Lizzy quickly arrived at this truth with her excellent intuition, but it was already too late, and even if she had realized it, nothing would have changed.
“Stop with the pathetic excuses! Whatever the reason, you met His Highness in secret without even telling Father, and that alone makes you-!”
“Shh. Lizzy, it would be better to lower your voice a little. Father, can we leave the remaining excuses for home? It seems like there are eyes watching, even though it’s not a crowded place.”
Ariella glanced around and lowered her voice.
“…Alright.”
The Duke, having confirmed that attention was focused on them, turned away with a displeased expression.
The reason he had barged in like this without caring about his reputation was because he had hoped to catch Aaron’s infidelity firsthand.
A sudden shriek echoed, startling people and causing them to murmur in confusion. The scream from upstairs was clearly not ordinary. Something terrible must have happened to someone.
‘Whew.’
Ariella sighed in relief inwardly.
After Aaron went up in the elevator, things were unfolding differently than she had anticipated.
She had expected Lizzy to storm in here, and even the Duke of Bedford to accompany her, but there was one thing she hadn’t foreseen: Fabian’s actions.
Fabian’s role today wasn’t just to hand Aaron the hotel key.
His task was to go to the front desk and say there seemed to be a problem with the room and ask them to check it out, but for some reason, he hadn’t completed his role and had run away.
It seemed he had gotten scared when he actually faced Aaron.
This was troublesome. She had no intention of letting Countess Anabel suffer something terrible. Not out of sympathy, but because that wasn’t the revenge she had prepared for her.
Even while arguing with Lizzy and her father, she was racking her brain, trying to figure out how to go upstairs without arousing suspicion.
But then Aaron conveniently provided a good excuse.
‘A scream of agony, that’s a positive sign.’
Could it be that the item she had prepared just in case was actually working? Ariella, suppressing her surging emotions, widened her eyes and muttered.
“That voice… could it be Aaron?”
Her not-so-quiet voice reached the ears of those around her. The murmuring grew louder as the Crown Prince was mentioned.
“What? Are you saying His Highness went upstairs?”
“I don’t know either. But that voice was definitely…! We have to check it out!”
Ariella shook her head busily and took hurried steps. As she ran, Duke Bedford and Lizzy, along with a few others, followed her in a daze.
“You cannot use this.”
However, a large guard quickly ran to the elevator and blocked Ariella’s path.
“The upper floor is a suite floor for members only. Those without membership are strictly prohibited from entering, so please understand.”
“Didn’t you hear that sound just now!”
“It is my job to prevent non-members from passing, no matter what happens.”
He repeated the same words like a parrot. As befitting a guard at a top-class hotel, he seemed well-trained.
“…Then let me ask you one thing. Did His Highness the Crown Prince take this elevator upstairs just now?”
“I cannot answer questions regarding member information-”
“If that scream was indeed His Highness’s, and he is in great danger right now, then you are threatening the life of His Highness the Crown Prince of the Juvenil Empire. If something were to happen to His Highness later, you will never be able to escape the blame.”
The guard’s body, which had been unmoving, twitched and trembled for a moment. He bit his lip in contemplation and faced the Princess before him.
Elly Bedford was known to be a fake, but the dignity in her gaze, posture, and voice was something that could not be faked.
“Are you really willing to risk your entire life for a job that you’ll only work at for a few years at most?”
“I, I’m…!”
The guard involuntarily took a step back. He was about to step aside after a brief hesitation.
“Get out of the way!”
If Ariella had threatened him with words, her father went straight for the body. He was as large as any of the young knights, and when he roughly pushed the guard aside, the guard tumbled to the floor.
Duke Bedford hurriedly got into the elevator. Among the people here, he was the most anxious.
If something really happened to the Crown Prince, Bedford would be the one to suffer the most.
How much investment had he made to put him in the position of Crown Prince? If he were to be assassinated, all that effort and money would be wasted.
Ariella, Lizzy, and the knights belonging to Bedford boarded the elevator with him. The speed at which the elevator ascended was so slow that it felt as if time had stopped inside.
Only after several minutes that felt like dozens did the elevator come to a stop. The Duke, who burst out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened, paused for a moment, wondering whether to go right or left.
But his hesitation didn’t last long. He could hear faint groans coming from the left corridor.
“Your Highness!”
Thump, thump, thump. Duke Bedford ran, making loud footsteps. Ariella ran without falling behind.
As they got closer to the scene, a fishy smell stung their noses. It seemed things had escalated more than she had thought.
‘He’s not dead, is he?’
That would be a problem. Ariella didn’t want Aaron to die. She wanted him to suffer for the rest of his life with a pain greater than death.
