CH 34

“Carlisle!”

“Mom, look what Uncle Kun gave me!”

Carlisle raised his hands and showed me the toy, his brown eyes flashing.

“What did you say to Uncle Kun?”

“Thank you!”

That look of his, full of anticipation, was beautiful enough to touch my heart.

“My prince. You did everything right.”

“Hehe.”

“Go and have breakfast. You still need to go to the academy.”

There was an institute in the Lund Kingdom where ordinary people could learn to write and read.

Institutes, which can be entered from the age of five, had a fairly systematic structure of education.

“Uuugh…”

When I reminded him of the academy, Carlisle looked away as if he didn’t want to go.

“How about this: you go to class and then we go to the flower hill for a picnic?”

“No! I hate studying!”

“Eat and go to school. Understood?”

Carlisle strode into the shop, frowning.

Breakfast was always waiting for him in the same place, so he could handle it himself.

Looking at Carlisle’s back and laughing, I turned to Helen, who had come with Carlisle.

“Good job. I’ve been leaving early lately, isn’t it difficult for you alone?”

In recent days I have been interested in doing perfume, so I always left for the shop early in the morning. Because of this, responsibility for Carlisle fell on the shoulders of Helen.

“It’s not difficult for me. You taught Carlisle well. Even today, he got up and dressed himself even before I woke up.”

“Is that so?”

In front of me, he always kicked, complaining that didn’t want to get up early in the morning.

Then Helen glanced at Carlisle and whispered softly.

“He’s only naughty when Ellie is around.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

I laughed, thinking how adorable he was.

“What should I do if my son is so cute?”

“Well.”

“I feel like he was born only yesterday, but now he has grown up.”

I remembered the time when I almost lost Carlisle to terrible adversity. Every time I saw him grow up safely, a feeling of relief was overflowing in my heart.

“Yeah. If you remember the whole background, I’m amazed at how well we have settled here.”

“It’s all thanks to Ellie’s ability.”

Helen looked at me with a happy smile.

“It would be nice if it stayed so quiet further… Oh, was there mail in the morning?”

“No.”

My face flushed with concern at Helen’s answer.

After moving to Lund Kingdom, I exchanged letters with my father every three months.

I wanted to write to him more often, but as soon as I settled in the kingdom and began scribbling letters about everything in the world, my father warned me that Raymond was looking for me.

Who would have thought that you care about me like that?

So, we exchanged letters every three months through different countries and regions, but there was no letter from him for six months.

Problems with mail? Or did something happen to my father?

Little by little, my anxiety grew.

“Mom, I’m finished.”

Carlisle came up to me. Bread crumbs hung around his lips. Although he was better brought up than his peers, he was still a child.

I smiled and wiped his lips.

“Please be careful.”

“Yes!”

Then Carlisle took Helen’s hand and walked out of the shop.

“Everything will be okay… or…”

My heart was heavy with concern for my father.

“I need to find out everything.”

For the past six years, I have avoided news of the Agrita Empire.

Now, grabbing my cloak, I hurried out of the shop.

* * *

Agrita Empire. Raymond’s office.

At his desk, Raymond read lectures from a distant kingdom.

[Object wasn’t in the Sonya Kingdom. It looks like the information was incorrect.]

“…again.”

Raymond tightened his grip on the letter, throwing out a brief conclusion. The veins in his arms bulged as if they were about to burst.

“I’ve already crossed all continents. Where are you hiding?”

A choked muttering was heard in the office.

6 years.

He was still looking for Ellie.

The Duke said that Ellie was gone, but the Emperor believed that she would return anyway.

He didn’t believe that she had abandoned him and the empire forever.

No, he didn’t want to believe it.

However, as time passed, Ellie didn’t appear, as if laughing at his desire.

The disappearance of Ellie for a while raised a fuss in high society, but over time, everyone forgot about her.

Except for Raymond.

The sun palace rose garden, the greenhouse she kept, and the herbal teas she always made.

The entire imperial city reminded him of the Ellie he had missed.

Time passed, and the longing for her only grew.

Desperately yearning, he searched the entire continent, but there was still no news.

Sometimes he was afraid that he would just go crazy like this.

With a deep sigh, he began to write his decision:

[You have carte blanche. Find her.]

He acted as quietly as possible because he was looking in foreign countries, but now he went to the extreme.

It was obvious that he would go crazy if he didn’t find Ellie.

Raymond sealed the envelope and handed the letter to the butler. Soon a guest came up to the office.

“Your Majesty, the minister requests an audience.”

“Let him in.”

The door opened and Marquis Sios, now the new minister of the empire, knelt before him.

“Greetings, Your Majesty the Emperor, Sun of the Empire.”

“Stand up. I already know what you want to say.”

Marquis Sios’s face tightened even more when Raymond said this in annoyance.

Marquis Sios opened his mouth.

“Your Majesty, how long are you planning to postpone Duke Croft’s punishment?”

“Minister…”

“He did a lot of damage to the empire. To cover the losses, we were forced to raise taxes. Discontent is growing. You cannot postpone forever.”

Raymond frowned deeply, as if very tired.

“Aren’t you tired of repeating the same words every day?”

“A turmoil has spread among the nobles. Your Majesty, please punish Duke Croft, if only for the sake of justice.”

Marquis Sios bowed his head resolutely. Raymond glanced at the Marquis and tapped the table with his fingertips.

Arus Croft.

The Duke, Ellie’s father and the staunchest champion of the imperial power, was now the head of the Reich Foreign Office.

At the beginning of this year, there was a problem when trading with a foreign kingdom. The kingdom received a huge down payment, and then canceled the deal. The damage was enormous.

A financial deficit was predicted for the next year. And right now a situation arose when extortionate taxes were levied not only from commoners, but even from nobles.

And of course, the nobles, forced to lay out their fortune, were angry, and demanded to punish the Duke.

The nobles made a fuss day after day, but so far they have only been procrastinating at the tip of the iceberg.

Without delving into a series of situations, the Duke’s guilt was obvious.

But Raymond couldn’t shake his suspicions.

Duke Croft was not one to make such a mistake. There were also rumors about him that he received a huge bribe, but this was even less likely.

Even when Ellie was empress and held supreme power, the Duke never took bribes.

“Is the minister saying now that I’m unfair?”

“Honestly, with all the evidence, I don’t understand why you don’t punish Duke Croft.”

“This is because my prime minister is painfully narrow-minded.”

“…Yes?”

“None of the available evidence proves that Duke Croft was bribed. His only sin is that he directed that deal.”

“But this is the same as…!”

“I removed Duke Croft from his position as head of the Foreign Office and imprisoned him on his estate. This is not enough, in your opinion?”

“But…”

“I’m investigating in order, one step at a time. However, here comes a man who is still the prime minister of my empire, and calls for punishing the Duke without iron evidence… I wonder why you are so prejudiced against Duke Croft?”

Raymond’s black eyes flashed dangerously.