Chapter 81  

‘I think he said a long time ago that he was going to crush my hand…….’

Even then, it wasn’t empty words.

Aria stood blankly, feeling the power of Valentine once again. He could even break the wrist of a young man of a similar size with just a slight grip. It was like a hawk snatching a prey.

‘My hand must have felt so soft to him that it could be crushed with just a little bit of force.’

She decided to reevaluate Lloyd’s patience in childhood. She wondered how unbearable it must have been when he touched her.

She would have been hurt if he had given a little bit of force.

“Don’t worry. The bones will attach quickly.”

Then Gabriel, who was holding his broken wrist, said to Aria. As if to reassure her.

Aria felt sorry for him, as she hadn’t even thought about him, let alone worry.

‘Well, why does he have to say something that could lead to misunderstanding that it is a secret between the two of us…….’

She would normally take care of the wounds, but now she only thought that he could take care of it on his own.

For a moment, there was silence for a long time to the point where she could hear ringing in her ears.

Lloyd’s eyes deepened and darkened, and it was pinned to Gabriel’s neck. He seemed to be contemplating about breaking that, instead of the wrist. He felt a blatant urge for a brief moment, suppressed it, looked at Aria’s face and held onto the string of reason.

“Come.”

Lloyd said to Aria, who was pulled away by Gabriel’s random pull. Without hesitation, she walked right next to him.

At the same time, a stillness like midnight came to the eyes that had been lit up with flashes.

– A secret between the two of you?

Lloyd asked telepathically. Aria answered straight away like a sword.

– Absolutely not.

No, that’s actually right, though. She didn’t want to receive any strange misunderstandings.

‘But if I tell Lloyd the truth, Gabriel will notice right away.’

Looking at Gabriel earlier, she thought he was an idiot. He wasn’t an idiot. He’s just a far more upright person than everyone else, who doesn’t know that the world is twisted.

‘And there are times when he makes judgments clouded only by Veronica.’

So if Aria divulged the truth about the necklace, he would have noticed. Then, the disappointed Gabriel might go to Veronica and tell her about the necklace.

If she keeps the trust from this side, only then will Gabriel keep his promise.

She quickly clarified the message before Gabriel made another strange noise.

– There are people that the knight loves as much as his life, but he is doing this because he is afraid of any harm to that person. The secret is directly related to that person’s honor.

“Haa…….”

When she told the truth, he sighed. Why…… Does he not believe it?

– I’m serious.

Aria looked straight at Lloyd with transparent and clear eyes that didn’t show a single lie. With just her gaze, the young man’s momentum softened a little.

– I believe in you. I do

– …….

– That bastard…….– …… ?

– How can I believe it when he looks at you with those eyes?

His black, sharp eyes widened as if they were about to tear Gabriel’s inner feelings apart.

Aria was a little frustrated.

Gabriel wouldn’t be interested in anything other than Veronica. It seems strange because Lloyd appeared right at an exquisite moment, but Gabriel had only mentioned Veronica all the time. It was a little less than in the previous life, but Veronica was still in his head.

‘He must rather be a little reluctant to me.’

He must have felt an ambivalence of emotions. He was grateful for Aria for taking care of him sometimes while he was in the Grand Duchy, but it must be annoying for him to understand the nature of the saint who he believed in like faith.

Wasn’t it such a complicated and subtle feeling of liking and resenting something?

– He must be trying hard to deny his feelings inside. He seems to be coming to his senses late because there is someone he cares about…….

But Lloyd sent this message. His gaze touched the bag that Aria was carrying on her shoulder.

‘Are you talking to yourself?’

Aria tilted her head, as it was somehow like a tone derived from experience.

Lloyd left Gabriel on the spot, grabbed her hand and led her out of the prayer room.

It was a very delicate, feather-like force that was different from when he was dealing with Gabriel.

‘His hands are rougher.’

Much bigger and much stiffer.

When she took Gabriel’s hand to examine his wounds, there was no feeling or emotion. Suddenly, she can clearly feel Lloyd and her holding hands.

Aria felt a cold sweat on her hands. She naturally pulled her hand out, so it didn’t seem rude.

Lloyd then frowned as he looked down at his empty palms.

***

“The distributor was clean.”

He said as soon as he got to the room. Then he took out a letter with the seal of the Imperial Family from his arms and threw it on the desk.

It was a summons from the Imperial Palace.

“The one that was embezzled was the diamont that was paid as tribute to the imperial family.”

In conclusion, the diamont case that he forgot because he thought it would be no big deal was actually the Emperor’s scheme. Surprisingly, that is.

Aria asked.

“There’s nothing to gain from stealing it.”

The diamont sent to the Imperial Family were quite large, but their purpose was set like a sword. And it was more closely managed. It meant that anyone in the middle doing the embezzling would soon be found out.

“So, the diamont was a means, not an end.”

It was a means. To bring Lloyd to the Imperial Palace.

“Somehow, the Emperor has been particularly quiet lately.”

The Emperor has been in constant contact since Lloyd’s wedding. It was an effort to somehow get the rumored Aria out of the castle and into the Imperial Palace.

At first, it seems that it was just a sense of shame and light curiosity, but after ignoring it until the end, it went beyond and became an obsession.

‘The Grand Duke only tore up all the letters that came from the Emperor when it was related to me for four years…….’

As an Emperor, he would have had no choice but to use a hard way. ‘Are you still not coming after I did this?‘ like that.

Aria felt like she could understand why Tristan described the Emperor like the kid next door who was whining and begging.action

“He was thinking of getting someone to embezzle diamont and then frame Valentine for reducing the amount.”

And since the Emperor only needs to summon Lloyd to the palace, the official who he had used will be killed and dealt with.‘That’s just what an Emperor would do…….’, she thought to herself.

“I didn’t have imagined it because it was so stupid.”

Ha. Lloyd laughed out loud, and said as he unbuttoned his shirt.

Aria was about to lose her gaze to his bare collarbone, but she quickly turned her head away.

It wasn’t good for the heart.

“It’s not like he just called you out to see your face. Maybe they had prepared something like a trap…”

She asked worriedly.

It was because she remembered the moment in the past when she was taken away by Count Chateau’s schemes and imprisoned in a cage after her legs were broken at the hands of the Emperor.

“Yes, there must be something to gain. Even if they tie me up, we would die together.”

That’s right.

The Emperor could neither imprison, punish, nor kill Lloyd. The moment the devil’s malice within Lloyd’s body was opened, the Emperor would lose everything.

‘He has no choice but to act like a kid next door.’

It wasn’t because it wasn’t enough, but for Valentine, he had no choice but to use it. Although they continued to ignore the Emperor, he was still the master of a continent.

Just because he was born with a lineage, doesn’t mean anyone can do it.

‘I can’t let my guard down.’

Although the Empire gradually declined as the Emperor’s reign prolonged.

‘Besides, they’re destined to lose the continent to Garcia sooner or later.’

However, the current situation was different. If the Emperor’s mind was intact, she could not know how history would change.

However, she did not want to send Lloyd alone to the Imperial Palace.

Aria pulled out a word from her heart as if she had made up her mind.

“I’m going too.”

Lloyd’s reaction was immediate.

“What… it will be over if I just go and visit the Emperor by myself.”

But Aria shook her head. Now that she knew what Veronica had done in the past, she couldn’t wait for things to come to pass, and just quietly hid.

“I found out that hiding didn’t solve anything.”

Did he read Aria’s sincerity?

Lloyd tried to add a few more words, but then paused, and closed his mouth.

“Are you going to go into the social world?”

“If necessary.”

“I know how you will be treated in that lowly place, but I just have to keep an eye on you.”

And he said as if he had read Aria’s thoughts.

To a woman who had suffered all sorts of treatment in the social circles in the past, the unreasonable accusations were rather familiar

“I might kill them.”

It was a quiet voice without highs or lows.

The intense emotions were not revealed in his voice, so it was heard more sincerely in Aria’s ears.

“……”

No matter how twisted they may be, no idiot would openly insult Aria. Lloyd stands by her side with his eyes wide open, so who will let their mouth loose?

But Lloyd didn’t like the attention and the unpleasant gaze towards Aria.

Aria rolled her eyes and said.

“I have a legal father.”

She said, remembering the Angelo family.