CH 304

“There’s something that’s bothering me.”

“What is it?”

“The letter only says that she was divorced but nothing else after. Nothing about whether the café is running well.”

“Then there isn’t a problem with the café, is there?”

“Yes. According to the letter but there’s no way the café would run well in this place.”

“Pardon me?” Amethyst kept thinking instead of answering.

Right, even when I was running the café by myself, if it was Grey I wouldn’t even be able to sell a single cup. Even though the café has been open for a while, there’s no way it would run this well so suddenly.

The money I left her would also be gone by now too.

So, when everything was settled, Amethyst sent a letter to Pauline out of worry. She sent a letter saying from Carol and without the duke Skad family seal. She’d rather have the letter arrive late rather than notify her of her true identity.

She asked how Pauline has been and if Erina was well.

Was it because she was at the Empire’s far-reaching corners? Or was it because she didn’t have the time to respond?

The response came, after a long time, and only full of lies.

Probably because she didn’t want me to worry.

Amethyst knew what Pauline was like.

What other option does she have, anyway!

Amethyst couldn’t let go of the letter.

I have to see the café with my own eyes.

Amethyst stood up and asked Lunia.

“Where is Alec right now?”

“He’s probably at his desk.”

“Good.”

Amethyst nodded and came out of her office.

***

On the other hand, Alexcent was pondering. He was going to be busy with a bunch of businesses and palace duty after the Empire’s annual festival. He also had to take care of the establishment of the public education facility that Amethyst was part of.

‘Before it gets busier…’

Sometimes Amethyst seemed more of a workaholic than him. He wanted to spend quality time with her during the rest of the annual festival.

He wanted to have her enjoy her life.

“Gen.”

“Yes, my lord?”

“If I disappear suddenly….”

“Please!” Gen started reacting before he had even finished. “Please think of me! Don’t you feel bad for me working until I become dust?”

“Yes.”

“My Lord!”

“You give all the work to the underlings anyway, why are you pretending to be busy?”

“Anyways, no! You’re still the last person who has to approve.”

No matter what Gen said, Alexcent was still thinking of how to make Amethyst happy.

“Gen, tell Pian to make some potion.”

“Pian is not in the duke’s mansion. So please focus on work.”

“Ha, so that’s how you want it….” Alexcent winded his hands together, put them against his chin and glared at Gen.

“What are you going to use it for?”

“To become Grey.”

“What?!”

Everything that goes in and out of the duke mansion has to go through security. Even if it’s a useless piece of paper. Alexcent already knew that Amethyst sent Pauline a letter and that she wrote back.

How to make her happy was to let her do what she wants.

“So find Pian and make the potion. Grey hair, grey eyes. Ah, you should know.”

“Okay.” Gen answered reluctantly and left the office.

He had to go find Pian, who made weird potions hiding somewhere, and had to threaten him to make one.

His feet felt heavy walking down the hallway. He wouldn’t have been in such a situation if he had not followed Alexcent. Gen was surprised at his own thought and smacked the back of his own head.

If he had not followed Alexcent then, he would not have been alive.

Forget being alive, he would not have been able to live decently like a regular human being.

Gerald Artin. His name had not always been Gerald Artin. He had been born into a noble family in the Widbersen kingdom, but his family had been executed for treason. The only reason he survived was because he was five so he couldn’t have been part of the treason. There also was a law saying that they can’t execute a child.

He became a palace play doll as an example instead of becoming a slave to a noble.

The life as a play doll in the palace was worse that their pet dogs. He had to lay low to eat off the floor and if he wasn’t allowed to sleep, he had to stay up for five nights. He wasn’t even allowed to go to the washroom without permission, unlike dogs that were allowed at any time.

The young Gerald still remembered the knife that stabbed his mother’s chest as she was screaming at him to run away.

He had forgotten his original name, but the image of his mother dying stayed with him forever, sparking the desire for revenge in his heart.

His soft heart was full of revenge that had been burning in his chest since childhood.