Chapter 152

Kaizen officially started working from the dawn of that day.

He handled the overdue work while ignoring the servants who asked about his physical condition with a bewildered expression, and arranged the matters related to this case one by one.

Time flew by quickly as he was busy with his work.

It was a bright morning.

‘I said I’d be back before breakfast.’

He promised Astelle that he would leave the urgent business behind and return to the Empress Palace.

Astelle urged him to return only after doing what was necessary to ensure he would not be exhausted.

He didn’t want to worry Astelle, but there was a warm affection in her eyes that looked at him worriedly.

‘Astelle saved my life without hesitation.’

As he thought about the past few days, he was deeply moved.

Astelle abandoned her chance to become Empress Dowager and regent, and her own father to save Kaizen’s life.

It might not be passionate love, but it was something she couldn’t do without affection and trust.

‘Does that mean it’s okay to have a little hope?’

With that in mind, Kaizen entered the Empress Palace. He also wanted to meet Theor after a long time.

Upon entering the Empress Palace, the maids bowed their heads to him. They said Astelle was with Fritz.

‘Are they two talking about the Duke?’

Kaizen went to see Astelle with a little worry. Opening the door to the drawing-room, he saw Astelle and Fritz.

“Astelle.”

At that moment, Theor in Astelle’s arms caught his eye.

Theor looked at him with an almost shocked look.

When Kaizen entered the office, Vellian and other young officials had a similar reaction. Everyone froze as if they had seen a ghost and were rooted to the spot.

It was understandable since he went back without telling them that he had recovered.

Theor’s reaction was a little more dramatic.

The moment Kaizen entered the room, Theor hardened like a stone statue with his eyes wide open.

Kaizen reached out to Theor first.

“Theor.”

Theor, who was blinking blankly, took a step forward. Then, as if belatedly realizing that this was real, he ran towards Kaizen.

“Dad!”

Theor fell into Kaizen’s arms.

Kaizen hugged Theor with a puzzled expression.

‘What did Theor just say?’

Kaizen couldn’t believe what he just heard.

Theor sobbed, burying his face in Kaizen’s arms.

“Sob… … sob… … . Dad… … .”

This time, the word ‘Dad’ was clearly heard.

Kaizen was speechless. It was the first time he heard Theor call him ‘Dad.’

Kaizen hardened with a more dazed expression than the officials he had just met.

“Theor… … .”

He patted Theor with one hand to comfort him.

Fritz, who was next to Astelle, looked equally surprised.

Astelle was the only one smiling at Kaizen’s bewildered reaction.

“Even when Your Majesty lost your consciousness, Theor called you Dad.”

Astelle told the story of how Theor cried as he saw Kaizen who had lost consciousness. Then she told him about the first time he called him Dad.

Theor didn’t address Kaizen ‘Dad.’ He stubbornly held on to the title of ‘Your Majesty.’ However, it seemed that he was afraid that something would go wrong when he saw Kaizen who had lost consciousness.

Kaizen pulled his small, soft body in his arms.

It was the moment when Theor finally recognized him as his father after breaking down the wall he had built up.

The small body he held in his arms was so lovely.

“Theor, I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“Are you not sick anymore?” Theor asked, raising his head slightly and making eye contact with him.

Tears welled up in his red eyes.

“Yeah, I’m all right now.”

Kaizen wiped his tears with his fingers.

“Don’t get sick.”

“Okay. I won’t make Theor worry about me anymore.”

Kaizen kissed Theor on the forehead lightly.

He smelled the soft and unique scent of a child’s body like the smell of milk.

Along with the feelings of happiness, there was a rush of affection.

He was sorry that his young son had been so worried about him, and it made him sad.

Astelle, looking at the two of them, reached out to Theor.

“Theor, come here. Your Majesty must not overdo it yet.”

After a touching reunion, the three had breakfast together.

Fritz was also invited, but he returned to the office with the excuse that he didn’t want to disturb the family gathering after a long time.

After eating, Kaizen promised Theor that he would be back in the afternoon, then he left again. Astelle followed him out to see him off.

Kaizen brought up the topic he had been thinking about. “Your father is in the abandoned palace. You can go see him if you want.”

“Thank you, but I don’t think I will ever go to see him.”

Kaizen felt sorry for Astelle.

The Duke of Reston is still her biological father. For children, no matter how bad their parents are, they must be sad when their parents die.

“Astelle.”

Kaizen stopped in front of the gates of the Empress Palace. He hesitated for a moment, then grabbed Astelle’s hand.

“Now don’t have a hard time alone and tell me anything when something happens.”

“… … .”

Astelle looked at him without a word.

There was less than a step between the two of them. The familiar body scent and warmth came from their clasped hands.

The last incident was as horrific as a nightmare, but it seems to have melted the relationship between the two. It was evident when Astelle felt her heart beat really fast whenever he was so close.

“I’m worried because you seem to be overdoing it.” Astelle turned the subject, carefully pulling her hand away. “I heard the detox herbs from the South will arrive in a day or two. We will make you the medicine again.”

The poison in Kaizen’s body has not been completely detoxified.

It is still unknown whether the poison accumulated in his body will completely dissipate even if they make medicine once again with the herbs brought from the South.

“I’ve also been told not to divulge anything related to poison to the imperial city council,” said Kaizen, trying to reassure Astelle.

“I’ll have the doctor bring some medicine to replenish your energy.”

“I don’t need that,” Kaizen said with a smile, still holding Astelle’s hand. “Don’t say that with a face that looks more tired than me. How worried would Theor be if you got sick too?”

Astelle couldn’t deny it, so she just smiled slightly.

Kaizen was looking at her with warm eyes filled with affection.

It was like taking the first step into a new relationship after getting engaged, divorced, and remarried.

“Now I’ll take care of all the rest, so you don’t have to worry about anything.”

* * *

Vellian had been working for hours and couldn’t even eat breakfast.

He was insanely busy.

He was so busy with work that he had no time to feel hungry.

During the emperor’s illness, the Knights were suddenly attacked. It was the nobles in the capital who led the raid.

When he suddenly got a call at dawn and went to work, he could not have imagined that such a huge event was waiting for him.

‘Besides, the Emperor suddenly returned at dawn.’

The Emperor returned to work as soon as the case was settled.

He looked so fine to the point that his worries when he heard that he was in critical condition were futile.

And by order of the Emperor, those involved in this case began to be captured; some nobles and the empress’ father, Duke of Reston.

There was one thing he couldn’t understand.

Why was the Duke of Reston captured?

“What does the Duke of Reston have to do with this?”

“He was brought as a witness to testify. The part related to the case is still under investigation.” The investigator who brought the report answered indifferently.

“Who is investigating the Duke?”

“The order has not yet been issued.”

Unlike the other nobles who are imprisoned in the dungeon, the Duke of Reston is staying on one side of the palace.

“He’s being treated well.”

“It is only natural since he is the empress’ father.”

Indeed, it’s natural that he was not arrested as a sinner, but was called as a witness to testify about this case.

Even so, why does he have to be inside the palace?

‘What are they investigating in the first place?’

It turned out that several nobles took advantage of the emperor’s illness and caused a disturbance in the capital.

Even the young baron, who had been in charge of the Capital Guards’ actions, insisted in desperation that he never thought of treason.

Just during the emperor’s illness, Sir Seibel secretly brought in the Knights, so he said that he was trying to protect the capital because he seemed to be up to something suspicious.

However, he changed his testimony after being tortured in the dungeon.

Because of his grudge against Sir Seibel, he wanted to kill him and put him in trouble.

‘Even though it wasn’t a very credible story.’

Anyway, according to the contents of the investigator’s documents, it was so.

Vellian didn’t even go near the dungeon because he didn’t like to see rough scenes, so he kept everything on paper.

As a result, he couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

‘How the hell did it happen? Why did he suddenly attack the Knights? Why did Seibel hide the Knights there? What does the Duke of Reston have to do with this?’

He has a lot of questions, but no one gave him any details.

Lyndon kept his mouth shut no matter how many questions he asked, and Seibel avoided Vellian at all.

He couldn’t help but express doubts to Kaizen, but he only responded that he should shut up and do paperwork.

‘You’re all so mean… … .’

It was a bit sad because everyone seemed to work together without him and didn’t give him detailed information about the situation.

‘It must have something to do with the Duke of Reston, obviously.’

Vellian roughly speculated that when the Duke of Reston heard the news of His Majesty’s illness, he along with the nobles tried to raid Seibel.

Seibel is a person loyal to His Majesty the Emperor. If His Majesty dies, the Crown Prince will ascend the throne with Duke Reston as regent, but if Seibel and the other new nobles are against it, there may be a problem. So that’s why he tried to attack Seibel?

It was speculation that this was a case to prevent such a situation in advance.

However, this hypothesis was also flawed.

His Majesty the Emperor is still alive, is there any need to do such a dangerous thing already?

To be precise, His Majesty the Emperor was ill for a few days and then recovered without any problem.

‘… … I have no idea what’s really going on.’

“How did it go when I asked you to keep an eye on the surroundings of the Empress?” Vellian sighed and asked again.

During His Majesty’s illness, he told him to monitor the Empress’ surroundings just in case she was up to something.

‘It seems that there was no particular big harvest.’

In addition, the Emperor recovered without any problem, so it was useless.

The investigator replied, “It was nothing special. Although the Young Duke sent someone to the estate to bring something quickly. It was not suspicious either.”

“Young Duke?”

Officials close to the Emperor, including Vellian, called the new Duke of Reston, Fritz, the ‘Young Duke’ to distinguish him from his father, the former Duke. Naturally, the former duke was called the ‘Old Duke.’

The Young Duke brought something from the west estate in a hurry?

“When was that?”

“When His Majesty was ill.”

Velian felt a bit suspicious and asked again, “What did he order to bring?”

“According to our investigation, it is said that he ordered his men to bring the gifts he received from the estate to the capital.”

“… … gift? In such a situation?”

The Emperor was sick, so why bring a gift?

“Yeah, and he sent someone to the South a while ago to get something.”

“What did the Young Duke say to bring this time from the South? Do you know what it is?”

“Well, I don’t know the details, but as far as I know… … .”

The investigator spoke uncertainly,

“It’s a flower.”