For the One Who Hates Me - Chapter 63

Minah was walking down the hallway, her eyes red and bloodshot. Aura was leaving. It was so sudden, and she felt a bit sad about it.

I thought I could continue to serve her forever…

People feared and respected Aura. But the Aura Minah saw by her side was different. While she may not have been outwardly kind, she cared for people in her own way. She never mistreated her subordinates.

As Minah was trudging along, she heard a voice.

“Minah!”

Hosea was running toward her from a distance.

“Hosea!” Minah was surprised and went over to him. “You… how did you get in here?”

“Her Majesty the Empress gave me a palace pass last time. I used that to get in.”

Ah, I see. Minah nodded. Then she suddenly glared at Hosea and started hitting him on the back.

“You brat! Why haven’t you been in touch?! Do you know how much Her Majesty has been waiting for you?!”

“Ah! Ah! Hey, shouldn’t you worry about me first? I went to that cold place, you know!”

“Ugh, seriously… I’m going crazy because of you…!”

“And I sent you a letter a few weeks ago.”

“…A letter?”

“You didn’t get it?”

“No, I didn’t.”

Hosea tilted his head, looking confused. But then he smiled. “That’s a good thing. I’m glad I brought this. Minah, please give this to Her Majesty the Empress.”

Hosea took out an envelope from his bag.

“What is this?”

“Well… it’s the original copy of the letter. I thought Her Majesty might need solid proof of the information I gave her. Make sure you give it to her.”

“Okay. You can go to my room. I have to go somewhere first.”

“Alright.” Hosea turned and walked away. His footsteps were light, as if he had completed his mission.

Minah thought to herself, Her Majesty must have already left by now. She’s going to meet Sir Emile anyway, so I should give this to him.

Ruan was standing against a wall near the northern gate of the palace.

I knew I would be leaving the palace today, but I didn’t think it would be like this.

Last night, Karl had returned to the reception room and said to Ruan, “You are dismissed. Get out of the palace now.”

Only after hearing those words did Ruan snap back to his senses. He realized how reckless he had been right before an important mission.

He must have told her about what I did. There’s no way he wouldn’t.

He knew Aura would be disappointed. But a more urgent problem was their plan to leave the palace together. Aura might leave him behind and go alone.

As Ruan was anxiously waiting for a sign, he heard a voice.

“Sir Emile.” Someone called him from the other side of the wall.

“Lady-in-waiting Minah?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“What did Her Majesty the Empress say?”

“She said to meet at the designated location.”

Ruan felt a sense of relief. It seemed their plan was still a go.

“Sir Emile, catch this.”

“Pardon?”

A small pouch flew over the wall. Ruan quickly caught it.

“Her Majesty said it was an important object.”

“…I think I know what it is. I’ll take good care of it.”

“And this is some information my brother, Hosea, wanted to give to Her Majesty. Please pass it on.”

This time, an envelope flew over the wall. Ruan quickly caught it as well.

If it’s Hosea’s documents… Is it information about Finn?

“He said that everything Her Majesty needs is inside. Please take care of yourself.”

“Yes. Thank you, Lady-in-waiting.”

“Please… take good care of our Empress.”

Minah’s voice was filled with tears. Soon, her footsteps faded away.

Ruan stared at the documents. He was curious about the new information on Finn. But the envelope was sealed. It would be obvious if he opened it.

I have to resist.

Ruan suppressed his curiosity and quickly walked away. He had to go to the agreed-upon location with Aura, the western entrance of Hunt Mountain.

Inside the carriage on the way to Hunt Mountain, Aura and Karl sat across from each other. Karl said to Aura, who was quietly looking out the window, “You look better than I thought.”

“What about me?”

“I mean, your lover disappeared overnight. And you didn’t even come to me and scold me about it.”

It was a valid assumption. Ruan had been with her everywhere she went.

Aura placed her elbow on the window frame and propped her chin on her hand. “I was going to stop seeing him anyway. I was a bit tired of it.”

Karl gave a small laugh. “‘Tired of it’…”

“Have you ever gotten tired of something?”

“I’d have to like something first, wouldn’t I?”

“That’s true.”

“It’s a rare experience for me to like something at all.” Karl leaned his chin on his hand and looked out the window. He squinted at the strong summer sun. “Once I like something, I never get tired of it.”

Thump, thump…

The only sound in the carriage was the rolling of the wheels. Hunt Mountain was faintly visible in the distance.

I’ll have to get out of the carriage soon.

This would be the last time she was alone with Karl. Aura felt a mix of sadness and nervousness. When she got out of this carriage, all her plans would be set in motion.

“Aura.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you really not need a partner for the hunting festival?”

A moment of silence passed. A horse neighed loudly outside, and the carriage came to a stop.

Aura smiled and replied, “I told you. I’m going alone.”

“…Alright, then.” Karl didn’t say anything more about a partner.

The two of them got out of the carriage. The knights brought their horses. Aura put the crossbow on her back and got on her horse.

There were very few noblewomen who participated in the hunting festival. Most of the wives and ladies planned to have a tea party on the lawn.

Because of that, the women on horseback stood out. Aura was the most noticeable, and Elise was also easy to spot. Duke Tein was with Elise.

“The hunting competition will now begin!” The Emperor’s Guard shouted loudly as they rode through the nobles.

The bustling nobles gathered around Aura and Karl.

Theo, in charge of the event, rode in front gracefully. “The first part of the hunting festival is the hunting competition! As you all know, Hunt Mountain is very wide. There are no wild beasts that can threaten horses, but please be careful of wild boars.”

Theo continued to announce, “The hunting competition will end at sunset! When you hear the horn, please return to the southern gate. If you get lost, you can use the fireworks we gave you. We will then escort you back.”

With that, the general announcement was over. Josh blew the horn loudly, signaling the start. Many nobles rode off with vigor.

Duke Tein pulled Elise toward Karl. He began to praise Elise to Karl. Karl was only half-listening.

Aura, who was watching him from a distance, let out a small laugh.

How bored he looks.

Perhaps it wasn’t a bad thing to see that expression one last time before she left.

But then, Karl and Elise went into the forest together. Duke Tein watched them with a look of satisfaction.

…It doesn’t matter anymore.

Aura gripped her horse’s reins tightly. She tried to calm her bitter heart and rode off toward the west. At that moment, Karl looked back and saw her back.

It was not easy to shake off Duke Tein. He relentlessly praised Elise to Karl, so blatantly that Elise’s face turned red. Karl finally had enough and opened his mouth.

“Duke Tein.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Elise and I need to have a private conversation.”

“Oh, is that so? Ah… hahaha… Understood. I will leave you two alone.”

Duke Tein finally backed away with a disgusting laugh. It seemed he had taken it as Karl wanting to have a secret meeting with Elise. Elise slightly frowned at him.

The two of them went into the forest. When they were alone, Elise said, “I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

“You’re giving me a headache. Is there anything new at the Dukedom?”

“I am being watched. Every letter I receive is opened.”

“He’s being very cautious.”

It made sense. Elise had been in charge of managing the domain since she was young, but Duke Tein took all her responsibilities away when he inherited the title. But he was not good at managing the domain and was incurring the wrath of the people.

Duke Tein knows that if Elise has a reason to inherit the title, the people of the domain won’t stand by and do nothing.

Karl got to the point. “The investigation is still in progress. The butler who ran away with the will was being chased by the Crown Prince’s troops.”

“As expected…” Elise bit her lip as if she had expected it.

“He definitely left the capital. He probably went to a distant village. It’s likely that he’s in hiding out of fear of Duke Tein. If he’s still alive.”

“He’s alive. My uncle has a big mouth. If he were dead, my uncle would have gloated to me to make me feel hopeless.”

“Then let’s hope he’s alive. In any case, try to appease Duke Tein. At least until we find the butler’s whereabouts.”

“Yes, I understand.” Elise said that and turned her horse around. “Then I should go back to my uncle.”

“He’ll ask you what we talked about. What will you say?”

“I’ll say that there was a vague tension between us, and we confirmed our feelings for each other with our eyes instead of words.” Elise said wearily. She meant she would give him an ambiguous but plausible excuse.

Karl let out a small laugh.

She’s a better speaker than she looks. I guess that’s why the sly old fox, Tein, fell for it.

Elise then left. Karl, now alone, turned his horse toward the west.

Shall I go find her?

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