Chapter 107

Astelle was left alone with Kaizen.

‘What do you want to talk about?’

Her relationship with Kaizen did not improve even after the marriage.

‘On the contrary, I think it was more comfortable when we traveled back then.’

At least they had a casual conversation at that time.

After their marriage, the two became more distant.

Kaizen just looked at Astelle without saying a word.

He looked a little sad.

‘What’s wrong with you?’

Kaizen slowly approached Astelle.

Deep anger fluttered in his dark red eyes.

Astelle realized later.

Kaizen wasn’t sad, but he was furious.

“Until when do I have to be the last to know?”

“Your Majesty, I–”

“Since when did you know about the secret letter?”

Kaizen cut off Astelle’s words coldly.

Astelle looked at him calmly and confessed, “Lady Florin came to me and threatened me with the secret letter.”

From Florin who brought the secret letter, to the conversation with her father, Astelle told him everything from the start.

“……why are you only telling me now?”

“I thought Your Majesty already knew of my father’s plans.”

Astelle thought Kaizen already knew all the plans her father, the Duke of Reston, had come up with.

That was why he postponed the tour.

But there was an assassination attempt in the middle.

If she were Kaizen, she would have fully realized that she had been tricked.

His voice trembling with anger was heard.

“You know everything so well, so you must also know why I didn’t fully expose the duke’s sins.”

Kaizen gritted his teeth and looked at Astelle.

I think it was because there was no evidence.

I wanted to say that, but,

I know it wasn’t just because of that.

“I know.”

“Why?”

“……it must be because of Theor.”

Shortly after he returned to the capital, he must have tried to uncover the real culprit of the assassination.

But around that time, Theor incident happened[1].

[1] it was when Theor drank Lintail fruit juice.

Kaizen seemed to have covered up the assassination case because of Theor.

Because Astelle’s father, the Duke of Reston, was Theor’s maternal grandfather.

If the details of the assassination attempt were uncovered, Theor and Astelle would be in trouble.

Astelle guessed so.

“Even though you know that……!”

Kaizen managed to hold back his anger.

“Your Majesty.”

Astelle glanced back at the tightly closed door.

This is the emperor’s palace. There are ministers, maids, and guard knights outside the door.

In a place like this, the emperor and empress could not argue while raising their voices. Astelle quickly bowed her head.

She said, “Your Majesty must be busy with government affairs, so I will return to the empress’ palace. See you in the evening……”

If you want to fight, let’s do it in the empress’ palace this evening. That was what Astelle meant.

But Kaizen had no intention of putting up with it even for an hour.

Astelle turned around and was about to go outside, but Kaizen came closer and grabbed her wrist.

“If we are in a contractual relationship, shouldn’t we keep trust in each other? If something like this happens, you have to tell me first.”

“I told you last time, I can’t tell you until I have solid evidence.”

I didn’t know if the secret letter was actually in Florin’s hands or where it was hidden, so I couldn’t tell Kaizen.

Astelle slowly pulled her wrist caught by Kaizen. He looked at her with disappointed eyes and smiled bitterly.

“So did you call your father to discuss it? Did you do it because you thought your father would believe you even without evidence?”

“I was just trying to ask the person involved.”

It was a secret letter written by my father, so naturally, I had no choice but to call my father and ask him.

Astelle didn’t understand why she was having this pointless conversation with Kaizen.

Was this something worth arguing about while shouting in the imperial palace?

At Astelle’s calm attitude, Kaizen looked at her in disbelief.

“So you are saying that your father is more trustworthy than me. You must be such a dutiful daughter that you trusted your father who kicked you out of the family and abandoned you.”

By this time, Astelle had run out of patience as well.

“Aren’t you the same?”

“What?”

“Didn’t you do the same as my father did, Your Majesty?”

“……!”

Both her father and Kaizen are the same. They both used her when she was needed and treated her well, but abandoned her without hesitation when she was no longer useful.

Still, Astelle trusted her father more than Kaizen.

“Your Majesty can always abandon me at any time if you change your mind, but my father can’t anymore.”

Kaizen could bring in another woman at any time and have a new baby, but Astelle and Theor were the only hope for the Duke of Reston.

“That’s the only difference between the two of you. And I already don’t have any trust in either of you anymore.”

“……”

Kaizen stood still with a pale face.

His red eyes, which had been cold all along, trembled in shock.

He looks like he never imagined he would hear this from Astelle.

Then what did he think she would say?

After confessing her heart to this man frankly, Astelle realized she had been here too long.

Astelle turned her gaze away from Kaizen, who was standing still with a hurt expression.

“If you allow it, I will return to the empress’ palace now.”

If you want to talk more, go to the empress’ palace and let’s talk quietly.

Seeing Kaizen’s expression, it looks like he won’t be coming to the empress’ palace for a while.

Astelle bowed her head without hesitation and tried to step out of the door.

At that moment, a careful knock was heard.

“Oh…… um, Your Majesty.”

Vellian carefully opened the door with a troubled expression as if he didn’t want to come in.

A few minutes later, Kaizen answered, “……what’s going on?”

“Well, that’s…… the young lady of the Croychen family has come to admit her guilt.”

Astelle, who was standing still after missing the time to go out, asked in surprise, “Florin?”

She knew Florin had a bold personality, but she was still a little surprised.

She didn’t expect her to come and admit her guilt. But Vellian shook his head in a hurry.

“No, this is the third young lady.”

***

Naen swallowed dry saliva as she looked back at the luxurious decorations in the imperial palace hallway.

She had visited the imperial palace once or twice before, during an event.

Although she had made her socialite debut, her mother didn’t take her much to social events.

Still, when a large-scale banquet was held, the whole family would sometimes enter the imperial palace together.

At that time, the imperial palace was as beautiful as it is now.

‘It’s amazing Florin will live in a place like this.’

That’s what she thought at the time.

But now, Naen felt burdened by this beautiful palace.

“Don’t worry too much. It’s just a formality.”

Before leaving the mansion, her father, Marquis Croychen, said so.

The Marquis explained the situation to Naen, who was standing in a daze; all of this is just a formality.

Her second sister fell into the duke’s trap. The situation was so urgent that there was no time for her to make things right. At this rate, her poor second sister would be in trouble.

Her second sister was supposed to be the empress in the future.

Now that her mother and eldest sister have been kicked out of the capital, her second sister is the only hope for the family.

So she was asked to be in charge of the duke’s work on behalf of Florin.

It took Naen a long time to properly understand what the ‘duke’s work’ was.

It was a complicated matter that was difficult for Naen, who only lived in the mansion, to only do embroidery.

“I-is it okay to say that I did that?”

“Yes. After you confess, other ministers who are my friends will protect you. Then you can go to your sister’s place and stay with her for a while.”

The sister her father spoke of was her eldest sister, Marianne.

Marianne was staying in a convent by the sea.

It was not unusual for a young lady of a noble family to stay in a convent.

Daughters of poor noble families often went to convents to study.

It would not be a difficult environment since it was originally a place for noble ladies to live.

The marquis comforted Naen so hard, despite the fact that he himself had never visited his eldest daughter.

Naen’s second sister, Florin, who caused this incident, also said while holding her hand, “Don’t worry. I’ll never let you suffer.”

Naen wanted to shake off Florin’s hand, but she couldn’t because she was afraid.

Actually, she had no desire to take the blame on behalf of her second sister.

Although her eldest sister, Marianne, didn’t really like her much, they were close because they grew up together and fought since childhood.

But Florin, who grew up alone in the countryside, was a stranger to her even though she was her biological older sister.

However, Naen could not disobey the orders of her father and Florin.

Naen was indeed young, but she could understand the situation to a certain extent.

If she refused their request, living in a mansion would be worse than living in a convent.

“Miss Naen?”

Standing blankly in the hallway, a guard knight called her.

“His Majesty is calling.”

Naen followed the knight with trembling legs.

The place she entered was a reception room in the palace of His Majesty the Emperor.

The emperor sat in the front, and several nobles stood around.

Next to the emperor, a woman with platinum hair was watching Naen intently.

‘Oh, Your Majesty the Empress.’

Although Naen was unable to attend the charity ball back then, she had caught a glimpse of the empress on the national wedding day at the temple.

“Are you going to admit your guilt?”

As she looked at the empress, she heard an angry voice from the front.

It was the voice of His Majesty the Emperor.

“Y-yes, Your Majesty. I……”

Even though it was a very important moment, her gaze continued to be drawn to the empress’ light green, glass-like eyes.

With a trembling voice, Naen said the words that had been prepared in the mansion, “I was the one who framed the Duke.”