Chapter 101

The end of a wedding is a celebration.

It is to enjoy a celebration banquet with countless nobles in the grand banquet hall of the imperial palace.

Astelle sat next to the emperor and watched the crowds of people filling up the seats.

Sitting next to her, Kaizen looked back at her from time to time.

‘Why do you keep looking at me?’

Is he trying to read my mind because I didn’t say anything?

Isn’t it strange for the bride to chatter on the wedding day?

Astelle pondered whether she should talk to the guests, but her maternal grandfather came to her with Theor.

“Mom.”

Theor gave Astelle a small bouquet of flowers

“Congratulations on your marriage.”

It was a small bouquet of cute flowers such as heather flowers that gave off a fragrant scent.

“Where did you get this bouquet from?”

“I made it in the garden.”

Come to think of it, it was a flower that was blooming in the garden of the Empress Palace.

Astelle gently touched Theor’s nose with her finger, which was clad in a white silk glove.

“Thank you, Theor.”

Her maternal grandfather, who came with him, looked at Theor admiringly and said, “Yes, the prince made it before we went to the temple to give it as a wedding present for Your Majesty.”

Astelle looked up for a moment in surprise at her grandfather’s polite reply.

She is now the Empress.

Her maternal grandfather, who was nothing more than a marquis, had to speak and act politely to Astelle.

Even though it was natural, she was still a little surprised.

She realized again that she had lost her peaceful life.

“It’s all right to speak comfortably.”

It was Kaizen’s voice.

He seems to have been watching the conversation between the two of them.

“You are the empress’ maternal grandfather, and you have been taking care of our Theor all this time, so it’s okay to speak comfortably.”

There was a look of confusion in the Marquis’ eyes, but he soon bowed his head to express his gratitude.

“It is an honor, Your Majesty.”

“If you need anything, just tell me. I will help you.”

Kaizen who said so looked like a benevolent emperor.

Did he forget that he refused to meet the Marquis no matter how many times he applied for an audience?

Then the Marquis stood a little far and bowed his back in a very polite manner.

“What does this old man need? I only hope that Your Majesty will be happy for a long time.”

It wasn’t ‘you two,’ but ‘Your Majesty.’

The Marquis spoke very politely, but his words referred to the time Kaizen divorced Astelle in a day in the past.

Kaizen’s smile disappeared in an instant.

However, he remained silent as if he had nothing to say back.

Astelle looked at her grandfather, asking him to take Theor back.

“Thank you, Grandpa.”

The Marquis held Theor’s hand and winked at him.

“Theor.”

Theor took a step back, as if waiting, and bowed politely as the nobles do.

“I will go back to the palace, Your Majesty.”

It must have been taught by her maternal grandfather.

The nobles sitting around smiled at how cute the little prince was imitating court manners.

Astelle just smiled and patted Theor on the shoulder.

“Yes, go ahead, I will be right there.”

Theor grabbed his maternal grandfather’s hand, turned around, and walked out of the banquet hall.

Kaizen looked at the three of them with lonely eyes.

***

After the wedding, Astelle finally took off her stuffy dress.

“How was it?”

Hannah helped her take off her dress and reported the information she had found so far.

“It is said that what the Marchioness prepared was a poison that melts over time.”

“That’s why she tried to hide it under the embroidery.”

If the guards failed to find poison during the inspection, the poison in the decoration would melt and stick to her skin as soon as she put on the dress.

Maybe that’s why the Marchioness used thick decorations that aren’t often used on dresses.

Because she needed a place to hide the poison.

“The Marchioness has worked hard. Hannah, if you weren’t careful, I wouldn’t have been able to avoid it. Thank you.”

Hannah smiled shyly at Astelle’s praise.

Astelle put on her bathrobe and entered the bath prepared by the maids.

Hot water with a fragrant scent is prepared in the bath made of clean light blue stones.

Fragrant red petals float on the water with a faint fragrance.

As soon as she got into the water, the tension she had felt until a moment ago disappeared and sleepiness overtook her.

‘The wedding is over.’

It feels like just yesterday that I divorced and left the Imperial Palace……

It was unbelievable that I was resting like this after the wedding was over again.

It’s a bitter reality, but it’s irreversible now.

I have to adapt and live with this reality.

When Astelle finished bathing, the maids applied lotion and perfume before her skin became dry.

She changed into a white muslin nightgown and went back to her bedroom.

She wanted to be able to rest a little more comfortably now.

But as soon as she entered the bedroom, she heard the door open from the other side.

Kaizen, who hadn’t changed much from what she had seen at the wedding, stepped inside.

“Astelle.”

He approached this way slowly.

***

Kaizen looked at Astelle and took a deep breath for a moment.

Tonight was their first night–no, to be precise, their second.

Dressed in a white muslin nightgown, Astelle looked as elegant as a lily.

However, Kaizen was feeling sad at the moment.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the Marchioness?”

Before the banquet was over, Lyndon came and reported to him the case of the Marchioness.

Kaizen felt like he was hit hard on the head from behind.

He was enjoying the banquet after finishing the wedding ceremony without a second thought until a few minutes ago.

Not only that. Lyndon reported that the Duke of Reston had already investigated the case at the request of the Empress.

As soon as he heard that, Kaizen felt like he was drenched in cold water.

“……why didn’t you tell me and asked the Duke for help instead?”

He clenched his fists tightly to keep his voice calm.

Still, there was anger in his voice.

“It was because there was no evidence.”

Astelle replied in a dignified manner.

“How can I tell Your Majesty when there is no evidence? If things go wrong, the culprit may be proven innocent. So I asked my father to get the evidence.”

Astelle explained as if there was nothing wrong with her answer.

Hearing that, Kaizen had no other choice but to be sadder.

“You don’t believe me?”

Today was their wedding, even the dress was made for Astelle by Kaizen himself.

The Marchioness tried to poison the dress, and Astelle almost lost her life.

Still, Astelle didn’t mention a word to him about this until the wedding was over.

She instead asked her father who had abandoned her, but did not ask for Kaizen’s help.

His sadness came before his anger.

“You can’t even tell me about your life at stake. Am I that bad?”

Kaizen felt so miserable that he wanted to yell at Astelle.

But Astelle did not understand his feelings.

No, she didn’t seem to want to understand.

“I apologize for not telling you in advance. I didn’t want to bother Your Majesty with something uncertain.”

That meant she didn’t believe him.

Kaizen felt miserable.

It was more painful than miserable.

“What can I do to make you believe me?”

“……”

Astelle was slightly surprised by his voice, which was filled with deep sorrow.

Her cold light green eyes were filled with confusion.

However, Astelle quickly returned to her expressionless face. Kaizen closed his eyes and slowly opened them again to endure his pain.

“Yeah, it would be hard for you to believe me.”

He looked at the indifferent Astelle, then turned around.

“You’ve worked hard today, so get some rest.”

Astelle just stood still until he left the bedroom.

Kaizen came out of the bedroom and closed the door.

There was a small, empty lounge.

If he could, he wanted to go back to the Imperial Palace.

But today was the first night of the newlyweds.

If he does so, the nobles will be clamoring that they don’t get along since their first night.

Then Astelle will be insulted again.

“……”

Kaizen stood in front of the closed door for a long time before he walked to the sofa in the lounge.

He lay on the sofa and forced himself to sleep.

***

“Wait, what……?”

Vellian was called to the office as soon as the banquet was over.

Before he even got to the office, he heard something absurd.

It was news that the Marchioness of Croychen had been arrested for poisoning the empress’ dress.

“What poison?”

The secretary who delivered the news shook his head.

“I don’t think it was enough to kill people.”

Hearing that, he was even more confused. Why would she do that when it couldn’t even kill?

‘Well, that Marchioness was always a pain in the neck.’

He grabbed the back of his neck and rubbed it with his hand.

Vellian worked overtime every day from the first day he returned to the capital.

He had been working all night without a break every day to prepare for the national wedding from a month ago.

Watching the wedding today–which he had prepared so hard–Vellian was happier than the bride and groom.

Just when he thought he could finally go to his mansion and rest, the Marchioness suddenly caused another trouble.

In the end, Vellian had to sit in the office again today and work all night.

By dawn, he was tired and his drowsiness came over.

Vellian was dozing in front of his desk.

Then suddenly the door swung open.

Vellian, who was dozing off, woke up in surprise as soon as the door to his office opened.

“Your Majesty?”

Kaizen was walking into the office with a cold expression.

Vellian looked at his dark red eyes that were filled with anger and hurriedly lowered his head.

“Where is the Marchioness?”

“N-now Sir Lyndon is directly interrogating her in the investigation room–”

Kaizen cut off his stuttering explanation and said coldly, “Do whatever it takes to get her to admit her actions.”