One Day, My Fiancé Brought His First Love Along - Chapter 76

“If it’s because of me, please just say so.”

As they left Edys’s office, with about two hand spans of distance between them, Aileen suddenly spoke from behind.

Carlisle came to a halt. Without looking back, he ran a hand over his face, trying not to show any reaction.

He had figured she might still be holding onto those thoughts, but he hadn’t expected her to bring it up so directly. Didn’t she hate him? Or rather, hadn’t she moved past hatred entirely into cold, complete indifference?

It surprised him deeply, but Carlisle answered with practiced indifference.

“It’s not.”

“If I hadn’t been attacked, we could’ve interrogated him without issue. Maybe we would’ve gotten something concrete.”

Aileen was someone who took great pride in her role as a knight and felt a strong sense of duty toward every mission. That was one of many things Carlisle loved about her.

Knowing her inside and out, Carlisle denied her claim again—without even a trace of weariness.

“Finding the source was close to impossible from the start. His Majesty knew that, but assigned the task anyway. It was a decision made with public concerns in mind. So don’t worry about it.”

It wasn’t meant to be comforting, but somehow, it was.

Aileen said nothing more. Truthfully, the question had slipped out impulsively.

While investigating the perfume case, she’d found herself talking to Carlisle more easily—without meaning to.

It didn’t mean she had forgotten his betrayal. Rather, the formal façade—the stiffness born of bitterness—had quietly vanished without her realizing it.

Maybe it was because she’d discarded the softer side of herself, the one she’d only ever shown to the Carlisle of the past. Maybe she’d let herself be raw and unfiltered instead.

And if that meant she could now carry out missions alongside him while keeping personal feelings in check… perhaps that was for the better.

“…Still, thank you. For saving my life.”

Trying to break the lingering awkward silence, Aileen added another word of thanks.

The Marquess of Hessiden slammed his fist down on his desk, his face twisted like a crumpled piece of paper.

The documents he had just thrown down scattered under the force—words like Primère perfume, confiscated for illegal licensing, Hamilton merchant dead spilled across the desk in disorder, as ugly as they sounded.

Clenching his teeth, the Marquess barely held his fury in check, but his voice betrayed the simmering rage beneath the surface.

“What the hell happened? Explain.”

He hadn’t expected the operation to collapse so suddenly. True, he’d always considered the perfume business expendable, but he had expected it to last at least until the new product was launched.

He had just promised the northern tribes double their usual bonus in exchange for delivering two new formulas.

To increase the side effects compared to the previous versions, they needed to add more toxic herbs—but the tribes claimed it was too risky to source them, likely just another excuse to inflate the price.

Whether it was their harsh living conditions or natural greed, the northern tribes were insatiable. And barbaric, too.

Their new alliance chief, Santinu, was relatively better—but still difficult to deal with. Just another kind of useless.

“What was I supposed to do when the three of them went behind my back?”

The voice that answered from across the desk was dry and emotionless, with not a hint of groveling.

That only irritated the Marquess more.

“You dare talk back to me—!”

The ashtray he hurled narrowly missed the man’s ear, crashing into the wall behind him with a loud crack.

A tense silence followed. Then came a calm, cold voice that filled the space.

“Before Carlisle and Aileen even started their search, I told you His Majesty had already ordered a private investigation. I didn’t expect to be excluded either. If I had known, I would’ve informed you first.”

His explanation was delivered quietly, steadily. The Marquess exhaled slowly. Right—this man had no choice but to obey him. It wasn’t a lie.

“This will be corrected. No matter what. You can go now.”

With a polite bow, the man turned and left the room.

“You summoned me, Your Majesty.”

“You’re here, Duke. Please, have a seat.”

Edys welcomed him warmly with a gesture, and Duke Revart responded with a formal bow before taking the seat to Edys’s left. His posture—straight-backed and poised—matched his neatly tied, rose-colored hair, so similar to Aileen’s.

Edys hoped the words he was about to speak would pass through the Duke’s ears as smoothly as the strands of that graceful hair.

“Has Dame Aileen mentioned anything to you?”

It was an abrupt question, but Duke Revart, who had been tracking the Marquess of Hessiden closely with the Emperor, understood immediately.

“She hasn’t said a word. As Your Majesty knows, she takes after me—tight-lipped to a fault.”

At that, Edys’s expression stiffened, just slightly.

Even in private, Duke Revart maintained perfect form and unshakable loyalty. But at times—just like now—there was a subtle softness to him.

“Our Aileen truly is a Revart through and through. It stings a little, but I understand. That’s exactly what makes her remarkable.”

He was always so strict with Ashite, yet endlessly soft when it came to Aileen. Seeing the Duke’s unusually wistful expression, Edys decided to postpone the more pressing topic for now.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t find any definitive evidence tying the Marquess of Hessiden to the attack. However, we did uncover traces pointing to involvement by the northern tribes.”

“To dig that deep against a slippery snake like the Marquess… As expected of our Aileen.”

“…Indeed. Your proud daughter made a significant breakthrough. But, we’ve run into a problem.”

The air surrounding Duke Revart shifted immediately. His gentle gaze hardened into stone.

“A problem, Your Majesty?”

“It seems we have a leak within our own ranks. The merchant master Sir Carlisle captured was found dead in his cell. Clearly murdered.”

On the day of the Hamilton Guild raid, Carlisle had remained behind after sending Aileen away, interrogated the merchant master, and forced him to utter the name of the Marquess of Hessiden. Carlisle had then personally dragged the man to the imperial underground prison and ensured he was locked up securely.

He had made certain the man couldn’t take his own life and even stationed knights to guard him.

“No one from our side brought poison into the prison, so the poisoning must have been carried out by someone who wanted the truth buried.”

This wasn’t just some hidden cell under Carlisle’s private residence—this was the Imperial Prison. The merchant master had been placed in solitary confinement, with dedicated guards watching him. The fact that he had still been silenced so easily meant only one thing: there was a traitor. Or, far less likely, someone had tracked their movements and struck with precision.

But would Carlisle and his elite knights—known as the finest in the Diert Empire—really have transferred such a valuable witness with that kind of carelessness? Highly unlikely.

“Wasn’t the Sel Order assigned to guard the prison?”

“Affairs within the Imperial Palace also fall under the jurisdiction of the Khan Order.”

It had been Carlisle and a few of his knights who captured and transferred the merchant master. But it was members of the Khan Order—Aileen’s unit—who had been tasked with guarding him afterward.

Everyone already knew that Carlisle was investigating the capital’s strange incidents with Aileen. No one found it strange that he brought in the culprit—on the surface, the merchant appeared to be a mere greedy man with no ties to Hessiden or the northern tribes.

Moreover, the solitary cells of the underground prison were reserved for only the most dangerous or sensitive prisoners. The area had been under the watch of a very small number of handpicked knights from the Khan Order—trusted for their silence. Or so they had thought.

“We’ll need to be very careful. If we’re to flush out the rat.”

“Indeed. So far, only you, Aileen, Carlisle, and his knights are aware of this matter…”

“Along with the commander and vice-commander of the Khan Order, and a few knights who were on guard duty that night.”

“Correct. Sir Ashite and Commander Liel are currently being reassigned outside the capital, so they’re still unaware—for now.”

“That narrows the field.”

Duke Revart gave a cold smile, his eyes sharp. With his unwavering loyalty to the Imperial family and his stern sense of justice, his fury at betrayal was immense.

Edys gave him a moment to collect himself before continuing, lightly watching the Duke’s reaction as he began to explain the remaining details about the perfume case.

“And there’s one more reason I summoned you today.”

“Please speak, Your Majesty.”

“…For the upcoming northern subjugation, I intend to place Sir Carlisle and Dame Aileen in the same unit.”

The Duke’s expression stiffened. Edys observed him for a moment, then continued calmly.

“As you know, Sir Carlisle is the strongest knight in the Empire. And I’ve never forgotten the day Dame Aileen nearly lost her life.”

The incident that had left Aileen so gravely injured she’d been forced to step away from knighthood—Edys now invoked it before the man who despised Carlisle most, tying that day back to him.

“Back then, we had no choice but to call it an accident… but you and I both know something about it wasn’t right. I suspect that same force may move again during the upcoming campaign.”

“…”

“I don’t want to send Dame Aileen into danger, but we can’t hold her back now. As you know, she’s among the Empire’s finest knights.”

“But—”

“That’s precisely why I’m assigning Sir Carlisle to her side. I understand your displeasure. But as Emperor, her safety—and eliminating the evil that threatens this Empire—matters more.”

Duke Revart opened his mouth as if to protest, but fell silent at the sudden pressure in Edys’s now solemn tone.

“…Understood, Your Majesty.”

“I assure you, there won’t be any unfortunate incidents.”

“…Yes.”

Though he was still far from satisfied, Duke Revart was well aware of his role as head of House Revart.

What the Emperor said wasn’t wrong. In fact, he hadn’t just remembered the past—he had deliberately linked it to the present crisis.

And looking at Aileen lately, she no longer seemed shaken by Carlisle as she once had. This was a subjugation campaign. Others would be there too. It would be fine.

Thinking of his beloved daughter, the Duke respectfully lowered his head to the Emperor.

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