The Villain’s Aide Has Run Away

Had there ever been another moment when his breath caught this hard?

The situation was as troublesome as it could be, but Leslun’s survival instinct told him he could not miss this opportunity.

“Before that—my family is in the Count’s territory.”

Kailos’s brow arched slightly.

The words had come out abruptly, but for Leslun—standing on the thin line between life and death—it could not have been a mere slip.

Kailos closed his mouth and watched him in silence.

“My father, who has never once missed a day of work, and my mother, who has raised my younger brother while caring for the household… they don’t know what I do, nor what has happened to me.”

Leslun’s voice was calm, but every word carried a suppressed weight.

“They are very ordinary people.”

Kailos’s eyes narrowed. He was starting to grasp what Leslun was trying to say.

“You want me to bring your family here?”

His voice, asking for confirmation, did not sound pleasant. Perhaps it was the nuisance of the request. Even so, Leslun did not back down.

“Yes.”

“So you mean—you’ll only give me your answer depending on mine?”

Kailos’s lips twisted.

To dare to negotiate with the Crown Prince—his reaction showed how brazenly insolent it was.

A sharp, oppressive aura filled the room.

It reminded Leslun of the moment he had first been caught by the man before him.

His breath caught in his chest, cold sweat trickling down his spine. His body itself recoiled in fear of him.

But could he retreat here?

Leslun forced strength into his trembling body and endured.

In the heavy silence pressing down on the air, their gazes clashed head-on.

“You have no right to set conditions.”

It was Kailos who broke the silence first.

When he spoke, the suffocating air shifted, rippling faintly. With that single line, the atmosphere in the room turned.

It was threatening even without a blade’s edge pressed against him, a tension so taut it was hard to utter even a word. It was sharp enough to seem as though he might throw Leslun back into prison at any moment.

Leslun was grateful he was lying down. At least this way his legs wouldn’t give out and make him collapse.

“But precisely because you’re so insolent… I’m even more curious. Just what kind of answer are you trying to give, coming out like this?”

Kailos accepted the negotiation.

His tone softened, but the grain of his smile had shifted.

Leslun had mentioned his family—so now, depending on his answer, it was as if Kailos were warning him exactly where the blade would fall.

Leslun drew in a deep breath before speaking.

“Let them do as they wish.”

Kailos’s brow furrowed sharply.

***

As soon as Kailos opened the door and entered, the guests already present all turned toward him at once.

A dignified older man gave a slight bow of greeting. It was Duke Delta, Lady Miroi’s biological father.

Beside him sat the Empress, tilting a teacup to her lips. Behind her stood a young man. He had been introduced as one of her distant relatives, but he seemed to be posing as her attendant.

“I greet Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”

The blond man, whose striking hair resembled the Empress’s, offered his greeting, and at her gesture he stepped back to wait in the rear.

As Kailos approached, the seated Empress slowly lifted her head.

Bright golden hair, pale skin. Down-slanted eyes and full lips—beauty that anyone would find breathtaking. And yet, she somehow did not match well with Kailos.

Though they were Empress and Crown Prince—mother and son—the figure of the attendant standing behind her seemed a better fit.

“You must have been occupied with urgent matters.”

“That is so, Your Majesty the Empress.”

At Kailos’s respectful reply, the stiffness around the woman’s eyes loosened for a moment.

Kailos carried himself with the ease of a host welcoming guests.

“Shall we bring tea and talk at leisure while we drink?”

Thus began the conversation between those who somehow did not seem to belong together.

“Discipline has been lax of late.”

The small talk, customarily exchanged to ease the mood, was brief. The Empress quickly moved to the main subject.

Kailos suppressed the sneer that threatened to rise, already perceiving the direction Empress Tera was steering toward.

“What is it, Your Majesty?”

“There is much discussion about which academy Prince Cassian should be sent to.”

Her tone brimmed with affection for her son. Had one not known of the hidden malice behind her words, it might even have seemed a fine, touching display of motherly love.

With such a delicate-looking face, she had held her position as Empress firmly. Her smile, which might conceal a dagger poised for a sudden strike, could never appear purely beautiful to Kailos.

He did not let his smile fade as he answered first.

“His Majesty the Emperor is greatly invested in the academy currently under construction.”

“It’s not only that new academy being proposed—that’s the problem. There are too many suggestions about where he should go. I only said it because I was frustrated by all the excessive advice.”