I Wasn't Trying to Seduce with the Male Lead - Episode 63

“It’s so nice to have you in the Empire for so long, Duke.”

The princess smiled radiantly at Sky.

A noblewoman seated beside her nodded, agreeing enthusiastically.

“It truly is. Even though your duchy must be busy, please visit Felicity often like this.”

“I’m so overwhelmed by your sincere welcome.”

As Sky smiled, the cheeks of the women surrounding him blushed as if they were drunk on champagne.

“Everyone welcomes you because they like you, Duke. Please come often and stay by Eileen’s side.”

“If Her Highness the Princess calls, I will come running at any time.”

At his words, the princess wore a proud smile.

He was enjoying a dinner party with the princess and the imperial nobles she had invited to the separate palace.

He was disgusted by such events but willingly attended, captivating the hearts of the nobles and giving the princess a lot of face.

As the meal neared its end in a friendly atmosphere, he stood up from his seat.

“Please excuse me for a moment.”

Sky, who elegantly left the table and went into the hallway, immediately entered a small door next to the hall.

Zenith, who was standing in the corner of the terrace with a black hood pulled over his head, approached him.

“Did you get it?”

Zenith took out a parchment scroll from his cloak and handed it to Sky.

“Parchment?”

“It was only very old documents. I brought it straight away as soon as I got it, so…”

While Zenith was speaking apologetically, Sky unrolled the parchment.

What he had ordered was a blueprint of the secret underground passage in the imperial palace.

Naturally, it was a normal thing for it to be impossible to obtain, as it was a top imperial secret.

However, a loophole had been created when the princess recklessly gave out oaths of subjugation to the knights in the basement through him.

“It’s quite complicated.”

The large parchment was densely filled with a very complex map.

He just glanced over it. From the beginning, this dinner was only held to make it seem as though he was attracted to the Empire’s hospitality, and he had no interest in it.

‘Things are going better than I thought.’

Sky smiled inwardly and looked at the princess.

A contradictory personality hidden behind an innocent face.

He didn’t dislike such a person, so he became more interested in her than when he had thought she was just a cheerful girl.

When it came to the matter concerning Eleonora, everyone openly opposed the imperial family, but Sky came up with a different approach.

‘If the opponent is too powerful to confront, the correct answer is to infiltrate and confront them from the inside.’

This was possible because he had already prepared a way to subtly escape.

He had publicly taken Eleanor in, but since he had already built up an image of being a libertine, he could just be seen as someone who had a fling with a topic of conversation and move on.

After that, he also pretended to take a step back and observe. He didn’t take any particular stance at the great conference either.

His plan was a success, and he was currently trusted by the princess.

‘Now it’s all a matter of time.’

In fact, Sky decided to approach the princess because he suspected that someone was behind her.

After observing her from the side, he found that the emperor was aware of the princess casting evil spells.

‘I’m glad I didn’t approach her carelessly.’

The witch Beatrice.

He didn’t know the exact details, but if the imperial family had imprisoned her underground, she must be an extremely dangerous person.

However, once he knew of her existence, he could prepare for it.

The flaw that Sky discovered was that the relationship between her and the princess was not comfortable.

The princess complained that Beatrice was being difficult and didn’t fulfill her requests obediently.

‘It’s a problem to just entrust the oath of subjugation to anyone.’

After learning about the oath of subjugation, the princess wanted to have many puppets who would obey her completely.

Sky subtly incited her to ask him instead of Beatrice.

‘Because no one does such a thing for free.’

The oath of subjugation was a burdensome spell with a significant backlash on the caster.

There was a reason why he stepped forward to do such a thing.

He cast the oath of subjugation on the knights as the princess wished, but he changed the object of their obedience to “Sky Phaedra.”

And he ordered them to obey the princess for the time being.

The princess believed that they were subjugated to her, completely unaware of the truth.

But the knights she trusted completely were now under his absolute control.

‘Now I can save Eleanor.’

Eleanor Mariche was a woman who was truly worth the risk.

He was surprised when she talked about the underground prison, thinking she was bravely walking into danger but she had something up her sleeve.

‘I’m so curious about what else she’s hiding.’

To not lose her, he had to save her as soon as possible.

Even though things were going well, he couldn’t afford to be complacent.

There was no guarantee that he wouldn’t be caught, and the emotionally unstable princess might change her mind and try to kill Eleanor at any time.

He decided to rush things, even if it was a bit hasty.

‘Tonight.’

He had already secured a place to take Eleanor and hide her.

The princess was somewhat off guard after successfully capturing and imprisoning Eleonora, and the emperor’s attention was focused on preventing Lian and the dukes from meeting on their return.

He had to take advantage of this moment when the internal surveillance was lax.

After all, he had to finish everything before Lian returned.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed like this. I feel like I’ve come to realize how precious it is to have a chat with close friends.”

The princess seemed delighted, completely unaware of Sky’s true intentions.

The faces of those referred to as “close friends” were also very bright. With this kind of atmosphere, the party would surely continue riotously until dawn.

That was better for Sky anyway.

He had already obtained the blueprint, and the guards were all subjugated to him, so there was no need to waste time.

If he were to leave the party for a moment, quickly rescue Eleanor, send her away, and then nonchalantly return to the party, the princess would never suspect that he was the culprit.

“This is the Phaedra’s champagne, which has a smooth texture like silk. When poured into a glass, it looks like it has jewel fragments floating in it, so it’s called ‘El Jewel’.”

As Sky poured and distributed the beautiful golden champagne, the atmosphere grew even more intense.

“Oh, the color is truly beautiful.”

After serving several glasses of champagne to the delighted princess, Sky pretended to be preparing something else and left the hall.

And it took him less than a minute to come out onto the terrace, take off his cumbersome imperial party attire, and change into a comfortable, jet-black outfit.

“We’re going in now.”

Leading Zenith and three of his confidants who were waiting for him, Sky immediately ran to the maze garden.

There were many entrances to the underground passage, so they could enter from anywhere as long as they knew the location.

For several days, he had already used the subjugated knights to figure out the order in which the underground guards were being relieved.

“This way.”

They moved so fast that they were a blur and found the hidden entrance under the ivy-covered stone wall and went straight inside.

They descended the damp, moldy stairs and ran through the dimly lit underground without hesitation.

According to the blueprint, he found the entrance to the underground prison not far from the backyard.

“It’s exactly as the knights described.”

When Sky murmured, Zenith also nodded in agreement.

When this door opened, there would be a gloomy and spacious underground prison, and inside, there would be the witch who had lived a long life and Eleanor.

“Call a knight.”

At Sky’s command, Zenith began to tap the wall in a steady rhythm.

It was a pre-arranged signal instead of words.

A short time later, footsteps echoed from behind, and a subjugated knight appeared.

“Open the door.”

The knight made a very reluctant expression and began to tremble.

He looked as if he really didn’t want to open the door.

‘Is there still loyalty to the princess left?’

It was strange.

He, who never lost his composure even after deep training, was showing a reaction.

Sensing something was wrong, Sky immediately went to the door and looked inside.

Soon, he bit his lip.

‘This is…’

In the pitch-black darkness, there was a gigantic, a far too gigantic eye.

Sky, who had just faced the black, abyss-like monster, muttered in a low voice.

“A miscalculation.”

Sky’s face turned a rare shade of pale.

Herhon, who was the vice-captain of the Behind Knights along with Eliah, frowned when he saw a white dot appearing on the horizon.

It was racing toward them as fast as a flash of light.

That movement was one he had become familiar with from watching it countless times over the past few years.

‘Why is he coming alone?’

The familiar sound of hooves and the unique horsemanship.

It was definitely Lian, who should have been with the Imperial Knights.

He didn’t know the reason, but at least he was glad they met.

They didn’t miss each other thanks to the Behind Knights’ detailed guidelines, which even specified the routes to take when traveling through the vast empire.

“Everyone halt. We’re joining the captain.”

At Herhon’s short command, the Behind Knights stopped in perfect formation.

And before they could even finish reorganizing their ranks, the white flash of light stopped in front of them.

“What are you doing here?”

Lian asked, pulling down the hood he was wearing over his face.

He was covered in dirt from riding day and night, but his face with its delicate features and vivid purple eyes were still elegant.

“I have something urgent to report.”

Lian raised his chin, urging him to report.

“The Baroness Mariche has been imprisoned in an underground dungeon.”

At that moment, Lian’s purple eyes flashed.

“An underground dungeon? Whose?”

“The dungeon in the imperial palace’s underground passage.”

Lian was the captain of the knights in charge of the Empire’s security, so he would naturally know about the imperial palace’s underground passage.

His marble-like brow furrowed.

“Then why are you here? I told you to stay by her side no matter what.”

Lian rebuked him in a rarely harsh tone.

Herhon bowed his head and answered clearly.

“When you left, she refused an escort and instead demanded that we follow one command.”

“What is it?”

“If there’s a risk of being isolated and annihilated, we are to leave with a minimum amount of troops and have everyone leave and inform you as soon as possible.”

Lian bit his red lips.

He was clearly very angry but seemed unable to scold them further due to the fact that they couldn’t refuse the command of the person holding the seal.

To him, who was suppressing his rage, Herhon took out an envelope and handed it to him.

“What is it?”

“A message from the Baroness.”

At the mention that it was from Eleonora, Lian immediately tore open the envelope.

After reading it in one go, he gave a command to everyone.

“Return to the capital immediately.”

Herhon asked Lian, who was gripping the reins, as if to confirm.

“Is our destination the count’s mansion?”

Lian paused for a moment and then answered softly.

“Everyone, we’re going to the imperial palace.”

The Behind Knights had nothing to do with this expedition, so they had no right to enter the imperial palace.

Herhon’s face hardened as he realized Lian’s hidden meaning.

“We will save Eleonora no matter what.”

Herhon’s grim face contorted, but he immediately bowed his head.

“I will obey your command.”

Lian Calabria was the spirit of the Behind Knights.

They were all people who had decided to follow Lian even if he ordered them to die.

The sound of the hooves of the world’s strongest knight order echoed on the quiet main road of the Empire.

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