158 Conspiracy (3)
“Are you surprised, Marquis Duem?”
Christel’s voice rose in surprise.
I looked back at him, beeping, calming my beating heart.
Canael, who was following me quietly, wiped my back. It was François Duhem, whom I met after a while.
He had a look of embarrassment when he saw us, which was unusual for him.
However, the fix was quick.
“Love and sneezing are inevitable, these three are my lovers!”
The handsome man bent his pale pink eyes and bent down. The attitude of an opera actor was still there.
“His Majesty the Crown Prince, Sir Sarnez. I sincerely congratulate you on successfully becoming Archbishop. It is the glory and honor of the Empire.”
He kissed the back of Kristel’s hand with a graceful gesture.
I came to my senses and pulled out my arm when the Marquis grabbed my hand and raised it.
Although he usually shows dramatic actions, I have to say that he is a bit urgent these days.
There was a feeling of being blown away. I smiled awkwardly and observed the Marquis.
“Hello, Marquis. You look busy. What’s wrong?”
“Not at all. There were no suspicious incidents at all! Please keep it a secret from my sisters that I am here today.”
The reason I said that they were sisters must have been because I had already met my younger brother, Sir Herve Duhem, at the inauguration ceremony.
It seems that the three sisters, including Princess Antoinette, did not go to the zodiac together.
When Kristel and I nodded with trembling faces, he smiled brightly and bowed down again.
It seemed to go away first for some reason. That was then.
– Tuk!
“Marquis, you dropped this.”
A shiny card fell from the man’s arms.
When I picked it up and handed it over, the Marquis was blatantly perplexed. Why is this person here today?
“Thank you, Prince.”
Tak, he almost snatched the card. Kristel frowned.
“Aren’t you sick?”
“Of course, Madame.”
“Are you coming to the masquerade of the Dukes of Blanquere?”
“Five.”
The emotion was erased from his face in an instant.
Although he raised the corners of his lips quickly, the expressionless Marquis had a very cold impression, unlike usual.
“Unfortunately······. That day I won’t be able to be with the three of you.”
After he said that, he winked slowly.
Then, with a no-nonsense example, he slowly disappeared over the hallway.
We stared at his back without saying a word for a while.
Benjamin pointed out, ‘You didn’t come from the direction of His Majesty’s office.’ I’m really suspicious.
“There is a motive.”
“Is that so too?”
The Prince murmured, and Kristel immediately answered.
But he said he was nothing, and there was no justification to dig.
It’s a pity that we couldn’t meet at the masquerade, but his daily life itself was similar to a masquerade.
We shrugged and headed to the office where the waitress was waiting.
What I imagined was a secret rendezvous, but because there were so many people, that picture went over the water.
Still, since the prince was in the party, it was comfortable for no one to keep an eye on him for a long time.
-smart
Canael knocked in front of the door that had just arrived. However, the response was remarkably slow.
The door didn’t open, and there was no sound of footsteps inside.
It was around the time when the boy’s attendant tilted his head and raised his hand again and again.
– Bump!
“Oh my God.”
It was a familiar face of a man and a repetition of the exclamation I had heard a while ago.
We widened our eyes at the unexpected figure that appeared through the crack in the door.
He was also bewildered by seeing us, so he could not speak for a moment.
It was Kristel who spoke first.
“······father?”
“Kristel. I see you, Your Majesty the Crown Prince, and Prince Jesse.”
Duke Simon de Sarnez politely bowed his head.
I was well aware that there were many great aristocrats in and out of the Imperial Palace, but it was the first time I had encountered familiar faces in succession.
Everyone thought they caught me, but since there was a big event called the paladin ceremony, it seemed natural.
“I first heard that you were going to die at the duke’s residence, but I didn’t know you would be here…….”
Kristel stopped talking. I had no choice but to do so.
Inside the chieftain’s office, the servant, who seemed to be a secretary, was hurriedly dressed and bowing to us.
From the reddened cheeks and the troubled expression on her face, she could roughly infer the situation just before.
Benjamin and Canael coughed and turned their heads. Instantly, it warmed up to the nape of my neck.
We, I was at a loss for words, and we gasped.
“Well.”
this······. this isn’t it The father of the main character in Ropan is a servant of the imperial palace, and the wind is…
No, nobody should do this. that’s very bad didn’t you see that?
It was so shocking that I couldn’t quickly organize my thoughts.
I immediately turned to Kristel.
Her eyes were constantly sinking into the darkness.
“What?”
“Kristel.”
“Don’t call me by name, explain. not. What am I going to do with that? go.”
“It’s not what you think it is.”
“It’s done. Don’t do this here.”
She took a step back. It was an unspoken pressure to come out immediately.
The window in the aisle trembled as if it were about to break.
Candles that lit up all over the place went out with a loud bang.
It was because of Kristel’s bowl overflowing uneasy.
I gently grabbed her elbow and spilled the ether.
The unseen father opened his mouth.
“Peacock. Let’s go when the business is over.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
The duke stood up straight and withdrew.
Christel stared at his father in the back with contempt for something very pathetic.
I was worried about her and Duchess Isabelle, so I couldn’t control my expressions.
From https://noblemtl.com
Only the prince stared blankly at the beginning of the problem.
She bowed her head and politely pointed to one side.
There was a room inside the office where the servant Laura would be waiting for us.
*
“It’s crazy big.”
“Yes, my prince. Because it was such a conspicuous treasure, it could not be taken out of the Imperial Palace easily. There is no excuse for making me walk a long way.”
The valet Laura lowered herself and apologized politely. I waved ok.
I wondered why King Christaner’s letter was not sent to the Juliet Palace, but it turned out to be because of the size and detail.
The letters she wrote to her son were never secret.
The purple satin scroll, embroidered with gold thread, was the size of my own body when unfolded.
It was even decorated with colorful jewels and tassels.
Does this mean that secretly sent is meaningless?
“Read it, Prince.”
Christel, who was sitting on the opposite sofa, said kindly.
I was concerned that she was pretending to be okay, and I wanted to tell Isabelle that I could go.
However, she decided not to talk about it earlier, as it would be her own decision.
I glanced at the Crown Prince, who was seated at the top, and looked at the scroll.
“Well······.”
And read carefully. To be honest, I was a little scared.
The emperor didn’t say anything, so I guess he didn’t say anything to me.
“what did you say?”
“Normal······. Seems to.”
I said wrinkling my forehead. This was unexpected, but it really was.
“I am glad to hear that I am eating well. Cornelissa is doing well. It is said that he has grown quite a bit in half a year.”
The 2nd princess is a child I’ve never met before, but hearing this news brought a smile to my face.
From https://noblemtl.com
Of course, there were also sad things.
They say, ‘Remembering that you are a hostage in an enemy country, your heart is full and you wander in your bedroom even when you sleep’, or ‘I pray to the Lord every day for your father’s rest and your peace’.
Most of them were written by ordinary parents, asking about their children’s well-being and delivering news.
I looked it upside down and checked only the first letter of the sentence, but I couldn’t see the hidden message.
It means that there were no terrifying stories about trying to get you out, or taking off your mask and revealing your identity.
Thankfully, I didn’t seem to have made a mistake in front of Eliser.
I sighed heavily and shook my head. Immediately, the orange eyes and the gaze were intertwined.
“Have you read it all?”
“yes.”
Then the father tilted his head. He took off his gloves with a look of displeasure.
“Then burn it.”
what?
“I can’t go home because I’m like this!”
Kristel made a sound that didn’t know if it was talking to herself or yelling.
Benjamin sighed and began to organize the king’s letter.
*
“Why, why do we have our family…?”
The man’s voice trembled.
He couldn’t even remember how he got back to the mansion of the emperor.
He double-checked that someone had curtained all the windows of Bolsera’s study, and that the doors were locked, and lit a candle in the dark.
Then, he took out the card he had received with difficulty from the servants of the Imperial Palace.
A smuggled letter mixed with the personal letter of King Penetian.
As far as knowing the source of the letter, it was something that neither the carriage nor the garden of the mansion dared to open.
Not even the usual crest was stamped on the lilac ceiling.
That made him even more afraid.
crumble, crumble.
‘WB’
Two letters were written on the outside of the stationery.
It may mean nothing to anyone who doesn’t know, but the man knew exactly who it was referring to.
The royal family of the new kingdom used the initials of their first and middle names when giving orders to spies in the empire.
And there was only one person in the current royal family with a name beginning with W.
“Werner Penetian.”
The man remembered the nickname of despair.
He was born and never received an order as a third son.
It was one of his great-grandmothers, and none of the descendants born after her actively did it.
From https://noblemtl.com
Of course, I knew deep down what my great-grandmother had done.
She blamed an innocent baron and brought him to ruin, and you remain a noble and loyal nobleman.
The man clearly remembered the words his great-grandmother had heard on the deathbed.
‘It was a choice for survival. So I’m not ashamed.’
She did not repent until the last moment of her life.
For the young great-grandson, the figure remained a very intense color.
Crackle, crumple.
He bit his lip and opened the letter.
The writing was as straight as a printed book, and the size and spacing were also horribly consistent.
‘Lead the pilgrims out of the sight of the Lord.
Requires a conspiracy, not an executor.
Eat it up and get your honor.
The one who beats and spurs,
I will close my eyes to a hunter’s dog.’
It was like an enigma. But it wasn’t difficult for men.
He was an imperial aristocrat who was accustomed to the high-class narration, and he was the bloodline of a three-jak family.
It was strange that I didn’t understand it at once.
As all the clues between the lines were clearly embedded, the man’s hand trembled.
The middle of the paper that couldn’t overcome the thrill and excitement was helplessly torn.
The devil’s whispers reordered word by word in his head.
‘Kill the pilgrims.
Don’t use water, but prepare a plot.
Chew away the book and tarnish the honor of your opponent.
If you reject this order,
It will reveal the fact that your family is the third generation.’
“Huh, haha…”
It was a terrible demand and intimidation.
The man took a deep breath and drank the bottle of wine left over from last night.
He couldn’t possibly hurt an innocent person. So it didn’t happen.
But in order to live, I had to.
He was the head of a great loyal family who looked after the emperor, and the number of household members he was responsible for was endless.
From https://noblemtl.com
On the other hand, there was only one target.
pilgrim. Those who left their homeland in search of a holy land.
Prince Jesse Penetian.
“Great-grandmother…”
He collapsed to the desk with a sound of pain.
The karma she had accomplished, the karma that the previous head owners had accumulated through indifference and ignorance, was coming back to this generation.
The man himself could not be said to be innocent either.
He remembered the purple eyes he met in the Imperial Palace.
The white face that showed concern toward the embarrassed self was vivid.
The prince had interactions not only with men but also with the man’s family, and was a person who received affectionate attention from the imperial family.
He was a good and kind person.
There was no one in the Empire ignorant of the fact that Guk-seo was targeting him with a vicious and cruel treatment.
“Cool cluck, clump clump!”
I heard Saree in this drink. My stomach churned badly.
Still, he had to make a decision, and it shouldn’t be difficult.
The man clasped his fingertips and grabbed the letter. Then….
– Boo-wook! Ji-ik!
He ripped the paper into pieces and put it in his mouth little by little.
Every time he vomited from the depths of his stomach, he drank wine and suppressed it.
A cold sweat ran down the tip of his chin.
‘It was a choice for survival.’
Every time the bloody liquor dwindled, my great-grandmother’s voice rang in my ears like a curse.
But he couldn’t take it.
Because there was a plot to build.