Adelia stared at the letter.
Then Liam explained the origin of the letter with a kind smile.
“Your Highness sent it from the Capital.”
“For me?”
Liam nodded silently.
Adelia accepted the letter. Then the refreshing scent of sandalwood flashed past the tip of her nose.
“It’s going to snow tonight. You have to be careful to keep the room temperature.”
“Thank you for letting me know. I guess I shouldn’t open today.”
Adelia went into the room and sat down on the sofa, opening the letter.
A deep smile came to Adelia’s lips as she was slowly checking the contents of the letter.
[The books you handed me were delivered safely to my brother. My brother told me that he was going to send an investigator soon.]
She felt like she was getting a report from Ivan Hamilton.
She felt weird.
The one who is supposed to be receiving a report is him, the Grand Duke.
It’s like I am commanding the Grand duke.
Adelia swallowed a smile and read the letter.
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[Do you remember the fire that broke out in Sorne’s house the other day? I heard the fire spread beyond the annex to the main building. The annex where the fire broke out was completely burned down. It seems that the Marquis of Sorne will be busier in the future. In addition to the tax evasion investigation, the reconstruction of the mansion should be considered]
She couldn’t help but be glad to hear the news.
The corners of Adelia’s mouth soared up as if she were ascending to heaven.
For the time being, she will be free from the attention of Marquis Sorne.
In the meantime, she had to build a fence that would completely prevent Marquis Sorne from approaching her from now on.
The first thing to do for this is to get a title.
And with this new status, she must blend into the social circle of the North.
In Addition, it would be an even more difficult touch to her since she is now a person of the Grand Duke of Hamilton.
…. Person of the Grand Duke Hamilton.
It sounded somewhat awkward.
Adelia sighs and touches her lips.
“Oh, silly!”
Adelia’s eyebrows crumpled relentlessly.
She shook her head, rose from her seat, and headed straight to the window.
click.
Adelia, who sat slightly on the window sill, opened the window slightly.
Then the fierce northern wind scratched Adelia’s cheek.
It’s snowing again.
Emily will like it. Once she wakes up and see the snow piling up.
When she imagined Emily shouting, ‘I’m going to build a huge snowman’ while looking at the snow piled up, she smiled naturally.
Suddenly she remembered the question of Emily earlier.
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“My lady, ……. Did you cry a lot too?”
Adelia Sorne could not cry. for she was like an ugly duckling in the Sorne family.
Adelia Sorne’s tears were nothing but troublesome.
The marquis would lock Adelia in an old annex whenever she gets on his nerve.
The annex, which was not suitable for a splendid marquis’ mansion, was surrounded by darkness at night.
Adelia, who knew that no one was coming, cried sadly and desperately.
She wanted to get out of that hell. She begged for forgiveness.
But not a single person listened to her.
Adelia had no choice but to wait for dawn in such darkness.
Why am I so angry when I did not experience it myself? Is it because of the occasional Adelia memory that comes into my mind?
Adelia, with her eyes narrowed, faced the white snow-pouring sky.
Looking at the white scenery, she felt a little restless.
wheeeng~
The cold wind wrapped around Adelia’s shoulder.
“Look at me. How long did I leave the window opened?”
Adelia noticed the cold air in the room and hurriedly closed the window.
She couldn’t lie down in bed. She had a lot of work to do now.
Adelia, with her shawl firmly tucked in, walked to her desk and took a white book out of the drawer.
It was a replica of the Bible that Cardinal Eustaf gave her.
Adelia sat down at her desk and calmly turned over the bookshelf over.
One side of the desk was thick with fine parchment.
First, she must interpret the contents of the bible accurately.
In any job, the one with more information has the upper hand.
Thus, the lights in Adelia’s room remained on until dawn.
***
When Ivan arrived at the capital, he immediately headed to the Imperial Palace.
He was going to stop by the blue flame’s mansion for a while, but he couldn’t because of the emperor’s urging for him to come quickly.
As he stepped into the palace, a familiar name flew constantly into Ivan’s ear.
“I hear the Marquis of Sorne suffered from a fire in his mansion.”
“I heard it, too, I heard that one of the annexes had been blown away in a barrel. Did it really burn out?”
“Well, can’t you tell just by looking at the Marquis’ face?”
“Indeed…. “
Said the two nobles, covering their mouths with their hands, as if they were talking about a secret.
Funny, they don’t sound like they’re trying to lower their voice.
Ivan, whose five senses were more developed than ordinary people, heard the voices of the two more explicitly.
In the first place, they have no intention of hiding their conversation topic.
‘They had a hard time putting out a fire of that magnitude?’
Ivan clicked his tongue at Marquis’ incompetence.
The servant immediately guided him to the central hall where the noble conference was held.
When Ivan arrived, many nobles had already arrived and remained in their places.
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“You’re here, Your Highness.”
With the appearance of the Grand Duke, the man who looked the oldest of the nobles smiled gently and approached Ivan.
Ivan looked at Duke Claudius, who led the imperial aristocracy, and asked indifferently.
“Your Majesty?”
“He hasn’t arrived yet.”
“I should have come a little more leisurely, I shouldn’t have hurried.”
“Oh, dear. I didn’t teach you that.” said the Duke of Claudius, lowering his eyebrows, as if disappointed at Ivan’s words.
The appearance of the middle-aged man, who expressed disappointment, was quite as sympathetic, but Ivan did not fall for the fox’s enticement.
Ivan knew the Duke of Claudius too well to fall for it.
It wasn’t once or twice that I fell for that perfect mask.
“Nonsense,”
A cold voice came out of Ivan’s mouth with annoyed eyes.
If he were a normal person, he would have been frightened and run away.
But the Duke of Claudius was far from ordinary.
Inside his benevolent shell, lived a fox that had lived for a thousand years.
“This is so… …. It’s just sad. The disciple I haven’t seen in a long time is so cold.”
Just as the Duke of Claudius shook his head, the door opened and the emperor appeared.
The nobles, who were talking to each other, remained silent at once and took courtesy toward the emperor.
The emperor looked down at the heads of such nobles, and spoke.
“Let’s all sit down.”
Only after the emperor had given his permission in a solemn voice did the nobles slowly straighten up and sit in their respective places.
“Let’s begin the meeting.” said by the emperor while looking at the Duke of Claudius. The Duke naturally stood up and proceeded the meeting.
Ivan watched the boring meeting as usual with boredom and remembered the two women who were living in peace at his territory.
The dukedom at this time of year was simply buried in snow.
‘They are probably building a giant snowman.’
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Emily, running around the castle garden, and Adelia’s quiet gaze at Emily naturally came to his mind.
Ivan grinned unconsciously.
The emperor didn’t miss his brother’s smile and swallowed a smirk.
It was obvious that he was distracted by something else.
The emperor immediately noticed his brother’s unusual behavior, but turned his eyes away as if he hadn’t seen it.
Regardless of whether or not the spirit of the Grand Duke was elsewhere, the meeting went smoothly.
After all these papers had come up to the table, someone spoke of the Sorne family.
“Come to think of it, I heard that the residence of Marquis Sorne was destroyed by a fire. Are you okay?”
At first glance, it was a word of concern, but there was a ridicule hidden in it.
The Marquis of Sorne knew it. He knew it better than anyone else.
However, the marquis could not express his burning emotions. That’s exactly what they wanted.
“…it’s not that big of a deal, so don’t worry.”
“Oh, dear. I see. I had no idea that the marquis would stay at the hotel.”
Marquis Sorne tried to keep a stern look on his face at the words of a sly nobleman.
But the marquise’s mustache twitching expressed his feelings.
“This is so…. Bad things keep happening to the Sorne family. The same goes for the young lady of the Marquis of Sorne….” said someone hidden among the crowd in a low voice.
Although his voice was lowered, no one could not hear him in the conference room.
The marquis’ mouth stiffened when his daughter was mentioned by the nobles.
It wasn’t because of her affection for her daughter.
All he cared about was that Adelia had left the marquis with a bad impression.
“I’m sorry to hear about Lady Adelia. She was pushed out of the position of saint, and in the end….”
It was already an open fact that the marquis had a funeral for his daughter who did not actually die.
No one believed that Adelia Sorne was really dead.
The marquis said his daughter died in the fire, but more than one eye or two saw Adelia escape the marquis’ mansion with the duke that day.
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However, having a funeral for a living child had a symbolic meaning.
It means to completely excommunicate from the family and erase their existence.
Unlike the rumors, this meant complete death as a nobleman.
The Duke of Claudius, watching the situation in silence, stepped out with a brief click of tongue.
“We are going out of the topic.”
At the words of the Duke Claudius, the Emperor asked the Marquis of Sorne, holding his chin.
“Well, Marquis Sorne, Was the fire caused by artificial arson?”
“…it was because of the immature mistake of the employer who was managing the annex.”
“Really? That’s good. I will not discuss this matter here again.”
Under the emperor’s command, the topic naturally shifted to the other side.
Marquis Sorne continued the meeting silently, making up a grave look.
Of course, his mind was elsewhere.
To his foolish daughter who insulted him and then Marquis looked straight into Ivan’s cold eyes.
There’s a reason I don’t like the marquis.