Bailonz Street 13

The dark dungeon was still eerie.

Isaac, condemned to death, was to remain here until his execution.

Callian slowly descended the stairs.

The farther he got from the ground, the closer he could hear the shouts from the depths of the prison.

“I told you it was a fabrication! I’ll have the test repeated. Fetch the Emperor. Emperor Leonard is my son! Callian, Alaina, they are all in league with the Emperor……!”

“If you continue to fuss, I will gag you!”

One of the guards yelled, but Isaac only continued to rant like a madman.

Callian slowly approached him.

“…….”

Isaac turned his head toward him.

Callian looked at him with horror. Handcuffed and shackled, imprisoned in a small cell, he looked hardly like a Marquis.

“Callian.”

Finding his brother, Isaac crawled like a bug and clutched at the bars. The guards stopped him.

“He’s a felon facing beheading. We can’t allow him to see you.”

“I’m not trying to pull another trick. I’m not going to ask you to leave, just give me a moment to talk.”

The knight seemed a little hesitant at Callian’s plea, but slowly nodded. Still, he remained alert as he stood before the grate.

Callian bent to his knees and locked eyes with Isaac.

“Brother.”

“Callian, why…… did you betray me?”

Isaac asked in a low voice.

His ragged prison uniform was torn in several places from the struggle of being dragged away.

“I have come to speak to you.”

“It’s not too late. Prove them false at once. You could not have done it, could you? Have you been tricked and lied to by that cunning child?”

“…….”

“Didn’t I warn you, don’t trust her? She is trying to get rid of me, her father, so she can become Empress. So…….”

“I didn’t think the word ‘denounce’ would roll off your tongue so easily, brother.”

Callian said it coldly. The coldness in his voice shut Isaac up for a moment, but then he raised his head again, as if to make an excuse.

“She was the one who betrayed me first, Callian.”

“…….”

“The child betrayed her father, me, and sided with the Emperor, so I was only trying to…… scare her.”

“Alaina defended you in court. When His Majesty first questioned your fertility, didn’t she ask him to retract his words?”

“…….”

“You abandoned Alaina, my daughter.”

Isaac’s face twisted into a grim line at the last words.

He was hoping to say that it was a lie and that it was just made up to prevent the repercussions for his beloved niece.

“Really?”

“…….”

“Isabelle… Did Isabelle really betray me?”

“You were the one who betrayed her first.”

Callian said it flatly. Isaac shook his head in disbelief.

“……No. Isabelle is not the kind of woman who would do that. Isabelle was a gentle woman. She would never do such a thing…….”

“…….”

“Did the Emperor promise you a Marquisate and offer it to you if you framed your brother and made me barren, or did Alaina, that cunning child, lure you into it?” ＲãNօ𐌱Ёȿ

“…….”

“I beg you, Callian, be honest. Save me… your brother.”

Callian didn’t answer. Isaac’s face contorted more and more as the silence continued.

But the look on his face didn’t make Callian think anything.

What Alaina had told him was enough to enrage him.

Callian opened his mouth, his face still stony.

“I have never lied to you, brother. Alaina is my child.”

“Callian.”

“And furthermore…”

Callian leaned over and pressed his face close to the bars.

The knight watching them raised an eyebrow and reached out a hand as if to stop their secret conversation.

But Callian’s mouth was quicker to open.

“…Isabelle mentioned that I am better than you, brother.”

Isaac’s jaw dropped at that. The knight stopped wringing his hands in embarrassment.

Callian bowed slightly to his brother and turned away, as if he had finished speaking.

Isaac sat there dumbfounded, and then, as if catching on, he shouted.

“Callian……! How dare you…!”

At the sound of the voice behind him, Callian didn’t turn around.

He simply turned back to the Marquisate house, where he had been born and raised.

* * *

Eric went straight back to the marquisate, and Tenere returned to the Rose Palace after a short walk with Leonard.

She was a little worried about Alaina, but matters of the heart would be resolved in time.

So Tenere spent the rest of the walk with a lighter heart, talking about the wedding and what was to come.

At the Rose Palace, Laura, who was waiting with Joshua, greeted Tenere with excitement.

“I heard he was indeed a snitch.”

Apparently, the news from the trial had already spread throughout the palace.

Tenere nodded, hugging the child tightly.

Laura patted her chest, relieved.

“Oh, so you’re telling me that a seedless thing caused all that commotion? That’s not even funny.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“If you had known sooner, you would have asked when you went to see Lady Tasha.”

Tenere nodded at Laura’s comment.

If she’d known, she could have asked her then. Not just about this, but about herself…….

“Mommy!”

Tenere snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of her child’s voice. When their eyes met, Joshua giggled and wiggled to get down.

“Oh, by the way, the prince rode the slide sitting down today.”

The playroom at the Rose Palace was filled with toys like blocks, bottles, and dolls, as well as slides and horses for the children to ride.

At first, he was afraid to get off the slide, so he rode halfway down, but now he seemed to be getting the hang of it.

Tenere looked back at Joshua with a happy face.

“Are you sure, Josie, you can ride it sitting up now?”

“Yay!”

“You should say ‘yes’.”

“Yay.”

Joshua, who couldn’t even call his uncle by his first name, was now learning honorifics.

Of course, even if he was corrected just now, he would answer with “Yay” when turned around.

But he can walk and run well now, so he rushed to the slide and climbed the stairs with gusto.

He even sat down on his buttocks with a determined look on his face.

“Can you sit down and climb down?”

“Yay!”

“You’ll have to say ‘yes,’ Prince.”

“Yay!”

Joshua replied cheerfully and slid down the stairs.

Laura and Tenere clapped in exaggerated approval, and he climbed the stairs again, even more excited.

“Wow, another ride? You’re so brave.”

Joshua rode the slide seven more times, then climbed onto the horse.

Tenere smiled a little, thinking of the child who would one day ride a real horse, not a pony.

“By the way, now that you mention it…… what happens to Lady Alaina now?”

Laura asked, slowly rocking the horse so as not to frighten the child.

“She may not be the Marquis’ daughter, but she is of Salvatore’s blood, so she will inherit the title as expected, and His Majesty is considering what to do with the Viscount.”

“She won’t keep aiming to become Empress, will she?”

“I don’t think so.”

Tenere shook her head, but Laura still looked uneasy.

“But…… she might think she can be Empress now that it’s clear she’s not related to His Majesty.”

Laura still seemed convinced that Alaina wanted to be Empress.

Tenere could only smile a little awkwardly, unable to elaborate now.

Laura clenched her fists and spoke, wondering how she understood that laughter..

“I’m on the Empress’s side, you know that, right?”

“Of course.”

“I mean it, not just lip service.”

“I understand.”

Tenere replied, and Laura, suddenly relieved, pushed the horse a little harder. Occasionally, she mimicked the horse’s whinny.

A soft laughter echoed.

* * *

Leonard returned to the main palace after taking Tenere to the Rose Palace.

Even though he had nothing to worry about now, Leonard kept an eye on Tenere as they walked.

He wanted to know if she wanted to decorate the palace differently, where she thought Joshua’s room should be, how many days she would be at the Marquis’s, and if she had anyone in mind for the child’s tutor.

Tenere answered his questions, as she always did, thoughtfully.

She joked that even if their second child resembled his grandfather, she would still be relieved knowing he had royal blood.

‘Even though she hasn’t confessed her love yet.’

Isn’t it funny that she’s so eager to have a second child without even telling him she loves him?

As if it didn’t mean anything to her.

Leonard was sure she wasn’t trying to be patronizing, but he couldn’t help but feel angry at her indifferent kindness.

It was inevitable to be captivated by her casual affection, even though he had waited in vain, realizing that he was the only one giving meaning to it and recalling what Eric had said as he did so.

Even if she were to confess her love to him, he would not be free of his own insecurities.

“Your Majesty, Lady Alaina Salvatore, wishes to see you.”

• merdel10

  Hi dear readers~~ I started transferring some of my stories in duskblossoms. You can check my works there for more advance chapters.

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