BETRAYAL OF DIGNITY
Part 34
Side Story 5
"Y-Your Majesty. I have committed a grave sin." Laurent, who had been summoned to the royal palace, lowered his pale face as tears pooled in his eyes.
With a dry expression, Damien turned to Weiss, who was standing beside him. "What did you say to him that terrified him so?"
"I merely suggested he bid a proper farewell to his family as he will be out of touch for some time," Weiss said. There was an edge to his voice, for he could not comprehend the scheme Damien planned to execute.
"Laurent."
"Yes, Your M-Majesty. I trust you are in good health..." Damien interrupted him. "I summoned you because I require your assistance."
Observing Damien calmly outline his plans and witnessing the initially apprehensive Laurent Taylor grow earnest and finally pledge his loyalty, Weiss bit his lip. With a determined expression, Laurent bowed his head and touched his forehead to the ground before Damien, vowing to do his utmost to fulfill his mission before exiting the room.
"It is dangerous." With Laurent gone, Weiss felt he needed to voice his concerns. It was clear to him that Laurent was a bumbling fool who could not be relied upon. However, Damien remained resolute, having already made his decision.
"It will be precisely ten days, including travel time. I hope you will think of it as an official tour."
If Damien were genuinely leaving on an official visit, Weiss would have no reason to worry. The issue was that he was planning to slip into the treacherous Duchy of Carter under a fabricated identity, taking the bungling Laurent Taylor as his attendant.
"Your Majesty," Weiss began.
Damien interrupted as though he had read Weiss's thoughts.
"Insubordination could earn you a month in a solitary cell in the royal prison. Let us avoid such unnecessary complications." Weiss had more significant concerns than a month of soli ary confinement. He furrowed his brow in contemplation and lowered his voice. "Should Carter catch wind of this, it could be dangerous."
"Genevoire is a provincial backwater, a world away from the capital."
"Even the provincial folk read newspapers. Have you forgotten how recently your face was splashed across the front pages?"
"I am far more handsome in person than in any picture or portrait, as you are well aware," quipped Damien, rifling through a stack of documents.
Weiss did not laugh as he usually would have at the jest. "Do you really intend to go without any soldiers?"
"Then I might as well announce in the papers that the king of Swanton intends to pay Carter a visit, all for Johannes to see," Damien scoffed, signing the documents. He was not oblivious to Weiss's concerns and conjectures. If the King of the Duchy of Carter were to discover his location while he was unaccompanied, he would likely be assassinated on the spot.
Given that Carter was protecting Johannes, it would present an opportune moment to install him as a puppet king and seize control of the entire kingdom.
"Your Majesty, I have a proposal."
"What might that be?"
Weiss hesitated before taking a deep breath and clenching his fist. "I will play the role of the madman. I will bring Her Majesty the Queen here, and you can do as you wish thereafter."
"Do you mean to abduct her?" As Weiss suppressed his guilt to give a brief nod, Damien looked up with a matter-of-fact expression. He let his pen drop onto the desk with a clatter. "If I had any intention of doing that, I would have carried out the plan the moment I discovered Chloe's whereabouts."
"Then what do you intend to do?"
"I will make her choose me so she returns to me of her own accord."
Damien's unwavering confidence had a way of leaving his listener at a loss for words. Weiss finally gave up on finding a tactful way to express his thoughts and spoke candidly.
"And if Her Majesty refuses?"
When Damien had first revealed that Chloe was alive, Weiss was the only one who had listened without questioning him.
He knew well that no matter how crazed Damien might seem, his judgment would never be clouded.
Upon discovering the location of Chloe's younger sister, Damien had ordered Weiss to thoroughly investigate the bohemian who had eloped with her. Weiss was shocked by what he discovered, but Damien was hardly surprised to learn that the man was the heir to the Duchy of Carter.
"I assumed he was just a frivolous noble, but it seems his confidence was not misplaced," he had remarked. That was all he had to say. When Weiss suggested it might be challenging to retrieve Chloe if the Duchy of Carter had intentionally hidden her away, Damien dismissed the notion.
Damien was convinced that Chloe would have made every effort to avoid seeking assistance from her sister's husband.
After it became public knowledge that Alices position in the Duchy of Carter was precarious, he was especially certain Chloe would have kept her distance.
"My wife is no fool," Damien mused to himself, his face shining with a subtle hint of anticipation.
Following his orders, Weiss scoured hospitals, schools, tailors, and music halls throughout Carter in search of a woman bearing a resemblance to the Queen. Finding a beautiful young woman with a limp in one leg who spoke in the Swanton dialect and carried herself with dignity proved no easy feat. Never-theless, Weiss managed to accomplish the daunting task within a year.
Weiss had hesitated to report to Damien at first because Chloe seemed so at peace, having started a new life in a foreign land. She appeared far healthier than the last time Weiss had seen her, the night she had collapsed from fever.
"What did you just say to me, Weiss?"
"I asked what you would do if Her Majesty refuses to return," Weiss repeated, knowing his question would irk Damien. It was clear that Chloe, who had faked her own death to flee, was unlikely to willingly return. Damien's expression confirmed Weiss's expectations. He seemed momentarily stunned by the question, gathering his thoughts before finally speaking.
"The King of Swanton will undergo a transformation once more."
"Your Majesty, what do you mean by..." Weiss began, only to be cut off.
"If she rejects me, I will give her the same gift she bestowed upon me before leaving."
Weiss's forehead creased with deep furrows as he began to grasp Damien's meaning. He was referring to the gift of death she had given him before fleeing.
"I have always believed in the principle of reciprocity," Damien continued.
Weiss fell silent, uncertain of how to respond.
"It is only fair to Chloe, is it not?" Damien's bright eyes gleamed with amusement.
Weiss could only swallow hard. This was a courtship with life-or-death stakes. But instead of finding it romantic, he felt a wave of dread, for he had a fair idea of the elaborate death Damien could bestow upon the only woman he had ever loved should his plans go awry.
