Chapter 19

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: The Eye of the Storm
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Aileen, on the verge of being sold off to a foreign country by her own father, had naturally sought Cesare’s help. But Cesare had refused to see her.
According to his original plan, Cesare had intended to step in only at the moment the old pig came to the brick house to take Aileen away.
“Seeing her face softened my resolve.”
Cesare held a pocket watch in one hand and playfully twirled Aileen's hair with the other. Rotan swallowed a sigh as he watched Cesare tease the mysterious, multicolored strands, weaving his fingers through them.
“If you were feeling so soft-hearted, wouldn't it have been better to keep her from seeing Baron Elorde altogether?”
“Hmm, that was what Aileen wanted.”
He replied nonchalantly, but Rotan knew his master well. Even though there had been a gentler way, he had likely deliberately shown Aileen that disgusting scene to drive a wedge between her and her father.
They say blood is thicker than water, but Aileen was especially unable to let go of her family. The late Baroness had not been normal, either. Mentally unstable, she had abused Aileen for years. Nevertheless, Aileen had genuinely loved her mother.
Rotan admired Aileen's innocence, but he was plagued by ambivalent feelings whenever he saw her get hurt because of it. The desire to protect her purity constantly clashed with the thought that it might be better if she were a little more wicked.
The latter feeling grew especially strong when he saw her caught up in things by Cesare's side, completely unaware.
But in the end, Rotan also wanted Aileen to become the Grand Duchess, so he said no more on the matter and brought up another topic.
“What will you do about Malena? She doesn't seem like the type to back down easily.”
When her laboratory was closed, Aileen had asked the innkeeper to look after her customers. She asked him to tell them that though she was closing for a while, she would continue to sell her remedies through the inn, so they shouldn't worry.
But there was something Aileen had overlooked: her customers were extremely fond of her. When she suddenly closed up shop and disappeared, they were all busy digging into her background, worried something might have happened to her.
Her customers had no idea that Aileen was the daughter of the Elorde barony, a child treasured by the Grand Duke of Erzet. They only knew her as a smart but poor pharmacist with an eccentric love for plants.
Malena was the first to commission a background check as soon as Aileen disappeared. So he knew she held Aileen in high regard, but he hadn't realized she would go so far as to dare to stand up to Cesare.
After being forced to have an abortion when she was pregnant with a nobleman's child, she had been kicked out of Fiore Street. It was Cesare who had offered a hand to Malena, who was living a miserable existence, promising her a chance at revenge.
With Cesare's help, Malena made a spectacular comeback and, in return, became the Grand Duke's eyes and ears.
“Just let her meet Aileen. Malena is useful in many ways.”
The readily given permission was unexpected. As if sensing his puzzlement, Cesare added a brief explanation.
“Aileen will have to make her debut in high society soon, won't she?”
As the most famous dancer in Fiore, she was no longer just a flower of the underworld; her influence was great enough to dominate the capital's high society nightlife.
Malena was often invited to noble balls and treated as an esteemed guest. As her influence grew, she would surely be a help to Aileen when she made her debut.
“I will inform Malena that she has permission to see Lady Aileen.”
Malena would surely be satisfied with this. Relieved that the matter was resolved favorably, Rotan promptly replied.
Cesare caressed Aileen's slightly parted lips. Aileen, sleeping soundly and oblivious to the world, would probably not wake until the next morning.
It was because of the smoke she had inhaled today. In Fiore, such a thing was nothing, but for Aileen, who had no tolerance, it was a potent drug.
Rotan couldn't shake the feeling that he had made her inhale the smoke on purpose. But he stopped his suspicions, as it seemed to paint Cesare as too much of a scoundrel.
“Ah, and…”
Cesare commanded languidly.
“Put the wedding announcement in tomorrow morning's paper.”
It was his way of proclaiming it to the entire empire so that Aileen couldn't change her mind.
Whether she wanted it or not, from tomorrow on, Aileen would become a tempest sweeping through the Traon Empire.
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
But what could he do when it was his master's will? Rotan could only obey in silence, hoping that Aileen would not suffer too much.
***
Was it due to the tension and fatigue? Aileen, held in Cesare's arms, had unwittingly drifted off to sleep.
Looking back, it had been a day where too many things had happened at once. She was already drained from crying her eyes out at the grand duke's residence, and then she had nearly fainted from the shock of her father's actions.
When she opened her eyes, she was in the second-floor bedroom of the brick house. Aileen let out a sigh of relief at the comfort of the familiar space. It seemed Cesare had brought her home while she slept.
Still under the covers, Aileen simply opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling.
It was hazy, but she remembered Cesare laying her down as she dozed off. It seemed she had fallen asleep using his lap as a pillow.
*‘That’s something I only did when I was a little kid…’*
A lap pillow, and she wasn't even a child. A wave of embarrassment washed over her, and she pulled the blanket over her face.
*‘This is why he still treats me like a child.’*
Still, after a good night's sleep, her head was clear. Aileen slowly recalled the events of the previous day.
She had seen her father with another woman, but she felt surprisingly calm. It seemed she had absorbed all the shock yesterday and let it pass. Aileen calmly went over the situation.
Perhaps because of the severe shock, her memory was fragmented. But one thing came back to her clearly.
“I never thought I'd find you fucking around here after selling off your daughter, Baron.”
It was such a vulgar phrase that she couldn't believe it had come from Cesare's mouth. It was the first time Aileen had ever heard him curse.
But Cesare was a soldier. It was only natural that he would utter harsh words on the battlefield, where life and death hung in the balance.
Cesare's knights, with the exception of Senon, all had foul mouths. Diego and Michele were obvious cases, but even Rotan sometimes let a curse slip. Of course, they all tried not to show it in front of Aileen.
Aileen furtively tried to mimic Cesare's curse.
“Fucking…”
Then she quickly clamped her mouth shut and glanced around nervously. When it came from Cesare's lips, even the curse sounded elegant, but from her own, it just sounded like a swear word.
Aileen pressed her fingers against her lips as if to scold them for saying a bad word and got out of bed. When she went downstairs, her father's bedroom door was firmly shut. It seemed he had come home.
*‘Is he still sleeping?’*
Both Aileen and her father needed time to process yesterday's events before they could talk. Aileen gazed at the closed door, let out a small sigh, and headed to the kitchen.
“…?”
She stopped and suddenly looked toward the window. She had a feeling that something was causing a commotion outside. But the curtains were drawn, so she couldn't see out.
First, she drank some water to soothe her dry throat and took some bread from the cupboard. As she was slicing a large loaf with a bread knife, she realized there was nothing else to eat in the house. She hadn't been in the right mind to go shopping for the past few days.
Not wanting to starve, she popped a trimmed bread crust into her mouth and chewed. After carefully concealing her face with her glasses and bangs, she finished preparing to go shopping. The moment she opened the door, holding a large shopping basket…
Aileen froze, her hand still on the door.
“She's finally out! Elorde! Lady Elorde!”
“Miss Aileen! Look over here, please!”
“Please give us a comment on your marriage to His Excellency, Grand Duke Erzet!”
“Is it true that you threatened to kill yourself if His Excellency the Grand Duke didn't marry you?”
“Don't push!”
“Out of my way, I was first!”
As if they had been waiting for the door to open, the crowd of people began to scream like mad. They swarmed her like bees, throwing questions at her. But despite their ferocious momentum, they couldn't lay a single finger on Aileen.
This was because the Grand Duke's soldiers had surrounded the entire brick house. The armed soldiers mercilessly pushed back the reporters and onlookers who tried to cross a certain line.
*‘What is going on?’*
She couldn't believe what she was seeing. When Aileen flinched and stepped back, the reporters went into an even greater frenzy. They were about to push past the soldiers and rush forward when…
*Bang!*
A gunshot rang out like a thunderclap. The crowd, which had been seething like demons from hell, was instantly silenced as if exorcised. A low voice spread through the silence.
“Everyone. Would you all please shut up?”
Michele, who had fired the shot into the air, said with one eyebrow raised.
“You're frightening our lady.”