After Putting the Slayer of the Night to Sleep, I Ran Away - Chapter 95

“Why do you think I came?”

Tatiana bit her lip tightly at Leo’s cynical retort.

This wasn’t just anywhere; it was the Empress’s Palace.

No matter how skilled Leo was, how could he appear so easily?

“You sent an excessive wedding gift. The gifts you’ve sent so far were more than enough.”

“……”

“Was my return gift insufficient? Or were you sending waste instead of gifts…?”

Leo tilted his head playfully.

“If that’s the case, isn’t that a bit tasteless, Aunt?”

One corner of his mouth curled up sharply.

“Logan, was it…?”

Tatiana’s eyes widened in shock at Logan’s name.

Leo observed her reaction and slowly continued.

“That man doesn’t even seem to know he was abandoned.”

“You…!”

“He was a bit too good to just dispose of, but if that’s your wish, Aunt, what can I do?”

Leo shrugged and smiled.

“As always, in return for the gift you sent, Mother, I cleaned it up neatly.”

“Don’t tell me…!”

“He wouldn’t open his mouth even after days of torture. Ah, so you sent useless trash as a gift again. So I tore him limb from limb and threw him to the beasts.”

“What…?”

Leo’s expression was nonchalant as he looked at the shocked Tatiana.

“Oh. Didn’t you know how I dispose of the trash you’ve sent so far? Well, I never had the chance to tell you. But you’re my aunt. It seems we’ve grown too distant.”

“……”

“But don’t worry, Aunt.”

Leo slowly rose and approached her.

Then, he leaned down in front of her trembling face and whispered as if into her ear.

“Now I’m this close, aren’t I?”

“Heok……”

Her face turned white.

Leo, who examined her face as if admiring it, curved his eyes and straightened up.

“This is my first and last warning, Empress.”

“……”

“Don’t ever touch me again. Unless you want your beautiful face and body to be separated.”

Leo, who warned coldly, turned around, his red eyes shining sharply.

“Heok. Hah…… Heok……”

Tatiana only breathed roughly after Leo disappeared.

It was difficult to lift her collapsed body easily or calm her trembling fingertips.

Receiving that beastly gaze in the bedroom she thought was the safest was pure terror.

In the tension that Leo would grab her life at any moment, all Tatiana could do was breathe.

“Logan……”

Tears began to well up at the end of her rough breaths.

“Ah…… I……”

Thick tears flowed endlessly down her cheeks.

One day, when she was young.

She first met him at the martial arts arena she went to with her father and older brother, Marcus.

The boy, who was barely her age…

The boy was a slave gladiator, desperately fighting to survive, rolling on the floor, wielding a sword.

His spirit was so desperate that she felt pity.

Tatiana pestered her father and received the child as a birthday present.

The boy, who left the martial arts arena, was named Logan, and he was willing to pretend to die for the young noble lady who saved him.

She, who was forced to live like a princess, needed a place to breathe, and Logan played his role well.

Sometimes he was a friend, sometimes family, sometimes a guard. And sometimes he looked at her with the face of a man.

She knew he harbored feelings for her.

But Logan didn’t dare show his feelings or dream vain dreams.

He just silently stayed by her side, and when she debuted in society, he lived as a shadow under the orders of her father and older brother.

Until she became Empress and entered the Imperial Palace.

Logan lived by her side without being noticed by anyone.

Tatiana didn’t know where Logan lived or what he looked like.

She just tied a silver scarf to a tree where she was.

Then, he would appear and bow.

That was him, but now he’s gone.

Tatiana swallowed the sense of loss deep into her lungs and shed tears endlessly.

In that way, sadness became resentment, and resentment became anger, and it began to swallow her.

“I can’t forgive him……”

The crime of daring to enter the Empress’s bedroom and humiliate her.

The crime of coveting her son’s position.

And the crime of harming Logan.

Leomund had to pay the price for those crimes.

Tatiana wiped away her tears with a firm resolution.

She would not let Logan’s death be in vain.

She was the Empress.

Not the young girl who couldn’t do anything anymore, but the Empress with the power to protect what was hers.

Edward was sitting on a long chair in the center of the chapel.

The sunlight passed through the stained glass and poured down softly, and the sacred space prepared for the consecration ceremony was magnificent.

In this beautiful space, Edward stared at the two people standing side by side on the platform with a hardened expression.

Ila was wearing a pure white dress, and his half-brother Leomund was also dressed in white formal attire.

Edward unconsciously clenched the hand in his pocket.

He held a small, hard magical tool in his fist.

It was a paternity test magical tool that his mother had given him a few days ago, said to be passed down only to the imperial family.

“Mother. Did you know that Ila is a bastard?”

“If that’s the case, she’s not even related to Mother by blood.”

When his mother asked why he was so attached to Ila’s affairs, Edward finally revealed his feelings.

“I can’t get Ila’s face out of my head.”

“I want her. She’s not even a cousin.”

“Please stop Ila and my brother’s marriage, Mother.”

His mother seemed shocked by his words and closed her mouth tightly.

And the next day. She handed him the magical tool and said one word to Edward, who didn’t even know such a thing existed.

“Use this to reveal that Ila is a bastard. Then the marriage will be called off.”

Edward was overjoyed.

As expected, there was nothing Mother couldn’t solve.

He thought this magical tool could overturn the marriage of the two.

His brother would need a noble family to support his power, so if it was revealed that Ila was a bastard, he would break off the engagement.

It was a good thing for him too.

It would be like announcing that Ila was not a cousin.

But was it right to reveal her secret in a place with many nobles?

Would Ila’s heart be hurt?

While Edward was repeating the conflict, the priest began to offer a blessing prayer.

The solemn voice echoed in the chapel, and the nobles gathered their hands with reverent expressions.

Time was passing.

At that moment, when the conflict and anxiety reached their peak, the priest who read the marriage vows of the two looked around and said.

“Is there anyone who objects to this marriage?”

In the space where silence fell, Edward slowly raised his hand.

“I object.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Edward.

The sound of swallowing breaths was heard everywhere, and even the priest who presided over the consecration ceremony was speechless.

Edward got up from his seat and went down the central aisle of the chapel.

Then, with his gaze fixed, he continued with a calm face.

“I am here to announce that there is a huge problem with this marriage.”

“A problem… you say?”

With the priest’s question, murmurs spread.

Friedrich, who was watching the situation, rebuked him in a stern tone.

“Edward. What are you doing?”

“Father. Please give me a chance to speak. This is absolutely necessary for my brother as well.”

Edward headed to the platform and spoke the words he had hesitated countless times.

“I have heard reliable information that Princess Ila is… the Duchess’s bastard.”

“What nonsense are you talking about?!”

Duke Marcus jumped up.

“Ila is a bastard, that’s an absurd story!”

“Uncle. I don’t want to believe it either. That’s why we need to go through the confirmation process, right?”

Edward, facing Marcus, stared straight at him and threw out a word.

“I have a paternity test magical tool.”

“What did you say…?”

“I heard it’s a magical tool in the imperial family’s secret vault. I specially brought it out for my brother.”

He took out the magical tool from his pocket and showed it off.

“I heard that if you put a drop of blood or hair of the person to be tested here, the color of the magical tool will shine red if they are related, and blue if they are not.”

The chapel was in an uproar.

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