Chapter 68

Thanks Sue M. For the ko-fi! Here’s the promised extra chapter!

Theodore discussed with Brian a little more before letting him go.

The light fatigue accumulated in the past few days came, Theodore raised his hand and pressed down on the temple with his fingertips.

Knock, knock.

Suddenly, a man stepped inside with a small knock.

It was a servant who looked after the royal palace on behalf of the commander who fled with the King of Caligor.

“What happened?”

“Oh, well… Your Majesty.”

The servant with an embarrassing face glanced at Theodore and told him.

“Somethings…… somethings arrived at the palace…….”

“Things?”

Theodore nodded in puzzlement, and the servants came in with trays holding the present.

It was filled with colorful baby clothes, cute baby shoes, fluffy and cute dolls, and tea leaves that were good for pregnant women.

“What is this?”

“……These things came in the name of Prince Frederick.”

“Prince Frederick?”

As soon as the name was uttered, an unpleasant color came over Theodore’s face.

“It seems that these items were ordered when the Prince was here and they arrived here now. I don’t know how to handle it.….”

“As far as I know, there are no babies in the palace.”

Theodore frowned as he picked up a baby shoe.

“Oh, there’s this rumour that’s circulating in the palace…….”

“Rumor?”

“Prince Frederick has secretly met a lady who he has been dating while avoiding people’s eyes for a few years, and recently she got pregnant…….”

“…….”

“So the King eventually approved the marriage…….”

Theodore’s face crumpled mercilessly.

They are lovers!

The Prince, the Prince just ran away with his lover, so please feel sorry for him…….

“How do I handle it? We can’t throw them away because they are valuable items.… Whoo!”

Hwa-rrrrrrrrrrrr!

The golden glow at Theodore’s fingertips soon turned into a bright red flame and burned the baby shoes in his hand without a trace.

All those who saw silent anger emitting from Theodore were frozen stiffly in the place.

Theodore rolled his eyes slowly and looked at the objects on the tray.

“No way, the rumour can’t be true. Don’t you think so?”

“Ahaha.”

“What? Why aren’t you answering me?”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

The attendant nodded vigorously without knowing why.

“Your Majesty is right! That can’t be the case!”

For now, he agreed unconditionally with the intention of curry favor with the Emperor.

Only then did Theodore’s corners of mouth rolled up as if he were satisfied.

＊ ＊ ＊

In a while.

The day of the Marmul Conquest came, and the promised day to meet with the Lord of Arbela, has also come.

I visited the Lord a day earlier than the promised date.

“Welcome, Yves.”

On the news of my coming, the Lord himself came to greet me at the gate.

Next to him, the Lord’s second son, Derek, was waving wildly at me.

I greeted Derek lightly and entered the castle under the guidance of the Lord.

“We were waiting for Yves.”

The Lord whispered to me in a small voice as we walked along the long hallway together.

There were people waiting for me when I arrived in the deepest and most secret space inside the castle of Arbela.

“Your Highness the King of Caligor.”

The King of Caligor, who fled from Theodore and abandoned the royal castle, and those who followed him, were hiding here.

“Oh, the rumoured witch! Where is my son Frederick?”

The King asked, looking behind me.

‘You must have thought I’d come with Frederick.’

“First, let’s talk about the contract I had with Medusa, the subordinate of Caligor.”

I immediately submitted the contract.

“Prince Frederick’s safety is now under my protection. If you pay me three billion golds as promised, I’ll give the Prince back to you.”

“Three, three billion gold?”

The King of Caligor was visibly shocked when he saw the amount written on the contract.

“Isn’t 3 billion gold equivalent to a decent estate?”

“Exactly.”

“I think the amount is a little too much…….”

“So, you can’t give it to me?”

My eyebrows, which had been answering silently, rose sharply.

“How about a billion gold?”

“…….”

I stared at the King silently, then picked up the contract again.

“Unfortunately, the contract is annulled.”

Then I jerked around.

“No, wait!”

As I turned around to leave, I heard the King calling me.

“Oh, I see. Two billion golds…… Yeah, damn it, I’ll give you three billion golds.”

Only then did I look back at the King with a smile.

“All right.”

I could see the King’s servants shaking their teeth* at me.

[T/N: Snarling (?)]

I can’t help it, even if they cursed me as a greedy woman, I will still do what I have to do.

It’s a contract I made at the risk of breaking my peace, so I couldn’t concede a single gold.

“This, this jewel is a dowry brought by my mother, who was the Princess of Arisbe, when she married into the Caligor family…….”

Even at first glance, the King’s hand trembled as he held out a small box containing expensive jewels and artifacts.

“If you sell all of these, it will be equivalent to three billion golds.”

“But I’ve to be sure that what you just gave me is really worth three billion golds. I can’t hand over Prince Frederick before that.”

When I spoke in an unconvinced voice, I felt the King’s people staring at me angrily for being rude.

But I didn’t budge an eye.

“I have just abandoned the Kingdom and fled, but now you aren’t even treating me like a King.”

I asked, swallowing a snort.

“Are you threatening me?”

“No, it’s not that…….”

The King’s party immediately lowered its tail.

It was funny to see that they thought my mind was twisted and worried that I might hurt their precious Prince.

I got up with a box of jewels from the King in my arms.

I was going to leave my seat as it is, but I asked the question that suddenly occurred to me.

“But why did Emperor Theodore delay leaving?”

And the answer that came back was the kind of thing I never expected.

****

My walk out of the Lord’s castle stretched out differently than usual.

I frowned as I recalled the story I had just heard inside the castle.

I heard the Emperor found someone here. A survivor of a great family named Chernicia.

I was suspicious no matter how much I thought about it.

He found a survivor of Chernicia?

At this point, here? All of a sudden?

So he’s going to use that person to reinstate the family…….

I heard he has been preparing for that, so the Emperor won’t go back right away…….

And a family reinstatement out of the blue.

Of course I didn’t believe it and snorted out loud while ignoring it blatantly.

No, I tried to ignore it.

What’s the name of the survivor?

But I ended up asking lamely.

I shouldn’t have asked.

It should have been ignored as a ridiculous rumor.

Brian Chernisia.

The moment I heard the name, my mind went blank.

It’s been the way it is ever since I left the castle.

Brian.

My youngest brother, who was mischievous but lovable.

He often teased me by saying, “I will make you marry the First Prince, Theodore, and when that happens, you can cry and complain to him about Richard O’Brian’s harassment.”

It was a name that I couldn’t call again after the family collapsed like that a decade ago. I often cried quietly because I missed even the mischievous harassment.

‘Is it really Brian?’

I put my hopes on the question that rose in my mind for a moment, and then shook my head immediately.

‘No, it can’t be Brian.’

But I kept worrying about the rumor.

It bothered me a little, a little bit.

“Yves! Did you finish your conversation with Father well? Why do you look so dark?”

As soon as I came out, I ran into Derek.

“Did you wait for me?”

“Yes, Yves. Did you enjoy the squirrel warrior performance? The kids liked it, right?”

Derek grinned shyly and chatted with me.

After looking at him for a moment, I stopped his long string of words and asked.

“Good for you, Derek. I just wanted to ask you a favor.”

“What? To me?”

Derek looked visibly surprised when I asked him for a favor.

It’s because he thought I was cold to him because he didn’t have anything that I like, and he came to ask if I needed anything every time.

“It’s my pleasure to be of service of you! Ask anything!”

“You know…….”

I pulled Derek’s ear and whispered.

Then he replied with a smile, as if it were not too difficult.

“As long as you wish.”

A few days later, rumors spread across the Kingdom of Caligor beyond Arbela.

The witch of the lake house destroyed all the evil things around Arbela with black magic.

All the magic items were destroyed and eradicated, and not a small trace was found.

The rumor spread quickly.

At this rate, it will not be long before the rumour reaches to Theodore in Caligor’s Royal Castle.