Chapter 65

On the other hand, the Viscount’s castle, which had been turned upside down by the attempted assassination of the Empress, gradually regained its stability. Most importantly, the Empress personally visited the Viscount and his wife, offering comfort for the distress they had endured, which was a great help. The assassin’s suicide had turned the case into an unpredictable ball. Moreover, two of the castle’s maids had been involved in the incident. If the Viscount and his wife had been implicated, countless people in the fief would have been implicated and suffered greatly. As everyone trembled and watched the situation, the Empress indirectly acknowledged the Viscount and his wife’s innocence, and people heaved a sigh of relief.

"It’s a relief that you are safe. Thank you."

"The castle was not properly managed, and such an incident occurred. I am truly sorry, Your Majesty."

The Viscount and his wife alternated between apologies and expressions of gratitude with their pale faces.

"Do not say such things. Both of you have endured much."

After politely declining the Viscount and his wife’s request for them to rest a few more days, Adel prepared to leave for the capital the next day.

"Why don’t you rest for a day or two? Your face is pale."

When Lionel examined Adel’s face, she shrugged and replied nonchalantly.

"My face has always been like this. And look at the Viscount and his wife. They look pitiful. If I leave, they can sleep soundly, right?"

Lionel couldn’t bring himself to say no to her words. He knew it was true.

"The tears the Viscountess is shedding now are tears of joy. After all, any lord is an unwelcome guest."

When Adel chuckled and made a joke, Lionel pretended not to hear and lightly cleared his throat. Adel narrowed her eyes.

"My advisor should take my side! Are you acknowledging that I am an unwelcome guest?"

Lionel also narrowed his eyes and retorted.

"Are you saying I should respond to your mutterings?"

"It wasn’t a mutter."

"It was a mutter."

Adel laughed out loud at Lionel’s serious face as he responded to her joke, and Lionel, looking at the Empress, averted his gaze and bit his lip. Adel suppressed her laughter and slowly looked around. The Duke of Renox and the Duke of Despina were also preparing to leave with stern faces. Although she couldn’t catch them due to lack of evidence, Adel had gained something valuable from this journey: the admiring gazes of the knights.

"Your Majesty! Jumping onto a horse might hurt you. Please use the stirrup."

"Or, wouldn’t a carriage be better?"

"Your Majesty, is this all you have?"

The sturdy men who circled her, asking if she needed anything, reminded Adel of large dogs wagging their tails. Lionel, standing beside her, shook his head slightly, looking exasperated. Of course, Adel wasn’t so careless as to miss such an opportunity. She maintained a stern face and praised the knights who had gathered around her.

"Indeed, you are worthy of being the knights of Ehmont. How do you know what I need so quickly? I feel much better thanks to you!"

* * *

A few days later, someone knocked on the door of the Baldur family’s residence without any prior notice. Even the Emperor usually scheduled a visit to meet the head of the family, so how rude and disrespectful was this person? However, the butler bowed respectfully with a welcoming smile.

"Welcome, Grand Duke."

Elisabeth smiled at the butler she hadn’t seen in a long time.

"Have you been well? Your face looks even better now that I’m gone."

"Please don’t say that."

The butler had always greatly respected Elisabeth, who had once been the mistress of the Baldur family. She was an open-minded person who valued ability over status and was a competent mistress. When Elisabeth boldly proposed a divorce from the Duke, the butler had shed tears alone. As Elisabeth smiled and took a step forward, urgent footsteps approached, and the door burst open. The person who appeared was both familiar and unfamiliar. It had been a long time since she had seen his clear blue eyes behind the transparent glasses. Elisabeth smiled and greeted him.

"It’s been a while, Duke Baldur."

Theseus stared blankly at her clean face. Her wavy golden hair, her proud expression, and her calm smile. She was truly consistent. She had looked the same on the day she proposed the divorce and the day she left the family. Theseus suppressed his emotions and greeted her.

"It’s been a while, ……Grand Duchess."

Elisabeth and Theseus sat across from each other at a table.

"I heard that the Minister has become the Empress’s advisor."

"Yes, that’s right."

Elisabeth crossed her arms, thinking of Lionel.

"Hmm…… I always thought the Minister was unconventional, but I didn’t expect him to apply directly to the Empress’s call for an advisor."

Theseus chuckled and nodded at her words.

"Anyway……"

Elisabeth trailed off and carefully examined Theseus’s face. Since she had come to the capital for the Emperor’s wedding, she hadn’t had a proper chance to meet him, so this was the first time they had sat down together since the divorce. He hadn’t changed. After all, it had been a political marriage, so there was no reason for him to be in a bad state. Elisabeth took a deep breath and directly stated the reason for her visit.

"I can no longer stand to watch this stagnant situation."

"……"

"It feels like pouring water into a bottomless bucket. I have done what I could, but the root problem remains unsolved, leading to a vicious cycle. If I feel this way, the situation of the other regional lords must be even worse."

Elisabeth sighed deeply and looked down. After a moment of silence, she opened her eyes with a determined look and spoke again.

"I ran away, tired of it all. Yes, it was a run."

Meeting Karl and the Duke of Despina was a torment.

"But…… now there’s nowhere else to run. The Grand Forest is burning in many places. Refugees started fires to avoid the cold. But what good would it do to punish them? From their perspective, freezing to death or being punished to death is the same."

Theseus’s eyes sharpened as he listened to Elisabeth. He looked at her directly and asked.

"Are you saying you won’t run anymore?"

"I realized after running that there’s nowhere for me to run within this country."

Theseus laughed, looking defeated. For her, both the marriage and the divorce with Theseus had been a form of escape. Elisabeth neither wanted to face Karl nor confront him. It was as if she was trying to maintain an invisible ‘line’. Theseus always wished she would break that line, though he couldn’t show it.

"Then you must face the Emperor directly."

At Theseus’s words, Elisabeth’s face showed a moment of hesitation, but she soon answered with a firm voice.

"That’s what I must do."

With her agreement, Theseus took a deep breath and finally said what he had wanted to say to her.

"Then I humbly request that you become the center of gravity."

At that moment, the butler entered with an urgent letter and handed it to Theseus. Elisabeth was curious about the content, but they were now strangers. She idly played with her teacup and looked down. Suddenly, Theseus handed her the letter. Elisabeth’s eyes widened as she looked at Theseus.

"Read it once."

Elisabeth put down her teacup and took the letter. The sender was Lionel, and the letter detailed the events in Vuita, hinting that the future landscape would be different. Elisabeth thought of the Empress with golden eyes and leaned back on the sofa, muttering.

"The Empress gave our great uncle a proper blow. He must be very angry. And he’ll soon have to see the face of his unsatisfactory nephew."

* * *

As Elisabeth said, the Duke of Despina was furious. The audacious act of throwing a stone into his world. He kept a close eye on the Empress during the journey back to the capital from Vuita. The cunning Empress must have noticed his sharp gaze but pretended not to, smiling brightly. Moreover, the knights led by Lionel Baldur kept circling around the Empress, irritating the Duke. The eldest son of the Jackal family, the eldest son of the Wellington family, the second son of the Brooks family…… They weren’t just any nobodies. The events in Vuita, along with the gold ingots the Empress had given to Calvin, would spread like wildfire. Elisabeth, that insolent and arrogant one, had consistently obstructed the Duke of Baldur, and now she had the cunning Empress on her side. The problem was that the Empress was more threatening than all of them combined. It wasn’t just her upright character or her innate magical abilities. The Duke of Despina vividly remembered the Emperor’s violet eyes, which had fiercely flickered when he ordered the Empress to set out.

‘What to do with this……’

The Duke of Despina’s eyes, as he looked at Adel, were filled with sinister plots. * * *

"Lionel, do you see any holes in my face?"

At the Empress’s words, Lionel chuckled and shook his head.

"Fortunately, there are none."

"But they’ll appear soon. How can he keep glaring at me like that during the journey? I need to be careful."

When she said this jokingly, Lionel lowered his voice and answered seriously.

"I will strengthen the security around the Empress’s palace."

He then took something out of his pocket and handed it to Adel. Adel’s eyes widened as she took the small case he offered.

"What is this?"

"Open it and see."

When she opened the lid, several small papers were inside.

"These are poison detectors. Keep them and use them when needed. If you run out, I can bring more. However, you must use them discreetly."

His attention to even the smallest details was appreciated. Adel smiled and tucked the case into her bosom.

"I’ll use them well."

* * *

A few days later. The Emperor spent the entire morning interrogating his attendants, sending people to the castle to check if the group that had left for Vuita had returned. Since the Duke of Despina’s report arrived the previous morning, the Emperor’s nerves had been on edge. The letter detailed how the elite mages led by Renox Poitevin had destroyed the tower in Vuita. Although this was expected, there was something else he was curious about. Karl skimmed through this part and then, near the end of the letter, found what he was looking for.

‘Empress.’

Karl’s heart pounded at the single word. He held his breath and read the sentence word by word.

[The assassin infiltrated the bedroom and attempted to assassinate the Empress, but the attempt failed. The Empress, in her magnanimity, ordered the matter to be covered up.]

Karl’s brows furrowed deeply. He held his breath and read the sentence again.

"Kuang!" Karl clenched his fist and slammed it on the table.

"How could the security be so lax that an assassin could crawl into the Empress’s bedroom?!"

Since the letter arrived, he had been thinking about the Empress, even having a bad dream. In the dream, she was lying on the bed, bleeding. He ran to her and shook her, but her tightly closed eyes did not open.

"Is there still no news from the castle?!"

His heart was racing with unease, perhaps due to the bad dream. The Emperor’s anger made the attendant flinch and quickly respond.

"I will check again."

As the attendant hurried out, another attendant ran down the corridor, bringing the news the Emperor had been eagerly waiting for.

"The Empress has passed through the second gate of the castle!"

The Emperor’s face brightened, and he sprang from his seat.