CH 25

I shuddered at the painfully familiar male voice.

I thought it was over, but no.

“…Emperor.”

Raymond was the one who called me.

Did he come after me? His breath was choked.

“Ellie, you…”

He exhaled, looked at me with a complex look and turned away.

His face showed me that he didn’t know what to do next.

You probably noticed something?

“If you came out of concern, then everything is okay with me. In recent days I have been under a lot of stress and I just got sick.”

Raymond narrowed his eyes and spoke with a calm face.

“Are you sick?”

“Yes. Again, this is intestinal inflammation. I will be treated in the duchy.”

My nerves were so sensitive that my stomach often hurt. It was a fact that Raymond knew very well.

“Ah, that’s it.”

He laughed as if it were ridiculous.

“Is there a problem, Your Majesty?”

Raymond shook his head.

“Then I…”

“Wait, I still have something to ask.”

What else? I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, so I started to get nervous.

“…Please continue, Your Majesty.”

At my calm response, his face distorted, as if he was in a vice.

“I don’t need these manners. We are alone here.”

“Even if there are no prying eyes, it’s a law to be polite to His Majesty the Emperor. I’m not an empress anymore.”

“Ha. Okay, if that’s what you really want, I’ll have to adjust to your rhythm,” he said coldly. “Mrs. Croft, raise your head.”

He closed the distance with long strides and stood right in front of me.

“Raise your head, young lady. That’s an order.”

Order.

Disobeying the emperor’s order is a grave crime, and I slowly raised my head.

Raymond looked at me with fire in his eyes.

It looks like he was angry.

But did I give a reason for that?

We just looked at each other, and a cold wind swept between us.

Not wanting to endure this situation any longer, I decided to be the first to end this awkward silence.

“Your Majesty, if you have nothing more to say, I would like to leave.”

At that moment, his eyebrows quivered with displeasure. A voice rang out, and its trembling couldn’t be hidden.

“It was you who asked for a divorce, I don’t understand why you are angry.”

Did you expect me to be your stupid pet dog like before?

I laughed.

Seeing the mockery, he flew into a rage.

“Your Majesty, I just follow the principles of the nobility.”

I don’t know what is wrong with him, but I feel that something has changed in him.

My love that had sustained our relationship ended and all ties with him were severed.

He looked at my blank expression and curled his lips.

“I never would have thought you were such a frivolous person.”

“Oh, what’s this about? About the fact that I danced with a man whom I had never seen before…”

“If you say more, you will offend me.”

“If you have nothing more to say, I leave.”

“…Who was that man?”

Raymond stopped me.

“The man who danced with you.”

Haha. I couldn’t help laughing.

“Is it so important to His Majesty?”

It looks that Raymond didn’t fully understand that he now had no rights to me.

He grimaced, but ultimately felt silent.

I didn’t know why he was so obsessed with that person, but he showed clear hostility towards a man he didn’t even know.

You might even think that this is jealousy.

Are you jealous, Raymond?

Is your mind clouded? Have you drunk too much wine?

Raymond’s face went cold. He laughed at himself.

“I have nothing to say. Allow me to take my leave.”

Raymond goggled, but I already turned away.

Luckily, he didn’t stop me this time.

“Hoo!” The coachman’s voice rang out, and the carriage rattled.

It was only when I finally fled from the Marquis that I felt relieved.

And I grabbed my heart, which was now pounding like a hammer.

Don’t be stupid.

He doesn’t love you.

Taking a deep breath, I looked out the open window.

The night sky reminded me of Raymond. And then I closed it.

* * *

Deep dark night.

The man stood in front of a huge mansion.

He was wearing a tailcoat, as if he was at a party, but it would be inappropriate to say that he is from the nobility.

The man walked into the lobby of the mansion and frowned, gazing with amber eyes at the mansion the size of an entire castle.

“Everything is so disgusting here, no matter how much I look.”

The moment Jeremy’s voice rang out in the midst of the silent darkness, the door opened.

A gray-haired butler with a monocle bowed to Jeremy.

“You’re back?”

“Dawn is coming, but you are awake?”

“Sir, you are not too welcome in this house.”

“… Are you saying that is my fault?”

“That’s it.”

Jeremy walked through the mansion with a smile on his lips.

It was quiet inside the mansion, all the servants had already dispersed.

Jeremy stopped, staring at the black statue in the center of the mansion’s lobby.

Black tiger, symbol of Duke Drua.

The first emperor promised his companions who helped him found the empire:

[If your family is always loyal to the crown, your descendants will be blessed with a birth with the color of the eyes of the imperial family.]

“Look here! This is a symbol of our family, protecting the empire since the time of the first emperor! So why the devil none of my descendants were born with black eyes?! How could this have happened?”

A black-eyed man holding a baby stood in front of a black statue.

This scene, which he had long forgotten, flashed before Jeremy’s eyes.

He smiled and winced.

It was cold and empty here, but not because there were no people, but because this house was disgusting to him.

The house was like a fetter, into which he would not want to return, but had to.

Duke Drua, who has supported the empire since the time of the first emperor…

That statue seemed to shout to Jeremy that he was not good for this place.

If Duke Drua were also destroyed on the day of the arrival of the new emperor, then these filthy shackles would themselves have been lifted from him.

Jeremy curled his lips at the black tiger statue.

You just had to enter here like yesterday, through the second floor window.

As he walked to the stairs to the second floor, he heard the butler’s voice behind him.

“Sir, I will prepare the water for the bath.”

Jeremy waved his hand as if it annoyed him, and without looking back said:

“I can do it myself. Go and rest. You know me. I’m used to doing everything myself. And you’re not my servant either.”

And then Jeremy froze because of a new voice.

“What honor is it that you were born a nobleman and a descendant of Duke Drua, but behave like an artless simpleton?”

Sighing mildly, Jeremy turned towards the sound.

The black eyes in front of him shone brightly.

Jeremy bowed to Duke Drua.

“I didn’t know if you were asleep or not. Good night then, Duke.”

“Shut up! How dare you look me straight in the face! You are the thief who stole my invitation to the banquet. What will happen if your identity is revealed?!”

The duke’s anger swept through the mansion.