Chapter 73

We quickly passed through the corridor.

The end of the passage was structured exactly like the entrance.

It was a door that could be easily opened from the inside, but required two different mechanisms to open from the outside.

I opened the exit and dashed out first. Looking around, I asked the two people who had followed me:

“Where are we?”

“It looks like the back of the stables,” the maid answered first.

I nodded slightly.

Of course. A logical structure that provides the fastest means of escape for secret passage users.

I looked between the two of them and asked,

“Who can ride a horse?”

“…I can, sort of.”

“I can’t, my lady.”

As expected, it seemed I was the only one who could ride properly.

“Alright. Since I’m the target anyway, it’s better for me to move alone.”

We quietly checked inside the stables.

It seemed to be rest time— the stable doors were open, and the stablehands were nowhere in sight.

While Teumesia fetched a horse, I used the maid’s headscarf to cover my hair.

“I’m not going far, but you never know.”

I put my foot in the stirrup and quickly mounted the horse.

Then I asked Teumesia for confirmation.

“You said Riorem is at the military training ground right now, right?”

“Yes. He’s probably in the barracks. Because of today’s meeting… That’s why I’ve been through all this…”

Teumesia suddenly furrowed her brow.

“…A matter regarding patrols along the fortress walls was urgently raised, and that’s why they said they couldn’t cancel the meeting.”

“Oh.”

I let out a small sigh of admiration.

Teumesia rubbed her forehead and sighed.

“They lured the general out on purpose. That means there’s at least one person among the retainers who’s joined their side.”

“Can you find out who?”

“Yes, I’ll investigate thoroughly.”

“Good. Hide well until Riorem returns.”

I pulled the reins and turned the horse’s head toward the training ground.

The moment I nudged its side, the excited horse raised its front legs and shot off like an arrow.

The training ground was located a short distance from the estate.

I could’ve walked, but in a situation where I didn’t know who had sided with the enemy, it was better to move quickly even if it drew attention.

The citizens of the territory, curious about the woman galloping through the capital, poked their heads out to look at me.

But since arriving at the estate, I had hardly ever left my bedroom.

No one would recognize me as the Lady of Peroa.

Even after entering the training ground, I didn’t slow down, heading straight for the barracks.

Here, attracting attention on purpose might help me meet Riorem faster.

Fortunately, my efforts paid off quickly. Soldiers started shouting and chasing after me.

Soon, even the knights inside the barracks ran outside.

Among them was a man with a head noticeably taller than the rest.

I charged straight at him.

Everyone yelled, trying to stop the horse, but the man who was actually being threatened didn’t budge.

Whinny!

The horse reared up with a snort and stopped right in front of him.

Riorem spoke.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you ride.”

“Do I still ride well?”

“Yes.”

Riorem reached out and wrapped his arm around my waist.

I fell straight into his arms.

Only then did the knights realize who I was, and one by one, they stepped back in shock.

At that moment, a voice like something crawling up from hell echoed in my ears.

“Who…”

A voice, endlessly low and growling.

“Who did something… to you?”

A chilling gleam flickered in his blue eyes.

The salon’s designer had reportedly returned directly to her boutique in the capital.

Since she normally left post-show cleanup to her staff, no one thought anything strange when she said she’d be returning a bit late.

The knights who had escorted the staff were all found dead, clearing them of suspicion.

The retainer who had insisted on Riorem attending today’s meeting was soon caught as well.

He tried to commit suicide with poison, but was knocked unconscious by Riorem before he could.

Meanwhile, three fake salon staff suspected of being imperial spies were never found.

Their clean disappearance only further confirmed the existence of an insider accomplice.

Somehow, I had a feeling that a clash with the ones who sent them wasn’t far off.

Teumesia and the maid were placed under the protection of Riorem’s personal knights, and I returned to my bedroom in Riorem’s arms.

As expected, I got severely scolded for hiding the fact that I’d been threatened by spies at the showcase.

They say I cried non-stop all night.

Riorem couldn’t raise his voice at me or punish me physically… So it was all inevitable.

To put it simply, the only one who wasn’t okay was Riorem.

He struggled for quite some time to recover from the fact that I had been in danger—and that all of it had happened within his own mansion.

It might have been a heartless move, but I didn’t let the opportunity pass.

I held Riorem in my arms as he sat, his face hardened in deep thought, and whispered my intentions.

“Judging by how drastically the situation changed, it’s clear there’s a split on their side.
When things get this urgent, if they get the chance to easily make contact with me during negotiations…
wouldn’t they show themselves?”

It wasn’t a lie.

Just last week, they had tried to lure both me and Riorem to the border.

But this time, they ignored Riorem and only tried to kill me.

There had clearly been a disagreement about how to deal with the “Princess of Peroa.”

In such a situation, if meeting me became easier, more spies would surely crawl out.

After insisting on that argument, I eventually moved into a townhouse on the hill above the capital.

Today marked exactly one week since I began staying there.

Life in the royal capital wasn’t bad.

Riorem stayed longer in bed but came home earlier, always carrying some trendy dish in hand.

Once, he even came back with the crown prince in tow.

Letters and gifts poured in endlessly—some suspicious notes from people hiding their identities, others were ordinary invitations to social gatherings.

And occasionally, there were people who wanted to meet me—for Riorem’s sake.

The current situation surrounding Riorem was nasty.

Normally, he should have quietly obeyed the king’s orders and gone off to a remote outpost.

But Riorem clung to the capital and didn’t budge an inch.

“Does he think he’s a real noble now?”

“He must feel secure, clinging to the crown prince.”

“He’s just become lazy, chasing after a woman.”

All sorts of slanders were being thrown at Riorem.

And all of it was intentional.

If public opinion turned against him, fewer people would side with him.

So those who wanted to keep Riorem in the capital—like the crown prince’s retainers, or people who hated Alpheios—came to me.

Of course, I turned them all down.

It was better to keep scheming with the crown prince than to provoke Riorem’s jealousy by meeting with those people.

…Or so I thought.

I stared blankly at the name of the person requesting a meeting.

Someone who had sent a bouquet of red roses and wanted to meet me immediately.

Alpheios tu Arete.

“He really came to see me in this situation?”

Honestly, I was impressed.

Since I had moved into the capital, which was basically Alpheios’s territory, I had half-expected him to recklessly try to meet me.

Still, I didn’t think he’d be bold enough to openly seek contact while colluding with the Empire.

“If he had any brains, he wouldn’t do something to provoke his allies.”

Lately, I hadn’t heard of Alpheios causing trouble, which made me all the more suspicious.

The old Alpheios would’ve done anything to claim me before I was elevated to princess status.

Like kidnapping me and forcing me to bear his child, for example.

If I had a child, it would be considered royal blood of Arete.

Alpheios would absolutely use that as leverage to blackmail the Empire.

Of course, that could plunge Arete into war—

But from Alpheios’s point of view, war wasn’t something to be avoided; it was something to welcome.

“Since he hadn’t gone that far, I figured even Alpheios didn’t want a full-scale war with the Empire…”

And yet, after lying low all this time, Alpheios now came to see me.

Something was bound to happen if we met.

And on top of that…