Be Fascinated

Chapter 20

But how could she leave? She couldn't leave him now. The knights were waiting outside the bookstore. Didn't she already know how frightening Claude was when she had left the house the other day?

A gentle confinement.

It was only then that Philia began to see her situation properly. She doesn't know where the truth is.

She had been living as a saint, so unaccustomed to abundance that she didn't even notice that it was strange.

"How... I will find a way."

"......."

"The succession ceremony will be held soon and he will be busy when he ascends to the throne."

"Succession ceremony...?"

Philia asked. Irik had a shocked expression on his face.

"Oh my God, Philia. Haven't you heard that the Emperor will soon return to the arms of God?"

"...I didn't know it was so imminent."

"The Crown Prince is really just toying with you. If he valued you, he should have told you that he would soon be crowned as the next Emperor."

It was the right thing to say. Tears welled up in Philia's eyes.

"After taking the throne, of course, he wouldn't have told you about your treatment."

"......"

"Once he enters the palace, it gets harder for you to get out. You have to get out before then."

"I see."

Philia's voice was trembling. She looked at Irik. Irik was looking at her with pity.

It's not that she wasn't hesitant to go towards Irik, who poured out hurtful words. But he was the only one she could trust.

"I want to go out. Please let me get out."

If Claude was only toying with her, Claude could not be forgiven as he had taken her entire life as a saint, only to get her in his grasp.

*

Fortunately, Claude was still only sending letters until now. Philia wrote a letter to Claude and at the same time wrote a letter to Irik, which she handed over to the bird he sent.

She still couldn't believe everything. Could it be that Irik was angry and told a lie? Or maybe there was some misunderstanding?

If Irik's words were true, she would be just a victim of betrayal and ridicule of that man. Not wanting this to be her fate, Philia continued to deny and doubt.

But the truth was cruel.

It wasn't the evidence that she asked Irik for, but Philia had also found evidence that changed her mind.

As she exchanged letters with Irik, she was pretending to be sensitive and prickly. She acted impatiently as if she was waiting for Claude, and from time to time she had the habit of burning the letters herself.

It was a front to dispose of Irik's letter. No one could stop Philia from acting like this.

That day, she had a lot of letters to burn, so Philia headed to the incinerator herself. As they said that Philia became sensitive and acted on her own, people didn't interfere with her going out to the garden. They only kept her on the watch lest she might escape.

There was a sharp smell from the incinerator as if the embers had remained from night to dawn.

She found something glimmering in the blackened ashes. She hesitated, then reached out and grabbed it. Her hands were black, but it didn't matter.