently:

[Lily, what are you thinking?]

"Nothing at all."

Lily answered lightly and quickened her pace.

Inwardly continuing her fearless thoughts: 'Since he doesn't seem to be on our side anyway... couldn't we conduct some sort of... experiment... with the Emperor's soul...?'

Regrettably, despite such haste, Lily missed the morning assembly by the narrowest margin.

Consequently, Lily had to visit the head maid's office directly. Amidst only the sound of swallowing echoing, Lily presented the broken candlestick respectfully with both hands.

Angela simply watched her without asking questions like why she was late or what this was.

Lily groveled of her own accord using unprecedentedly formal language.

"Lady Dienta urgently requested materials, so I entered the main building without informing you. This candlestick somehow fell suddenly, so I brought it. It's from the wall of the central staircase connecting the first and second floors. I—I'm sorry."

Aiden watched this scene quietly from the side.

She felt mortified enough to die, but having committed an offense, she had no choice but to bow before Angela unconditionally. She merely hoped he would remember what humiliation she was enduring for Aiden's sake.

Angela observed Lily silently. Lily's head gradually lowered further. She apologized with garbled pronunciation.

"I'm truly sorry..."