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nAstelle was a little surprised.

nIt was the first time in her life that her well-behaved older brother treated their father like this.

n“What, what? What did you just say?”

n“I told you not to insult Astelle.”

n“How dare you! To your father……”

nThen I heard loud footsteps outside the door.

nThe footsteps were rapidly approaching from down the stairs.

nknock knock.

nThe door opened with two knocks.

nBehind the door were men in Imperial Knight uniforms.

nLyndon with the knights came in and greeted Astelle.

n“Lady Astelle, I apologize for visiting you in the middle of the night.”

n“It’s okay, Sir Lyndon. What’s going on?”

nLyndon glanced at the duke beside Astelle, then bowed his head politely.

n“By Your Majesty’s orders, the knights will guard this mansion from today onwards.”

nThere was a heavier and longer silence than before.

n“Why do they have to guard this mansion?”

nA confused expression appeared on Lyndon’s serious face.

nAstelle noticed what he was trying to say.

n‘Lady Astelle is the one who received His Majesty’s proposal…… Of course, you need to be protected by the knights……’

nThat’s probably the reason.

nLyndon did not dare to be so frank but answered as euphemistically as possible,

n“It’s His Majesty’s orders.”

nThere was no one who could not understand the meaning of those words.

n“I am leaving tomorrow.”

n“Are you leaving?”

n“Are you leaving?”

nThe duke was more surprised than Lyndon.

n“I have already obtained permission from His Majesty the Emperor.”

nOf course, it was before I got proposed to at the ball.

n“I am sorry, Lady Astelle. You cannot leave this mansion without His Majesty’s permission. I am really sorry.”

n“What if I want to go out for a while?”

n“You can go out as much as you want. But the knights will accompany you.”

n“……”

nI was about to leave the capital tomorrow, insisting that I have permission.

nConsidering that they even came at me straight away like this, I don’t think they would let me go so easily.

nHowever, I didn’t know that I would be locked up in the mansion and monitored.

nAstelle barely suppressed the rising anger.

n“Am I imprisoned?”

nI can not leave the mansion and return home, and I must be monitored by knights to go outside.

nIt was certainly confinement.

n“Oh, it can’t be. We will protect Lady Astelle to the end. You can meet your family as much as you want. This is not confinement at all.”

nLyndon hurriedly denied it, but there was a deep sense of guilt in his innocent eyes.

nHe also seemed to agree with the word ‘imprisoned’ in his heart.

n“Then I will place the knights and leave.”

nLyndon quickly saluted the three of them, then turned around and went outside.

nEven after the door was closed, there was a heavy silence for a moment.

nThe emperor sent knights to protect Astelle. This was obviously his intention to make Astelle his empress.

nIn the past, she had spent close to ten years as the crown prince’s fiancee, but she had never been protected by the Imperial Knights.

nThe Duke and Fritz, as well as Astelle, were speechless.

nAlthough Kaizen personally proposed at the ballroom, Astelle had no idea that he would want to marry her so strongly, though.

n“Accept the proposal.”

nIt was the duke who broke the silence.

n“You can’t refuse after what happened. I will meet the emperor tomorrow, apologize for what happened today, and accept the proposal—”

n“No, I do not want to. I will never accept his marriage proposal.”

n“If you marry the emperor, you will become the empress again!”

n“A woman with a child became the empress. Then she would be ridiculed for the rest of her life.”

n“Isn’t that better than being ridiculed as a princess who gave birth to an illegitimate child?”

nThe duke sneered coldly.

nAstelle did not answer.

nIt was far better for her to live comfortably with Theor in the countryside than to enter the Imperial Palace and live next to Kaizen.

n‘Become the Empress again……’

nA conflict arose in her heart.

nThe reason that Astelle had thoroughly hidden Theor’s biological father was that the child would be taken away if it was discovered that he was the emperor’s son.

nIf Theor became prince and entered the palace, Astelle could not protect him.

nPoor Theor will be oppressed by the children of the new empress and will die horribly.

nBut if Astelle herself becomes Empress again……

nShe no longer has to hide the truth of Theor’s birth.

nShe can enter the imperial palace and gain the power to protect Theor.

n‘Would it be safe for me to become Empress again?’

nAstelle thought fiercely in her mind and came to her senses by the duke’s sweet voice.

n“I know you’ve been having a hard time. At that time, I was too harsh. I am so sorry.”

nThe Duke apologized to Astelle in the form of a benevolent father.

nThen, he began to show his true intentions.

n“But now, why not forget about the past and look at the reality? The emperor has publicly proposed to you. You have a chance to become the empress again. Are you really going to refuse it?”

n“Yes, I am.”

nAstelle answered without hesitation.

nThere was a conflict for a moment in her heart, but the moment she saw her father, a decision was quickly made.

nAstelle could not be the empress again.

nWhen Theor’s true identity is revealed and Astelle becomes empress, her father, the Duke of Reston, will do another dangerous act to make his grandson the emperor.

nNot only Astelle but Theor’s life will also be threatened.

n“So you won’t listen to me?”

n“Ever since I was little, I lived only what you told me to do. I obeyed your orders and grew up to be the daughter you wanted me to be.”

nWhen she was young she wanted to be a daughter to be proud of. She hoped that she would become a wonderful daughter who was loved by her father and would brighten up her family name. But in the end, she couldn’t.

nBy the time she was twenty, she perfectly accomplished everything her father wanted. But all her efforts for twenty years came to nothing because of one decision she made of her own free will—the decision to accept the divorce request from Kaizen.

nFrom that day on, Astelle became the duke’s failure and was expelled from the family.

n“I think I have fulfilled my duty to my father and my family.”

n“So you will refuse the emperor’s proposal and go back to the East?”

n“Yes.”

nThe duke stared at Astelle for a while and then laughed coldly.

n“I’m very curious about how you plan to go back.”

nAstelle did not answer.

nIt was just as her father thought.

nShe was imprisoned in this mansion.

nShe was now in a situation where she could not leave at will.

n***

nFrom the night of the charity ball, Astelle’s confinement life begins.

nHer life did not change much.

nAstelle was still treated with great hospitality in this luxurious mansion.

nInside the mansion were numerous servants and maids.

nThey gave Astelle whatever she wanted.

nShe was also free to do whatever she wanted.

nShe could go anywhere in the mansion she wanted to go.

nIf she wants, she can even go to the top of each roof of the mansion.

nOnly the gate of the mansion she could not cross.

nIn fact, it was the most luxurious confinement in the world.

nBut confinement, whether luxurious or extravagant, was still confinement.

n“Sir Lyndon, how long do I have to stay here?”

nAstelle went out to the garden and met Lyndon.

nLyndon repeated the answer he had repeated countless times with a perplexed face.

n“I am sorry, Lady Astelle.”

n“His Majesty has not said anything yet?”

nLyndon nodded his head.

nAstelle managed to withstand her rising anger.

nShe was going to pack up and leave as soon as the ball was over, but things went awry.

nKaizen imprisoned Astelle in the mansion under the pretext of guarding.

nSeveral times she asked for an audience, but she never got an answer back.

nShe didn’t know what the hell she was doing.

n“I see. When you see His Majesty, please tell him again that I request an audience.”

n“Yes, Lady Astelle. I will definitely tell His Majesty.”

nAstelle turned and headed towards the end of the garden.

nIn the mansion as well as in the garden, there were knights of the imperial palace.

nThe knights showed respect with modest movements whenever Astelle passed by, but they could not completely hide their curious eyes.

n‘It’s understandable that they’re curious.’

nRumors about Astelle are spreading like wildfire in the capital.

nHis Majesty the Emperor has brought the deposed empress back. He even publicly proposed to her.

nIt was a shocking fact.

nA woman with a child becomes an empress.

nMoreover, it was a woman who gave birth to an illegitimate child.

nThanks to this, Astelle’s existence itself is a subject of curiosity.

nThe empress was expelled after just one day of marriage.

nA princess who disappeared for six years and then reappeared with her illegitimate child.

nA woman who captured the emperor’s heart again.

nRoughly speaking, those were what people were thinking.

n“What are they saying about Theor?”

nWhat bothered Astelle the most was what people were talking about Theor.

nSince it has already been revealed that Astelle is his biological mother, will there be any doubts that Theor is the emperor’s son?

nHannah reassured Astelle.

n“There seems to be no one suspicious of the Young Master’s birth. If he was His Majesty’s son, they would have thought that you would reveal it beforehand.”

nAfter all, no one would ever imagine that the deposed empress hid a prince as her illegitimate child.

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