CH 54

[Estiya’s POV]

A soft hand stroked my hair, and a pleasant breathing sound could be heard from the side. Hela preached to me for a long time about the ephemerality of love.

“I can’t believe our youngest is in love. Your mother is about to cry.”

At the end, she hugged me tightly, saying she would support my love. I fell asleep in such a good mood…. . I woke up to a loud noise.

The noise was obviously on the bad side. Unknowingly, I furrowed my brow. Before I knew it, Hela woke up and was getting ready to greet a guest.

“Mom?”

I called for her, and Hela turned around. A warm smile appeared on her cold face. She came over and stroked my hair.

“Why don’t you sleep more.”

“Did we have a guest?”

“It seems that an unwelcome person came. My daughter should sleep more.”

Hela kissed me on the forehead.

“Who is it?”

Are you from Erhardt? No matter how much we allow it, we can’t greet each other right away.

“Your uncle.”

Ah, Gilter’s father Schubert.

It’s certainly an unwelcome guest. And you’re right that it’s not my business. I snuck into bed.

By the way, how did Brother Kaylan deal with the swordsmanship teacher?

***

[Third Person POV]

Blanche was white-faced with compensation claims flying from the empire.

“A, All of these?”

As Estiya and Rodrigo hoped, Blanche usurped the throne by asking for Frans’ failure to manage state affairs. It was a usurpation, but it was tantamount to succession to the throne by Rodrigo and Estiya. Blanche judged that the war could not continue due to difficulties in the domestic situation in the process and declared an end to the war.

It was a declaration of surrender to the Empire.

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The small kingdom was once engulfed in turmoil, but just as Rodrigo and Estiya had said, the people were not greatly agitated. Only the aristocrats were busy moving their lines here and there, focusing on the direction of power. Thanks to this, Frans was able to clearly identify his enemies and allies. Frans moved to a secluded royal castle in the suburbs, and Blanche sat on the throne.

And within a few days, he received a statement of compensation from the victorious empire.

“H, How can I do all this?”

It was an order to attribute part of the land to the Imperial Decree, with the words to be responsible for the restoration of the place where the war took place. They also added that hundreds of maidens and a thousand slaves should be sacrificed. It’s a temporary job, his first job as a king is to coordinate compensation for victory with the Empire. Blanche’s mouth was bitter.

Should he go to the emperor and tell him that he is the puppet king and that everything is Rodrigo’s scheme?

If he keeps going like this, he will be stoned to death by commoners when he returns the throne to Frans and returns to the nobility. But Blanche couldn’t do it on his own. Because of his daughter Anheine. A very difficult daughter. She doesn’t believe it, but Anheine is her biological daughter. The only blood relative he left behind.

There was nothing Blanche couldn’t do for that child. 

That’s why he held the hands of a crazy wizard. of a mad wizard. There was someone who said he would take responsibility for the rest of his life as long as he won the war and somehow eliminated Rodrigo. However, when things went wrong like this, the person disappeared and could not be contacted.

Now all Blanche has to believe in is Frans. Frans guaranteed the safety of Blanche and Anheine. Blanche clenched his fists. He can’t just sit weakly forever.

“Form a delegation to send to the empire.”

***

[Third Person POV]

“Please eat.”

Augustus knocked on Anheine’s door and said.

“Wait a minute!”

There was a loud noise inside. Augustus frowned. Augustus could not understand Rodrigo, who brought the enemy’s daughter from the battlefield. On the surface, she looked like a hostage, but she didn’t look like a hostage at all.

She roamed around the Erhardt Mansion and told the attendants and maidservants her demands without hesitation. She took the service of others for granted and often said things that crossed the line.

For example…

-I’d like to plant roses in this garden. Shall we plant roses next year?

She was acting like the hostess of Erhardt’s mansion, yes the hostess. The people of the mansion, including Augustus, were uncomfortable, but no one expressed their feelings. Although he said she was a hostage, Rodrigo told them to treat her as a guest, and making guests uncomfortable was an act of hurting their pride as an employee of the Erhardt family.

“Will you bring the meal to my room?”

Perhaps she hadn’t finished preparing to come out yet, a clear voice came from inside. Augustus clicked his tongue. In many ways, it was compared to Estiya. Estiya’s behavior, which flowed with aristocratic elegance to the point where it was hard to believe that she was a Cartina, was worlds apart from Anheine’s behavior.

‘How’s the relationship with Lady Estiya going?’

There are still a few more presents that Rodrigo told him to deliver. Rodrigo, who has been confined to his room for several days after returning from the battlefield, must be forcibly dragged out and sent to Cartina.

“All right.”

Augustus answered and prepared breakfast early, then found Rodrigo’s room.

***

[Rodrigo’s POV]

Rodrigo has been sitting in the same position for hours, patting the desk. The conversation I had with Terto bothered me. In rare cases, Terto summoned Rodrigo, who returned from the battlefield, straight to the emperor. He patted Rodrigo on the shoulder and congratulated him for winning the war. Even that was amazing, but what followed was even more surprising.

-Now that you’re back, all you have to do is marry Young Lady Cartina?

I thought he would interfere in some way, but Terto said as if he had allowed everything.

-Detheus must be really sorry.

Rodrigo listened in silence.

-I’m sorry, but what can I do? Relationships are different.

The emperor suddenly changed. He’s also very friendly. It was the first time Rodrigo had seen the benevolence of the emperor since he was born.

What on earth has changed?

Unable to fathom the true intention behind the change, Rodrigo locked himself in Erhardt’s mansion. In the meantime, a telegram arrived from the Duke of Gloria congratulating him on the victory. If it was the usual Rodrigo, he would have visited right away and said hello, but Rodrigo replaced it with a simple reply.

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“Your Excellency.”

Augustus came to see him. Rodrigo turned the chair that was facing out the window to greet Augustus.

“What’s going on?”

“What should I do with the gifts I was told to give to Lady Estiya that I couldn’t deliver?”

One of Rodrigo’s eyebrows rose.

“Why do you ask for the obvious?”

Rodrigo rose from his seat, speaking sharply.

“Prepare my clothes, Augustus.”

He said as he headed to the bathroom.

“Will you go there yourself?”

“You have to give your lover a present yourself.”

“I didn’t know you’d go in person because you looked busy.”

“Augustus.”

Rodrigo stopped, holding on to the bathroom door. He turned and looked at Augustus.

“Yes, go ahead. Your Excellency.”

“The most important thing to me is Estiya. No matter how busy I am, I want to take care of her myself. For all of my schedules from now on, I will prioritize everything related to her. Even if I can’t take care of it, you will.”

Augustus bowed his head. Just as he was worried that his heart might have been drawn to Anheine, Augustus was pleased with Rodrigo’s words.

“Yes, I understand. I’ll get your clothes ready.”

Rodrigo entered the bathroom only after hearing August’s answer. Soon the sound of a cool stream of water was heard.

***

[Estiya’s POV]

Several days had passed since Schubert had been gone, but neither Stefan nor Hela had told them why he had gone home.

“What class do you have today, Estiya?”

During breakfast, Hela asked.

“Today is poisons class.”

“Okay. Isn’t it hard to take classes with younger members?”

This is the second class we are taking together. The first class was ruined by Gilter, so I didn’t have time to feel how difficult it was to take classes with my younger siblings.

“It’s all right.”

The answer I could offer was limited. Hela and Stefan’s eyebrows drooped down.

“If you hurt your pride, would you like your mom to give your private tutoring? My daughter should be promoted quickly.”

“No, Mom. Mom is busy too, so you don’t have to look after my class. I’ll do it with my own strength slowly!”

Watching Hela’s eyes tinged with emotion, I quickly changed the subject.

“Oh my, the raw scallop salad today is so delicious!”

“Is that so? Eat a lot.”

Hela served a scoop of raw scallop salad in front of me. I grabbed the salad that Hela had given me and ate it. Hela and Stefan put down their fork and looked at me if it was okay to just watch me eat. A gentle smile hung on their lips.

“If the teacher doesn’t like you or bothers you, you should say it without delay.”

I felt a twinge.*

TL/N: The full meaning is ‘feeling a prick of conscience

Did Schubert come and tell you about the Gilter case?

No. It couldn’t be. What kind of person is Schubert? There was no way he would have said straight out about what he was going to get caught up in.

“Of, of course.”

“Even if your younger siblings are mean to you.”

“Yes.”

“It’s the same for your brother too.”

“What? Brother?”

“It’s Gilter. Of course, if you look at the ugly guy, you don’t want to call him your brother.”

What does this mean? Wasn’t Gilter only taking swordsmanship classes together?

“Is Gilter taking classes with me? Poisons class?”

Hela nodded with a frown.

“That idiot cheated during the promotion test. So the promotion test itself became invalid, so he started taking classes with you guys.”

“The shame of Cartina. I don’t want to let him step into our mansion, but Schubert came and asked for it, so I had no choice but to do it.”

Stefan chewed the apple pieces in his mouth as if they were Gilter or Schubert. Ah, now I know why Schubert came. Gilter’s poison class promotion test itself was canceled and he had to take the poison class again, but it was burdensome to personally look into the class, so you asked my house for a favor.

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But you’ve done well alone so far?

As I remembered the time of swordsmanship class, I had an ominous feeling.

“Is he coming from today?”

I asked very carefully. I’m fine, but I was worried about Loa and Billian.

“He seemed to be in a hurry. He decided to join you from today.”

Oh my god.

Perhaps the poison teacher was also brought to his side?

I hurriedly emptied the plate, thinking I should find out quickly.