Never Saved You - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Translator: Yonnee

—

“You’re just trying to seduce a man of high rank, aren’t you? There’s a saying that a daughter follows her mother’s fate. I guess you’ll lose your neck for being so avaricious.”

In the past, Ophelia would have been hurt by Cadelia’s words, or perhaps ridiculed Cadelia for running all the way here.

Perhaps Cadelia thought the former was more likely to happen.

Cadelia was making fun of Ophelia’s mother for giving birth to her and for losing her life in an ‘accident’.

Rather, what filled her was anger.

‘How annoying…’

It was time for her to leave soon. She had no time for this.

Ophelia needed to send Cadelia away as soon as possible.

She sighed, then opened her lips.

“I don’t know where you heard that saying about a daughter following her mother’s fate, but you shouldn’t say that so flippantly. Remember, you’re a daughter, too. What if you have an unwanted arranged marriage like a certain person?”

“…What?”

At Ophelia’s cold tone, Cadelia furrowed her brows.

“Do you think you and I are the same right now? Father promised me! He won’t sell me off to a political marriage!”

“Sure…”

But Ophelia knew that Cadelia would indeed be sold off.

Vows were easy to make. And they were easy to sell as well if there was a daughter as precious as her.

Love that seemed to last forever would be overturned, and for that reason, there’s no stopping the retraction of a vow made to that daughter.

But Cadelia, who barely understood this, was incredibly entertaining to Ophelia’s eyes right now. She laughed coldly.

Cadelia’s blindness resembled Ophelia’s past self.

The same one who believed that such vows would be kept sacred.

Ophelia decided to do her one last favor.

“Think about it, Cadelia. It’s true that Father cares about you now, but if he runs into an inevitable situation, what do you think Father will choose? His daughter or his country?”

“…Stop it.”

“I don’t think it’ll be you. Don’t cry about it later.”

“…Stop! Stop it! You don’t know anything!”

Cadelia screamed and screamed, and as Ophelia wondered if she would calm down in a while, Cadelia lifted her hand up high.

Children used brute force if things didn’t go their way.

‘Even though I showed you enough grace.’

That’s what Ophelia thought as she tried to defend herself against Cadelia’s hand.

“What’s this?”

But there was no need for that.

Alei appeared, and he was holding Cadelia’s hand to stop her.

* * *

“I’ve come to find you because it’s already so late, but…”

Alei looked back and forth between Ophelia and Cadelia, his expression distinctively grim, then spoke again.

“…I guess you were held up.”

Would it be strange to think of Ophelia that his voice seemed subtly strained right now?

Inwardly wondering about it, Ophelia waved it off.

“No, it’s nothing. Are you ready to depart?”

“As soon as Your Highness boards the ship, we will set off. Have you brought all your things?”

“Alright. I just need to wrap this up. Are you not going to let Cadelia go?”

Ophelia’s gaze was directed at Cadelia’s hand, which he had caught, and for a while now, she’s been trying to struggle out of his hold.

It’s just that Alei didn’t care about her futile attempts.

Then, the red-faced Cadelia kicked Alei on the shin and shouted.

“Do you know who I am?! How dare you do such a rude thing! I’m not letting this go!”

“Hmm, must be a noblewoman or an Imperial family member. Since you look alike, is she a princess?”

Even as Cadelia continuously kicked him on the shin, Alei stayed nonchalant and continued holding her up like she was a child having a tantrum.

“Yes I am! How dare you treat the first daughter of the Imperial family! If you know who you’re dealing with now, my father won’t let this go! Unhand me this instant!”

“That’s odd. As far as I know, the first-born princess is over here. What a pain in the neck it is to keep track of His Majesty’s blood relations.”

Alei said this as though he was truly clueless. Then, he leaned down to get on Cadelia’s level.

“The First Princess is over here, yet you claim to be the first daughter. I don’t know who you are. How can I let such a suspicious person stay in Her Highness’ presence?”

“I am the only daughter of His Majesty and Her Majesty! I’m Cadel—!”

Cadelia insisted, but unfortunately, she couldn’t even finish her proud declaration.

Even before her sentence was finished, Alei flicked his hand, and Cadelia suddenly disappeared.

Ophelia’s eyes went wide, bewildered at what just happened right in front of her in a split second.

“Just now, that was teleportation, right?”

“That’s right, Your Highness.”

“I haven’t seen many people in this country do that. Where did you send her?”

“I’m not entirely sure. She probably fell somewhere. I moved her to somewhere in the palace, so she’ll find her way eventually.”

Alei answered nonchalantly, brushing off his pants where Cadelia kicked him. At that, Ophelia chuckled.

“Why is Your Highness laughing? Do I look funny now?”

“I’ve never seen anyone treat Cadelia like that.”

“Ah, that’s for sure. She’s worse than the rumors paint her out to be.”

“But will you be okay after treating her like that?”

Ophelia’s half-joking tone was imbued with worry.

She was about to get slapped just a moment ago, but now she was even more worried about another person.

But Ophelia knew he wouldn’t get caught. And Alei was aware of this, too.

He deliberately used a teleportation spell, which was classified as high-level magic.

He could be found through a description of his appearance, but if they went by the advanced magic he did just now, then that would be a different story.

There’s no way they’d list Alei as one of the possible mages who could pull that off.

He wouldn’t even be considered at all.

Mages were precious subjects anyway, so it wouldn’t be easy to condemn one.

Furthermore, if it was made known that there was a mage who could use an advanced spell like teleportation, then the Empire wouldn’t kill or punish him.

Of course, Ophelia wasn’t even thinking of how the situation would be at the Magic Tower.

‘That being said, I’m not sure if it’s naivety or indifference.’

Normally, a person would worry about their own situation first, but right now, Ophelia was truly concerned for another person first.

It was a favorable gaze that didn’t show its intentions.

Whenever Alei received that gaze, he felt so uncomfortable, to the point that his stomach would twist up in knots.

“……”

Alei briefly turned towards Ophelia.

“…Worst case scenario, I’ll be executed. Anyway, the others have been waiting, so we must be on our way.

“Ah, right. Has it been that long?”

Ophelia frowned slightly.

Lilith, her immediate subordinate, was set to come with her to Ladeen, but Lilith was rather contemptuous towards Ophelia.

More than once, she would scrutinize Ophelia’s every move during her inspections just because she was an inspector attached to the Imperial family.

Now, if Ophelia was late, Lilith would definitely be prickly and ask her the reason why she was so tardy.

Fortunately, Alei was by her side.

Towards the concerned Ophelia, Alei answered.

“It’s not that late. I don’t know the way to the palace very well, so I got a bit lost on my way to pick Your Highness up.”

Ophelia was comfortable now.

“I’ll take you there quickly. Just prepare yourself of the…”

Alei raised his arm horizontally and moved it up and down.

Thanks to this, Ophelia realized for the first time what motion sickness was.

She would rather have heard Lilith’s nagging over this.

* * *

Ladeen was a port city in the South of the Milescet Empire.

Ophelia had been appointed as the inspector for Ladeen for two reasons.

One, Ladeen’s lord was unmarried.

The Emperor intended to use Ophelia’s marriage as a political bargaining chip as much as possible, and he had much to gain from Ladeen’s lord because of the lucrative trading port he had.

Second, because of Ladeen’s geographical characteristics. Apart from the sea beyond it, Ladeen was an enclosed territory.

There were a lot of mountains surrounding it, and the main road that people used before had collapsed suddenly before.

That road had been a canal. The ground would often become weak if the rivers would flood, and so the ground eventually collapsed and the road had been cut off.

Ladeen had the ideal terrain for an Imperial family member to avoid the eyes of others.

The shrewd Emperor couldn’t let such a chance go.

A new road was set to be rebuilt at Ladeen this year, so Ophelia was sent to inspect the land.

Or, it could be the other way around.

‘Ladeen was the best springboard to escape from the Milescet Empire.’

It would be difficult to avoid the eyes of the Imperial family elsewhere, but if it was in Ladeen, it might not be so hard.

And besides that, Ladeen was also close to the destination that Ophelia was planning to head towards.

She’d love to go there right away, but…

There was still much to prepare.

The first step towards her preparation had already been secured a few days ago.

Alei.

Inside the carriage they rode towards Ladeen’s fief, there was a certain urgency behind Ophelia’s voice.

“We need to set this straight before we continue. Alei, I am not helping you as a favor.”

At Ophelia’s explanation, Alei nodded as though he had expected it.

“…I did think you reached out first because you needed something from me.”

“Are you disappointed that it wasn’t pure goodwill?”

“No. On the contrary, I’m relieved. It would inconvenience me if you’re helping me out of the good of your heart.”

Although it felt like Ophelia needed to pause for a moment to wonder about Alei’s response, she quickly brushed it aside and continued speaking.

Come to think of it, Alei was originally obstinate with everything.

“Then I’ll explain it simply. This is a give and take relationship.”

“Of course.”

Alei laughed bitterly as sarcasm lightly painted his voice, his foot tapping on the carriage floor as he contemplated.

“So, what do I have to do for you?”