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n“It’s not like that anyway.”

n“Pardon?”

nWhy? She is such a beautiful woman… is she a little young to become Kaizen’s mate?

nVellian smiled brightly and asked for a favor.

n“I… I have something to say for a moment if you are okay, Lady.”

n“Yes, Theor, stay here for a while.”

nAstelle followed Vellian to the corner of the hallway while Theor looked at the statues adorned in the hallway.

n“The story of the will of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is kept secret from the public.”

nVellian smiled friendly and explained the situation to Astelle.

n“It’s almost three months since the empress dowager died, and the Lords of the South will be shaken if it is known that the inheritance problem has not been resolved. Then, it is a big deal if there is a rebellion like the North. I hope you keep it a secret.”

nAstelle gazed at the cute face of Vellian silently for a moment.

nBecause it was marvelous that a man who is the emperor’s secretary smiled innocent and told a lie that seemed so obvious.

nThere could be no rebellion in the South, that already ruled by the imperial emperor for the third generation.

nThis man seemed to think that Astelle wouldn’t even know that much.

n“Is that so? You’re not afraid of accusations against His Majesty the Emperor?”

nThe imperial man does not know well about the former empress, Astelle.

nAs soon as she got married, she was divorced and her last name was hidden, so it was natural.

nHowever, if the story of the will of the empress dowager and is rumored, attention will suddenly be focused on the former empress and the image of the emperor will be destroyed.

nShe was sure people would say, ‘The emperor had kicked out his wife, why the empress dowager have made such a will when she was dying?’

nAs Astelle struck the ball, Vellian’s gentle face hardened for an instant.

nHe smiled an ambiguous smile as if embarrassed.

n“Haha, it’s hard to fool a smart person.”

nHe doesn’t seem to have tried to cheat much.

nThis guy thought Astelle was so naive that she didn’t know anything about the world.

nHe admitted softly.

n“Yes, I think if words leak out, there will be a lot of rumors like this or that. I’ll try to be as quiet as possible.”

n“Don’t bother because I don’t care anyway. I don’t think I’m going to gossip to other people. I’ll be back right after this is over.”

nIn fact, Astelle wanted to avoid catching people’s attention as much as possible.

nTheor’s birth-related evidence was handled perfectly, but it was still dangerous to get people’s attention.

n“It’s nice to be a person who can communicate. “

nVellian was satisfied and bowed his head to Astelle.

n“Thank you for understanding the situation. Please tell me anything you need until you go to the capital city.”

nVellian called the attendant and ordered that Astelle and Theor be guided to the room.

nAstelle took Theor and followed the servant.

nWhen she arrived at the room she was assigned to, the attendant opened the door.

nAs the door opened, a spacious and splendid room appeared.

nThe room covered with marble with lily patterns on the floor was full of luxurious wooden furniture with gold and silver decorations.

nThe large bed in the center was draped like a fancy damask cloth under the canopy, and the windows, half-covered with pale rose curtains, showed unprecedentedly elaborate gold decorations.

nIt was a surprisingly beautiful and luxurious room.

nIt wasn’t a place to give to an ordinary customer from anywhere.

n“Wow…”

nTheor, who had never seen such a splendid place, wandered around and looked around as if strange.

nHe even put his finger on the sparkling gold ornaments.

nThere were three maids in the room.

nThe maids who were waiting bowed their heads to Astelle.

n“I have been ordered to serve the Lady until you go to the capital.”

nAstelle left the luggage to the maids and went out with Theor to the garden connected to the terrace.

nThere was a greenhouse made of glass.

nThe hazy light reflected from the sunlight seeped into the greenhouse.

nThe warm light went into the glass greenhouse.

nThe cornflowers that bloomed in the flowerbed and the leaves of grass with dew gave off a fresh scent.

nTheor jumped along with the sunlight shining on the flowerbed.

n‘It looks good.’

nAlthough it was a forcible trip and she couldn’t relax at all for a moment, but Theor looks happy to come to a place he couldn’t see.

nShe has lived only in forest huts and old mansions so far, so it was natural for Theor to be excited in some way.

nHer grandfather’s mansion was turning into ruins, so there was no lawn to play with, let alone such a beautiful garden.

nIt has been a long time since Astelle plowed all the usable land into a vegetable or herb field.

n“Theor, you can’t touch it.”

nWhen Theor tried to touch the small grass in the corner of the flowerbed, Astelle hurriedly caught him.

n“It’s lagenin.”

nIt was not a life-threatening grass, but when the juice of this grass touches your hand, a red rash occurs.

nAlthough it was the castle of the emperor, it seemed that it was not well managed as it was a place to visit once every few years.

nThere is a revolving grass like this that can only be seen in the forest.

nTheor suddenly looked up at Astelle and asked.

n“Mom. Is that uncle the emperor?”

n“Huh?”

n“That annoyed uncle.”

nKaizen was the only one that came to her mind in Theor’s explanation.

nAstelle laughed bitterly. And she looked carefully at Theor’s face seen under the sunlight.

nTheor resembles Kaizen of his childhood.

nIt’s a good thing that no one has noticed it yet…

nOf course, people like Marianne and Vellian she met here couldn’t recognize it because they didn’t see Kaizen in their childhood.

nBut when she go to the capital and meet people who have seen Kaizen since childhood…

nAstelle pushed away the ominousness that sprang up in her heart.

nShe just have to meet her grandfather before going to the capital and send Theor back.

nShe must have done so.

n“Yes, he’s His Majesty the Emperor, the Lord of the Empire.”

n“Like that…”

nAstelle’s heart was bitter at the innocent look of the child who could easily understand.

nTheor suddenly asked a strange question.

n“Is the emperor a bad person?”

n“What do you mean?”

nAstelle frowned in amazement, but Theor had asked innocently.

n“The emperor took grandfather’s land.”

n“Who said that?”

n“The count grandfather.”

n‘Ah.’

nCount Melford, an old friend of her maternal grandfather, was almost the only guest to visit her maternal grandfather’s mansion.

nThere was a similar downfall noble new century.

nAstelle doesn’t know why he is talking useless to a child.

n“No, it’s another emperor, and you should never talk about that in front of other people. Because the emperor is the highest man, you must not say anything bad about His Majesty, and you have to obey His Majesty in any way. Okay?”

n“Yes.”

nTheor listened earnestly to Astelle’s words and nodded seriously.

n“And Theor, you can’t call me mother yet.”

n“Still?”

n“Yes, not until we get back to our house. We keep playing. Can you do it well?”

nTheor smiled with an expression of confidence.

n“Yes, I can do it well!”

nAstelle stroked Theor’s head. In fact, it is okay if Theor is sometimes mistaken her as a mother.

nWhen the Count Melford, a friend of her maternal grandfather, visited the mansion for the first time, Theor had accidentally called Astelle his mother.

nAstelle showed a sad expression to the Count Melford who surprised without any embarrassment.

n“Because Theor has never seen his mother, he sometimes calls me his mother like that.”

n“That… poor child.”

nCount Melford sighed long, looking at the child with a sad glance.

n“Because I’m always a person who takes care of him by my side, it’s like a real mother to him.’

nCount Melford, without any doubt, stayed in her maternal grandfather’s mansion for a week before returning.

n“She’s my granddaughter, but she’s amazing.”

nThe maternal-grandfather looked at Astelle and made a voice not knowing whether it was a compliment or sarcasm.

nTheor was still 5 years old. So sometimes he made mistakes like that.

nIn the first place, few people could doubt that Theor was the child of Kaizen.

nThey only stayed as a couple for one night, and they divorced the next day.

nMost people thought they wouldn’t have spebt the first night either.

n“So where is the father of the child?”

nWhen Astelle went to visit her maternal grandfather with a pregnant body, he wondered about the child’s father. But he never tought thait it was the emperor’s child.

nAstelle had the confidence to go over without suspicion even if Theor yelled at her as his mother.

nUnless you can only see the color of his eyes.

nAstelle touched the vial hidden in her arms.

nShe had to put this medicine twice a day at the right time.

nOnce at dawn, then at night.

nIt was the most important thing in this sudden trip.

n* * *

nBefore evening, Astelle looked around the garden and came back to the room.

nIt was the moment when she arrived in front of the door and held the doorknob and opened the door.

nThere was a loud voice inside.

n“Is she really the former empress?”

n“Yes. She is the Duke’s daughter. ”

n“But why is she so shabby? Did you see when she brought her luggage?

nIt was the voices of the maids who were assigned during the day.

n“Why did she reappear? Is she try to seduce His Majesty…?”

n“No way. Is she come to seduce His Majesty with such an shabby appearance?”

nA loud laughter leaked out of the door.

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