Chapter 48

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“Your Grace, I have conveyed what you have said to Madame.”

Alsdorf placed the white envelope on the desk and spoke briefly.

“The answer?”

“She accepted. It’s time for the young master’s nap, so she’ll have tea with you at the time you said. That’s what she said.”

Alexis finally looked down. A small rose pattern was added to the red seal of the Imperial family.

A letter from the Empress’ Palace.

He smirked and handed it to Viscount Rylent who was standing next to him and didn’t look again. The Viscount, puzzled, tore the seal off the envelope. He pulled the letter out, cleared his throat and prepared to read it. The Empress’ letter was long, spanning five pages.

[“Look here Lord Walten.”]

From the first sentence, any politeness and formality were discarded, and the main topic immediately started. Viscount Rylent scratched the back of his head and looked at Alexis’ eyes. He was sitting with his arms crossed staring straight ahead. As if the empress was sitting right in front of him.

Viscount Rylent felt cold sweat running down his spine and sent a glance to the old butler for help, but Alsdorf just bowed and left the office.

Reluctantly, he continued to read the letter.

[“The news of the birth of the Lord’s successor has been going around in the capital for a long time, so why has nothing been reported to the Imperial family? It is regrettable that the existence of the heir has not even been confirmed to be true.”]

“…..”

[“Anyway, His Majesty, who is lying on a sickbed, is also very happy to hear the news of the Duchy’s successor, so why not show the child to him? Enter the Imperial Palace within two days and have an audience.”]

“Why didn’t she just say that from the start?”

Alexis laughed with a face full of sarcasm.

Viscount Rylent felt uncomfortable and stopped reading. The content of the next paragraph would clearly be the same thing anyway. He folded the letter and held it out, but Alexis didn’t touch it.

“When was it sent?”

“Ten days ago, Your Grace.”

There was no way the empress’ letter got lost in the middle, so it must have been intentionally ignored, Viscount Rylent thought.

“Throw it away.”

“Pardon? But it’s a letter with the seal of the Imperial family, my lord.”

“Or burn it.”

Alexis stood up without even blinking. He then threw on a coat, ‘Probably to go to the Imperial Palace although it’s late’, Viscount Rylent thought as he followed him.

“There are still two hours left until the War Authority meeting, so you should have plenty of time to stop by the Empress’ palace.”

No, he tried to follow him.

Alexis stopped walking towards the door, and Viscount Rylent stopped walking as Alexis looked at him with knife-sharp eyes.

“Why are you following me?”

“Aren’t you leaving now? I will wait outside the Empress’ Palace during your audience with Her Majesty.”

“I don’t have time to go see her. Get the materials I need for the meeting and enter the palace later.”

Without hesitation, he left the office and headed for the Imperial Palace. He was better off rushing to meet Kathleen at the time he had promised.

He entered the palace earlier than the scheduled time, so the other nobles had not yet arrived. As soon as Alexis entered the conference room, one of the knights cautiously approached him.

“Your Grace. The shift schedule has been changed as directed.”

He carefully handed over a piece of paper. It was a worksheet containing the names of the imperial knights working in the Imperial Palace as well as the guard duty schedule. The personnel that the empress had been nurturing for 20 years were taken out one by one under the pretext of old age and were forced to retire, or their assignment was changed to the Capital’s Defense. The vacancies were filled with people Alexis had been recruiting for 10 years.

And it was only today that the knights escorting the empress and the emperor at close range were filled with those selected by the Walten family.

“The Empress did not have any disagreement. She seemed to think that her escort was not much different from before, perhaps because she had other special concerns.”

“I see. Good.”

Alexis folded the worksheet and tucked it into his arms. The knight looked at him and asked.

“What shall I do about the Crown Prince? They’re still on high alert, so I haven’t been able to touch that separately. Recently, His Highness seems to be choosing the escort knights himself, so I think it would be easier for Your Grace to speak to him separately.”

“He chose the escort himself?”

Peter had no aptitude for swordsmanship or martial arts. Because of that, Alexis thought that Peter wasn’t close to the knights, so it was unexpected.

“Yes. However, the newly selected person is surprising. As far as I know he’s…”

“I don’t care about the Crown Prince. Leave it as it is.”

Alexis had a clear identification of who was his friend or foe. His younger brother of twelve years was unlikely to be an enemy by his standards, so there was no reason to reach out to him.

“All right. Then I will report again as soon as there are new movements from the empress.”

The knight left the conference room as cautiously as he had come in.

Alexis took out the prepared documents and examined them. Perhaps his provocation was a shock, so Peter used his own methods to avoid the political marriage. He stopped paying attention to him since he naturally knew what his plans were.

Today’s meeting will discuss the issue of correcting the discipline of the Empire more effectively and reliably than the Southern War.

It was also to retake control of northern estates and border territories owned by Count Winston.

The Count’s authority to protect the North for over 30 years had long since exceeded the conditions granted by the Imperial family. The Emperor did not seem to mind subjugating the northern immigrants and expanding the territory, but Alexis had no intention of doing that.

He was going to take every little thing Winston had, and then drive him out alone. He was no longer entitled to the throne in the North.

Winston will be deprived of the land he was granted as a count and will wander the Empire with only a few pennies as compensation.

When he set the documents down with satisfaction, he heard a commotion from beyond the door.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty, please wait…”

The voice of a panicked maid was heard and the door swung wildly open with the loud sound of heels. Unsurprisingly, the empress stood there with a face bubbling from anger.

“Walten!”

At the hysterical voice that seemed to pierce the air, the maids quickly closed the door. In the meeting room where only the two of them were left, Alexis looked back at the documents and spoke calmly.

“The court meeting will begin shortly. What do you want?”

“Didn’t you receive a letter telling you to have an audience?”

“I did.”

“Then why!”

The empress approached in an instant. Her body shook but she swallowed her anger.

“Why didn’t you come to the audience? Where is the successor?”

“The Empress will never see the child.”

“Why would you keep the Imperial family’s successor inside your house? In order to solidify the succession as soon as possible, the child must be recognized by the Imperial family and nobles!”

Alexis said without even sparing her a gaze.

“Silver hair and blue eyes.”

At that, the empress stopped shouting. She seemed surprised that he did not have golden eyes, the mark of royalty. He was a little relieved at that reaction.

“Do you still want to see him?”

“He… he’s still the son of the duke.”

“What if he doesn’t have my blood?”

“What? What does that mean? From what I’ve heard, the Duke is definitely going around saying the child…”

Alexis pushed his chair back and got up. The sound of the marble being scratched was distinctly sharp.

“A child born to my wife is my son. Just as you registered me as your son even though I didn’t have a drop of your blood.”

“Duke Walten! Have you lost your mind? How, how could you plant such a lowly seed in the Imperial family!”

“Since I am already lowly, the dignity of the Imperial family will not change much.”

The empress grabbed the back of her neck and made a choking sound as she collapsed on the floor. Alexis turned away and walked out. The maids who were waiting outside the door looked puzzled.

“The Empress fainted.”

“I’m sorry? Oh my, Your Majesty!”

They rushed into the conference room in confusion and shouted loudly calling for the imperial doctor. As the time for the meeting arrived, the nobles, who were approaching one by one from a distance, looked around with confused eyes.

“Your Grace, what is going on? Did something happen?”

“The Empress collapsed.”

“What? Her Majesty the Empress?”

The nobles who flocked in widened their eyes as they saw the empress being carried away.

“Why did the Empress suddenly faint here…”

“As you can see, the situation is not good, so we will skip the meeting. However, there are documents that have been organized according to the agenda, so take a look.

“Oh, yes. I will.”

Still at a loss, the nobles nodded. Anyway, the position of the commander in the North was not of interest to them. The northern part had already been stable for a long time, so even if Winston, who was a Margrave, stepped down, sending a commander from the imperial family was enough. The northern lands were neither fertile nor rich in minerals, so there was no difference even if they belonged to the Imperial family. They just wanted to discuss it one last time at the meeting for the honor of Count Winston, the first Margrave.

At this point, the work at the Imperial Palace was over. Alexis felt relieved as he looked at the time. If he returns quickly, he would be able to make the appointment with Kathleen.

He refused to take the carriage and rode a horse. Thanks to that, he was able to return to the duke’s residence on time.

When he arrived at the garden, he was finally able to catch his breath. The sun had not yet set.

The servants who had come out in advance quickly started setting the table for the duke and his wife who had scheduled tea time.

“Master, I will prepare tea for you.”

“Don’t pour it, leave it as it is.”

The maid then set the steaming teapot down on the table. Soon, plates of various snacks suited for tea were served.

Alexis checked the time again. He wasn’t early, but not too late either.

“What is my wife doing?”

“It’s the young master’s nap time, so she’s next to him. There are times when a child would wake up from sleep; perhaps she’s watching him.”

At the maid’s words, Alexis decided to wait a little longer.

More time passed.

It was long past the promised time.

Alexis looked up at the room where she would be, but the thick curtains were drawn so he could not see inside.

“Go and check it.”

“Yes, Master.”

As soon as the anxious maid affirmed, she ran and entered the main building.

Alexis looked at what was laid out on the table. The teapot was already lukewarm and the freshly baked snacks were cold and crumbly.

Tea time was a complete failure.

It was fine to boil the tea again and snacks weren’t that important. The table, which was prepared with nothing but only good things, was not what he envisioned.

After some time had passed, Kathleen appeared.

She was wearing a white cotton dress with a gray shawl and her hair was tied to one side. Her appearance was not suitable for tea time.

If she had misunderstood the time, she would have looked a little embarrassed, but she sat down with an eerily calm face.

Her hand, holding the gray shawl together, looked cruel which stirred his impatience. Eventually, Alexis spoke up first.

“Luci didn’t fall asleep quickly?”

“It was the same as usual.”

“Then?”

“I had a lot of other work to do.”

They were words without an apology.

She looked cold, as if her promises to him were not even worth keeping.