Kneel Before The Villain - Chapter 114

“Yes? You mean at this late hour?”

 

The knights were understandably perplexed.

 

“My lady, why are you with such a suspicious person?”

 

The knight standing on the right glanced at Noah suspiciously.

 

“Suspicious? I have a problem…”

 

The knight standing on the left cut off Noah’s words and said firmly.

 

“Visiting someone at this late hour, surely it’s suspicious.”

 

“He’s not suspicious, so let him in. If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility.”

 

Noah was always thoroughly polite and never behaved rudely.

 

Above all, he was Elvin’s subordinate.

 

He had never harmed me, and he told me to visit Noah if I needed anything.

 

Could it be that the perspective of the Merchant Lord, who runs the largest merchant enterprise in the empire, was wrong?

 

Would he have kept an untrustworthy person in his entourage?

 

“All right.”

 

***

 

“What did you say now? Baron Dana’s daughter ran away?”

 

The empress’s hand trembled as she held the teacup,

and the tea water inside flowed and soaked the floor. The lady-in-waiting approached her with a surprised face and checked her condition.

 

“Your Majesty, are you alright?”

 

“It’s fine, so there’s nothing to worry about. What did you just say?”

 

The lady-in-waiting held up her handkerchief and took a step back when she saw that she was indeed fine.

 

The knight, receiving the gaze of the empress, opened his mouth with difficulty while his eyes were tightly closed.

 

“They say that Baron Dana’s daughter ran away from the baron’s mansion. They are looking for her but she hasn’t been found yet.”

 

The empress raised the teacup again.

 

She looked calmer than a moment ago, but her face was still stiff and her hand was white from the strength in her gripping the cup.

 

She thought Claire was a man-seductress.

 

She considered her a vulgar woman.

 

However, she lamented that her son, Jeremy, was possessed by her and could not come to his senses.

 

Until now, she had dismissed the affair as a trivial deviation and pretended not to see it, but the result was so heavy that she could no longer take it lightly.

 

Because of one Baron’s daughter, her son was in danger of ruining his life.

 

If Jeremy didn’t come to his senses to the end, there was no guarantee that he would be able to keep his position as crown prince.

 

In the mother’s heart, she wanted to order the home wrecker to be killed right away.

 

It was not that difficult, but she’d be suspicious if she used her hand now.

 

Her position as the empress had as many eyes as her height, and she had many enemies.

 

Moreover, at a time like this, even the slightest mistake should not be made, so instead of killing the woman, it was tolerant of sending her away.

 

And yet the woman repaid her own favor this way.

 

“I want her to be found.”

 

The empress was cynical.

 

However, there was one thing she didn’t understand.

 

“How did she escape? She must have been under surveillance.”

 

A troubled look appeared on the knight’s face.

 

The empress, regaining her composure and drinking tea, looked elegant and stern at the same time.

 

“It looks like she escaped overnight by exchanging clothes with the maid who brought her dinner.”

 

“You mean you only now know what happened yesterday?”

 

“I apologize.”

 

The knight bowed his head with an embarrassed face.

 

The empress’ eyes were full of fury as she looked at the knight.

 

She herself warned Baron Dana, and sent several knights for surveillance purposes to prevent any accident.

 

She thought that sending knights was just nominal, so she sent low-level, not elite troops, but she never thought this would happen.

 

Moreover, she had instructed the Baron to make his daughter give up the crown prince and marry gracefully, and even had a maid attach to Claire’s side all the time.

 

“Baron Dana was too careless. It was a mistake to let him do the job. But did he say that she just swapped her clothes with the maid?”

 

“Yes.”

 

The empress clicked her tongue.

 

“Tsk, I must have picked too young of a maid. So where is the maid now?”

 

“For now, I took her to an empty room.”

 

“Have you finished the interrogation?”

 

“I couldn’t.”

 

A look of displeasure appeared on her face.

 

It was absurd enough that he found out about the accident a day too late, but he didn’t even get on with the interrogation?

 

“Why haven’t you done it yet?”

 

“I’m sorry, but it wasn’t that I didn’t do it, I couldn’t.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

The empress furrowed her brow with a puzzled face.

 

“It appears that Lady Dana knocked the maid on the head with a vase during her escape.”

 

The knight added with an embarrassed face.

 

“They said she lost too much blood and left it for too long, so she might never wake up.”

 

“Is that true?”

 

The empress asked with an astonished expression.

 

“Yes. It is true, Your Majesty.”

 

At the knight’s calm reply, she burst into a dejected laugh.

 

“Haa, she is really vicious. I just thought she was a fox, but now I see that she is more dangerous than a poisonous snake.”

 

Claire’s actions this time far exceeded the empress’ expectations.

 

She dared to cling to Jeremy, the princess’ fiancé and the crown prince.

 

She really wasn’t normally brave.

 

Besides, she wouldn’t know that the maid was a spy, and yet she didn’t hesitate to harm a person.

 

She knew that her reputation for being weak and good was false, but Claire was not only cunning and manipulative, but also vicious.

 

It gave her goosebumps to think that such a woman had ever been by her son’s side.

 

“Your Majesty, why don’t we inform His Highness of this matter and have him completely change his mind?”

 

The lady-in-waiting next to her asked with a serious expression.

 

If the Crown Prince learned the other side of Lady Dana, he would surely be disappointed.

 

But…

 

“Don’t tell the crown prince. He’s barely holding on to his heart as it is. I don’t want to make him worry about useless things. In the future, those two shouldn’t meet again, or have any interest in each other.”

 

Said the empress with a determined expression.

 

She turned her gaze back to the knight and commanded coldly.

 

“Catch Lady Dana as soon as possible. No one knows her whereabouts anyway, and if she had escaped on her feet, it would not be strange if an accident occurred along the way.”

 

“I will obey Your Majesty’s orders.”

 

The empress looked at the kneeling knight and added meaningfully.

 

“Of course, the best thing is that no one should know until the end where she disappeared forever. Do you hear me?”

 

“Yes. I got it.”

 

“Okay. Get up now.”

 

The knight answered in a cool voice.

 

The empress’ cold face finally softened slightly.

 

She asked, looking down at him with her cold gaze, the corners of her mouth raised.

 

“There should be no second mistake.”

 

“I will keep that in mind.”

 

“Leave.”

 

“Yes. Your Majesty.”

 

After the knight left the room, the empress looked at the empty teacup in front of her thoughtfully.

 

Traces of anguish could be seen in the deep, dark eyes that contained the passage of time.

 

“What is the Crown prince doing?”

 

“His Highness should be in swordsmanship class right now.”

 

“Anything else special?”

 

“It doesn’t seem to be there yet.”

 

Seeing the worry on the empress’ face, the lady-in-waiting said with concern.

 

“Your Majesty, don’t worry too much. I heard His Highness has not been drinking lately and is focusing on his lessons. It seems that the upper management is also working well.”

 

“I’m glad then…”

 

“His Highness is a good child and is all grown up now. He should know your concern.”

 

“It would have been better if he had come to his senses a little earlier. More than that, he still refuses to get married, so it’s really wondrous… I can’t believe it’s so difficult to get along with a grown-up child.”

 

The empress sighed.

 

This time, even the court ladies were unable to side with the crown prince.

 

After the engagement was canceled, the empress tried to find him a new wife.

 

Coincidentally, Marquis Flynn’s daughter was appropriate.

 

However, the crown prince was also very stubborn about this issue.

 

Since he stubbornly refused, she had no other choice.

 

At first she was frustrated and angry, but didn’t she say that there were no parents in the world who beat their children?

 

He was the only child she gave birth to after difficult labor and raised with great care.

 

To her own self, the crown prince was an existence worth exchanging with anything.

 

The seat next to him was still empty, and it seemed that the Crown prince had not yet abandoned his lingering feelings for the Princess.

 

Rumors circulating that the second prince was showing interest in Princess Lillian did much to change his mind.

 

Could her son’s fiancée be taken away by Payne, the lowly thing?

 

“When exactly is the date of the Duke’s departure?”

 

“Probably next week. I will find out for sure again.”

 

“Right. Next week… the banquet is coming soon. We don’t even have to hold a separate tea party to see each other.”

 

“Yes?”

 

The maid made a puzzled expression.

 

The Empress rose from her seat and approached the window.

 

The cold moonlight shone on her face as she gazed down at the garden where the darkness had fallen, giving off an aura similar to that of an emperor.

 

“There are still plenty of opportunities, so don’t be impatient.”

 

***

 

“Bring the tea.”

 

“Yes. Miss.”

 

After I ordered Joan, I sat down.

 

Then Noah also sat down in the seat across from me.

 

He was embarrassed to stay still, so he pulled out something from his pocket and held it out.

 

“Princess, this is a new tea brought in by our guild this time.”

 

When Annie opened it, it contained dried tea leaves.

 

A bittersweet yet clear scent wafted through the room.

 

“Thank you as always. But the reason why you came without a message at this late hour isn’t just to deliver tea leaves, is there something going on?”

 

I had no choice but to be curious.

 

At my question, a troubled expression appeared on his face.

 

“I apologize for the rudeness. I had no intention of offending the princess. However, I had news to deliver, so I had no choice but to make such an urgent visit despite the rudeness.”

 

Noah got up and apologized politely to me.

 

Then he spoke with a calm face.

 

“Last time, the princess asked me to. If I catch any suspicious movements while watching Lady Dana, let the princess know.”

 

“I did.”

 

I nodded.

 

After breaking up with the Crown prince, Claire was too quiet.

 

I thought it was strange, so I had asked Noah for such a favor.

 

Within days he had brought news that she had been placed under confinement in her chambers by Baron Dana, and that she was soon to be married to a local nobleman.

 

It was said that watchers sent by the empress were staying at Baron Dana’s house, and the Crown prince wasn’t stepping out at all to help her.

 

If Claire got married and went down to the province, I would never run into her again.

 

I wondered if this time would be the end of her relentless streak, as I couldn’t see a hole for her to get out of.

 

However, it seemed something had happened that Noah, who was usually polite, came so urgently, ignoring the manners.

 

Ominousness prevailed.

 

“So, what is the urgent news you need to deliver? Did Lady Dana do anything else? Could it be… did she run away?”

 

***