Chapter 6

Translator and Editor: Effe and Nabi

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Chapter 6

Celine blinked.

Apparently yesterday, Leonhard was wearing a black leather suit. It was so modest that the most glamorous part of his clothes was the pattern of the Grand Duchy embroidered on one side of his chest.

But now, Leonhard was dressed in a flashy outfit from head to toe.

“It’s much better.”

“Thank you.”

Celine greeted with all her heart. Leonhard waved his hand as if nothing had happened.

“You would have frozen to death if you kept wearing it, of course. Still, just in case, I told the tailor who measured it to keep it.”

“Tell them to throw it away.”

She shrugged her shoulders. Celine never wanted to see that dress again.

Leonhard nodded his head and pointed to the table. A person looked like a server, and a tray full of silver plates was next to the table.

“Sit down. You have to eat.”

Then, she sat down at the table chair that the server had moved for her.

“The time is…?”

“It’s 3:20. It’s my fault that you didn’t sleep yesterday, so I let you sleep.”

Moments later, she noticed something a little strange. The lunch she thought she would eat alone had two servings, with Leonhard’s share.

“You haven’t eaten yet?”

Leonhard nodded his head. Celine was so startled that she almost dropped the spoon she was eating the mushroom soup from.

“Why…?”

“Because I’m not very hungry.”

He was saying that even though he finished his meal much faster than Celine, who ate in a hurry.

‘He’s staring at me…’

Leonhard’s blue eyes looked straight at Celine as she gulped and ate her food.

“Is… Is there something strange about me?”

Finally, Celine couldn’t stand it and asked Leonhard, who frowned as if in surprise.

“Have you ever died because something caught your throat while eating and choked you? I was worried.”

“It was from eating poison!”

At that, she cried out, blushing her cheeks out of embarrassment.

Meanwhile, he had a slightly sorry tone as he opened his mouth, “Is that so? I’m sorry. I don’t really know the details.”

“It’s okay. But, I don’t think I’m going to die that way. Relax a bit.”

The corners of Leonhard’s lips rose slightly.

“That’s a relief.”

He got up from his seat only after Celine had drunk the last sip of tea.

“I have to go to the Imperial Palace now. It won’t take long, but there is time to come and go, so be careful in the meantime.”

A very slight disappointment sprouted in Celine’s heart, but she didn’t even notice it herself, and she smiled.

“Yes. Don’t worry, I won’t die.”

***

The Imperial Palace where he set his feet in after three years was unfamiliar.

Leonhard glanced around little by little, gathering information to report to the Grand Duke. Although three years was not a long time, the faces of the servants were all unfamiliar.

‘All of the people have changed since then.’

It was a bad sign, though it wasn’t a problem for Leonhard himself.

He carried the ebony wooden box engraved with the pattern of the Grand Duchy in his arms and walked to the palace where the Crown Prince lived.

The Crown Prince of the Empire, Ricardo Unsorem, was leaning back and looking out the window as Leonhard entered.

The view of the garden caught his eye through the transparent glass.

Leonhard knelt down on one of his knees.

“Frederick’s son Leonhard greets His Highness Ricardo.”

The Prince slowly turned around.

The sharp eyes of the mid-thirties scanned Leonhard from head to toe, and stayed in the dark circles under his eyes.

“How have you been?”

“…I am fine.”

A mockery leaked out of the prince’s mouth.

“I heard that there is a big problem.”

Leonhard showed no reaction. What the Crown Prince doesn’t know is a bigger problem since it would mean that the Prince of an empire is that incompetent.

The Prince beckoned to the box Leonhard was holding.

“Is this the letter that Frederick was talking about? Give it to me.”

Leonhard offered the box with both hands and waited patiently for the Crown Prince to read the letter inside the vessel.

“Ha… Ha, ha!”

The Crown Prince read the letter carefully and burst into laughter as soon as he saw the end of the letter.

Leonhard waited quietly. If the Crown Prince doesn’t explain why he’s laughing, he can go home and ask the Grand Duke.

“Hah, oh my, this is…”

The Crown Prince stared at him and the letter alternately, and asked carefully.

“Did Frederick tell you the contents of this letter?”

“No.”

In fact, the Grand Duke did not even know that he was delivering this letter.

A person of Leonhard’s caliber needed a cause to come to the Capital of the Empire. So, he received the letter from Bernoulli’s messenger in the middle. So, it was close to stealing the letter from the hesitant messenger to be exact.

“Ha! That’s what it was.”

The Prince returned the letter to Leonhard with a strange laugh.

“Read it.”

Leonhard frowned and quickly scanned the letter. After the rhetoric and greetings that cover half of the parchment, a brief report on the status of the estate, and…

[ My child is still immature. I hope you stop making him work so hard. ]

“Ah…”

Leonhard wanted to bury his face in the parchment. His whole face was burning. His father must have used vulgar language on purpose, but nonetheless, it was a letter to the Crown Prince of the Empire…!

“Yes, what do you think? Aren’t you the person directly involved?”

“I… I…”

He stuttered, unable to find his words. He was now only twenty-four, an inexperienced age to safely pass through political dialogue.

Just like his father’s expression.

The Prince burst out laughing again.

“Frederick is right. you are still immature Though, unfortunately…”

He opened an old-fashioned drawer and pulled out an envelope with the imperial emblem. Leonhard got down on his knees again and took the position of receiving the letter paper.

“I don’t know why you came, but I’m sure Frederick didn’t send you…”

There was still a smile in the Prince’s voice.

“But, that’s fine.”

He opened the letter slowly. There was something different from what was expected.

“For the past three years, you have only dealt with northern monsters. I’ll give you enough support, so sort this out as well. You, too, are a servant of the Empire, so you have to do your part.”

The Crown Prince did not mention the monsters and warlocks while Leonhard left the North and traveled the entire Empire for three years.

Leonhard wet his parched mouth for a moment. It was an easy task, but he needed the Crown Prince’s help to relieve the anxiety that had crept into his head.

“Your Highness, please listen to one request.”

“Request?”

“I have to take a woman with me.”

“What…?”

The Crown Prince blinked his eyes a few times in surprise and smiled knowingly. “Yeah, you’re at that age. Shall I choose? Or, you yourself…”

“Not like that!”

Leonhard shouted, then immediately lowered his head.

“Forgive me. I have made a mistake.”

“No, it is not. She must be a special lady.”

“…Yes.”

“Then, I will prepare it accordingly. Is it a Lady of the North?”

Leonhard hesitated for a moment.

“Yes.”

Anyway, soon, she will be living in the North. The Grand Duchy would guarantee her status, so the word Lady of the North was not very wrong.

“Then, she must have brought several of the maids from the North. Right. I’ll send you lodgings, carriages, and chores maid for the Lady. They will leave tomorrow.”

He couldn’t help but say that she didn’t have a maid because the Crown Prince would surely question her identity and wonder why he wanted to take Celine.

“Thank you.”

Leonhard bowed politely and exited the palace as quickly as possible.

The only thought in his mind was that he had to go to Celine as soon as possible.

Three hours have passed.

She was a woman who could have died while staying still.

“Hah…”

Leonhard was barely out of breath, though as he ran as fast as he could, he took a deep breath and opened the door to the room.

Celine Hunt gazed back at him.

Leonhard paused for a moment at the entrance.

Her lips gleamed as if she had been eating something a while ago, and the startled rabbit’s eyes turned into half moons in an instant.

“You’re here!”

A joy that could not be explained simply by relief rose in Leonhard’s heart, and at the same time, his heart began to pound.

“In the meantime, is there…?”

“I’m not dead.”

Celine grinned loosely, as she hardened her face, startled by the shadows cast over her.

The next moment, she couldn’t think of anything. The body temperature of the person, the sound of the breathing, and the power pressing from all directions were felt.

The hardened hair loosened after a while, and only then did she realize that Leonhard had walked up to her and hugged her tightly.

“…Wh—what”

Leonhard withdrew from her with an astonished look on his face. Celine rubbed her flushed cheek and glanced up at Leonhard. Oddly enough for her, he wasn’t that different from her either.

A terrified expression and flushed cheeks.

“This… this… I’m, I’m sorry.”

Leonhard buried his face in his hands. He had done something shameless.

“Hey.”

Celine’s voice was heard.

He then took his hand from his face and looked down at her as if he had been struck by lightning. Her cheeks were still red, though she didn’t appear to be offended or angry.

“Is it because you’re glad that I’m not dead yet?”

Leonhard nodded his head.

“Right, then. But, in the future, please be a little more restrained. Or, just say something. I was surprised!”

“…Leonhard.”

“Yes?”

“Call me Leonhard. It would be better than ‘hey’.”

Celine’s eyes became half moons again.

It took Leonhard quite some time to realize why his heart was pounding every time he looked at the half moons.

All he could do now was be relieved by Celine’s answer.

“Great. You know my name, Celine Hunt. Call me whatever you like.”

***

Celine moaned happily as she caressed the cushions piled up on either side.

“So good…”

The luxurious carriage was much more colorful and comfortable than she had ever imagined. Leonhard, who sat across from her, looked at her with a serious expression, who began to munch on the candy.

“Understand? Never fall from my side. No matter what happens, if you stay by my side, you will never die.”

“Yes, yes.”

Celine answered dryly. Needless to say, Leonhard was saying the same thing dozens of times now.

Last night, he slept normally for the first time in a month and a half.

It seems that he doesn’t want to lose the sweet sleep he’s had in a long time, and he has been clinging to her from morning until now and nagging at her.

In fact, she thought it would be safer for her to be alone in a hotel, but she had a history of drowning in a bathtub alone, so she couldn’t say much.

“Do you normally carry out your duties in a wagon like this?”

“No?”

Leonhard had a face that asked what kind of absurd thing she was saying.

“The Crown Prince gave it to me when I said I was taking a woman. So, there will be no inconvenience.”

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