If You Take the Enemy Prince as Your Knight Chapter 148

“…”

 

A long time passed. It was around the time when the countless emotions boiling inside him had finally been digested, and the excitement coursing through his body had subsided. Regen rolled his eyes to the side. He’s here. He needed to prepare for Dominic’s arrival.

 

Bending forward, Regen reached toward Emilio’s head. His five fingers dug into the black hair like claws, grabbing the corpse by the hair and lifting it up.

 

✦

The red spider lilies, nourished by blood, swayed delicately in the pouring rain. Standing in the forest clearing and facing the scene of carnage, Dominic narrowed his eyes. He was accustomed to battlefields and massacres, but even for a commander, it was impossible not to be disturbed by the sight of his own kind slaughtering one another.

 

An internal conflict? Looking at the two corpses that had died with swords buried in each other, Dominic made his guess.

 

Leaving his subordinates behind, Dominic moved alone. After crossing the clearing and passing through a densely wooded area, his view suddenly opened up. At the edge of a sheer cliff, with the gray-blue sky as their backdrop, two men stood facing one another. One was Emilio, the target marked for elimination. The other was Regen, who had somehow managed to survive despite having consumed poison before setting out on reconnaissance.

 

The distance between Emilio and Regen was remarkably close. There was no way to tell what they were talking about. The heavy rain drowned out their voices. Nor could he read their lips. Regen stood with his back to Dominic, preventing him from seeing his face, while Emilio, whose face was barely visible over Regen’s shoulder, had his head bowed deeply.

 

Were they allies or not?

 

The only information available for judgment was the fact that the two were standing extremely close together. Since the information was insufficient, Dominic decided to test them first and determine the answer from their reaction. And that test was very simple.

 

Shing. Drawing his sword in an instant, Dominic unleashed a mana-infused slash. If the two were working together, Regen would actively protect Emilio and charge at Dominic. In that case, he could simply kill them both.

 

Sensing the attack, Regen cast a brief glance behind him. Dominic’s eyes flashed with anticipation, expecting him to draw his sword. That would give him a reason to kill him. However, the next moment, Dominic was confronted with an unexpected situation. It was because Regen and Emilio’s positions had switched.

 

A thunderous roar erupted. Dominic’s attack, which had originally been aimed at Regen’s back, struck Emilio squarely in the chest. His head flew away. Rolling across the ground, it tumbled into the distance. Everything below the neck disappeared without even retaining its shape. It could not be found.

 

“Oh dear.”

 

Using Emilio as a shield, Regen sighed as blood drenched him from head to toe. There was not the slightest sincerity in his feigned regret.

 

“Sir Dominic, how could you kill the governor?”

 

“…”

 

Dominic had come all this way intending to kill Emilio in the first place. Yet he found himself bewildered. He hadn’t intended to end it so anticlimactically. That hadn’t been his intention. And yet, calling it an accident felt equally wrong. The circumstances were too suspicious.

 

Suddenly, Dominic recalled this morning, when Regen had gone out scouting after taking poison. It felt as though he were following a script already written in advance. A situation so artificial that it seemed staged. He was feeling it again. Only then did Dominic realize the source of the unpleasant sensation that had been gnawing at his nerves. He himself had been written into that script, probably from a very long time ago.

 

“Ha.”

 

At that moment, his subordinates arrived after hearing the tremendous noise. They looked over the blown-up Emilio, Dominic holding his sword, and the unmistakable traces of Dominic’s mana. Then they spoke. “We’ll take care of the cleanup.” His loyal subordinates did not even ask for confirmation of the facts.

 

For some reason, Dominic felt as though he had been framed.

 

“But that personal knight…”

 

It was standard practice to eliminate witnesses. However, the witness happened to be Princess Silver Bird’s personal knight. The imperial guards hesitated under the burden.

 

Regen adopted a cooperative attitude. “I’ll keep silent.”

 

“…Leave him be.” Dominic spat out the order, contorting his lips as he glared at Regen.

 

Regen didn’t avert his eyes, calmly facing Dominic with an expressionless face. It looked like the exchange of glances between accomplices.

 

✦

Dominic’s subordinates put me in a carriage and took me to a nearby lord’s castle. It was a place we had never planned to visit. As soon as I entered the castle, before even the master of the castle could greet me, the imperial guards in blue uniforms and soldiers of the imperial army met me first.

 

The lord’s family stood trembling in the background, carefully reading the atmosphere. To anyone looking, it was clear that the ferocious, armed forces of the empire had forcibly occupied the castle.

 

“There are so many of them.”

 

To call upon this many troops in a single night. Was Dominic prepared to start a war if necessary? Something far worse than my plans falling apart had almost happened. As expected, Dominic was far too dangerous to use as a chess piece.

 

“This is by Sir Dominic’s order, to ensure Her Highness’s absolute safety.”

 

The imperial guards respectfully escorted me to the finest guest room. Under the pretense of allowing me to rest, they guarded the door and prevented me from going anywhere. It was confinement disguised as protection.

 

Since the imperial guards were merely carrying out the duties assigned by Dominic, it didn’t matter much. What made me chuckle were the castle’s maids, who were doing things they weren’t even asked to do. Claiming they would serve me with the utmost care, the maid helped with my bath and dressing. A bath was one thing, but dressing up was excessive. Putting so much effort into my appearance when I was only staying one night, to the point I could attend a ball, was certainly not for my sake.

 

There was no way I could fail to understand their intentions. They viewed me as Dominic Mizekal’s woman and were dressing me up to present me to him prettily. It irritated me, but I let them continue. Thinking that I was dressing up for Regen rather than Dominic made me feel more generous.

 

“This is enough. All of you may leave now.”

 

“Yes, Your Highness.”

 

I had no idea how many jeweled pins had been inserted into my loosely braided hair. Left alone, I remained confined in the room with no access to any news. But I was not particularly worried.

 

Suddenly, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as a certain sensation wrapped around my body. His dominance had increased. It meant Regen had succeeded. Now all that remained was to wait for him to return safely and then go back to the imperial palace.

 

The rain had long since stopped, and the night had grown deep. Through the large lattice window, I gazed at the night sky stretching above the mountain range. Countless stars drifted across the heavens at a pace too slow for me to perceive. I traced constellations, connecting one star to another with my gaze.

 

Click. The sound of a door opening reached my ears. Turning around, I looked at the person who had entered.

 

“You are still awake.”

 

I felt slightly disappointed. It seemed I had secretly hoped it would be Regen.

 

Dominic, whose blond hair and uniform were completely soaked, made wet tracks on the carpet. Realizing his state only then, his footsteps coming toward me came to a halt.

 

“I thought you were asleep, so I didn’t knock. My apologies.”

 

“Don’t worry about it.” Did my words sound affectionate? As Dominic wore a foolish expression for a moment, I immediately made him come to his senses. “After all, there’s no guard who knocks on a cell door, is there?”

 

“…”

 

Dominic’s expression crumbled for an instant, then was covered in blazing anger. His temper surfaced immediately. “Do you really view your situation as such? If so, there shouldn’t be a need to deliberately provoke the guard, should there?”

 

Dominic approached me. The scent of rain, the cold air, and his angry face. I wanted to retreat from the things drawing closer and closer, but the wall behind me had already blocked my escape.

 

“The outing is over, Princess Rosasia. Tomorrow, you will return to the imperial palace together with me immediately.”

 

“Alright.”

 

“Are you not going to ask about Emilio Hwibrik?”

 

“What happened to him?”

 

“The treacherous man who dared try to kidnap Your Highness must have incurred the wrath of heaven, for he was crushed against the rocks. Since nothing recognizable remained, there was no food left to give to the stray dogs.”

 

“I see.”

 

Standing only a few steps away, he studied me. I hardened my expression even further and met his gaze.

 

“Are you sad?”

 

“…”

 

“No, are you happy?”

 

“…”

 

It seemed deceiving Dominic to the very end had been impossible after all. He made no effort to hide the fact that he had noticed something about the purpose of my outing and Emilio’s death.

 

“My mood is absolutely terrible right now. While it is fortunate that Your Highness did not try to run away, it seems you have committed a cheeky act behind my back.”

 

“I warned you. If you acted however you pleased, I’d use you.”

 

“Use me?”

 

“You told me to.”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

The crimson eyes looking down at me were ominous. The emotions contained within them were anger and a sense of betrayal. That was far more dangerous than pure anger. Because the sense of betrayal was an extraordinarily destructive emotion.