After Putting the Slayer of the Night to Sleep, I Ran Away - Chapter 56

Vivian, who entered the imperial palace corridor with Leo, huffed.

“Honestly, there’s no bigger hypocrite. It’s not just once or twice I’ve heard her badmouthing Isla behind her back.”

Leo comforted Vivian.

“Now that she’s made such a scene, it won’t be easy for her to do that anymore.”

“That’s a relief then. Ugh, I feel so refreshed.”

“By the way, are you going to be okay? Isla might be surprised if she sees you like that.”

Vivian, realizing her state at Leo’s remark, was horrified.

“Ugh! I almost made a big mistake.”

“It wouldn’t be that big of a deal.”

“I can’t let Isla see me like this. I’m sorry, Your Highness, but if you go all the way inside, there’s a lounge with the Everett family nameplate on it, okay? Could you go ahead while I stop by there for a moment? I’m a bit nervous thinking about being alone with the Duke.”

“Alright, go ahead.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Vivian hurriedly turned around and headed for the Count’s family lounge.

Leo watched Vivian with a curious look, then chuckled and muttered.

“Our wife seems to have made a good friend.”

He felt the same way when he heard she had become friends with a Shan woman, but Isla tended to attract unusual people. Even Vivian, whom he initially thought was just a typical noble lady, was not ordinary.

‘By the way, wife.’

It was a word he had inadvertently used to warn Schiel.

It wasn’t a word he had particularly thought about or been conscious of, but once he said it, he kind of liked it.

It felt a little awkward for a moment, though.

‘It’s not wrong anyway.’

They would become a real couple soon enough after the consecration ceremony.

Leo, contemplating whether he should correct the issue of titles he had previously settled, glanced at the balcony at the end of the long corridor.

“…”

His gentle eyes narrowed at the presence that had been bothering him for a while.

He couldn’t see it, but Leo’s senses had long surpassed common sense.

“Look at this bastard…”

The corners of his lips twisted up at the end of his mutter.

He didn’t need to send a familiar to confirm; he already knew the presence.

Rodrigo Esteban.

Isla’s former fiancé, and a trashy bastard without any balls as a man.

He wanted to drag the guy hiding behind the balcony out right away, but this time he decided to ignore the receding presence.

He remembered that the previous duel request had been thwarted by Friedrich’s interference.

‘There can’t be a second interruption.’

He didn’t know what the guy’s intentions were for hanging around here, but it certainly wasn’t good.

Leo promised himself an opportunity to deal with the guy properly and pulled back the curtain at the entrance of the Everett family lounge.

The moment he faced Isla’s reddened eyes as she looked at the entrance in surprise.

“Ha!”

He was furious with himself for leaving her alone.

“Wait a minute!”

Isla quickly got up and grabbed Leo’s arm.

Leo was about to turn around and rush to Glory Hall to draw his sword against Marcus.

Leo, forced to stop, showed no signs of improving his low mood. For that reason, Isla couldn’t easily let go of Leo’s arm.

“Really, I’m really okay. I didn’t just listen; I said everything I wanted to say.”

“As if you would.”

“I really did. And I didn’t cry in front of Father either. I just got a little angry and tears welled up after he left, but Your Highness happened to show up right then.”

“Anyway, it’s because of Marcus Everett, that ba… that guy, right?”

“We just talked.”

“Okay. What did you talk about that made your eyes so red?”

“Do they look that bad?”

Leo frowned at Isla’s words, as she put on a pitiful expression.

“Don’t change the subject.”

“It wasn’t a big deal. I already knew it, but it’s like he still doesn’t want to let me go.”

“What exactly did he say?”

“I’m not going to tell you that.”

Isla pouted.

“Why would I say something you’re not going to listen to anyway? Father’s words were nonsense, and I told him to wake up from his dream. Whatever it is, it won’t go according to Father’s wishes.”

“…”

“That’s it, then.”

Isla shrugged, smiling as if to soothe him.

Just a moment ago, Isla had said exactly this to Marcus’s back as he turned away.

‘Don’t force your choices on me.’

She didn’t forget to warn him, looking straight at him as he turned around in disbelief.

She told him that he seemed to be having a vain dream, so it would be better for him to wake up now.

He was furious, but Isla clamped her mouth shut like a clam after saying those words.

She wouldn’t have a son anyway since she was in a contract marriage, but even if she did have a child, she vowed not to show him even a strand of hair.

“Is that really going to be, okay?”

Leo, noticing Isla’s intention not to escalate the situation, swallowed the sigh that had risen to his chin and asked.

“Of course. He’s someone I won’t see again once I leave for Eisenpelto.”

“…Do you perhaps want to leave quickly?”

Isla, widening her eyes at Leo’s question, soon smiled and shook her head.

“I don’t care when I leave, so don’t worry about it. I already have what’s important anyway.”

“What’s important?”

Isla smiled plainly as she answered Leo’s question, tilting her head.

“A place to return to.”

“…”

“I now have a place to return to anytime, right? Right?”

“…Yes. That’s right.”

“That’s why.”

Isla lowered her gaze and thought of a boy, feeling like she was going to cry again for some reason.

A boy with red eyes who had once reached out to her, cornered, saying that he would at least be a place for her to return to.

‘I wish I could meet him again someday.’

The grown-up boy was looking down at Isla, who was vaguely wishing, with an unreadable expression.

It was then.

“Your Highness! Isla! Come out quickly.”

Vivian appeared from behind the curtain with a hurried expression, making a fuss.

Isla widened her eyes at her disheveled appearance, her beautifully styled hair gone.

“Vivian? What happened to your hair.”

“This is no time to dawdle. Come out quickly.”

“Pardon?”

“Hurry. Princess Schiel is coming.”

“My sister?”

Leo nodded as if realizing something at Vivian’s urgent gesture.

“I see. It’s better to get out of here for now. It’ll be tiring to run into her.”

He had forgotten something simple.

Just as Vivian had headed to the lounge for a makeover after the fight, Schiel would do the same.

Isla, being led out of the lounge by Vivian’s hand without knowing why, fixed her gaze on her hair and wondered.

‘What on earth happened in that short amount of time?’

There was definitely nothing wrong with her hair before she followed her father.

Her hair, which the maids had painstakingly braided up with opal-studded hairpins, was so perfect that it was admirable.

But now her hair was disheveled as if someone had grabbed and pulled it out, and the hairpins were nowhere to be seen. Her dress seemed wrinkled too.

Isla, guessing who she had fought with from the unmistakable signs of a fight, was about to open her mouth worriedly.

“This way.”

Leo suddenly pushed Isla and Vivian into an empty lounge, closed the curtain, turned around, and put a finger to his lips.

Just as Isla and Vivian held their breath at the gesture to be quiet, a group of ladies passed behind the curtain, which had stopped shaking.

“Lady Helios is really out of her mind!”

“I know, right? Not only did she dare to scuffle with Princess Schiel, but she even physically attacked her. Ugh, I was so shocked I thought I was going to faint.”

“By the way, Schiel, are you okay?”

“How could she be okay? She’s so shocked that her whole body is trembling.”

Isla, having grasped the truth of the incident from the fading conversation, turned to Vivian with a dumbfounded expression.

Vivian, averting her gaze as if embarrassed, scratched her cheek and awkwardly smiled, whispering an excuse.

“Well, she was badmouthing Isla again. I couldn’t stand it.”

“Does that mean you have to fight to the point of looking like this?”

“Hey. It’s because Isla didn’t see it. The Princess looked worse than me, though. Right, Your Highness?”

“Did she?”

“Of course. I pulled out a handful more of her hair, you know?”

“That’s what she says.”

Leo chuckled and agreed, pulling back the curtain.

“It’s better to go back for today. It seems Lady Helios enjoyed the banquet more than anyone else.”

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