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nTL: Lilac | PR: Faith

nVellian complained to Astelle.

n“The Marquis suddenly threw a sword at me!”

n“……sorry?”

nAccording to him, the assassins suddenly appeared, so the Marquis threw the dagger he was holding and hit one assassin, then took the sword and threw it at Vellian.

nThe bruise on his forehead was caused by being hit with the handle of the sword.

nThe Marquis, who was listening quietly, looked at Vellian with a stern face.

n“I meant to give you a sword to fight together with me.”

n“If you throw a sword at me without notice, I would inevitably get hit.”

nThe Marquis said he was injured while dealing with the remaining two by himself.

nThinking about it again, the Marquis got angry with Vellian.

n“How come the Count can’t even use a sword?”

n“……I am a civil servant.”

nVellian murmured while avoiding the marquis’ gaze.

nImperial male nobles were expected to at least learn the basics of swordsmanship.

nAt the very least, they learn how to protect themselves.

nIt seems that Vellian never learned anything.

n“Aunt Astelle……”

nTheor, who was burying his face in Astelle’s arms, slowly raised his head.

n“Theor, it’s fine now. Let’s go back to the annex, Blynn is waiting.”

n“Mhm……”

nAstelle wiped the tears from Theor’s eyes.

n“Fortunately, Theor did not see anything, since the young Count was holding him.”

nThe Marquis said that Vellian hid behind him, hugging Theor tightly so that he could not see anything.

n“Thank you for protecting Theor, Count.”

nAstelle hated Vellian for a while, but she was grateful that he still protected Theor.

nVellian smirked as he received Astelle’s thanks.

n“Not at all. I would not have been able to do anything without the Marquis.”

nKaizen, who was watching the knights clear up the situation, approached the group.

nA long wound could be seen through the torn clothes.

n“Is everyone okay?”

n“Yes, Your Majesty.”

nHis gaze fell on Theor who was being carried by Astelle.

n“Are you okay?”

nTheor, who was burying his face in Astelle’s arm, lifted his head carefully upon hearing Kaizen’s voice.

nHis clear blue eyes were wet with tears.

n“I’m fine, Your Majesty.”

nKaizen wiped the tears from Theor’s eyes with his hand.

n“It’s all right now. Don’t be afraid.”

nTheor nodded at his words.

nAstelle watched the two of them and realized that Theor followed Kaizen well and relied on him a lot.

nIt seemed that they loved each other deeply.

nKaizen glanced at Astelle and then turned around.

n“Let’s go back to the castle.”

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n***

n

n“I’m sorry Lady Astelle.”

nVellian begged Astelle’s forgiveness with a serious face like never before

n“There has been an attempt to assassinate His Majesty the Emperor, so no one can leave the castle for the time being.”

nAstelle had just returned to the annex escorted by knights.

nShe didn’t even have the time to take off her clothes. She washed Theor first and put him to sleep after giving him the eye color-changing potion.

nThe terrified Theor gradually regained composure and fell asleep.

nAs soon as Astelle left the room after making sure Theor was sleeping, Vellian came to her and apologized.

nIt was said that no one could leave the castle because of the assassination attempt.

n“I’m sorry because the situation is like this, the Marquis and Theor will have to go to the capital.”

n“……”

nAstelle nodded her head with a puzzled look.

n“I see. There is nothing I can do about this situation.”

n“Thank you for your understanding.”

nAstelle pretended to remain calm until Vellian left, but the moment she was left alone, she fell into a chair.

nThe fatigue she had endured came flooding in. Her head was dizzy.

nThe Marquis opened the door and entered the parlor where Astelle was.

nShe looked at her grandfather and stood up from her seat.

n“Grandpa.”

n“Are you okay? Your face is pale.”

nThe Marquis clasped Astelle’s hand and patted her as if to reassure his granddaughter.

nThe familiar warmth calmed her heart a little.

nShe checked the doors and windows.

nEverything was tightly closed.

n“That assassin……”

nAnd she told her grandfather what she had seen.

n“His face was familiar. He was definitely someone I knew.”

n“Could your father……”

nAstelle nodded.

nThe Marquis’ eyes trembled in shock.

nWhat happened in the forest was obviously Astelle’s father’s work.

nThe Marquis lowered his voice and became angry.

n“Were the assassins sent by your father trying to kill us as well?”

n“My father doesn’t care about that.”

n‘Because he is always only thinking of himself.’

nKnowing Astelle was there, he didn’t even care. Her existence was rather annoying, so he might have told his men to kill them together.

nAstelle suppressed her annoyance and looked at reality.

nHer father tried to kill Kaizen.

nWhat will happen when that fact is revealed?

nAstelle herself was the daughter of the Reston family, even if she had been expelled.

nIf her family is branded as traitors, she may not be able to survive.

nActually, she herself wasn’t afraid to die. But Theor……

n“Hey.”

nThe Marquis held Astelle’s little hand firmly.

nAstelle, who was wrapped in anxiety, raised her head and turned to her grandfather.

nThere was no blood on her pale face.

n“I am relieved that Theor is a child of the Carlenberg family.”

nAstelle had thought that this day might come sooner or later.

nShe knew that one day her father would be executed for treason and Astelle herself could die too.

nAstelle was relieved inwardly by making Theor her maternal successor.

nHer mother was already dead, so even if the Reston family were to be destroyed, the Carlenberg family would not be affected.

nThe Carlenbergs could also lose their pensions or even titles, in the worst case. But at least their lives would be preserved.

n“Grandpa, in case anything happens……”

nAstelle was very sorry to ask this kind of favor to her elderly grandfather, but now she had no one else to ask.

n“I buried the recipe for Theor’s eye color-changing potion under the tree in the mansion, in case there is a situation where both Gretel and I are not able to make it.”

nIf anything happens to Astelle, someone else has to make the potion.

nIn case such a situation arises, Astelle wrote down the recipe in advance and buried it in the ground.

n“I need your help, Grandpa…… I’m sorry to keep asking you for favors.”

nFrom the beginning to the end, she only burdened her grandfather.

nAfterward, the Marquis hugged his poor granddaughter who was sitting there with her little wretched eyes.

n“Don’t worry too much. Everything will be fine.”

nThere was a sense of uneasiness in the voice of the Marquis as he said that, but Astelle stayed in his arms for a long time.

nShe felt a little comforted in his warmth.

n“This must not have been the first time.”

nHer grandfather’s low voice could be heard in her ear.

nAstelle raised her head. The Marquis lowered his voice and spoke, “This must not have been the first time your father tried to assassinate the emperor. There must have been such attempts in the past.”

n“……”

nAstelle also agreed with her grandfather.

nHer father may have been looking for a chance to kill Kaizen for years.

nThere must have been several unknown assassination attempts.

n“But if your father is still unharmed, doesn’t that mean that he hasn’t been caught yet?”

n“That’s right.”

nAstelle’s father, the Duke of Reston was a careful and meticulous character.

n“Your father is a caring human being, so he must have handled it well so that no evidence was left behind even if the work failed.”

n“Is that so?”

n“Of course. The man you saw must have been prepared in advance so that he wouldn’t be associated with your father.”

nAstelle also agreed with her grandfather.

nIf it were her father, he would have made room for an escape in case he failed.

nThey must have prepared something to keep the assassins’ bodies from being associated with the duke.

n‘I hope you don’t get caught.’

nAstelle, who was having such a thought, laughed at herself.

nFor her own safety, she hoped that the culprit would not be revealed.

n‘Kaizen was stabbed with a sword while trying to save me.’

nThe image of Kaizen, wounded and bleeding, came to mind vividly.

nFeelings of guilt and fear for him were complicatedly entangled in her mind.

nBut if it turns out that it was her father’s fault, Astelle would not be safe. Even if she reports her father for what he had done and asks for forgiveness.

nKnock knock sfx

nSuddenly there was a knock on the door from outside.

nHannah’s urgent voice followed.

n“Lady Astelle!”

n“What is it?”

nThe moment Astelle was about to get up from her seat, both she and the marquis stiffened on the spot at Hannah’s word.

n“His Majesty the Emperor has come.

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n***

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nAstelle quickly wiped her face with her hand.

nThe corners of her eyes, where tears had stood still, were still red.

nFortunately, her eyes did not swell.

nIf you didn’t look closely at her, you wouldn’t know that she was crying.

nAstelle regained her composure and headed to where the emperor was waiting.

nKaizen was waiting for Astelle in the drawing-room of the annex.

n“Your Majesty.”

nAs Astelle entered, Kaizen who was standing by the window, turned around.

nFortunately, he looked fine.

nHe was stabbed deeply in the shoulder and bled a lot, but he looked the same as usual.

n“Astelle.”

nKaizen, who was walking towards her slowly, stopped when he saw Astelle’s face.

n“You cried.”

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