Chapter 58

TL: Lilac | PR: Faith

Vellian complained to Astelle.

“The Marquis suddenly threw a sword at me!”

“……sorry?”

According to him, the assassins suddenly appeared, so the Marquis threw the dagger he was holding and hit one assassin, then took the sword and threw it at Vellian.

The bruise on his forehead was caused by being hit with the handle of the sword.

The Marquis, who was listening quietly, looked at Vellian with a stern face.

“I meant to give you a sword to fight together with me.”

“If you throw a sword at me without notice, I would inevitably get hit.”

The Marquis said he was injured while dealing with the remaining two by himself.

Thinking about it again, the Marquis got angry with Vellian.

“How come the Count can’t even use a sword?”

“……I am a civil servant.”

Vellian murmured while avoiding the marquis’ gaze.

Imperial male nobles were expected to at least learn the basics of swordsmanship.

At the very least, they learn how to protect themselves.

It seems that Vellian never learned anything.

“Aunt Astelle……”

Theor, who was burying his face in Astelle’s arms, slowly raised his head.

“Theor, it’s fine now. Let’s go back to the annex, Blynn is waiting.”

“Mhm……”

Astelle wiped the tears from Theor’s eyes.

“Fortunately, Theor did not see anything, since the young Count was holding him.”

The Marquis said that Vellian hid behind him, hugging Theor tightly so that he could not see anything.

“Thank you for protecting Theor, Count.”

Astelle hated Vellian for a while, but she was grateful that he still protected Theor.

Vellian smirked as he received Astelle’s thanks.

“Not at all. I would not have been able to do anything without the Marquis.”

Kaizen, who was watching the knights clear up the situation, approached the group.

A long wound could be seen through the torn clothes.

“Is everyone okay?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

His gaze fell on Theor who was being carried by Astelle.

“Are you okay?”

Theor, who was burying his face in Astelle’s arm, lifted his head carefully upon hearing Kaizen’s voice.

His clear blue eyes were wet with tears.

“I’m fine, Your Majesty.”

Kaizen wiped the tears from Theor’s eyes with his hand.

“It’s all right now. Don’t be afraid.”

Theor nodded at his words.

Astelle watched the two of them and realized that Theor followed Kaizen well and relied on him a lot.

It seemed that they loved each other deeply.

Kaizen glanced at Astelle and then turned around.

“Let’s go back to the castle.”

***

“I’m sorry Lady Astelle.”

Vellian begged Astelle’s forgiveness with a serious face like never before

“There has been an attempt to assassinate His Majesty the Emperor, so no one can leave the castle for the time being.”

Astelle had just returned to the annex escorted by knights.

She didn’t even have the time to take off her clothes. She washed Theor first and put him to sleep after giving him the eye color-changing potion.

The terrified Theor gradually regained composure and fell asleep.

As soon as Astelle left the room after making sure Theor was sleeping, Vellian came to her and apologized.

It was said that no one could leave the castle because of the assassination attempt.

“I’m sorry because the situation is like this, the Marquis and Theor will have to go to the capital.”

“……”

Astelle nodded her head with a puzzled look.

“I see. There is nothing I can do about this situation.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

Astelle pretended to remain calm until Vellian left, but the moment she was left alone, she fell into a chair.

The fatigue she had endured came flooding in. Her head was dizzy.

The Marquis opened the door and entered the parlor where Astelle was.

She looked at her grandfather and stood up from her seat.

“Grandpa.”

“Are you okay? Your face is pale.”

The Marquis clasped Astelle’s hand and patted her as if to reassure his granddaughter.

The familiar warmth calmed her heart a little.

She checked the doors and windows.

Everything was tightly closed.

“That assassin……”

And she told her grandfather what she had seen.

“His face was familiar. He was definitely someone I knew.”

“Could your father……”

Astelle nodded.

The Marquis’ eyes trembled in shock.

What happened in the forest was obviously Astelle’s father’s work.

The Marquis lowered his voice and became angry.

“Were the assassins sent by your father trying to kill us as well?”

“My father doesn’t care about that.”

‘Because he is always only thinking of himself.’

Knowing Astelle was there, he didn’t even care. Her existence was rather annoying, so he might have told his men to kill them together.

Astelle suppressed her annoyance and looked at reality.

Her father tried to kill Kaizen.

What will happen when that fact is revealed?

Astelle herself was the daughter of the Reston family, even if she had been expelled.

If her family is branded as traitors, she may not be able to survive.

Actually, she herself wasn’t afraid to die. But Theor……

“Hey.”

The Marquis held Astelle’s little hand firmly.

Astelle, who was wrapped in anxiety, raised her head and turned to her grandfather.

There was no blood on her pale face.

“I am relieved that Theor is a child of the Carlenberg family.”

Astelle had thought that this day might come sooner or later.

She knew that one day her father would be executed for treason and Astelle herself could die too.

Astelle was relieved inwardly by making Theor her maternal successor.

Her mother was already dead, so even if the Reston family were to be destroyed, the Carlenberg family would not be affected.

The Carlenbergs could also lose their pensions or even titles, in the worst case. But at least their lives would be preserved.

“Grandpa, in case anything happens……”

Astelle was very sorry to ask this kind of favor to her elderly grandfather, but now she had no one else to ask.

“I buried the recipe for Theor’s eye color-changing potion under the tree in the mansion, in case there is a situation where both Gretel and I are not able to make it.”

If anything happens to Astelle, someone else has to make the potion.

In case such a situation arises, Astelle wrote down the recipe in advance and buried it in the ground.

“I need your help, Grandpa…… I’m sorry to keep asking you for favors.”

From the beginning to the end, she only burdened her grandfather.

Afterward, the Marquis hugged his poor granddaughter who was sitting there with her little wretched eyes.

“Don’t worry too much. Everything will be fine.”

There was a sense of uneasiness in the voice of the Marquis as he said that, but Astelle stayed in his arms for a long time.

She felt a little comforted in his warmth.

“This must not have been the first time.”

Her grandfather’s low voice could be heard in her ear.

Astelle raised her head. The Marquis lowered his voice and spoke, “This must not have been the first time your father tried to assassinate the emperor. There must have been such attempts in the past.”

“……”

Astelle also agreed with her grandfather.

Her father may have been looking for a chance to kill Kaizen for years.

There must have been several unknown assassination attempts.

“But if your father is still unharmed, doesn’t that mean that he hasn’t been caught yet?”

“That’s right.”

Astelle’s father, the Duke of Reston was a careful and meticulous character.

“Your father is a caring human being, so he must have handled it well so that no evidence was left behind even if the work failed.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. The man you saw must have been prepared in advance so that he wouldn’t be associated with your father.”

Astelle also agreed with her grandfather.

If it were her father, he would have made room for an escape in case he failed.

They must have prepared something to keep the assassins’ bodies from being associated with the duke.

‘I hope you don’t get caught.’

Astelle, who was having such a thought, laughed at herself.

For her own safety, she hoped that the culprit would not be revealed.

‘Kaizen was stabbed with a sword while trying to save me.’

The image of Kaizen, wounded and bleeding, came to mind vividly.

Feelings of guilt and fear for him were complicatedly entangled in her mind.

But if it turns out that it was her father’s fault, Astelle would not be safe. Even if she reports her father for what he had done and asks for forgiveness.

Knock knock [sfx]

Suddenly there was a knock on the door from outside.

Hannah’s urgent voice followed.

“Lady Astelle!”

“What is it?”

The moment Astelle was about to get up from her seat, both she and the marquis stiffened on the spot at Hannah’s word.

“His Majesty the Emperor has come.

***

Astelle quickly wiped her face with her hand.

The corners of her eyes, where tears had stood still, were still red.

Fortunately, her eyes did not swell.

If you didn’t look closely at her, you wouldn’t know that she was crying.

Astelle regained her composure and headed to where the emperor was waiting.

Kaizen was waiting for Astelle in the drawing-room of the annex.

“Your Majesty.”

As Astelle entered, Kaizen who was standing by the window, turned around.

Fortunately, he looked fine.

He was stabbed deeply in the shoulder and bled a lot, but he looked the same as usual.

“Astelle.”

Kaizen, who was walking towards her slowly, stopped when he saw Astelle’s face.

“You cried.”