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n.

nMost of the time, the Duke, his father, took care of it, but sometimes Astelle escaped the trap by herself.

nAfter such a few bad experiences, she lived anytime, anywhere, being careful about her actions and always looking around.

nLooking back, it was a breathtaking life that really seemed to walk on a thin ice plate.

n“Fine. It’s not a big deal.”

nAstelle thought it was fortunate to get out of such a life even now.

nIf this is done well, she will be able to return to a quiet and peaceful life with Theor in the mansion of her maternal grandfather.

nIt must have been.

nKaizen sighed with a sad face.

n“It won’t happen anymore. Let’s get a knights to protect you.”

n“No, Your Majesty. It’s okay. I…”

n“Don’t be stubborn. There was something dangerous.”

nKaizen cut Astelle’s words resolutely.

n‘Who is the person who’s stubborn.’

nAstelle repressed her irritation and bowed her head calmly and politely.

n“People will think strangely if Your Majesty’s knights escort me, the former empress. Rather, I think there will be a greater risk if people’s attention focused to me for nothing.”

nAstelle hoped this man would do nothing.

nNow, the most dangerous person to Astelle was Kaizen.

nIn fact, this happened also because Kaizen sent something like a dress for nothing and called her to dinner.

nIf he didn’t do that, Marianne couldn’t have taken this seriously.

n‘So why did you do something useless…’

nAstelle was pointing out that fact to Kaizen now.

n‘This happened because of you, what kind of protection is that?’

nKaizen wasn’t stupid enough to not understand it either.

nBut even if he understood what Astelle meant, getting angry was a separate matter.

n“Yes, do whatever you want.”

nHis crimson eyes and gaze looking straight at her.

nIt was a mixed look of ridicule and irritation.

nAstelle smiled satisfactorily, ignoring Kaizen’s displeasure. She bent her knees slightly and said her greetings.

n“Thank you for understanding, Your Majesty.”

n* * *

n“You better be careful.”

nAstelle closed the door and tried to go out the hall, but Vellian in the office came out.

nShe didn’t care much and tried to go back to the bedroom.

nThen he came up with an unquestioned story.

n“The Marquis of Croychen has three daughters. The first daughter… As you can see, it looks like that, but the second daughter isn’t like that.”

n“If she is the second daughter…”

nWho was that?

nAstelle didn’t remember well.

nThe Croychen family was not a great family in the past, so it did not come to the place where influential nobles gathered often.

nSo Astelle didn’t have a chance to look at the daughters in the family.

nShe remember Croychen family having several young daughters, but she couldn’t memorize the names.

nSeeing Astelle couldn’t remember, Vellian said her name.

n“This is Lady Florin. She has celebrated her coming of age a while ago. She is currently the most promising empress candidate.”

nEven after hearing her name, Astelle still couldn’t remember her face.

nIt seems like there was a quiet young lady with that kind of name.

nVelian continued his explanation, looking closely at Astelle.

n“The Croychen family waited a little long for the second daughter become an adult. It said that Marquis Croychen worked hard from the past to make his second daughter as an empress.”

nIt was a familiar story.

nAstelle muttered bitterly.

n“It’s the same everywhere.”

nFor the power of the family, he raises his daughter into a custom doll and throws her into the imperial palace like throwing a gambling hand.

nThe whole family rejoices if they gains a profit if she going so, but if she fails, the obsolete daughter is ruthlessly abandoned.

nIt is the same in any family.

nEven if the game of the imperial power changed, nothing changed.

nJust the name of the family with power has changed.

n“Anyway, I just want you to be careful, because Lady Florin is the girl who never going to do it like her older sister, Lady Marianne.”

n‘Well, I don’t think Lady Astelle is the one to be smitten.’

nVellian muttered only the back words inside.

nHe doesn’t know well, but the former empress was a smart of many ways.

nHe expected to that the former empress have a timid and passive personality when he heard that she packed up and went out a day after she became the empress.

nIt was a completely wrong idea.

nBut why did she retire from the empress’ seat so easily?

n‘Did this person have any feelings toward His Majesty the Emperor?’

nEven though she had feelings, it would have disappeared now.

nShe just paid only for the first night and was kicked out the next day.

nBut it was scheduled.

nAs far as Vellian knows, Kaizen had long thought of purging Duke Reston as soon as he became emperor.

nAstelle, who was standing silently while chewing on such thoughts, said with a slight smile.

n“The second daughter of the Croychen family seems to love His Majesty very much.”

n“Pardon…?”

n“Doesn’t it mean that Lady Florin will have reproach over her sister’s work, because her sister had been making a fuss around His Majesty? Otherwise, why should I be careful?”

nAstelle understood what Vellian’s meant, but Astelle laughed with a different voice as if she had not understood anything.

nAnd she spoke firmly to Vellian, who was looking at her face, in a confused tone.

n“I will leave the capital as soon as the issue of the will of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is resolved. She will be the new empress, and she has nothing to do with me. I don’t want to be involved.”

n* * *

nAstelle sat by the window and looked at the drizzled garden.

nLilac leaves quietly shaded the side of the window right next to the window.

nThe light purple petals shook gently in the rain and wind.

nThe glass window looked like a gray watercolor painted against the background of the misty sky.

nAstelle looked at the calm and beautiful scene and thought extremely realistically.

nHow long will this damn rain fall?

nThe gray sky in the distance was so dark that even a joke couldn’t say it was clear.

nShe came to this castle and thought that too much seems to be happening in a few days.

nWhen can I leave this place?

nDid my grandfather receive my letter?

nWhile thinking about that, Theor who was playing in the room was crying and carrying a teddy bear.

n“Levin is hurt…”

nThe bear’s shoulder part was bursting.

nPure white cotton sprung out and tattered through the torn fabric.

nIt looked like this again when he dipped it in water for washing.

n“It’s okay, I’ll fix it soon.”

nAstelle obtained brown threads and needles from the maids and repaired the doll.

nTheor did not go to the greenhouse while watching Astelle fix the doll closely.

nIt was good up there-

n“Oops, the doll is broken.”

nIn other words, Vellian, the emperor’s aide, came to meet with them.

nAstelle sat face to face with him at the tea table and place a cup of tea in front of him.

nVellian, who was drinking tea, opened his mouth while observing Astelle, who was sewing hard.

n“Why not leave it to the maids?”

n“This doll is so old that no one can fix it except me.”

nThe doll itself is not very old, but in the first place the doll was made from an old curtain cloth, so it kept tattering like this.

nIf she knew Theor would like it this way, she would make more species of cloth.

nAstelle put a needle at the doll’s belly.

nNormally, it doesn’t matter whether this man is here, but today Theor doesn’t go to the greenhouse and is in the room with him, so she felt anxious.

n‘People who are quick to notice are made me anxious.’

nThis man was the emperor’s closest aide.

nFor some reason, this man kept watching Astelle.

nHe visited often, talked to her, and observed Astelle.

nThis man is gentle among the people after talked a few times.

nBut she knew he was never as naive as it seemed.

nThis person serves the emperor in close proximity, so he know well about Kaizen.

nCould this man even notice that Theor looks like him?

nTheor was still concentrating on the appearance of his doll being healed little by little.

nUntil Astelle fixed the doll, he was in the mood for not going out even if he was told to go to the greenhouse.

nAstelle said with an apologetic expression as soon as Vellian put the teacup.

n“You must be busy, I don’t know if I’m holding the Count for too long.”

nBut Vellian only laughed while listening to Astelle.

n“No, I’m fine, His Majesty says he is going on a hunt, because he can’t hear all of Lady Marianne’s complaints.”

n“Does His Majesty go hunting?”

n“Yes. It must have prepared and started now. It rains a little today. He must be frustrated.”

nAstelle herself was confined to this castle and was convinced that she was warned abot the rain, but it was absurd that a man named emperor went out to hunt.

nBut she had a good idea.

nAstelle turned to Theor and asked.

n“Theor, would you like to go to see the castle while I’m repairing Levin?”

n“Really? Can I see the castle?”

nTheor liked to go ahead.

nIn the meantime, she only allowed him to play mainly in the garden or greenhouse, and prevented him from going around the castle a lot.

nTheor could not be left in the castle where the emperor wandered around.

nAnd Astelle wanted to prevent Kaizen from meeting Theor as much as possible.

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