Chapter 136

The conversation that day made Astelle even more anxious.

Astelle told Fritz how she felt.

She said, “It’s clear that Father is up to something.”

Fritz promised to pay more attention to what his father was doing.

‘I feel uncomfortable.’

But Astelle did not have time to keep her eyes on the work of the duke.

Before autumn even began, Astelle was busy preparing for the harvest festival again.

The harvest festival is one of the most important events of the year.

She had already been preparing the budget and event order for a long time, but as the date got closer, the number of things to do increased exponentially.

Astelle spent every day working.

She still felt as if there was an ominous mist when she thought of her father’s work.

‘There’s nothing I can do right now.’

Although he was half forced to step down, he couldn’t be locked up in the mansion because he wasn’t a sinner.

He was a human being who could make a bad conspiracy even if he was locked in a room.

*

One day at the beginning of autumn, an unexpected and welcome guest came to the Empress Palace.

“Who’s coming?”

The maid bowed politely to announce the arrival of the guest.

“She is a young pharmacist from the East. She is here to see Your Majesty the Empress.”

“A pharmacist?”

“Yes, she also brought a letter with Your Majesty’s seal.”

Astelle stood up at those words.

“Where is she now?”

The maid said she was waiting in the drawing room and Astelle quickly headed there.

A woman with curly dark brown hair was sitting in the drawing room, bathed in the sunlight.

Her wavy hair is well groomed. She wore a monotonous gray wool dress and sturdy boots on her feet.

Astelle recognized who she is at a glance.

“Gretel?”

She smiled brightly as Gretel turned to Astelle.

“Astelle!”

A pharmacist whom Astelle met in the East and became her friend.

She is Gretel, who made the medicine to change the color of Theor’s eyes.

“Gretel.”

It’s been a really long time since they met again.

It’s been almost half a year.

That’s understandable since Gretel is always wandering around studying herbs.

“Astelle! Oh no, Your Majesty the Empress.”

Gretel bent her knees belatedly.

“It’s all right, get up.”

Gretel meets Astelle after a long time, but not much has changed with her.

“You truly have become the Empress.”

She looked curiously at Astelle in a colorful dress.

“I heard the news, but I couldn’t believe it,” she said.

“You have received my letter.”

“Yes, I left as soon as I received it.”

When she sent the first letter, there was no reply.

Astelle asked Greel where she had been.

“I have been in the South for a while. Originally, I was going to go North, but the conditions there are still unstable, it’s scary.”

Gretel took out a thick notebook from her bag.

It’s a notebook with a drawing of herbs and the information she found.

“Still, I got a lot of information from the South! I also developed a new formula.”

Even just a glance, there are many interesting things in her notes.

“There are so many herbs I’ve never seen before.”

Gretel, who was talking about herbs, stared blankly at Astelle

“Actually, I still can’t believe it. I can’t believe Astelle became the empress.”

Gretel looked at her hesitantly, then asked carefully, “Here is….., is everything all right?”

Perhaps she was worried about whether her relationship with the emperor was fine or whether she became empress because she wanted to.

Astelle didn’t reveal her identity to Gretel, but she could not hide the title of her maternal grandfather.

Gretel, who was always wandering around the continent, also had insight into the famous noble families of the Empire.

Over the years, Gretel had only guessed at Astelle’s true identity.

But she never asked for details.

She also never asked anything about Theor’s biological father.

Seeing Theor’s red eyes, she must have guessed it to some extent.

Astelle was grateful for Gretel’s consideration.

“Yes, the misunderstanding has been cleared up and solved well.”

She doesn’t want to worry her, so she replied with a smile.

“That’s a relief. If there’s anything I can do for you, please tell me, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you.”

Gretel, who quickly regained her energy, asked with a laugh.

“Where is our Theor, no, I mean, the Crown Prince?”

***

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Gretel’s visit made the afternoon enjoyable.

As soon as Theor saw Gretel, whom he had not seen in a long time, he ran into her arms.

“Aunt Gretel!”

“Theor, no, Your Highness the Crown Prince. You have grown so fast.”

Gretel played with Theor for a while before she left.

Astelle said she could stay here, but she refused, saying she had found a place to live in the capital.

She seemed to be worried that Astelle might hear something bad if she allowed a commoner to stay in the palace.

Theor had a good feeling thanks to Gretel’s visit, but when she left, he was moody again.

Fortunately, Kaizen soon came to the Empress Palace.

“What are you doing? What’s going on?”

“Your Majesty.”

Hugging Theor, Kaizen asked, “You must be bored since you’re only in the palace. Shall we make time tomorrow and go out to the garden to play?”

“I’ve been to all the gardens.”

“I don’t think you’ve been to garden in the northeast. Let’s go picnic there.”

“I want to go on a picnic!”

The word ‘picnic’ seemed to make Theor feel better.

“It must be fun to go to the forest too.”

Kaizen smiled and put Theor down.

“Don’t worry. Soon there will be a harvest festival. I will take you to a hunting competition. It will be held in the forest next to the capital, so you can run around in the forest to your heart’s content.”

Astelle, who had been listening to their conversation, asked in surprise. “Your Majesty, are you really going to a hunting competition?”

“As I told you before.”

He once said something like that, but she thought it was a joke.

While listening to the conversation between the two, Theor grabbed Kaizen’s hem.

“Are you hunting at the festival?”

“Yeah. I will get a great game.”

Kaizen said confidently, stroking Theor’s head.

He seems sure he will win.

……of course, he will.

‘I guess it’s better to stop him.’

Hunting competitions are held in the forest.

Entering the forest makes it difficult for knights to protect the emperor. It can be a little dangerous.

Astelle pondered for a moment, then stepped forward to stop him.

But suddenly, Theor loosened his grip on Kaizen’s hem and took a step back.

“I don’t like hunting.”

“What?”

Theor looked at Kaizen as expressionless as a doll.

His bright eyes, which had shone brightly, darkened.

As if he were looking at a cruel hunter.

“……the bear is dead.”

“……”

Astelle knew what he meant.

He had previously said he had seen a bear at Maern’s hunting lodge.

It was quite a shocking memory for Theor, who had never seen an animal die.

“Right. I once showed you a bear at a hunting lodge……”

Kaizen avoided Theor’s gaze.

“Then shall we do another competition?” Kaizen asked.

“Another competition?”

“Are you going to do another competition?”

Listening to this conversation, Astelle was surprised once again.

Hunting competitions during harvest festivals are an imperial tradition, and you’re going to do something else?

Speaking of another competition, Theor clung to Kaizen again.

“Then can we have a puppet show?”

“That….., it doesn’t go well with the harvest festival.”

The harvest festival is an event to showcase knight skills such as hunting and shooting skills.

Theor pondered for a moment seriously, then looked up again.

“Then can’t we do this?”

***

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“Swordsmanship competition?”

The next day, sitting across from Astelle, her maternal grandfather asked her about what had happened the night before.

“Yeah, that’s how it was decided.”

Astelle replied while tasting the fragrant tea.

“I heard we used to have a swordsmanship and archery competition at the harvest festival”

“We did. Even before I was born.”

In the past, swordsmanship and archery were competed, but as gunpowder and cannons were introduced, it was changed to a hunting competition.

“Theor hated it, so the Emperor decided to have a swordsmanship competition. To be precise, Theor said he saw it in a fairy tale book and wanted to do such a competition.”

In fact, it was jousting that appeared in a fairy tale.

A swordsmanship competition would be better than jousting.

Both are dangerous, but if the swordsmanship competition becomes serious, the referee may separate them in the middle, but there is no one to stop the jousting even if an accident occurs.

“Yeah well, it’s not bad to revive old traditions too.”

“Theor was bored so we decided to have a picnic together tomorrow. Would you like to go together, grandpa?”

“No, I just want to rest because it’s hot.”

The Marquis hurriedly refused.

It seemed like he wanted the three of them to enjoy their time together.

Astelle didn’t bother to point out and said again, “Don’t do that and go with us. If you don’t go, Theor will be very sad.”

After asking him a few more times, she finally got the answer she wanted.

The Marquis looked at Astelle while holding the teacup and said, “It’s nice to see you like this.”

Hearing that, Astelle looked at her grandfather. Her grandfather let out a low sigh and avoided her gaze, looking out the window.

“Like it or not, this kind of life suits you.”

Astelle responded calmly, “I grew up hearing that I had to live this kind of life from a young age.”

Ever since she was a child, she had been brainwashed that she should become the empress, so had no choice but to get used to it.

“Do you want to go back to the East?” asked the Marquis, looking sadly at Astelle.

“What about you, grandpa?”

Astelle knows that her grandfather saving up the pension he receives every month.

Does he want to return to the countryside someday?

“I don’t care where I live, but how long will I live?”

The Marquis answered stubbornly and looked straight at Astelle with eyes filled with pity.

“But I hope you live your life the way you want.”

“……”

A warm feeling welled up in the corner of her heart.

She doesn’t know what decisions she will make in the future.

But she is grateful to have her family by her side who says this kind of thing.

Astelle clasped her grandfather’s hand on the table.

“Thank you, grandpa.”

***

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“He canceled the hunting competition?”

The Duke of Reston raised his voice, surprised by the unexpected news.

“The Emperor suddenly gave that order today.” His henchman reported with a troubled look.

The Duke was listening to the report from his henchman in the secret room of the mansion.

He was disappointed when he heard that the hunting competition had been canceled unexpectedly.

Why did he suddenly do that?

Did he notice something? No, it can’t be.

He had only come up with a plan but had not yet put anything into action.

How did Kaizen notice the plan that was only in his head?

‘Did Astelle notice something and persuade the Emperor?’

The Duke frowned at that thought.

Thinking of Astelle and Fritz made him angry.

After I raised them with such difficulty, how dare they throw me out?

Those ungrateful things!

He had already forgiven Astelle who had been divorced by the Emperor, accepted her again, and worked hard to help her, but she repaid him in this way.

In his own way, the Duke also has affection for his grandson, the Crown Prince.

At least he thought so.

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The more the Duke thought about what Astelle had done, the more he trembled with a sense of betrayal.