# Chapter 29
Chapter 29
When she saw him, memories that were hazy, as if from the distant past, suddenly began to emerge.
His hands were shaking.
The letters she sent to Rezef, begging him to save her.
Long clothes that she was forced to wear even in the summer to hide the bruises.
Memories of hiding in the darkest places of her castle, as if she were playing hide and seek.
Cayena had nowhere to turn.
Rezef had completely abandoned her.
So in the end, she wrote a letter to Raphael.
The letter asking for mercy didn't even reach the Kedrey Duchy.
It was discovered by Gillian.
"Yes.
That day, Gillian killed me, asking if I still had feelings for Raphael."
Fear was deeply imprinted in Cayena's heart.
She clasped her shaking hands together.
“Which family are you from?
Fortunately, she managed to speak calmly.
Gillian's face was polite, but he couldn't hide his disappointment.
“… Henverton Gillian greets Her Majesty the Princess.
It was painful just to hear his voice.
Why didn't she think anything about Gillian before?
Was it because it was so terrible that she unconsciously repressed those memories?
Cayena pretended not to be affected and said: — So you are the son of Viscount Gillian.
“We danced together in the banquet hall last time.
Don't you remember me?
— he asked, taking a step towards Cayena.
“I don’t know what he’ll do if I try to get rid of him and say I don’t remember.”
Cayena recognized the madness in his eyes.
She felt sick.
“I think I remember, now that you mention it.
At his response, Gillian took another step toward him.
There were only three steps left between the two.
“Back then, you danced with me twice.
I've been looking forward to seeing you again since that day, but I didn't expect us to meet like this today.
It was a ridiculous comment.
It was obvious that he had rushed here after hearing that Cayena was in the library.
Cayena didn't want to continue the conversation.
Vera, who had been watching the situation from the sidelines, intervened.
“Your Highness, it seems the carriage has arrived.
We should leave.
Gillian's horrible gaze turned to Vera.
Cayena tried to move away, but felt like she might faint if she took a step.
"Don't lose focus.
Nothing like that happened now."
She tried to stay calm thinking about it.
Now, Gillian can't confine her, beat her, or stab her with her sword.
But the more she thought about it, the more she felt like she couldn't breathe.
If only she had the veil covering her face.
She was already spending a lot of energy pretending to be fine and keeping an expressionless face.
“I'm going to say goodbye.
Gillian would never leave unless Cayena left first.
But when Cayena said goodbye, Gillian approached and extended her hand to her.
“Then I will accompany you, Your Highness!
— It seemed like a terrible threat to Cayena.
At the moment, her image overlapped with that of the older man who had run her through with his sword, eyes glowing, in her previous life.
Cayena quickly backed away.
At that moment, she lost strength and almost fell, when.
Bam!
Strong arms wrapped around her.
Her back fell into someone's wide embrace, and instead of falling to the ground, only her hat fell off.
“Are you well?
Cayena slowly turned her head to see the man holding her.
His red eyes that looked at her were very clear.
She called his name as a sigh of relief.
“…Raphael.
Originally, Raphael was visiting the Imperial Academy.
“Did you hear?
It was a strange case.
Normally, he wouldn't have listened to the parasites as they gossiped with his attendants.
But today, strangely, his lively words caught his attention.
“What is happening?
Baston, who enjoyed gossiping as much as his followers, immediately asked.
“Princess Cayena visited the imperial library next door!
“What?
The princess?
Raphael, who was filling out documents about a problem with one of the duchy's scholarships, stopped.
“So now the students are going crazy trying to get to the library.
She hadn't been out recently.
“That is true.
But to think that she came to the Imperial Library as her first excursion in a long time…
Baston frowned and tilted his head.
The library didn't really suit Cayena.
“What's the problem?
Jeremy asked as he entered the living room.
“Jeremy!
YouDid you hear?
Now in the Imperial Library…
“You are disturbing Sir Raphael's work.
The parasite looked at Raphael and closed his mouth tightly.
Jeremy approached Raphael.
“You will have to wait a while to observe the swordsmanship training.
What would you like to do?
“How long should I wait?
“It will take 40 minutes.
Raphael looked outside for a moment.
The Imperial Library entered his vision through the window.
Since it wasn't far, perhaps it was time for a short visit.
“I'll wait at the Imperial Library.
The follower and Baston's eyes lit up.
It was because they knew he was going to see Princess Cayena.
Jeremy asked:
“Should I prepare a carriage?
With that word, the follower quickly told him the information he heard.
“Excuse me, but they say a line of carriages is forming to see His Highness.
It will probably take a long time to go by carriage.
“Since it's close, I'll just walk.
“I will follow you!
— Baston followed quickly behind Raphael.
Raphael's red eyes looked at Baston.
“I will go alone.
Then, without waiting for a response, he left.
“Oh… our master is certainly acting a little strange?
Baston looked at Raphael's back as he walked away.
Then Jeremy slapped him on the head with some papers and scolded him.
“Disloyal idiot!
Don't use your mouth for those useless noises.
“Did I say something wrong…?
It is already the second time that he will visit His Highness first.
“Of course he will see her.
Você não sabe que tanto o círculo social quanto o político hoje em dia estão prestando atenção a cada ação da princesa?
Jeremy was criticizing Baston like this, but in truth, he also doubted his own words.
Raphael never said otherwise, but Jeremy knew he was reluctant to come into contact or have a relationship with people.
But he reached out to the princess for the second time, and it was quite unusual.
“The princess has changed a little recently, but…”
The indulgent attitude that Jeremy had seen until now remained strong in his impression of her.
“If you find out about this, you will definitely pressure him to get married even more.
He scratched between his eyebrows and sighed.
Raphael walked the path from the Imperial Academy to the library.
“It looks like it’s going to rain soon.”
Clouds had started to form in the sky in the morning and now the sky was dark gray.
It would probably rain within the hour.
“The princess may be preparing to return now.”
He walked a little faster.
He wanted to meet Cayena.
Of course, he told himself that it wasn't because of any personal feelings.
It was just because of politics.
Otherwise, he had no reason to think about the princess.
Like the others, he had always kept an eye on the imperial family, so he knew about recent events.
He learned that Cayena fainted because of an allergy and that all her ladies-in-waiting were banished by order of the Emperor.
Furthermore, he heard that Prince Rezef was released on parole.
“They say she petitioned for the prince for three hours and fell on her knees for that long.”
Then, the emperor temporarily transferred the authority of internal affairs to her.
Now, the aristocrats were debating whether this was planned or just a coincidence.
Raphael believed that everything was in accordance with Cayena's machinations.
“It’s not well known because the public was distracted by the princess, but one of the would-be brides disappeared, just as she predicted.”
The County of Avon was absorbed by Archduke Heinrich because they could not pay their debts.
The incident was much less amusing than the unrest in the Imperial Palace, so people only talked about it for a moment before it was quickly forgotten.
Raphael was walking along the corridor and found a familiar shape.
“It’s the princess… and this is the son of the Gillian family?”
There was no one in the way except them.
But something about the atmosphere was off.
There was a sense of coercion in Gillian's expression as he approached the princess.
Furthermore, it didn't look good when he took a threatening step towards Cayena.
Raphael, who slowed down, started walking quickly again.
Gillian reached for Cayena, and she stumbled back.
If it continued, she would fall.
Bam!
Raphael quickly grabbed Cayena in a hug.
A subtle scent arose fromthere.
“Are you well?