Chapter 29

“If it’s Marquis Rhodein’s estate, do you mean Monton?”

“Yes, it’s the furthest part of the capital to the south.”

Ethelred passed the information he had received from Maribelle to Theovalt. Baldwin’s survival was only known to Theovalt, one of the Emperors three close aides.

Baldwin and all the rest of the previous Emperor’s children were killed as a result of the succession war to the throne that Ethelred fought when he ascended. For this reason, the fact that Baldwin was alive was kept as top secret. Ethelred also delivered the orders straight to Theovalt for this purpose.

Theovalt knelt with his head down to Ethelred, lowering his eyes and opening his mouth as etiquette dictated.

“It will take around 15 days to get back, so I won’t be able to attend the party.”

“How many guards seats are open without you?”

“Three, but the palace guard is the most important right now.”

“I’m relieved there isn’t anything urgent. I’ve called Mard, and he should arrive before the end of the day. Have him take over before you go.”

“…are you saying Jaylin Mard?”

“Yes, I’d like to call you together while you’re at it, but it’s a shame.”

Theovalt closed his mouth.

“That’s all right. I’ll see him when I get back.”

Theovalt walked away without looking back. The main palace of Igcentium was not decorated with jewels or crystals, but it dazzled everyone’s eyes when the sun shone through it. He had heard that when they constructed the building, they sprinkled crystal powder into every crevice.

People who had never seen this palace before would drool over its magnificence, but Theovalt, who had lived here for a long time, frowned every time he left the room.

“No, I mean! I like red tapestries!”

“I don’t like it. I’d like gold.”

“Lady, how many times do I tell you that gold doesn’t look good! Besides, I’ve been using the red one; do you have any idea how much dyeing it gold would cost? Besides, the imperial family uses nothing but gold that has never been used before. It’s not like a typical aristocratic family; it’s on another level!”

What’s that? Theovalt frowned, not because he was surprised, but because he recognized two voices. As they moved fast, the two were arguing. Naturally, one side was overly calm, while the other was aggressively heating up.

“Miss Maribelle. Lady. Please reconsider. Our imperial family has always been frugal. All of a sudden having gold tapestries, I can’t afford that luxury.”

As he got closer to the two, Theovalt realized he hadn’t been mistaken. Maribelle had a visibly annoyed expression on her face. It’s surprising that Kir hadn’t been slapped in the face yet.

Maribelle let out a sigh and opened her mouth as if she couldn’t endure Kir’s whining any longer.

“How much does it cost?”

“You’ll have to sell a huge estate to fill the palace hall.”

“Take it from my family.”

“What?”

“Don’t make me say it twice. My family has a lot of money, so I’m telling you I’m going to donate.”

“Uh— no—. it’s not a problem— Theo!”

When Kir saw Theovalt, his anxious face widened as if ironed. The thought of being stuck in a bad situation went through Theovalt’s mind like a bolt of lightning, yet he sincerely vowed to sacrifice it once for the sake of the two.

Theovalt bowed to Maribelle, who remained uneasy.

“Good afternoon, Lady. What’s going on, Kir?”

“No, we were getting ready for the party. But she insisted on having a gold tapestry, so—”

“Take it from my family.”

“Well, it won’t look good, you know? I’ve set the tone at best, and if it’s gold, I can’t see anything else because I’m looking at the tapestry!”

“Then we can change all the other decorations to look good with gold.”

Kir looked speechless as a result of the ridiculousness of the situation. Not holding the back of the neck was barely tolerable. Maribelle looked back at Kir with her annoyed eyes, and she left the two behind and took her steps first.

Eventually, Kir was left behind, and Theovalt was in a position to listen to Kir’s complaints.

“Really, what is this? Why is she being so stubborn all of a sudden? I’m already struggling to manage the finances—”

“I guess the Lady wanted to do gold decorations.”

“It’s not like that! It’s just stubbornness. Isn’t the theme of the party changing all of a sudden, and the lady gets so annoyed— I feel like my head is going to explode.”

“The theme of the party has changed?”

Kir raised his tearful eyes as he caressed his hair and grunted with his mouth. His violet eyes seemed as if they were pouring with rain.

“Didn’t you know? The Lady turned down the empress’ seat. Thanks to it, we threw away everything we wrote because we are changing the contents of the invitation.”

“Why? Didn’t she get permission?”

“Do you think I know? How’s His Majesty doing?”

“Well—”

“Well, what. Even if His Majesty is in a bad mood, you wouldn’t notice.”

With a shake of his head, Kir expressed his displeasure with the situation. He is the only one in this palace who is actually good. Yes, that’s correct.

Listening to Kir’s criticism, Theovalt, who was known for his ignorance of emotions, opened his lips.

“Now, isn’t Azil in charge of the Palace’s internal affairs?”

“Well, that’s right.”

Azil and Maribelle were supposed to plan the party, but Maribelle insisted on an absurdly expensive golden tapestry, so the responsibilities of Azil were handed over to Kir.

“You must be busy with your business, so hand it over to Azil. Set the decoration to the original red one.”

“What? Do you think she’ll stay still?”

“I’ll go. Good work.”

“Huh?”

Before Kir could catch him, Theovalt was chasing after Maribelle, who had gone ahead.

******

Maribelle was well aware that she was expressing her anger in an inappropriate place. She hadn’t lost her mind to the point where she didn’t notice.

However, if she doesn’t do so, the resulting anger may cause her to lose her reason.

Maribelle sighed and touched her forehead.

‘Don’t be silly.’

The Empress position was meant to be mature in any case, and despite the process going badly, the path remained unchanged. Her relationship with Ethelred will improve after a while. But it won’t be the same as before.

Yeah. Not as good as before. This is the biggest problem.

‘It was something I was prepared for.’

Maribelle washed her face dry. Yes. There’s no need to be shaken by just this. Make up her mind and don’t worry about anything. When Kir returns, ask that the tapestries be red. Great.

But when Maribelle looked back at the person who was heard from behind, it was Theovalt, not Kir.

“Sir Peregrine? What about Sir Kir?”

“I sent him to Azil, because I think there’s going to be an argument if you’re with him.”

Oh, Sir Azil. Maribelle had looked away from the sun the other day when she remembered him, who had been by her side, and she softened a little. That was, however, a long way from melting Maribelle’s thorns.

“Is that so? What does that have to do with your pursuit of me?”

“I’ve just heard from you that you provided His Majesty with clues about treason yesterday.”

“Oh, I did. Yesterday.”

Yesterday she gave the information and in return, she declined the Empress position. Maribelle’s feeling as she crawled on the floor suddenly plunged her into the ground. But, not realizing that the aura around Maribelle had grown even heavier, Theovalt continued to speak.

“Mostly the other members of the palace have not heard of it yet. I am the one who is most deeply involved in the survival of Crown Prince Baldwin.”

“I didn’t know that. But I still don’t see the connection between that and the current conversation.”

“Unlike them, I know about it, so it means you can talk about it to me comfortably.”

“About what?”

“Lady, did His Majesty threaten you to make you release information yesterday?”

“—What?”

Maribelle doubted my ears for a moment. But contrary to that, Theovalt has a very serious face.

“His Majesty probably wouldn’t have tortured the Lady, but he must have made you feel so bad because you give a similar psychological shock—”

“No, it’s not. What on earth did you get wrong?”

As Theovalt was so serious about preparing a lengthy rant about Ethelred’s threats, Maribelle stopped laughing.

“It’s not like that, Sir Peregrine.”

“If—it’s not that, then why?”

The fact that Theovalt’s own assumptions, which had progressed from suspicion to certainty in his mind, was proven to be wrong was shocking, and he rubbed his black eyes naively.

Who would think he was a tyrant’s sharpest sword after seeing that? Maribelle bit her lower lip and struggled to speak as she continued to think.

“I won’t deny that I’m in a bad mood. Sir Peregrine. You told me the other day. I’m clever.”

“I did.”

“It doesn’t feel bad now that you see it. I have to be clever, I have to be more cunning than anyone else, I have to be vicious—”  She has to become that kind of a villain the kind who would even swallow up a country to get to their goals. She was shaken by emotion. “—But I couldn’t. I was angry with myself because I felt like an idiot who quickly forgot what I had promised to die for—”

“Are you going to get angry? Anyone is like that.”

“I can’t be like that.”

Maribelle was shocked that she was able to spit it out on her own because the words were too sharp. But she kept her surprised expression hidden and spoke calmly.

“If I become lazy now, it will end in complete denial of my existence. I told you, I promised myself to die, if need be, to get what I want.”

“From what I think, Lady, you need to be a little more generous with yourself.”

Theovalt quickly spat out the words. He seemed embarrassed.

“Isn’t it because Lady didn’t want to forget that goal? Why are you so anxious about being somewhat lenient with yourself?”

“Me?”

“Am I wrong? Isn’t it Lady who said ‘I shouldn’t do that’ a while ago?”

Theovalt’s indifferent face eased loosely, and a smile crept into it.

“It’s okay for the Lady to loosen up a bit. In my eyes, Lady is already progressing well enough. I’m sure you know that too. In fact, aren’t you afraid of anything else?”

That guy is stupid, right? Maribelle looked up at Theovalt, who was far taller than her. Theovalt looked into Maribelle’s gaze and seemed to think about something with her for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“And, I don’t like the gold tapestries.”

Thinking of something else, his brow frowned slightly, then released.

“It’s too bright.”

Eventually, the party’s tapestry was decided to be red.