Chapter 34
After stopping the hunting competition, on the way back to the castle, the army built a barrack for the night.
Rose, who felt like she was about to die, was tired mentally and physically.
She curled up and lay down with a pale face. It was so shocking that she couldn’t even take a sip of water all day.
Just like the little cub that trembled under the rock yesterday, Rose also trembled on the bed.
She didn’t even realize Maxim was lying right next to her.
‘What did I do wrong?’
Before the regression until now.
She had enough of these constant threats.
The thought of not knowing who her enemy was and how many more enemies would continue to target her in the future was terrible.
‘I miss my family… Father… Brother.’
She came to this strange land with strong determination, but she couldn’t hold on and cried for the first time.
Maxim looked at her trembling shoulders and hugged her from behind.
Rose grabbed his arm tightly and dug into Maxim’s arms, unaware that he was hugging her.
When everyone returned from hunting, the castle was crowded with people.
Usually, upon the return from the hunting competition, the atmosphere would be lively so the current situation was a little strange.
People began to wonder what was going on since the group came back with a gloomy atmosphere.
However, the reason was quickly revealed.
People were shocked to see the body in the wagon.
“Isn’t that one of our soldiers? Why is he dead?”
“Did someone accidentally shoot him while hunting?”
“That’s not it. I heard earlier that they were looking for the Empress in the woods.”
“What? Why?”
“I don’t know. I just wondered what they wanted from the Empress, who had just arrived here.”
They just looked at each other with sullen expressions.
The corpse, which had turned blue, was carried like a sack. Ayla’s eyes shook when she saw Kyle’s lifeless body.
She had wished for the Empress to be dead, but she never imagined that Kyle would return as a corpse.
Standing in front of the crowd and staring directly at the corpse, Ayla staggered and slowly retreated.
Her face held a mixture of fear and sadness.
She mingled quietly into the crowd.
Mrs. Katrina, who was standing far away, watched Ayla’s actions from beginning to end.
She clicked her tongue upon seeing her niece’s reaction.
‘That stupid thing!’
Ayla, who had escaped from the crowd, hurried and left.
‘I can’t believe it. That’s outrageous! I said I wanted her dead. But who told him to die!’
When she saw Kyle’s body, the memories quickly flowed through Ayla’s mind.
Mrs. Katrina, who took her hand and brought her to the castle when she was young, was cold and frightening.
Maxim Lancert, whom she fell in love with at first sight, never looked at Ayla as a woman.
It was Kyle, a soldier who escorted her, that approached Ayla, when she felt that she didn’t belong anywhere.
He stood by the young Ayla and became her dependable brother, and when she grew to be a beautiful woman, he became her secret lover.
The clever Ayla relied on him and used him as her tool.
She knew that Kyle would even risk his death for her sake because of his affection towards her.
‘My beautiful Ayla. Why are you crying? Who made you cry?’
‘Kyle, I’m so afraid. We might have to break up.’
‘Why are you saying that? We won’t break up!’
‘The Empress from Solstern. She hates me.’
‘Why does the Empress hate you?’
‘She has hated me from the beginning. She has always looked at me with hatred.’
‘She must be jealous of you because you’re so beautiful.’
‘She’s afraid that I’m going to seduce Maxim. I think that’s why she’s looking for an excuse to kick me out of the castle.’
‘That can’t be true.’
‘Not long ago, I heard her telling His Majesty Maxim to chase me out of the castle.’
‘Then let’s get out of the castle together. If we go out of the capital, it will be hard, but at least we have land to live on.’
‘If she knows about us, she won’t let us go. She’s just looking for an excuse to get rid of me. I’m sure she’ll kill both of us and throw us out of the castle on the pretext of breaking the law.’
‘I’m not gonna let her do that.’
‘Ahh…! Without her, I would be able to ask Aunt Katrina and Maxim to announce our relationship and help us to marry.’
Kyle’s eyes changed when he heard Ayla.
‘Do you understand me, Kyle? His Majesty Maxim and Mrs. Katrina are being swayed by her. I’m no match for her. Whenever I see her, I feel scared and suffocated.’
Ayla looked up at Kyle with teary eyes.
‘I’d rather die than be away from Kyle.’
Listening to her words, Kyle hugged Ayla tightly.
‘My precious Ayla. Trust me.’
“Trust him? He’s stupid enough to get killed.” Ayla murmured indignantly.
Arriving in her room, Ayla shivered and looked around.
She was confused about her next move.
If her secret relationship with Kyle was revealed, she would be done for.
Maxim could kill her. No, Aunt Katrina would kill her first.
‘Yes, I have to get rid of the evidence first!’
Ayla took out a box she had buried deep under her bed. Avoiding people’s eyes, she ran to a secluded place.
At the same time, Hannah was working diligently to pick some beautiful flowers.
She worked even faster since she was told that the Empress had returned earlier than expected.
‘This is her favorite flower.’
This place was remote, so there were many beautiful flowers in full bloom.
Hannah, who diligently filled her basket with flowers, suddenly stopped moving.
‘…Huh? Miss Ayla?’
It was definitely Miss Ayla, Mrs. Katrina’s niece, who was running towards a secluded place.
Hannah instinctively hid herself.
She could see that Ayla’s behaviour was suspicious and that she couldn’t greet Ayla like usual.
She looked around nervously as if she was being chased, and her face was scary.
It seemed that if she went out now, she would be in an awkward situation.
Ayla’s fingertips trembled as she took the things out of the box.
“You idiot, I didn’t want you to die. You should have killed her.”
“How could you die so easily like that?”
“You really believed that I’d marry you for real?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Maxim Lancert is the only man who can stand next to me.”
While burning her things, she kept murmuring as if she were talking to someone.
As smoke rose, Ayla grabbed the branches and dried leaves around her to grow the fire.
As the flames gradually spread, large stones were thrown into the fire to erase the traces.
Then, she heard people passing by and quickly escaped.
‘Miss Ayla…’
Hannah looked anxiously at the ashes that were left at the spot where Ayla was before she had left in a hurry.
The wind blew hard and the remains of the fire started to spread elsewhere.
This was Hannah’s favorite place in the castle.
Hannah removed the stones and stepped on the burning things with her foot to put the fire out.
The things that had not yet been burned were blown away by the wind and fell by Hannah’s feet.
‘What’s this?’
She could see things like letters and pictures.
Hannah crouched down and looked at the items.
‘This!’
Hannah’s hands trembled as if she saw something she shouldn’t have.
Hannah quickly put it inside her apron without anyone seeing her.
After running away, Ayla breathed a sigh of relief. Now, there won’t be anything that connects her to Kyle.
Ayla, who was pondering if she had missed out anything, raised her head as she felt a presence on the other side of the hallway.
A group of people was walking toward her.
It’s Rose Lancert and her maids.
“I see you, Your Majesty.”
Ayla quickly lowered her head and stepped aside.
Rose was confused when she saw the pretty girl in front of her. Who was she?
From the way she dressed and spoke, she didn’t seem to be a maid.
Sensing Rose’s confusion, Ayla quickly introduced herself.
“My name is Ayla. I heard about what happened when you went hunting, and I was wondering about your condition.”
Only then did Rose realize that this beautiful girl was Ayla, who she had only heard of from others.
“I see, so you’re Ayla. I’m alright. Thank you for your concern.”
Rose smiled at Ayla’s greeting and left immediately.
In fact, she couldn’t speak more because she didn’t have the energy to continue standing.
Ayla, who was bowing her head for a long time after Rose passed by, soon straightened her back and stared fiercely at Rose’s receding figure.
Rose Lancert’s back looked different from what Ayla usually saw from a distance. She was visibly in low spirits.
‘That’s great, just die.’
Ayla was still angry because of that time when Rose said she would follow Maxim to the hunting competition.
‘Please just live quietly until you’re thrown away by His Majesty.’
Ayla bit her pretty lips.
“Ayla.”
Ayla turned her head in surprise after hearing someone call her name.
“Ah!”
Ayla’s expression, which had been ferocious, became a frightened one when she saw Mrs. Katrina.
“Follow me.”
Mrs. Katrina said to her as she walked past her.