The letter from the Fitzroy couple, filled with nonsense about not divorcing, had once provoked irritation and anger. However, after hearing Thompson’s information, it now brought nothing but amusement.
‘A bastard raised in the countryside becoming an emperor? He’d just blink cluelessly, wouldn’t he?’
If that were the case, the Duke of Glasster could use the excuse of being the emperor’s only father-in-law to enter the imperial palace and manipulate him like a puppet. This scenario was far better than Philip becoming emperor. It felt like winning a royal straight flush in poker after losing money in every other hand.
The issue, however, was finding evidence to prove Nancy Dilton and the late emperor’s marriage.
Unlike the empire’s rule, where a member of the groom’s family had to be a witness at the wedding, neighboring Francia required neither family nor witnesses.
Because of this difference in customs, lovers from Albion who couldn’t have their marriage blessed by their families often eloped to Francia for secret weddings. For instance, like the Penny couple in Leslie.
Of course, for matters like inheritance, the process of storing a copy of the marriage certificate issued to the couple in the church’s original registry was the same as in the empire.
The task assigned to Thompson by the duke was to find this copy to prove Nancy and the late emperor’s legitimate marriage. But if the church where the wedding took place no longer existed, this would be an impossible feat.
Unlike the enraged duke, the butler maintained a cold tone as he inquired,
“Was there no minister or clerk from the church left in the village?”
Even without written documents, if a witness to the event existed, it might be possible to initiate a trial regarding the legitimacy of succession to the throne.
Thompson lowered his head even further.
“It was such a small church that only the minister and his wife worked there… The minister
passed away a few years ago from old age, and his wife, being quite elderly herself, seems to have lost much of her memory.”
He repeatedly raised his voice while asking the hard-of-hearing old woman:
‘Ah, well. Didn’t a man with red eyes come here for a secret wedding?’
‘What? Snow is already falling this season? The world’s gone mad, truly mad.’
TL/N: FOR Y’ALL’S REFERENCE: THE WORDS EYE/EYES AND SNOW HAVE THE SAME WORD IN KOREAN WITH THE SAME LETTERS AND PRONUNCIATION “눈”.
It had been too long ago. In a village renowned as a vacation spot, there must have been numerous secret weddings between young couples.
And commoners from neighboring countries likely wouldn’t know that red eyes were the symbol of this nation’s imperial family. Even if the minister’s wife had her wits about him, she probably wouldn’t have remembered.
The Duke of Glasster’s face twisted with rage. This time, the wine bottle shattered with a loud crash.
“Get out, now!”
Thompson bolted from the room in a panic. Regardless of how much he was being paid, he hoped the next object to break in that room wouldn’t be his own skull.
The duke paced the room with furious strides, kicking broken glass with his boots to vent his remaining anger.
‘Damn it, I thought I could teach that brat a lesson.’
He gritted his teeth as he thought of the current emperor, William.
They’d never gotten along, but recently, he’d sensed that William was becoming particularly wary of him.
‘Did he find out I’m investigating Aiden Fitzroy’s birth?’
The duke had no idea that Aiden had sent letters to warn the emperor about him, but he felt uneasy nonetheless.
Because of the emperor’s surveillance, the Duke of Glasster found it difficult to rally allies among his relatives or even the nobles he was once close to.
Even if he tried, there was no guarantee they’d cooperate with him.
TL/N: LOL.
‘It has to be something truly plausible.’
A former emperor secretly marrying a woman of common birth? That was highly unlikely.
The status required to enter the imperial family as a bride was usually limited to royalty from neighboring countries or someone of a duke’s rank or higher. For a woman not from a noble family, even being kept as a mistress would be considered an overwhelming honor.
In such an environment, if he started telling nobles that ‘Aiden Fitzroy might actually be a legitimate heir,’ they’d think he’d lost his mind.
But the duke believed in his hypothesis. No—he had to believe it.
He had come so close to grasping the core of power that he couldn’t let this opportunity slip away.
“Where can I find it?”
He needed evidence. Irrefutable evidence that even the brat emperor William and the high nobles couldn’t deny. He stared into the fireplace.
“If only I had the late emperor’s marriage certificate cop…”
“Perhaps searching for the original document might be worth considering,” the butler cautiously interjected into the duke’s monologue.
The duke straightened his bent back and stroked his beard once more.
“Hmm, there’s a chance the original certificate could exist somewhere.”
The thought hadn’t escaped him before. However, if the certificate was in the possession of the imperial family or Aiden Fitzroy, its absence from the public eye so far would be difficult to explain.
The late emperor had cherished Aiden so much that if such evidence existed, he would have likely revealed it proudly to declare him as his successor.
If Aiden had the certificate, the Duke could not think of a single reason why he would not have revealed it.
Therefore, he assumed that the marriage certificate must have disappeared through some means and began searching for a copy or a witness. However, if that was not the case…
‘It might be among the belongings left by the late Emperor or hidden in some secret place within the Imperial Palace.’
The Duke, unable to give up easily, muttered to himself.
“We should search the Imperial Palace.”
The butler’s face darkened at the Duke’s words, brimming with greed. Until Philip’s abdication, the Duke had treated the palace as if it were his own home. Even now, with a proper excuse and by leveraging his title, he could still gain entry.
However, this access was limited to relatively open areas, such as the audience hall or the library. If he were caught wandering around private areas like the late Emperor’s chambers, his already precarious standing with William would only worsen.
“We may need to spend a little more money.”
In addition to individuals like Thompson, who excelled in gathering external information, there were those willing to infiltrate as hired workers for money. Another method could involve bribing maids, attendants, or guards with large sums.
The Duke smirked.
“Yes, use all means necessary. And add one more pawn to the chessboard.”
He waved a letter that had been resting on his desk. It was a letter Aiden had sent, asking the Duke to reconsider his remarriage.
“No matter if he’s an illegitimate child, they wouldn’t block someone who says they’re visiting to pay their respects. Especially with the memorial day just around the corner.”
Moreover, as someone who had served the late Emperor until his death, Aiden would likely know where the Emperor stored important items.
“Will he be cooperative with you, my lord?”
The butler cautiously raised his doubts while recalling the contents of Aiden’s letter. Despite its carefully chosen words, it was clear that Aiden held a negative view of the Duke.
Duke Glasster sneered as if the idea were laughable.
“Do you think he has a choice? Without my help, he won’t be able to ascend the throne.”
TL/N: HAHAHA, DUMBASS.
No matter how much Aiden Fitzroy was set to become the next Emperor, in the eyes of the Duke, he was nothing more than a lowly knight and a rural-born illegitimate child. A gullible puppet who would fall for flattery.
If promised the throne, he would grovel and wag his tail. Without a noble family’s support, he would surely try to make himself look good in any way possible.
The butler clasped his hands behind his back in silence. When the Duke’s eyes glimmered dangerously, it was best to remain silent. Yet, an unease lingered in his heart.
“Sir Aiden doesn’t seem like someone who would be so easily swayed.”
He recalled hearing stories about Aiden from the maids who had served Anje at the wedding.
Despite his position as an illegitimate child, Aiden had not shown a single sign of intimidation, even in front of the noblewoman.
While the weight of the titles “Princess” and “Duke” was incomparable, it was hard to be certain that Aiden would so readily align with them.
The Duke grinned as he crumpled Aiden’s letter into a ball and bounced it up and down.
“If sweet talk doesn’t work, I’ll just put a leash on him.”
Unexpectedly, his darling daughter had been very useful. Without even being told, she had managed to tame Aiden Fitzroy this well.
“Getting that brat to move through Anje will be easy. Everything’s falling perfectly into place. Truly, the heavens are on my side.”
He gestured with his finger for a fresh glass of wine.
“What’s the name of the village again?”
“Leslie, Leslie, my lord.”
The butler tilted the bottle with both hands.
“I should visit once preparations are complete.”
The crimson liquid resembled the rosy hue of Aiden’s red eyes.
“Make sure to keep it quiet and minimal. It would be troublesome if the Emperor found out.”
“Understood, Your Grace.”
No matter what it took, the marriage certificate had to be found. And the Glasster family’s radiant glory had to be restored.
The Duke swirled the wine in his mouth slowly, steeling his resolve once more.
* * *
Anje glanced down at her hands, now blotched with brown stains, and slightly grimaced. Aiden, who seemed to be looking elsewhere, immediately interjected as soon as he saw her expression change.
“See? I told you to leave it to me.”
“I just wanted to try it once.”
They were seated on the back veranda, busily shelling the hazelnuts they had gathered. The liquid seeping from the nuts was a sticky, deep brown, making it highly visible.
“I told you to at least wear gloves, but you never listen.”
“Wearing gloves makes it uncomfortable to work.”
She couldn’t understand how she used to wear gloves so consistently before. Back then, among noble ladies, soft and fair hands were considered a standard of beauty, so she endured the discomfort. But wearing gloves constantly, even in the heat of summer, was no easy task.
Now, Anje freely wriggled her fingers and diligently shelled the remaining nuts. Since her hands were already dirty, it seemed better to finish the task quickly and wash up afterward. There was an odd sense of satisfaction every time the round hazelnuts popped out from their shells.
“Oh, I can’t wait to eat them.”
“We’re almost done. Just a little more to go.”
The fragrant, sweet hazelnuts, also known as hazelnut kernels, would be roasted to a golden brown and then mixed with melted chocolate in a double boiler.
Once the chocolate was thoroughly mixed, it would be poured onto a plate and flattened to harden. The result would be a sweet yet crunchy hazelnut chocolate.
Thinking of hazelnut chocolate, Anje gleefully exclaimed as she finished peeling off every last shell,
“There, all done!”
“Well done.”
Aiden almost absentmindedly reached out to stroke her cheek, but realizing his hands were dirty, he brought his lips close instead.
With a brief kiss, chu, that lightly touched and parted, came the scent of autumn—the aroma of autumn fruits, fallen leaves, and a faint, distant breeze mixed together.
TL/N: CUTE.
* * * *
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