CH 52

"I heard that your father was taken to the royal capital."

"...Information is quite fast, as expected of the Galleria Empire."

Julian didn't look at Mariabelle, who said so, but at Renato, exuding a bit of alarm.

But Renato said nothing and nodded toward Mariabelle.

Placing the light on the desk, Mariabelle took out and showed him the letter she had kept in the hidden pocket of her dress.

The inside of the office was as bright as daylight with the light from the original pale lamp and the light that Mariabelle had brought.

Thanks to this, the pattern of the sealing wax stamped on the envelope Julian had received from Mariabelle was clearly visible.

The wax seal on the envelope was stamped with small words.

"This arrived before the news of the people of the empire who saw us off to the border."

The wax depicts two unicorns with crossed horns supporting a crown.

"This is..."

Julian looked up in surprise, and Mariabelle urged him to look inside.

The fact that this envelope had the imperial seal meant that what's inside is an official letter from the king.

But the timing of its arrival is, by all accounts, strange.

If the letter was about her father James' capture, no matter how hurriedly it was sent, it would not reach Mariabelle until after the news from the empire.

It is impossible for the kingdom's messenger to arrive in the empire so soon.

If so, the letter was sent before James was captured.

Julian took out the letter inside and examined its contents.

He immediately gave it back to Mariabelle.

"There is no evidence that you and Simon Lent were ever engaged. It is true that an offer was made to you before you left for the Empire, but our father immediately declined."

"I am told that our father also received a letter from His Majesty the King saying that I am free to do as I please with regard to my marriage. Do you know about this letter?"

"I have it in my possession."

"May I see it?"

Julian looked at Renato's face for a moment and seemed to hesitate, but then he immediately produced a piece of paper from the safe behind his desk.

"Here is the letter."

Upon receiving the letter, Mariabelle looked at it carefully.

Then, she let out a long, relieved sigh.

"This is... the original."

Julian tilted his head in confusion at Mariabelle's words.

"What do you mean?"

"The letter sent to me is a fake, brother."

"That can't be true, can it?"

Julian did not believe her at all, so Mariabelle laid out the letters on the table.

"You can't tell the difference at all."

Julian twisted his head, and Mariabelle traced the seal stamped on the letter with her finger.

"Is it true that His Majesty the King is ill?"

Without further explanation, Mariabelle changed the subject.

No matter what, Renato is a man of the empire. And her brother Julian isn't even royalty. That's why she couldn't carefully explain how to check the real seal here.

"Do you know that too...?"

Julian looked at Renato with a sense of dread, wondering how good the imperial agents were.

Renato met his gaze with a cool face.

"I don't know all the details because I've been holed up in the estate for a long time, but I heard that His Majesty has not been able to attend the morning session because he has been feeling ill. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is attending in his place." Julian said.

"Is he all right?"

"According to the crown prince, who visits him every day, he should be fine after a little rest."

Mariabelle was relieved to hear that.

The king, who she met occasionally in the royal palace, always gave a kind smile to Mariabelle.

He was strict about etiquette, but he did it for Mariabelle's sake.

He would always say, "Edward is very much like me, and I want Mariabelle to stay with him."

After the queen's education was over, Mariabelle was crying in a corner of the study room because of the severity of Mrs. Dudley's education, and the king, who squatted down and looked at her the same way, used to pat her head saying so.

Mariabelle nodded when the king told her Edward grew up just like that too.

The king was very kind to Mariabelle.

She said, "This letter that my brother has is the real one, and the one sent to me is a fake. That means that His Majesty does not know what is written in this letter."

"That is a possibility, isn't it?"

"If that is the case, I think that if I go to the royal palace and meet His Majesty, my father will be released."

It was hard to believe that Edward, who sent the Kingsguard, did not know about this letter. Whether he knew it was a fake or whether Edward was also deceived remains to be seen.

"But we can't rely on someone who is certainly not on our side."

"But if it is the king, he would probably be on Mariabelle's side."

"What nonsense! If you do that, you will be thrown into His Highness' bedroom immediately!"

A low, cold voice called out to Julian, who was panicking.

"What do you mean by that?"

Renato looked at Julian, his eyes, like the bottom of the ocean, burning.