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n“What did you do?”

nKaizen looked at the girl standing in front of him with an absurd expression as if he had never heard such ridiculous words before.

nThe others had similarly absurd expressions.

nNaen repeated the hastily prepared lines.

nFlorin wrote down these lines and asked her to memorize them.

n“I-I have committed a sin, Your Majesty. I-I beg your forgiveness……”

nNaen diligently confessed that she had been spying on the duke’s family.

nAnd she got the secret letter while spying on the duke’s family.

nAs soon as she saw it, she was so surprised and sent it to the imperial palace without telling her father.

nThe reason for spying on the duke’s family in the first place was that she had a grudge against the empress over the affairs of her mother and oldest sister.

nHer second sister and father were completely ignorant of it.

nAnd she never thought the secret letter was fake.

nThat’s what all Naen said.

nEven though Naen spoke earnestly, the listeners didn’t seem to believe her.

nSome derided her openly, and some looked bewildered.

nThe bewildered people were astonished by Marquis Croychen’s act of using his youngest daughter as a shield.

nNo one will believe a middle-aged Minister of State when he says he made a false accusation by mistake.

nHowever, if a seventeen-year-old young lady, who had not yet reached adulthood, accidentally got a fake secret letter and sent it to the imperial palace, it could be argued that it was the behavior of an immature teenage girl.

nOf course, none of the nobles in this position would seriously believe this nonsense.

n“Miss Naen.”

nAstelle took everyone’s attention and stepped forward.

nNaen looked at Astelle with frightened eyes.

n“Then, were you the first to open the envelope with the secret letter?”

n“Yes? Yes, yes, of course.”

nAt the sudden question, Naen stuttered in dismay and answered clearly again, “Yes, Your Majesty the Empress. I opened it myself.”

n“Then you must have read the secret letter, right?”

n“Yes, I did.”

nBefore coming to the palace, Florin told her everything about the secret letter.

nNaen desperately recalled what her older sister had told.

nWhatever the empress will ask, Naen is confident that she can answer all of them.

n“I see.”

nAstelle asked in a calm tone, “Then do you remember how the letter was folded?”

n“Yes……?”

n“It was folded in a pretty unique way, don’t you remember?”

nIn the empire, specifically among the socialite ladies, there were many different ways of folding letters.

nJust as each small gesture of folding and unfolding a fan gives meaning to each other, each method of folding a letter had a different meaning.

nNaen was perplexed.

nFlorin told her everything that was written in the secret letter including how to read the code, but she didn’t tell her how the paper was folded.

n“That……”

nNaen couldn’t answer Astelle’s question.

nKaizen, who was watching the two, rebuked coldly, “Why can’t you answer the question if you read the letter?”

n“Y-your Majesty, t-that……”

nNaen’s plump white cheeks turned white pitifully.

nBut she kept insisting that she was the one who sent the secret letter.

n“I did send it. I really sent it……”

nNaen cried and begged earnestly.

nShe looks like she’s only about sixteen or seventeen years old.

nAstelle was not close to the Croychen family, but she had never heard anything strange about this third daughter.

nAstelle thought, ‘Looks like she’s not loved very much in the family.’

nAstelle felt sorry for Naen.

nShe wanted to punish Florin for perjury.

nShe didn’t expect Florin to use her young sister as a shield.

nNaen was a quiet young noble lady who didn’t even appear in social circles and lived only in the mansion.

n‘Who would believe that this young girl forged the secret letter?’

nIt’s not a big sin if you get a suspicious secret letter and secretly send it to the imperial palace.

nAnd if a young noble lady who had not yet reached adulthood was punished for that reason, it would not be good for Astelle and the Duke’s reputation.

nAstelle pondered for a moment, but Kaizen responded as if he had nothing to hear anymore.

n“Take her out.”

nThe guard knights came closer to drag Naen away.

nAstelle made a quick decision after a brief deliberation.

n“Your Majesty, the young lady here seems to have misunderstood the situation.”

nShe bowed her head to Kaizen and spoke politely.

nShe said, “The young lady must have been shocked when she suddenly got the secret letter. It is understandable that she sent it to the imperial palace secretly without seeing its contents properly.”

n“I think so.”

nKaizen also seemed to have noticed Astelle’s thoughts.

n“I think it’s someone else who forged the secret letter.”

nAstelle continued, “Perhaps it was a cunning person who tried to frame my family by deliberately forging a secret letter to take advantage of an innocent young lady of a marquis family by leaking it to her.”

nIt was his father, the Duke of Reston, who made a fake secret letter and leaked it to the marquis.

nFor a moment, a smirk appeared on Kaizen’s face.

nAstelle looked a little embarrassed and looked away from him.

n“But my family and I almost got into trouble because of Miss Naen’s rash actions, so I can’t forgive her.”

nAs Naen listened to their conversation, she was trembling with fear.

nAstelle turned to Naen and looked back at Kaizen.

n“So, until the culprit is found, please leave Miss Naen’s punishment to me, Your Majesty.”

nAt Astelle’s request, there was an icy silence in the room.

nEven the ministers who were watching the situation silently looked at Astelle with puzzled looks, as if predicting what atrocities the empress would commit.

nNaen became even more trembling and frightened than when the emperor’s guard knights approached her before.

n‘Do I look so cruel?’

nEveryone seemed to be thinking of a terrible situation when Astelle said she would punish the young lady herself.

nBut Kaizen unhesitatingly gave the order, “Okay. Kill her or keep her alive, it’s up to you.”

n***

nTheor was in a small study, bathed in warm sunlight.

nIn the morning, Theor drew on white paper with the paint that Hannah had brought him.

n“You draw well.”

nAstelle’s maternal grandfather, the Marquis of Carlenberg, who was next to him, admired his painting.

nIn the painting, Theor, Astelle, and the marquis are drawn side by side.

nBeside Theor are Blynn and Levin the teddy bear.

nEven though it’s a rather clunky drawing, it’s a great drawing skill for a five-year-old.

nThe details of Blynn’s golden hair and Astelle’s dress are well expressed.

n“Our Theor has a good observation.”

nTheory dipped the brush in the paint again and drew another person in one corner.

nIt was a tall man in black.

n“Who is this?”

n“His Majesty the Emperor.”

nKaizen was in a corner far away from the three of them.

nKaizen, who is painted with black hair and red eyes, is very similar to Theor.

nThe marquis smiled bitterly.

nTheor is a lot like Kaizen.

n‘It can’t be helped because they are father and son.’

nHe also looks like Astelle, but he looks more like Kaizen.

nMaybe when he grows up, he will really be exactly like Kaizen.

n“Do you like living in the palace, Theor?”

n“Yes, I do. It’s spacious here, I can eat delicious sweets, and there is a pony……”

nTheor counted the good points of living in the palace one by one with his fingers, and suddenly paused.

n“Why?”

nTheor lowered his hand.

nThere was a sullen look on his little face.

n“But I don’t think my mother likes it here.”

n“Huh?”

n“My mom doesn’t look happy after coming here.”

n“……”

nReally, your observation skills are too good.

n“Can’t we go back to our house with Mom, too?”

nThe marquis pondered for a moment and said, “We can’t. Your mother is now married to the emperor and became the empress. So she has to live here.”

nAstelle had told the marquis about her marriage contract with Kaizen.

nHowever, the marquis thought that Astelle would not be able to leave even after the contract period was over.

nAlso, she couldn’t possibly leave young Theor alone in the imperial palace and go to the countryside.

nFortunately, Theor quickly forgot the topic.

nTheor picked up the brush again and was drawing trees and flowers on the paper.

nWhile the marquis was relieved a little, Theor raised his head and asked again, “People get married to the person they love, right?”

n“That’s right.”

nTheor’s clear eyes looked at him with deep doubts.

n“Mom and His Majesty got married in the past, but why do they assume it never happened?”

n“What do you mean?”

n“I heard that Mom and His Majesty remarried because they assumed their old marriage never happened.”

n“Who said that?”

n“The bad grandfather.”

n“……”

nThat’s how Theor always called his maternal grandfather, Duke Reston.

nSeriously, he’s probably the only person who can say something like that to a kid.

nThe maids and attendants of the empress’ palace were always careful with their words in front of Theor, as Astelle had clearly told them.

nThe marquis decided to ask Kaizen to ban the Duke of Reston from visiting.

n“……it happened even before you were born. They both got married, and then you were born. But something happened in the middle, so for a while….., they were separated.”

nThe marquis couldn’t explain it in detail, so he tried to keep it as simple as possible.

nStill, he didn’t want to lie to the kid who had already heard the truth.

nHe’ll find out someday anyway.

n“Yes, I see.”

nFortunately, Theor seemed to understand the marquis’ explanation.

nTheor, who finished painting the flower petals, raised his head and asked again, “Did my mom love His Majesty in the past?”

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