n

n

n

nA satisfied smile appeared on Florin’s pretty face.

n“Yes, he did. The Duke sent a secret letter to the West to gather soldiers and prepare weapons. I have caught the servant who delivered the secret letter.”

nAstelle was genuinely surprised and asked, “You caught him?”

nIt was surprising that her father had prepared for the assassination and rebellion at the same time, but it was also surprising that he had left the person who delivered the secret letter unattended.

nIf it was her father, he would have hidden such an important person somewhere, or he would have just killed him when the plan failed.

nBut Florin, who is only a young lady of the Marquis family, caught a witness who could destroy the Duke family?

nNot the Marquis of Croychen himself, but Florin, who has just come of age?

n‘This is so absurd that it’s hard to believe.’

nFlorin spoke confidently, “He is a servant to the duke. I caught him with great difficulty and he is in a safe place now. Ask your father directly.”

n“……”

nI can’t believe my father even entrusted such a dangerous task to his servant.

n“Did he say that he had delivered the secret letter?”

n“He had a secret letter. He said the lord of the west had confirmed the letter and returned it to him. He kept it in secret without telling the duke in case of an emergency.”

nFlorin looked at Astelle’s surprised face with joy.

n“The content was a code, but….., it wasn’t too difficult to interpret. I also checked the duke’s seal was on the letter. It was unquestionably real evidence.”

nIt was unbelievable in any way, but Florin seemed confident that she had the victory.

nIt’s surprising that this clever-looking lady really believes in such an absurd story.

nAfter all, Florin is still a young lady who has only spent her entire life in a mansion.

nAstelle recalled that she, too, had truly loved Kaizen at that age.

nFlorin declared with a triumphant smile, “If Your Majesty the Empress will help me, I will keep this a secret.”

n“……”

nThere is a servant who took the secret letter containing the subject of the rebellion, and the secret letter is stamped with the seal of the duke.

nThe evidence was clear, but it was too weak to the point of being absurd.

n‘Did my father really prepare for a rebellion?’

nOf course, my father was always looking for an opportunity to get rid of Kaizen.

nHe plotted to assassinate the emperor on tour and a rebellion at the same time.

nIf the assassination succeeds, there is no need to rebel, and if the rebel succeeds, there is no need to attempt the assassination. This must be the plan.

nOf course, it would be better if both were successful.

nIt’s hard to succeed even if you put all your strength into one of those options, but my father tried both at the same time?

nI don’t understand at all.

n‘Didn’t my father try to distract Kaizen?’

nI thought he acted suspiciously as if planning a rebellion but secretly continued the assassination plot.

nKaizen was always monitoring the duke’s possible rebellion, so he didn’t see the sword that was pointed behind him.

nI thought that was the plan?

n‘It’s just a mean thing my father would do.’

nDuring the tour, I remember Kaizen taking the rain as an excuse to keep wasting time.

nAt the time, I guessed that Kaizen was buying time for some reason.

nIt was impossible for the emperor to spend days in the Maern Castle under the pretext of raining for no reason.

n‘I have to contact my father and ask him for sure.’

nAstelle looked at the confident Florin and made a quick decision.

nAnyway, I better let this cute little lady think that everything is going her way.

n‘As long as she’s relieved, she won’t cause any more trouble.’

nAstelle nodded her head, pretending to be serious.

n“Okay, let’s make a deal. Instead, you have to keep it secret so that it doesn’t leak out.”

nFlorin closed her purple eyes and smiled softly.

n“Okay. Your Majesty the Empress should also tell His Majesty the Emperor to protect my father.”

n“Yes, I will definitely protect the marquis.”

nAstelle made a promise.

nOf course, she had no intention of helping the Croychen family.

nAstelle wanted Marquis Croychen to lose power and get rid of this arrogant young lady who had been spying on the duke’s mansion.

n***

n

nAstelle contacted her father as soon as Florin left.

nIt was a request to come to the Empress Palace right now.

nNot long after, the Duke came to see Astelle.

n“You invited me first.”

n“Even if I don’t invite you, you come almost every day to annoy Theor and meddle in my business.”

n“I saved your life but you don’t even thank me.”

nDuke grumbled and drank the tea. Astelle watched her father and spoke frankly, “Father, please be honest with me.”

nWhile drinking tea, the Duke of Reston looked at Astelle.

n“Why all of a sudden?”

n“Lady Florin said she had kidnapped your servant.”

n“My servant? Who?”

nWhen Astelle looked at him in a bewildered way, the duke put down the teacup and nodded as if he had remembered it belatedly.

n“Oh yeah. I heard that one of the servants disappeared without a word. So it was her doing.”

n“Do I know him?”

n“No, you wouldn’t know. He’s a new servant.”

n“Did you entrust such a risky task to a new servant?”

nDuke Reston raised one eyebrow.

nAstelle told her father the stories she had heard from Florin, from the rebellion to the things that happened on the tour.

nEverything, including the secret letter that the servant had.

nThe Duke of Reston listened to Astelle and confessed honestly, “Now that it’s all over, what’s there to hide? What you guessed was right. There’s no such thing as a rebellion plot.”

n“You must have been planning the assassination from the beginning.”

n“Of course. Knowing the rebellion plot was in progress, I thought Kaizen would linger during the tour. If the emperor is outside the capital, there will always be loopholes.”

nThe duke grumbled with a sad expression on his face.

n“If I did well, I could have succeeded.”

n“You also tried to kill Theor and I.”

nThe Duke looked a little startled by Astelle’s calm remark.

nBut soon he shamelessly shook his head.

n“It wasn’t like that.”

n“Your men attacked me too.”

n“It must have been because you were by Kaizen’s side. You wouldn’t have been attacked had you not been there.”

nAstelle frowned at her father’s brazen reply.

nBut now, she wasn’t in a situation where she was trying to figure out what happened in the past.

nThere will be another opportunity to talk about it.

n“How about the secret letter?”

n“What I gave him was a secret letter that had been set up as a trap. If you look closely, the whole contents are of no importance, and the seal is also fake.”

n‘That’s why the lord of the west returned it.’

nIt was a common method.

nMaking and sending multiple fake letters.

nAmong them, only the real secret letter is marked with a specific label.

n“You did it on purpose, didn’t you? If someone who watches over you steals the letter and accuses you, you will still be acquitted.”

nIn particular, if the emperor’s side framed the duke with it, he would be acquitted right away.

nThe Duke raised the teacup again and said with a face as confident as Florin.

n“Do you think I would have trusted such a fool who was kidnapped by the young lady of a marquis family and entrusted him a secret task? I won’t even spend a penny on such a guy.”

nAstelle also picked up the teacup.

nIt was exactly what she had expected.

nShe sighed with relief at her father’s meanness.

n“Lady Florin truly believes she has found the evidence.”

n“She’s pretty clever, so I was wondering what if she became your sister-in-law.”

n“What nonsense are you talking about?”

nAstelle widened her eyes.

nFlorin and Fritz are more than eight years apart.

n“I’ve been trying for years to find a bride with good blood for Fritz, but all the prestigious families have been wiped out.”

nNow that all the families that could be called prestigious families had disappeared, no young lady could be a match for Fritz’s.

n“Yeah, well, her family will collapse anyway.”

nThe duke looked at Astelle while smiling with affectionate eyes.

n“At this point, we have to get rid of the Croychen family. I’m sure the emperor will make it happen if you ask for it.”

n“……”

nAstelle didn’t answer.

nThe collapse of the Croychen family, who continued to plot useless conspiracies and nuisances on her, was welcome.

nBut she had no intention of empowering her father.

n‘Because my father will soon be like Marquis Croychen.’

n

n***

n

nKaizen was playing with Theor in the garden at sunset.

nAstelle looked out the window and saw Theor wielding something in his hand.

nCurious about what it was, Astelle got closer and found that it was a wooden sword for children.

nTheor grabbed the small wooden sword in his small hand and swung it vigorously.

nIt was a simple move, but he was working so hard that his white cheeks were red.

n“Theor, what are you doing?”

n“Mom, I learned swordsmanship.”

nTheor ran to Astelle with the wooden sword.

n“Look at this! It’s my sword!”

nTheor held up his sword and swung it with all his might.

nIt was cute to see him work so hard that his little body staggered.

n“That’s great.”

nAstelle smiled and praised him.

n“You should only practice outside so not to hurt anyone. You have to be careful not to be near Blynn as well.”

n“Yes! I’ll be careful.”

nHolding his wooden sword firmly, Theor continued, “I will also become a knight like Uncle Lyndon!”

n“You will become an emperor, not a knight.”

nKaizen approached Theor and stroked Theor’s head with his big hand.

n“You came early.”

nHe came earlier than usual today. He must have come as soon as he finished his business. Kaizen looked a little worried.

n“Is everything all right?”

nHe must have heard of Florin’s visit.

nEven if she didn’t say a word, she had already guessed that the affairs of the Empress Palace would reach Kaizen’s ears.

n“What will happen? I was just looking at the ledger all day.”

nTheor went back to the garden, wielded his sword, and played.

nAstelle told him to be careful, and he moved a little further away from Blynn.

nAstelle asked Kaizen, “Has the Marchioness finished being interrogated?”

n“The investigation is over.”

nKaizen responded as if he had waited for Astelle’s question.

n“I plan to decide on the punishment tomorrow. I will also punish Marquis Croychen as an example. To make sure this never happens again.”

nAs Kaizen said so, she looked into Astelle’s eyes.

nHe seemed worried that she might object.

nHowever, Astelle did not object.

n“Do as you please, Your Majesty.”

n