Chapter 54

TL: Lilac | PR: Faith

The Marquis of Carlenberg requested a formal audience with the Emperor. When he meets him he is going to plead with Kaizen to let him and Theor go home first.

Astelle had a little hope that if an elderly requested it, the Emperor would probably grant it.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Grandpa met and asked the Emperor for one favor?

On the day of the ball, Kaizen was angry with Astelle, so he spontaneously refused. But now that he has come to his senses, he might allow it, Astelle thought.

However, even that small hope was crushed horribly.

Kaizen had rejected her grandfather’s request for an audience.

The reason for the refusal was that private meetings were not allowed as there was a lot of official work pending.

‘It’s really too much.’

Astelle stayed in the annex and forcibly suppressed her rising anger.

Theor, bored from staying in the room, asked while playing with his teddy bear.

“When are we going to the capital?”

“Yes?”

“Aren’t we going to the capital?”

Blue eyes were full of anticipation.

A few days ago, Theor kept saying that he wanted to go to the capital. Perhaps it was after the kidnapping incident.

When he met Kaizen in the garden, he must have told Theor about it.

Astelle let out a sigh and walked over to Theor’s bed.

She knelt down, eye level with Theor, and said in a calm voice, “Theor, you are not going to the capital. You have to go home with Grandpa.”

“Why?”

“Because it is too far away and not good for children.”

Theor waved the teddy bear’s arm and made a slightly hoarse voice.

“I also wanted to go to the capital.”

Astelle stroked Theor’s head gently.

“If you listen to Grandpa and play with Blynn at home, I will buy you a lot of gifts from the capital city.”

“Okay!”

The word ‘gift’ seemed to make him feel better again. Theor sat the teddy bear on his lap and asked, “Can’t you bring a bear from the capital?”

“That…… I’ll buy you a teddy bear instead.”

Astelle looked through the window. It was a clear day.

Fluffy clouds floated in the bright and sunny sky, and the warm sunlight added warmth to the vivid green of the garden.

The trees adorned with green leaves glistened in the sunlight.

Astelle looked at the clear, shining sky, and made a suggestion to cheer Theor up.

“Then shall we go on a picnic today?”

There is a forest used as a hunting ground near this palace. It was a forest dedicated to the emperor, so no one could enter without permission.

Kaizen has not gone out hunting since he came here. Even so, Astelle still needed his permission to enter the forest.

Theor was refreshed by the word picnic.

“Really? Are we going to the forest to play?”

“Mhm! Go and tell Grandpa, too. I’m going to the kitchen to prepare some snacks.”

Theor got excited and ran out.

Astelle looked at him with affectionate eyes.

The forest is not visited by many people, so there will be many wild herbs and wildflowers.

‘I have to make more potions before sending Theor home.’

The potion that changes eye color has already been prepared in sufficient quantities.

But the Marquis’s house was a long way from here, ten more days away.

‘I don’t know what might happen in the meantime, so it would be better to make as many bottles as possible before sending them away.’

It is a long journey, she was entrusting Theor to her elderly grandfather so Astelle wanted to prepare thoroughly to avoid any kind of mistakes.

Astelle was planning to go to the forest to get more herbs. However, she needed to get the emperor’s permission.

She left the room and headed to the kitchen.

Although this annex was small, the kitchen was large in its own way.

Everything was there.

Astelle took out the toasted bread, cheese, and ham, cut the lettuce, and made a sandwich.

It was a simple sandwich made with salty cheese, savory ham, and fresh and crunchy lettuce, sandwiched between soft white bread and drizzled with sweetened sauce.

She also took the leftover apple pie from breakfast. Golden syrup filled the slices of golden apples.

She took out the picnic basket, put the tools for gathering herbs in it, and covered it with a handkerchief.

Then the food was wrapped in paper and placed inside.

She then put the milk and lemonade bottles in the empty space left and it looked like a decent picnic basket.

‘I think this should be enough.’

Astelle put the basket on the kitchen table and went outside to call the attendant.

“Please tell His Majesty that I want to take Theor to the nearby forest, and I am asking for permission.”

‘He would definitely allow me this much right?’

Astelle thought so and went to find Theor.

***

“Where is she going?”

Kaizen looked at the documents and asked curiously.

The attendant repeated Astelle’s request again.

“Lady Astelle wanted to take a walk in the north forest and is asking Your Majesty for permission…..”

Kaizen didn’t listen at all, but raised his hand and cut off the attendant’s words.

He put down the papers and muttered angrily.

“She’s going to the forest alone with a young child and an old man…… Even after going through something like that just a while ago.”

Kaizen continued to mutter in annoyance, wondering what Astelle was thinking.

Vellian, who was looking through the documents, raised his head slightly and looked into Kaizen’s eyes.

The northern forest was a hunting ground connected to this palace, so no one could enter without the permission of the emperor.

There was a boundary line around the forest and soldiers were guarding it.

‘I thought it was safe enough, but……’

Vellian wasn’t stupid enough to not know what the Emperor thought.

“The Marquis said that his health has recovered a lot so Lady Astelle wanted to go on an outing with him and her nephew after a long time.”

The Emperor’s mood has been very low since the night of the ball, but Astelle seemed light enough to go on a picnic with the child.

The root of all this was the child, Theor.

On the day of the prom, Astelle publicly asked for permission to send her nephew and maternal grandfather back home.

However, Kaizen flatly refused Astelle’s request in front of everyone.

Everyone who watched was bewildered.

‘It was a rejection that an ordinary mind could not understand.’

But Vellian understood Kaizen’s heart.

The Emperor intended to use the child and the Marquis to get Astelle to stay in the capital.

Astelle, whose request was rejected, stood in the middle of the banquet hall like a cold stone statue.

The expression on the Emperor’s face was so terrifying that Vellian couldn’t even get close and hand him over the ceremonial robe.

Due to this incident, the relationship between the two, that had been built up little by little, was shattered.

Now, even if her young nephew and grandfather were to accompany them to the capital, Astelle will be returning to the eastern countryside as soon as the will was finished, without even looking back.

Vellian looked at Kaizen with sympathetic eyes, then slowly turned his head and gazed at the sky through the window.

The blue sky is clear without a single cloud. It was a bright day that made his eyes ache.

At this point, Vellian decided to help His Majesty the Emperor.

It was a brilliant idea out of pure loyalty to the Emperor.

“The weather is nice, how about going out hunting for a refreshment?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Kaizen looked at Vellian as if he saw an idiot.

“Lady Astelle is going on a picnic in the forest, so how about Your Majesty goes hunting instead?”

If someone is going on a picnic in the forest, you can’t go hunting.

It was common sense.

There would be people roaming around, and it would be a big deal if someone gets shot while hunting.

‘If you refuse, it means that you allowed her to go on a picnic.’

Vellian looked at Kaizen and suggested again.

“Then, let’s go on a picnic with Lady Astelle. Since Your Majesty came here, you haven’t had a single break, are you only going to do government affairs?”

“……”

Kaizen didn’t answer, he just stared at the papers with displeasure written in his face.

He hasn’t seen Astelle since the day of the ball.

The Marquis asked for an audience, but he ignored it.

Thinking of the ball, his heart was still stuffy.

Astelle’s voice that he heard in the garden that night was engraved in his memory.

‘Your Majesty may think that you can do whatever Your Majesty wants to do, but there are things in the world that are absolutely irreversible.’

These were Astelle’s true feelings.

They were the feelings that she had buried in her chest and brought out honestly for the first time.

At that time, Astelle was angry and uttered sarcasm, but as time passed and Kaizen thought about it, she was right.

‘How dare I said that.’

Kaizen once again regretted his actions in the past.

He himself asked Astelle for a divorce 6 years ago.

Before the wedding venue was even cleared, he dumped the woman he had been with for over 10 years without paying a penny.

Astelle also agreed to divorce, so he forgot about her for six years, thinking that he was not at fault.

He knew he couldn’t turn back the past.

Now, he wanted to apologize to Astelle for what happened that night.

But he didn’t have a chance.