98 – Episode 97
One morning at the end of a long winter.
“Umm…”
Something is hugging my body.
Something with just the right temperature keeps rubbing against my chest.
What…?
I gently opened my eyes, feeling numb as if blood was not flowing to my left arm…
Theodora is hugging me tightly, probably because she was cold all night.
“Whoaam…”
I am sleepy.
I want her to sleep a little more, but she has a lot of work to do, so I try to get her to sleep carefully.
She was hugging her so tightly…
I carefully straighten the fingers that are clutching my waist, one by one, and pull the blanket up to her neck to prevent her from catching a cold.
I’ll have to tell you later to change the bedding.
Winter is almost over, but…
Sometimes it gets quite cold in the early morning.
With that thought in mind, I wash up and head to the study room.
“Good morning, Your Majesty the Archduke…”
Waving to Müller and Lucius who were exhausted.
“Yes.”
-Squeak…
I start my day today by sitting in my office chair.
The moment when you have breakfast with the royal family and are about to go back to work.
[Her Highness Princess Joy has arrived.]
Huh? Is Joey ever coming?
With that in mind, let’s tell him to come in.
Joy runs up to me like a curious puppy.
“Brother-in-law!, Brother-in-law, I have a favor to ask!”
“Huh? “What’s going on?”
I am curious to hear that Joy, the princess of the empire, has something to ask of me.
I would do anything for my cute sister-in-law, but…
What is it? Do you want to eat oysters like last time?
If that’s the case, I should tell my mother-in-law…
The meal menu is within the mother-in-law’s authority.
In other words, no matter how much I rule the empire, it is difficult for my country to allow me to infringe upon my mother-in-law’s authority.
If your mother-in-law hates you, you won’t be able to get the unicorn horn.
“I want to enter the Imperial Academy!”
“Huh? Imperial Academy?”
Now that I think about it, I understand that now is the time to accept new students.
Joy says, unable to hide her excitement as she nods her head with bright eyes at my words.
“Yes! “I also want to go to the academy and learn various things and make friends.”
“That’s…”
Less than two months after her sister-in-law was almost kidnapped, she entered the academy…
Only a small number of security personnel are allowed inside the academy, so there are more than one or two things to worry about.
But, without paying attention to my thoughts, Joy tells me one by one the reasons why she wants to go to the academy.
“If I go to the academy, I will have a lot of friends my age, there will be a lot to learn, and it will definitely be helpful when I work at the university in the future!”
“That’s not the problem. “It’s been a while since the kidnapping happened.”
Joy, who looks like a lively puppy, speaks hesitantly.
“Well… But… I’ve only stayed in the imperial palace… But I want to go outside. “It’s so frustrating to stay in the imperial palace.”
Since she used to go to and from the city only with the imperial palace, her current situation must be frustrating.
“Sister-in-law, I know it’s frustrating, but there are still forces targeting you. “If something happens to my sister-in-law from those guys… How can I look at Theodora and her mother-in-law?”
In fact, unlike her mother-in-law and Theodora, she is lively and cute. If something were to happen to her, she would be quite bitter.
I am a little more concerned because her life is short-lived in the original work.
“But…”
She thinks as she looks at Joy, who has pitiful eyes and wants to go out.
“I’d rather be allowed to go out about once a month…”
When I tried to say something, Joey firmly cut me off and shouted.
“I don’t like it! “I’ve been patient for a long time!”
Even though she’s usually a tomboy, I can’t hide my embarrassment when I see Joy, who doesn’t make loud noises in front of me, yell loudly.
-Kkiik!
“Who is screaming?”
Theodora opens the door without any courtesy and comes in.
“Uh… Sister?”
“Joy, what is your habit of talking to your brother-in-law?”
Cold sweat runs down my back as I see Theodora glaring at Joey with her red eyes.
For no reason… It seems like the sisters started fighting because I didn’t give them permission, right?
Of course, there are good reasons, but compared to her parent Mary, Skyhan Joy feels more like a younger sister.
To be honest, there is no point in looking at Seonhae Mary as her younger sister.
“That… That…”
Joey seems scared of Theodora and takes a step behind her.
“What is it? “What were you yelling for?”
But the back of Joy’s dress is all cut out?
Isn’t it cold?
From Noble mtl dot com
When I think like that.
-Tadadadadak!
“Brother-in-law! “You were bad!”
Leave this place.
At least it’s a girlish reaction compared to Mary or Theodora.
“You. “Why did you fight with Joey?”
I shrug my shoulders and say that.
“I’ve never had a fight. Just…”
It must be frustrating.
Have I not been so frustrated that I go to the night market once a week?
Of course, I have not gone into hiding since the assassination incident.
If my personal information is exposed, it will inevitably be dangerous.
But if you go to Rome with knights…
It attracts too much attention, so I can’t do what I want to do in secret.
No… I won’t be able to enjoy my freedom properly.
“What is it?”
“Hmm…”
Can I tell you?
I can’t keep my mouth shut because I’m worried that if I say something, I’ll end up breaking Joy.
Originally, I had no intention of confining him to the imperial palace for this long…
Now that I think about it… The night market opens today, right?
Ah! Shall we do that?
I say this with a smile because a good idea occurred to me.
“Later… I’ll tell you later.”
Theodora narrows her eyes and sighs softly.
“Don’t you think it’s strange?”
She flinched a little as if pricked by those words, and her gaze became colder.
“It’s suspicious.”
“Hmm… What’s there to be suspicious about?”
I spoke as shamelessly as possible and Theodora sighed.
“Are you really going to do something strange again?”
“A strange thing?”
She nods her head with a gentle smile at my words.
“He secretly left the imperial palace, or had Lucius imprisoned in the imperial palace under the pretext of recruiting talent… He used his freedom as a hostage to beat up Lucius and brought Müller and Maximilian to the imperial palace.”
I say that because I am dumbfounded.
“You secretly left the imperial palace… You said something that would be misunderstood if anyone heard it…”
And Lucius was never imprisoned in the imperial palace.
They send you off in the imperial carriage until you get off work?
And to top it off, he gave Lucius his freedom as a hostage.
“To say that the emperor gave birth to a baby…”
Theodora looks embarrassed when I say those words and look at her with cold eyes.
“Well… Why is that?”
“The emperor must always use civilized language. Is not it?”
He folds his arms in response to my words and speaks hesitantly, as if he is a little embarrassed.
“Hmph, hwa… The emperor is also a person, right? And only at times like this is he called emperor. “I usually pamper myself as if I were pampering him from start to finish.”
I chuckle at those words.
“Really? “Then I won’t spoil you.”
I say, getting up from her chair and offering her a chair with a gesture of my hand.
“Do you want to sit here and work instead of me from now on?”
Her face becomes pale at my words and she shakes her head.
“I don’t want to do it, I won’t do it! “I won’t do it.”
I chuckled at those words and sat down on the chair again.
“I’m sorry…”
“No? “Because she’s your sister, she’s just like my sister, right?”
Honestly, I don’t know what you’re thinking…
Theodora, with a gentle smile, sits down on my desk and says.
“Thank you for saying that.”
Theodora said that and slowly approached me.
Huh? Wait a minute? Is this something like that?
I roll my head as fast as I can as I watch her bend her upper body towards me with her shy face.
I have a feeling that if I kiss here, I will be pregnant and assassinated.
What should I do? How can we avoid this situation?
Her heart is pounding as she closes her eyes and sees her face slowly approaching mine.
Damn… She’s pretty, but wake up!
“His Royal Highness, the Minister of Finance has visited.”
Nice! Lucius. Nice! Frank.
“Hmm… Come on in.”
When I spoke so hastily, Theodora’s face turned red…
-Kkiik!
“Your Highness, what you said last time… Ah! “His Majesty the Emperor was here too… Ugh!”
As Theodora hurriedly turns her head, Frank sits down awkwardly.
Like a person who encounters the grim reaper.
Is it fortunate that only the back of her head is visible from my side?
“Minister Frank…”
“Ugh, your Majesty… Your Majesty?!”
I say this as I see Frank approaching with great strides.
“Hmm… Your Majesty. I’m on official duty right now. “We’ll talk about the rest at night, right?”
Her steps stop at my words, and her shoulders tremble slightly.
And then… He clears his throat and stares at me with a heated face.
“Hmm… Well… I think that would be a good idea. “I guess I’ll just go.”
Theodora said that and left.
And…
“Your Majesty the Grand Duke! Woah… His Majesty the Emperor glared at me as if he were almost going to kill me. “Am I going to be fired now?”
I say this while looking at Frank, who is shaking and unable to hide the smile on his face.
“It absolutely can’t be like that, right? The Minister is essential to the Empire. No matter how angry His Majesty is with the Minister, I will speak to him well.”
Frank’s smile disappears at my words.
Where are you trying to run away?