A Marriage Alliance for Revenge - Chapter 29

Lucas patted Thompson’s slumped shoulder, not quite understanding him. What could he possibly have said to disappoint him?

 

Thompson plucked a single yellow flower from a small vase on the table and looked back at Lucas.

 

He shook his head, the disappointment reflected in his bleary eyes.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

The adjutant, who had been watching Lucas and Thompson from a distance, approached. He had the look of a man who had been on the battlefield for a long time.

 

“I was thinking of taking a tour of the town, but I need a guide.”

 

At Lucas’s words, the adjutant turned to look at Thompson. Thompson’s shoulders slumped under the adjutant’s piercing gaze.

 

“Why don’t you pick someone more competent? He’s looking a little young to be guiding us.”

 

“I know. If the Emperor had sent someone a little more competent than you, I wouldn’t be in this mess.”

 

The adjutant’s face turned bright red at Lucas’s words. His fists were clenched with so much force that his knuckles were red with blood.

 

Lucas looked down at the humiliated adjutant.

 

“Competence has nothing to do with age.”

 

The lieutenant bowed his head deeply at Lucas’s words. His ears were red, and he was obviously upset.

 

But Lucas had no intention of taking that into consideration; he didn’t want to bring unnecessary warmth to a relationship that was sure to end.

 

The only people I had to protect were my people who followed me.

 

“I’m going out.”

 

Hessel bowed his head at Lucas’s gesture. There must be knights of Gusto following Lucas.

 

Hessel scrambled as Lucas’s gesture indicated that he was to keep them at a reasonable distance.

 

“Isn’t this the same area we came to earlier?”

 

Lucas let out a small sigh, watching Thompson’s back as Thompson walked away with his small steps. 

 

“One more lap?”

 

“Again?”

 

Standing on a hill with a view in every direction, Thompson whipped around.

 

They were going around in circles for a second time. They’d been around the block twice already.

 

Thompson’s words made Lucas look down at him with a quizzical expression. For some reason, Thompson’s face was carefree and nonchalant.

 

“We’re not being followed, are we?”

 

“What?”

 

He’d been circling the block on purpose, and it had taken him longer than he thought. Lucas’s pace was slowing to a crawl with each passing minute.

 

“A pretty lady, no, I mean the old lady told me to ask the knight.”

 

“No one’s here.”

 

Lucas replied, letting out a long sigh at Thompson’s words. Lucas’s words made Thompson feel relieved and smile.

 

“I’m going to take off running, and you’d better keep up.”

 

Thompson pounded the dirt that hadn’t yet dried, looked toward the forest, where darkness gaped at him, and took off running.

 

“Thompson!”

 

Lucas, not knowing what the boy had in mind, ran after him. Thompson casually moved through the woods like a flying squirrel.

 

He leaped over rooted tree vines and deftly dodged spiky branches.

 

Lucas ran after Thompson, feeling his chest rise and fall.

 

For a moment, the huge strain on his chest was gone. There was nothing he didn’t like about the breeze or the green leaves brushing against his face.

 

“Hmph. Coming, coming.”

 

Thompson panted beside him, out of breath. He followed the child’s fingertips and saw a small hut.

 

It looked like it belonged to a hunter or herbalist.

 

“Marquis?”

 

Lucas asked as he approached the hut, a question crossing his face at the familiar face in front of him.

 

“You’re already here?”

 

Marquis Sergel, who had promised to protect their backs, was guarding the entrance of the small cabin.

 

With a kind smile, Marquis Sergel greeted Lucas and stepped aside.

 

“Enter.”

 

To his surprise, not only Marquis Sergel but also several knights were surrounding the hut, concealing themselves.

 

“What the…”

 

Lucas, who was surveying the surroundings, stopped speaking at the sound coming from inside. A shiver ran down his spine from the sensation felt through the door placed in the middle.

 

Creak.

 

He pushed the poorly maintained door open and heard a sound like scraping metal.

 

The sound of the door sliding open accompanied the scraping of soft fabric from inside.

 

Lucas pushed the door open and stepped inside, his senses alert.

 

“‥‥‥Your Highness.”

 

Their eyes met, and only a moment passed before Briella’s voice came out.

 

It was a strangled, strangled sound.

 

“How?”

 

Lucas was equally surprised to see Briella’s face.

 

It was contorted with a mixture of delight and bewilderment, and at first glance, she seemed to be angry.

 

He hurriedly shut the door of the dilapidated hut and strode to Briella’s side.

 

He stood backlit against the sun, giving him the appearance of a grim reaper.

 

It was a sight that would have sent chills down anyone else’s spine.

 

But for Briella, who knew who lurked in the shadows, it was more of a welcome.

 

She steadied herself as she watched Lucas walk toward her in single file, the distance between them only a moment’s notice.

 

But in those few moments, the things she had to endure and go through alone were not simple, and she found comfort in seeing his face.

 

“Briella.”

 

His hand squeezed her small shoulder. At the sound of Lucas’s gravelly voice, every cell in her body surged in liveliness as if she’d just woken up.

 

The drowsiness that had gripped me all the way here was gone at once at his call.

 

“Yes. Your Highness.”

 

“I don’t know what’s going on here.”

 

Lucas released his grip on Briella’s shoulder.

 

From the moment he saw the yellow flowers on the table, he knew instinctively that someone had come to see him from Duke Viterpan’s house.

 

But it never occurred to him that it would be Briella.

 

He didn’t like the idea that someone who should be in the safety of the mansion he’d constructed was here, with enemies on all sides.

 

Lucas’s face twisted, and Briella’s heart skipped a beat.

 

“There’s something I need to urgently talk to you about. I haven’t slept since because of it.”

 

Lucas, who had been roughly brushing my hair out of my face, stopped and looked at her.

 

Only then did he notice her anxious gaze fixed on him.

 

“Ah!”

 

Contrary to her intentions, it was Lucas who became flustered by her sharp words and actions.

 

He fumbled as he covered his mouth with his hand.

 

Briella was still standing there, her gaze filled with unease.

 

“I didn’t mean to upset Your Highness. This is a matter concerning Princess Serena, and I cannot make the decision on my own.”

 

“Has something happened to Serena?”

 

At Lucas’s words, Briella shook her head hastily.

 

“No. Not that.”

 

Before he knew it, Lucas had grabbed Briella by the shoulders and was shaking her roughly.

 

Her shoulders ached from his strong grip, but she didn’t mind.

 

She knew better than anyone what Princess Serena meant to Lucas.

 

“Tell me!”

 

“Lucas.”

 

Light returned to Lucas’s eyes at Briella’s call for him. She slowly placed her hand on Lucas’s arm as his hand gripped her shoulder.

 

Looking into his dark eyes, Briella slowly removed Lucas’s hand.

 

“‥‥‥.”

 

“Princess Serena is safe, so rest assured.”

 

Lucas flinched at the warmth that radiated through her fingertips and removed his hand from Briella’s shoulder.

 

Embarrassed by his involuntary outburst, he averted his eyes from hers. 

 

‘Am I going crazy?’

 

He didn’t understand himself for clutching Briella’s shoulder twice.

 

It was understandable that he had lost control of himself in his disposition toward Princess Serena.

 

But what he didn’t understand was why he grabbed Briella’s shoulder as soon as he saw her.

 

“Was I glad to see her?’

 

Avoiding Briella’s eyes, Lucas’s gaze fell on her disheveled hair.

 

She’d seen him off at dawn on the day of his departure without a trace of disheveledness.

 

Her disheveled appearance suddenly caught his attention, and he realized that it would take a full day of riding from the capital to reach this distance.

 

She would have had to avoid Gusto’s eyes, so she couldn’t have traveled leisurely.

 

It was only then that Lucas’s dark eyes captured her somewhat exhausted figure.

 

“How rude of me.”

 

Due to his overwhelming excitement, the blood pumping in his body did not easily relax.

 

Princess Serena.

 

Lucas’s only blood relative.

 

She wasn’t surprised by his protectiveness of Serena.

 

Reminding herself of her position once more, Briella brought up her purpose for being here.

 

“Emperor Gusto has asked me to be in charge of the Goddess’s festival day.”

 

“What?”

 

Lucas, who had been staring meaninglessly out the small window of the cabin, avoiding Briella’s gaze, turned his gaze to her at once.

 

“As you know, the Emperor’s offer is more like an order, and he has said so himself.”

 

Finding it difficult to stand, Briella sat down in an old, clunky chair.

 

She grimaced slightly as she sat down, obviously not feeling well. Lucas’s jaw tightened at the guilt of not recognizing her condition.

 

But to Briella, who didn’t know what he was thinking, the seat was a thorn in her side. As if she didn’t deserve to sit down just yet.

 

“Have I come for nothing?

 

Perhaps she should have taken Count Delevinge’s advice and stayed at the manor and let the Count or Vinter come.

 

Briella’s face hardened with regret.

 

“You’re running a fever.”

 

Briella looked up at Lucas, the back of his hand suddenly on her forehead.

 

“Ah-“

 

She knew the sound she made was stupid, even to herself.

 

But she didn’t know what else to say in this situation.

 

“It’s not your fault. It’s just… sigh…”

 

A long sigh escaped Lucas’s mouth. He ran a hand through his hair and turned his head, his face awkward.

 

Briella, in turn, became awkward and coughed loudly.

 

Lucas, looking around at her, let out a low curse.

 

“I see this is the only thing worth drinking.”

 

Briella, who accepted the water jug he handed her clumsily, stared at it for a moment and took a sip.

 

It was a sip of cold water, but somehow her chest became warm.

 

Instead of urging Briella, Lucas sat down across from her at the table.

 

If they wasted too much time, the subordinates Gusto had planted might suspect something.

 

But he didn’t want to rush Briella either.

 

“I must seem like a burden on Your Highness.”

 

A low, dejected voice escaped Briella’s mouth as she drank the water.

 

Lucas shook his head hastily, his gaze resting on the white nape of her neck peeking through her black robes.

 

He couldn’t think of anything to say to her, even as he watched her smile thinly and clutch the water jug he handed her like it was a lifeline.

 

It was so hard to explain his feelings to someone when he didn’t even know what he was feeling right now.

 

Sixteen years.

 

Sixteen years of not showing his feelings.

 

It wasn’t hard to fake it to fool others, but it was never easy to be honest.

 

Lucas opened and closed his mouth as he considered what to say to Briella.

 

As if sensing Lucas’s distress, Briella deftly changed the subject.

 

“It seems they’re planning to use Viterpan as a shield for Lady Eve,” Briella stated.

 

“Ugh!”

 

Lucas groaned at Gusto’s wicked thoughts.

 

Gusto’s desperate attempts to suppress him made him feel uneasy.

 

“If I take on this task, it’ll put a damper on the meeting with Princess Serena.”

 

“I see.”

 

Lucas crossed his arms and bowed his head. Princess Serena was still living in the nursery as Noah.

 

Knights sent by Lucas guarded her every move, believing she might be provoked by Gusto.

 

Of course, Serena wasn’t aware of this.

 

“But I can’t refuse.”

 

Briella’s head dropped, recalling her parting with Gusto at the palace.

 

She couldn’t imagine what Gusto was thinking.

 

“That’s right.”

 

Lucas’s gravelly voice echoed in the dilapidated cabin.

 

“Your Highness.”

 

Lucas, who had crossed his arms and was deep in thought, looked up at Briella’s call.

 

“‥‥‥.”

 

“I’m going to seize this opportunity to get into the imperial palace.”

 

A time when a crimson sunset swallows the world.

 

Lucas’s face was as sharp as an icicle as he watched Briella speak with such determination.

 

As if she willingly walked herself into the mouth of the black viper that curled around her body and flicked its tongue.