Chapter 89: CH 89

My legs gave out and I sat down. The shawl, which had been put on in a hurry, fell to the floor and rolled on the floor.

Gabriel lost his grip on my hand and stood in front of me, dazed.

I wanted to beg Cesare to take me too. But I knew and he knew that Cesare will be in danger again if that happens.

Cesare would be unable to do anything if he was put in prison again.

Gabriel bent down to meet me at eye level. I could feel it, even with my head buried in my knees.

Gabriel took off the clothes he was wearing and put them around me.

“… I’m sorry, Daphne.”

Gabriel’s scent seems to push away Cesare’s scent. I stayed like that, holding my breath, not wanting Cesare’s scent to move away.

Gabriel stayed by my side without saying a word until I stood up on my own.

My heart ached.

Gabriel was a fool who didn’t know how to love. He’s never been loved in his life, so he doesn’t know how to love someone.

Why are you so pitiful that I can’t just hate you?

*****

Cesare stood up, leaning against the wall. It seems that those inside have moved.

Gabriel and Daphne’s presence disappeared.

Blood dripped from Cesare’s fist, which had been listening to Daphne’s sobbing.

It was thanks to the fact that he stood there the whole time, not knowing that his nails were digging into his palms.

“Ha…”

It’s the first time I’ve ever felt as helpless as I am today.

Born as the successor of the Burstoad, raised to be the heir, and lived to be the heir.

But why do I feel like an idiot standing in front of Daphne?

Cesare looked at the dawn sky dyed pink.

Next time I will never leave Daphne alone there.

Cherry, who was in Cesare’s arms, lifted her head slightly.

“It’s okay. Your master will be back soon.”

Cesare will have to make it that way. I will not let Daphne shed tears that can’t be wiped away.

Cesare moved his stiff body.

*****

What happened at dawn seemed like a dream. Cesare came to see me.

It was thanks to the soiled shawl that I knew it wasn’t a dream.

The shawl that had been rolling on the floor was covered in dust. As I was fiddling with it, the morning dawned.

“Oh my gosh!”

When Shannet saw me in the morning, she was very surprised.

“Why…?”

Of course, it’s a mess, but it’s surprising to see people like that.

“What did you do to your eyes…?”

Shannet asked with a puzzled face.

Eye? It was hard to open and close my eyes because I was crying so hard. So it must have been swollen…

Shannet put a small mirror in front of me.

“Ugh…!”

This is serious, my eyes were actually swollen.

Oh my gosh. I thought I could understand why Shannet looked at me and shouted like that. Where did my beauty go

In a certain drama, she said, ‘In a crisis situation, there is only one thing a woman has to protect, her beauty’. I lost my beauty in a crisis situation.

“I think I’ll have to compress it for a long time.”

Shannet removed the mirror in front of me. My swollen face was so shocking that my gaze moved along the mirror.

How could I be this swollen from crying so much? I had something to say to Gabriel today…

I couldn’t sleep, so I thought about it all morning, but there is only one way to find another possessor while trapped here.

By using Gabriel.

I was going to ask Gabriel to find someone who distributed soju to traveling merchants.

Find someone who sells clear alcohol in green glass bottles. Which I could then say I wanted to drink.

Anyway, to do that, it seemed that I had to equip a weapon called beauty. If he was surprised to see me…

“I need to take a bath, Shannet.”

“I agree too, madam.”

I took Shannet’s hand and went into the bathroom.

*****

The Emperor sighed.

Sighed and gray hairs were all he had these days.

It was thanks to Gabriel, the only child he had left, was making him sick to his stomach.

In addition, the people of the Empress who realized that Gabriel was living outside the Imperial castle were turning their backs.

‘He’s not worthy of being Crown Prince, Your Majesty. Isn’t he living outside because he’s uncomfortable living in the Palace?’

‘From what I’ve heard, he has a divorced duchess with him, which is not the proper behavior for a Crown Prince.’

‘Please reconsider it!’

Gabriel wants only one thing, Daphne.

The Emperor also wanted to grant Gabriel’s earnest wish with his eyes closed.

However, the reality was that doing so would do more harm than good. Besides, would the Duke of Burstoad stand still?

In this situation, what if the Duke of Burstoad even joins the Empress people?

It would be short of disastrous.

Burstoad was a huge power. It was exporting liquor not only from the Empire but all over the continent.

Aren’t alcohol and cigars the only drugs allowed by the continent?

Naturally, Burstoad’s wealth was enormous. There is a reason why the elder nobles turned away from the Duke of Burstoad and coveted his position.

“How do we do this….”

I had to convince Gabriel to give up, but all I could see in my son’s eyes was Daphne.

Daphne is struggling to leave Gabriel.

The Emperor fiddled with the necklace in his hand.

He was deep in thought when the Empress came to him.

The Empress had been stuck in the Palace since the death of her son and rarely came out.

The Emperor knew that she was hiding in the palace and playing tricks on Gabriel.

“What brought you here?”

The Emperor asked in a thorny voice.

“It seems I have been too indifferent to Your Majesty in my grief.”

The Empress smiled like a picture.

“Don’t look at me with such face. I also needed time to overcome the grief of losing a child.”

“You seem to be busy. Do you have a lot of work to do inside?”

“Are you asking how I’ve been?”

The Empress pretended not to know anything. The Emperor was tired of the Empress’s natural virtues.

“I had a good time. Your Majesty seems to be rotting inside because of Prince Gabriel.”

“Sitting in the palace, you seem to know the world better than I do, so I won’t have to answer.”

“Perhaps I have been too hands-off as His Majesty’s wife, so I thought I would offer my help. I’m going to take Prince Gabriel as my adopted son and support him.”

“……”

Just a moment ago, the noblemen of the Empress’s aristocratic faction had come to ask for an audience and scrape the Emperor’s heart before leaving?

It seemed like they were going to cry out to dethrone Gabriel at any moment, but the Empress suddenly made the opposite statement.

“Instead, there are conditions.”

As expected.

The Emperor nodded as if to listen.

“I don’t care who Prince Gabriel meets or what kind of woman he takes as his wife. Just give me the Burstoad. I will send my niece to take the place of the vacant Duchess.”

The Emperor burst out laughing.

The Empress’s true intentions were clear. What will the Empress do after obtaining the Burstoad? She will grab Gabriel like a doll and try to play him.

The Empress would do just that.

“Do you think I will be gracious?”

“You have no choice but to be, do you?”

The Empress asked, tilting her head innocently.

“Because the Crown Prince himself struck the Burstoad. Would that proud Duke of Burstoad want to take the Crown Prince’s hand?”

That’s right. That’s what the Emperor was worried about until now.

Gabriel made the worst move. Depending on what Cesare did next, the Emperor must also take action.

“Think about it.”

Do you make Gabriel the Empress’s doll? Otherwise…

The Emperor shook his head.

“Go back. I understand enough what you mean.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The Empress withdrew from her seat with a wicked smile.

The Emperor, who was left alone, pressed his head firmly.

“Gabriel, Gabriel….”

I never realized how much I would regret not intervening when Gabriel’s birth mother was cast out.

If I’d known she was pregnant with Gabriel, things would have been different.

If not, I would have made sure Gabriel grew up in the Imperial Palace.

I seemed to understand why Gabriel was obsessed with Daphne. She is the first person to him, that’s why he’s so greedy about her, so there is nothing he can do about it.

The Emperor sighed again at the dilemma.

I’m desperately hoping someone can give me a way out of this situation.