Chapter 98

He managed to return to the capital, but Marquis Cavill could not calm his anger.

It felt like he was been played around by the Duke of Bellstein. It was a play woven from start to finish. It wasn’t enough that he was humiliated, even his children were a literal disgrace. He couldn’t help but click his tongue as he looked at them.

“…Ugly things. You mean you can’t really remember anything?”

Maximus was stunned by his father’s cold scolding. When he woke up, his whole body was throbbing as if someone had beaten him up, and his head was pounding and dull.

“Yes, father…”

Kudang!

The Marquis threw the wooden doll, which had already been broken in several places, to the floor while his blood veins were popping with anger.

“The Bellstein servants said that you were fighting against this hideous doll…”

“…What? The doll and I were fighting? That can’t be true.”

“Why the hell did you bring this thing?”

“That…that.”

Maximus licked his lips, unable to find an excuse. He remembers leaving the doll to Penelope and then waiting for Kizef, but after that, there was nothing. Everything was like a haze in his head.

‘But the doll hit me?’

Does that mean Penelope hit me with the doll on purpose?

Maximus glanced at Penelope.

“Penelope, what happened? The doll is supposed to hit Kizef, why did it hit me? Huh?”

When Maximus glared at her, Penelope was slightly scared. But she really didn’t know.

“I, I don’t know either. All I had to do was press the button hard as my brother told me to.”

“You idiot. Are you sure you did it right? You didn’t hit me with the doll on purpose, did you?”

“Are you doubting me?”

Maximus grabbed Penelope’s arm tightly.

“Then how are you going to explain this?”

“It hurts, let me go! In the first place, you were the one ruining it because you cowardly used a doll like that.”

Seeing the children slandering each other, the eyes of the Marquis grew fiercer. He banged his fist against the handle of his sofa.

“Stop! Why are you fighting in front of me?”

“Dad, I only did what my brother told me to do. When Young Master Kizef came, he told me to attack with that doll.….”

Penelope, who soon began to cry, dug into her father’s arms. However, the eyes of the Marquis, who normally only looked at his cute daughter with warmth, were cold and motionless.

“…Oh, Dad?”

Penelope, noticing her father’s unusual expression, had a frightened face.

“Penelope. Didn’t you say that the eyes of the Princess shone like jewels?”

“…Yes, that’s right. It was like a ruby.”

“But the child I met yesterday had plain, dark brown eyes.”

“She did… I don’t even know how it happened.”

“Then I will ask you again. You must have seen bright crimson eyes in the clothing store, right?”

She had lost her memory of last night. Everything was hazy, but Penelope shook her head, trying to think hard.

“That’s right. I wasn’t sure yesterday, but it must have been.”

At Penelope’s confident words, the Marquis pondered for a moment before answering.

“Yeah, I got it. Both of you, go back to your room and rest.”

Maximus and Penelope returned to their rooms with relieved faces as their father’s anger seemed to have eased. The Marquis, who sat deep on the sofa, scratched his chin and thought for a moment.

‘That must be a trick. Come to think of it, the Bellstein’s are good at magic, so they can change the color of their eyes as much as they wanted.’

He was angrier and more resentful to the fact that he had suffered until now without realizing the truth, to the point of dying.

“Do you think I will back down like this? What do you take Yaros Von Caville for?”

The Marquis gritted his teeth.

Come to think of it, if the girl is certain to be a fairy with jewelry-eyes, then the business of the Kylock Arms and the Bellstein branch have already been sorted out for nothing.

The Marquis slammed the pitiful sofa handle again.

But, as Penelope said, if she was just being deceived, it would not be bad to take as much money as possible.

‘I’ll have the Crystal Fairy in my hand!’

* * *

As the carriage adorned with golden silk passed through to the last gate of the Black Wall, it felt like the inner temperature, which was cold and chilly, became milder.

‘Is that the famous Bellstein’s Black Wall…’

The beautiful black-haired boy snapped his chin and looked sharply at the distant wall.

I’ve heard of the Black Wall, but in reality, it’s taller and more solemn. It looked like a fortress built in several layers, like a deep valley in the mountains.

The purple eyes, which symbolize the imperial family, rolled diligently and were busy examining the inside of the fortress-like Bellstein Castle.

Then, when his eyes met the girl sitting across from him, Prince Reynold raised his lips softly and smiled moderately.

Although half-siblings, this was the first time the two of them had accompanied each other inside a carriage together.

These were all suggestions from the Empress.

‘It would be nice to see the prince and the princess congratulate Bellstein together on such a nice occasion.’

Had it not been for her opinion, he would have visited on his own…

Reynold looked at his half-sister, Princess Claudia, with narrowed eyes.

She also had the same purple eyes as him, but hers was a little more vivid. However, her hair color resembled the Empress and was soft brown like a soft wheat field.

“Seeing the black wall and the Duke’s castle in person makes it even more magnificent and cool. Right, Reynold?”

“Yes, I was impressed, little sister. Bellstein’s technology is really amazing.”

Reynold nodded his head and smiled at her.

“You don’t have to call me little sister. We’re only a few months apart.”

At her half-brother’s friendly smile, Claudia answered leisurely as she looked around, not losing an inch of excitement.

Although they were siblings, the location of the palace was far from each other, and there was not much time spent together after he went to study abroad. Of course, the biggest factor in them not being close is because their mothers are different.

Claudia was a legitimate princess born to the Empress, but Reynold was a prince born from a concubine.

His dark hair was the color of his deceased mother, Queen Kayla.

Perhaps that’s why the Emperor loved Reynold, saying that the figure of the deceased Queen overlapped with him. It was a publicly known fact that the woman the Emperor truly loved was the Queen, not the Empress.

The Emperor never looked down on the Empress, but compared to her, the Queen was a young lady of a family with a lower status that married above her means. The maids of the imperial palace secretly ignored and talked badly about the overly luxurious Queen.

The Empress rebuked such maids and respected the Queen, which made the royals a seemingly peaceful family. Even Claudia, who was educated and raised under such an empress, did not hate Reynold, although their mothers were different.

However, it was more accurate to say that she just didn’t care due to her personality.

Because it was an unfamiliar place, and as she looked at the elegant garden spread like velvet, Claudia thought it was fortunate that she had less discomfort when compared with Reynold, who she could not understand what was going on in his head.

“This is Bellstein…”

She imagined Bellstein to be a cold and shady northern land without flowers in a desolate place, but various flowers were carefully cared for.

The sparkling lake and the pure blue sky were like a painting.

Claudia already liked the Bellstein estate.

She smiled as she suddenly recalled her childhood memories. In her memory, the Young Master was a very blunt little boy.

‘Prince Bellstein is getting married…What kind of young lady is she?’

Claudia was curious about what kind of young lady she was and why the Young Master, who was cold and hard as a stone, decided to marry her.

* * *

“Little Madam, it is said that the imperial carriage has passed through the gates!”

Rose bustled into the parlor announcing the news.  Luciel got up from a nap, after returning from her little fief, and left her hair to Bessie.

Kizef was about to leave to go to the training hall for a while.

Her father-in-law allowed her to rest well without having to go to the banquet hall tonight unless there was a Royal guest. Grandpa Gillard added that the main character cannot be absent from the occasion of welcoming the guests of the imperial family.

Luciel bit her coral-colored lips like soft petals.

‘…Who is riding in the Imperial carriage?’

No matter how hard she tried to pretend everything was okay, it was inevitable that she kept getting nervous.

It’s an official big event in Bellstein, so at least one royal family member will visit.

It was most likely to be visited by the second generation of royals, either the prince or the princess. Both were around the same age as the Young Master of Bellstein.

So it will be inevitable to encounter him.

‘You have to stand your ground, Luciel.’

If it were now, even the Crown Prince would still be at an immature age who did not know much.

Prince Reynold was six years older than Luciel in the past, so he must be 16 now. When he exploited the jewels from Luciel to complete the sword and went against Bellstein, Luciel was nineteen and the Crown Prince was twenty-five.

Then the remaining time is nine years. However, she had been preparing everything from long before.

‘So, the earlier you prepare, the better.’

“Little Madam, I have a special treat from Chef Seth.”

A basket full of sweets warm enough to empty Luciel’s mind, which had been working without rest, arrived at the private residence.

Because she was still grooming her hair and being unable to move, Luciel ate the cookies that Rose fed her.

“Little Madam…The head is done. But what are you thinking so deeply about today?”

Bessie asked while tying Luciel’s hair together and finishing it with a white diamond hairpin.

“Oh, nothing.”

“You must have been nervous about the guests coming from the Imperial family. What dress would you like to wear today?”

Luciel looked around the dresses, munching on the crispy cookies that filled her cheeks.

“That one.”

I chose a red one from among the many dresses Bessie had pulled out. It was a dress that was as delicate as a flower petal, with several layers of skirts overlapping each other.

It was a rather flashy design compared to what Luciel usually wore.

“Wow, if you wear that, you’ll look like a baby rose, Little Madam!”

As Rose spoke with a broad smile, Luciel swallowed the cookie and asked for a favor.

“Rose, can you identify who is the guest from the Imperial Palace?”

“Yes, just leave it to me.”

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