Julietta's Dressup

Chapter 73. Julietta Iris Kiellini, Part XI

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

"It’s okay, it’s only a day to get to the Magic Square in Baden Territory. On the contrary, the fewer people are moving, the less they will pay attention. It was early yesterday morning that we left the Imperial Castle after hearing that the Empress and His Highness’s party had not arrived at the border, so those who stayed in the village will have found that Prince Killian had not returned to the Imperial Castle by now. So, I’m going to get out of town right away."

He heard a rustle in the bed as Louis was explaining the plan like that. As Louis and Tamot hurried to the bedside, they could see Killian blinking his eyes as if he had come to his senses.

"Your Highness, are you awake?" Louis called Killian carefully, who had finally come to his senses.

Killian lay still, looking at the ceiling and walls of a strange inn. Count Valerian looking down at him, and closed his eyes again. Hiding in the Empress’s dress, he felt cowardly and miserable even as a youth.

Killian recalled the time of the nightmare. As the carriage door opened and the voices of the enemies were heard, the Empress asked for their identity, as if to teach him.

Then Liana who fell over him, whispered in a small voice as she was dying, "Your Highness, you’ll be fine. This hard work will soon pass if you bear with it a little. It will be okay. It will be okay. It’ll be over in a minute."

Liana whispered in a very small voice that he would be all right, to placate Killian until she was out of breath. Killian fainted, unable to overcome the tension and fear, despite the very comforting voice which was barely audible to his ear.

When he opened his eyes, everything was quiet. But Killian couldn’t get out of the place, because he wasn’t sure he was safe yet. The moment he got out of this safe darkness, a sharp sword seemed to approach him.

Killian had to spend two days there, despite the smell of blood that stung his nose. Finally, he fainted again in hunger, thirst, and fear that he might never get out of there forever. But when he woke up, he saw the familiar Count of Valerian.

Tears began to flow down silently from the eyes of the Prince. Louis hugged Killian without knowing himself, as he saw only tears came down without any word.

"Your Highness, it’s all right now. It’s okay, so stop crying."

---

As soon as Killian stopped crying, the group left the village. In the middle of the ride, changing their tired horses, they arrived at the Baden Territory’s Magic Square, and fortunately they were able to reach the capital city Dublin without much interruption.

----

Maybe it was because he had survived that way, but childhood had disappeared from Killian. The bright, childish-looking Prince’s charming appearance suddenly disappeared, his expressionless face, his cold eyes, and the arrogant character with no forgiveness for challenging his authority took over.

No matter how young he was, the shame for keeping his life and hiding in the Empress’s skirts continued to plague Killian. He swore that he would never run into such a situation again.

Killian thought the reason that he had been constantly threatened since birth, and that the Empress had died was that the people around him wanted to make him the Crown Prince. Since then, the boy had publicly stated that he had no intention of becoming a Crown Prince in order to avoid giving cause to those who wanted to kill him.

However, his desire for revenge had not been extinguished. He had told the Emperor that it was also totally unacceptable for Francis of the family of Dudley, who had killed the Empress to become the Crown Prince. That was why the Crown Prince of Austern had been pushed out to date.

Killian thought of the fortune teller’s prophecy as Spencer said, chewing up his most troubled time.

On the first anniversary of the Empress after she died, the prophecy arrived.

The astrologer who had come to Austern with the Bertino sisters disappeared after the Empress died. People thought she disappeared, shocked by her failure to prevent the death of the Empress. But the fortune-teller reappeared on the first anniversary of the Empress.

After praying for the Empress’s happiness in the after world, she had a private meeting with the Emperor and revealed why she had returned to the Imperial Castle. The prophecy was about the next Emperor, and she said that the next Emperor would be the one who would marry a woman of Austern’s highest rank.

Killian snorted at the thought of what had happened at that time. If she was so spiritual, why did she fail to prevent and predict his aunt’s death? He shrugged and laughed at it, thinking that it was all bullshit and superstition.

He shook his head and turned his gaze out of the office, apparently trying to shake off memories of his troubled past. A blue sky was visible from the wide-open window. He was thinking of Julietta somewhere under the sky, and he heard Spencer say. "As soon as Count Valerian saw me, he asked me where he could go and see Lillian. What’s wrong?"

Killian lowered his eyes as he looked up at the sky and looked at his cousin. "A cat ran away, and I am wondering if Lillian knows where she is."

"What nonsense are you talking about! Do you mean the maid I wrote you a letter of introduction for?" asked Spencer, who was quick to sense something.

"That’s right. I thought I’d get a maid who’s good at her job for a long time, but I think someone stole her," Killian answered, throwing a pencil at the table, breaking it. Spencer had a serious look when he saw the pencil rolling in two pieces.

"What are you thinking?"

"What?"

"A bloody war will begin over the throne. Externally, it’s going to be a fight between you and Francis, but I don’t know who else will get involved. Under such circumstances, you’re wasting valuable manpower trying to find a maid who just ran away."

"Not to waste. I just asked Valerian to find out. I can save more time if you help."

Spencer glanced at Killian for a moment, took a broken pencil, wrote something on the paper and handed it to Killian.

"What is this address? Harrods Street?"

"I’ve got her sitting down, after she tried to go down to the countryside. It’s close to Bertino mansion."

Killian threw a crumpled piece of paper into Spencer’s face when he smiled shamelessly, and gave an order to his waiting servant.

"Bring me Count Valerian."

******

"The people who remain in the mansion will be moved to the annex, along with Iris, no Regina."

When Julietta returned to her bedroom from Iris’ room, Simone and Vera followed her a while later. She thought she could finally get some rest after a tiring trip where she had to pretend to be an unfamiliar noble lady, but they didn’t seem to be willing to let her go.

"All of the servants and maids, including all the cooks, are going to move to a separate house except for the butler and Vera. Iris shouldn’t have any inconvenience."

The few remaining residents of the castle were loyal to the family of Kiellini from generation to generation. However, no matter how loyal they were, they could not reveal that someone else would dare take on the role of their little master.

The residents in the mansion knew that they would move along with Regina, who was weak and serve her while she was at the annex, refreshing herself at the change of surroundings. When they returned to the mansion, there would be no sign of Julietta or the temporary workers.

"The temporary workers will be dispatched from the Kiellini headquarters in the capital. They’re going to go with you when you go up to the main house. It’s an action to show them the life in Tilia to lull any suspicions that may arise, so be careful not to be found at fault. Vera will be in charge of being in attendance until we get you your own maid, but since you were a maid, I think you can do most of it alone. The maids of the headquarters in the family of Kiellini are those who have grown up dealing with many aristocrats in the main house. Make sure not to let them know who you are and be regarded with suspicion after doing clumsy things."