Chapter 32

The meeting was already over when Maribelle arrived. There were several issues on the agenda, but Ethelred couldn’t focus on any of them. Finally, Azil left everything to Kir at the end of the meeting.

Ethelred swept his face dry. He felt weird.

‘This is pathetic.’

It’s not clear who’s aiming for his neck right now, and it’s swaying like a reed like this. If Baldwin had seen it, he would have jumped as the flagship and asked to give up the throne immediately.

As such, Ethelred himself was losing his composure. His mind was full of thoughts of Maribelle.

Already in his head, last night’s conversation was repeated countless times without being wrong.

‘She said she wanted to give back the Empress position.’

Maribelle refused, claiming that the Empress title was too burdensome for her. Maybe she doesn’t realize how much that was an obvious lie.

No one in this imperial palace would force her to work or complain when it comes to excesses expenditures.

‘It’s not funny.’

In the first place, who decides the work of the Empress? And whose hand is the scale on which a person’s worth is measured?

If it had been Maribelle, the response would have been the night sky’s scale. She shouldn’t be concerned because she only needed to be a pretty picture.

‘Not everyone is perfect. A place to stay will make you a person.’

Yes, the answer will be like this.

But suddenly why?

Ethelred pondered all night, even during meetings, but couldn’t come up with an answer. He wants to guess, but what?

“Should I ask her directly—”

He heard a knock at the door as he finally got to asking the important questions.

The entrance of the meeting hall slid open without notice, and Theovalt, who had a nervous expression on his face, and Jaylin, who seemed to be suppressing her excitement, sneaked in.

They’ve been together since childhood, and now they’re both causing problems for each other. Ethelred opened his mouth in wonder.

“Theovalt, Jaylin. Do you have any business here?”

“Well, that’s.”

“Sir Peregrine, Dame Mard. Thank you for your kindness. Would you please step aside now? You’re blocking my view.”

At the sound of the voice from behind the two knights, Ethelred’s lips hardened.

A silhouette that was too slender to belong between the armor of the two knights was revealed. Maribelle looked around the empty meeting hall once, then slowly lowered her head.

“I heard that you were in a meeting, but Your Majesty is the only one here. It’s a pity.”

When she looked up again, Maribelle was smiling softly. Only Ethelred noticed that this was a very intentional smile.

Maribelle opened her mouth softly.

“I brought a bribe. Will you let me in?”

He understands her words, that softness is intentional. Letting her in means that soon  the cold war between them will end.

He knows he has no choice but to answer.

“—Come in.”

In fact, Ethelred himself knew it would end up like this. He had known about it for a long time.

His own abyss will be where she is.

******

At that time, Kir and Azil were working together in Azil’s Office. Making additional small talk.

“Something must be going on between the Lady and His Majesty.”

“I don’t know what to say. Put your stamps there and here. These are things that will be passed on to His Majesty.”

Kir put the stamp on the paper and opened his mouth, flipping through the documents.

“Hey, that’s what all the circumstances say, suddenly the theme of the party changed, and the Lady and His Majesty are acting weird. Something must have happened.”

“It’s better not to interfere too much in other people’s personal lives. Didn’t you learn to differentiate between what is and isn’t your matters?”

“You’re right, Azil. But we can’t stay like this.”

Kir buried his nose in the papers, staring at the little letters that had been written in response. Azil dropped the wax onto the envelope with a shrug of his shoulders. The imperial family’s seal will be engraved on it.

“And when the two of them regain their composure, it will be a little less difficult for us! We are the only ones suffering!”

“That’s true.”

“Your Majesty’s trust in us doesn’t mean we have to come to work!”

Kir’s anger was stamped out with a stamp. Azil frowned slightly because the pressure was so strong.

“There will be a hole in the paper.”

“It’s not enough. Paper must be so expensive—. I hope someone grabs me—. I don’t want to work—.”

“Work! Work hard!”

The door burst open, and a girl hugged a box bigger than her body and walked into the room. It was Leah, a girl who tied her brown hair with a pink hair tie.

Thanks to this, Kir’s eyes, which were about to die of boredom, came to life.

“Leah! Long time no see?”

“Long time no see, Sir! Sir Azil, here’s what you asked for!”

Leah, who answered courageously, put down the box triumphantly, but Azil had a somewhat sensible look.

“Leah, can you hear me outside?”

“Well, a little bit? But there’s no one around, so I don’t think anyone heard it.”

“—Is that so? That’s enough then.”

“Have you been talking about something important? From what I heard, the only thing the Chancellor Kir does is whine at work like he does all the time.”

“Every day! It’s unfair!”

“Do you want me to change it every minute?”

Leah, who responded coyly, took out what she had brought from the box.

“Ta-da! That’s what you’re asking!”

“Huh? Crossbow?”

Kir pretended to know. But it wasn’t a very welcome attitude. On the contrary, he seemed very unhappy.

“Isn’t this a weapon banned in the Empire? How did you get this?”

Leah was the one who was asked, but she knew the answer.

“A crossbow came out of the house of Count Alper, who died three months ago.”

“Ah, that person.”

Count Alper, it’s already been three months since he died. Kir muttered to himself.

The name of the person standing on the other side of Ethelred lingered in Kir’s mind. That, too, is unmistakable.

Of course, that wasn’t enough to justify his death, but Count Alper was a man who knew how to accelerate his path to fame.

He then continued to openly swear that he would soon depose Ethelred from the informal throne. Azil, who had gotten the information, had no choice but to kill him.

“He was a man with an empty head trying only to fill his stomach.”

“Yes, we obtained a crossbow that is believed to have been made for testing in the process of examining the mansion and confiscating property.”

Azil lifted the crossbow that Leah brought and tilted it.

“Since they made it, they must be selling it somewhere.”

“That’s true, but—”

Kir glanced at Leah. She grew up as an orphan and had a history of going around the country doing chores at the top since she was a child. Azil was the one who picked her, but she also had a strong relationship with Kir and Theovalt.

Above all, she was indispensable because Leah’s experience of following the top was so well-suited to looking for something.

‘I didn’t know you’d even get a crossbow.’

Searching is searching, but he already had to admire her ability to bring the weapon into the palace.

Hmm. After a brief thought, Kir turned his gaze back to Azil.

“What’s the use of the crossbow?”

“I guess he’s preparing for war.”

Azil responded in a casual way. However, considering that it was replied in a straightforward way, the impact of the words was pretty significant. Because no one here didn’t know what that meant.

Preparing for war by avoiding the eyes of the Empire with weapons that are not allowed to import from the Empire means one thing.

Treason.

“…Do you know what you’re talking about?”

“I know. My role is to clean up around His Majesty, don’t you know that. There are many things that I don’t even know about the subject, so it’s only me who has a hard time.”

Azil put the crossbow back on the table. He had somewhat bitter-looking eyes, but soon smiled as gently as usual and stroked Leah’s hair.

“Well done, Leah. I’ll bring this to His Majesty. The chef made Mont Blanc cake today, do you want to eat it?”

“Oh, really? I want to eat and go! Sir Azil you should come, too!”

“I guess so, Kir, can you take care of yourself? I’ll go to the dining room with Leah.”

“H-huh? Yeah, go ahead.”

When Kir’s answer was heard, Azil took Leah out.

In an empty room, Kir looked at the crossbow on the desk for a long time.

******

“My nanny gave it to me as a gift, and it smelled so good that I wanted to enjoy it with you.”

“Thanks to you, I see flowers at the wrong season.”

Ethelred smiled. He couldn’t help but smile. In front of him, Maribelle handed him flowers saying it was a gift, and she was smiling as if she had been so cold. He can’t help but smile.

Ethelred also kept all the flowers that Maribelle gave him last time. It was only a pity that flowers were short-lived and could not be kept for a long time.

‘I’m glad you’re feeling better.’

Maribelle secretly smiled in relief. She apologized and tried to lift the mood, but she felt more at ease when Ethelred acted as if nothing had happened.

Then they can start talking in earnest. Maribelle opened her mouth.

“I heard from Sir Peregrine today. He’s leaving soon.”

“Ah, he decided to go to Monton. Since you gave us the information, investigation is not appropriate.”

This is the land of the Marquis of Rhodain. Why not Edenbert but Rhodain? Maribelle opened her mouth in wonder.

“Why Monton? Isn’t there Edenbert territory?”

“It’s because my uncle who is in the ground now is your uncle’s cousin. The traces of the former Crown Prince are everywhere, and there was no time to investigate until there. The first thing to do is to check the connection with my aunt.”

“Ah, your aunt was there.”

At that moment, Maribelle recalled her memories of the past. Ethelred killed all the members of the royal family, but only one survived. It was said that she was abroad just in time and that saved her life.

Even in Maribelle’s previous life, she was often able to hear the names of Edenbert and Peophil.

“She’ll probably be at the party, too. Whatever she says, don’t listen.”

As Ethelred waved his hands as if he were sick and tired of it, Maribelle laughed.

Innis was certainly a virtuoso. Because she had lived her whole life as a princess, she did not know how to talk around.

But since she has already been through it once, is it difficult to do it twice? Maribelle smiled.

“Don’t worry. All I can hear is Your Majesty’s words.”

“….”

Did I say something wrong? When there was no answer, Maribelle looked carefully at Ethelred’s expression. He had a face that looked slightly startled, but also somewhat distressed.

“—What are you—”

“Yes?”

Ethelred, who was speaking, stopped speaking as if he was choking, and then let out a sigh. He had a mysterious look on his face.

“You’re not good at lying. Do you know that?”

“I’m not lying.”

“I know, because you’re not good at lying.”

Ethelred eventually made an expression.

“Maribelle. Why do you have to refuse the position of Empress while believing in me like that?”