Just as Walter mentioned, the two cards gave the impression that they were written by the same person, with only a different paper material.
The delicately written consonants and vowels were bent at the same angle, and the spacing between the letters was surprisingly identical.
“Could both cards be sent by His Majesty?”
“Well, considering the current situation, it’s probably safer to assume that someone from the Imperial Family sent them.”
The Emperor’s health was one of the greatest concerns of the capital’s nobles. Even at the wedding reception, many people spoke about him in hushed tones.
There were rumors that the Emperor was coughing up blood.
It was said that the Imperial Consort deliberately timed her walks to witness how many doctors were entering the Emperor’s quarters.
The similar rumors could only mean one thing: that the Emperor’s condition was so serious that he couldn’t hold himself up.
But the two cards were neat, with no sign of a shaky hand or a momentary pause in writing. Although not lengthy, it seemed unlikely that a sick person had written them.
Moreover, there was one more thing that made it difficult to assume that the current emperor, Agnas XIV, was Walter’s father.
“If he gifted me something as my father, then he is aware that he is my father, so why the need to hide it?”
Edith knew why Walter said it with such a strange look on his face.
『 The Emperor is still unmarried and doesn’t have a shattered family. Moreover, Mrs. Leah, who is the daughter of the Duke of Lexion, is not someone who would easily yield to anyone.』
If the Emperor was indeed Walter’s father, there was no reason to keep the existence of the heir, born from the union with the eldest daughter of Lexion. On the contrary, actively revealing it to the public could help in restraining the Imperial Consort.
However, if he didn’t reveal it, it might be because he didn’t want to acknowledge the existence of his son or because he wanted to hide it.
“It could be sent by the Emperor’s secretary. Typically, the secretary is entrusted with such tasks, and the person would be the owner of the handwriting.”
“If it’s the current secretary, isn’t it Count Wilhelm?”
“I heard he was a close friend and a subordinate of the Second Prince who was poisoned by the Crown Prince, so maybe he’s looking out for his deceased friend’s son.”
Walter added with a smirk.
“Or maybe my father is creating a smokescreen to hide his true identity.”
He didn’t like the idea of retracing his father’s footsteps.
There was no way he didn’t know that Leah Lexion’s son had arrived in the capital, but it felt uncomfortable to call the man who was hiding his identity as his father.
If only Theos hadn’t mentioned that the only way to control his magic outburst was through his father’s magic, he wouldn’t have thought about finding out who he was for the rest of his life.
No, if my memories were intact, things wouldn’t have become so bothersome.
There was no problem that could be solved late at night anyway, so he decided to clear his head.
At that moment, there was a new bride in front of him who was stimulating enough to put his complicated thoughts to rest.
“Anyway, since it’s late at night, we should do something important.”
With a mischievous smile, Walter picked Edith up and laid her on the bed. As soon as the soft blanket touched her back, Edith became anxious.
“Walter, let’s first take a shower…”
“I know what to do.”
To say that she didn’t know the answer was a lie because his gaze was clearly telling her what he wanted. His thick fingertips traced down the white dress she was wearing, carefully undoing the lace ribbon.
His interest, which until just now had been focused on his father and the gifts, was suddenly on her.
At his touch, Edith flinched. It was strange how her nerves reacted to his slow touch after so long.
Walter gently caressed her and whispered.
“Edith, I know you’re not mentally ready, so don’t worry. I won’t rush into anything until you’re comfortable.”
“… Then, let’s start with a bath, hm?”
Edith abruptly stopped talking and bit her lip, feeling her heart sink as he kissed her already heated earlobe.
“You’re going to have to wash up again anyway.”
“Walter…”
Hearing her pronounce his name in a relaxed voice made his blood boil.
“I said I would help you prepare your body, Edith.”
All he had in mind was to confirm whether the stimulation points he remembered were still effective.
──────────✿◦•
“Ah…”
Edith groaned in a broken voice as she opened her eyes. She couldn’t remember how many times he had touched her throughout the night.
『 If this is how he is preparing me, what does he plan to do once he gets permission?』
Edith didn’t know whether her hair was turning gray because of worry or anticipation.
Despite thinking that she had fallen asleep in a mess, her body was reasonably clean thanks to Walter thoroughly wiping her with a wet towel while she slept.
The only thing that clearly remained were the red marks he had left on her skin. Edith became dizzy again when she thought of Walter sucking on her skin last night.
『 I guess it’s because we haven’t done this for a while, so maybe that’s why he wants to do it again.』
He was more provocative than before. His flawless body seemed even more robust than before.
Edith quickly got up, thinking that if she stayed in bed, she would spend the whole day with dirty thoughts.
After leisurely washing up and finishing a late breakfast, Edith called Vivian over.
“Could you please call Theos and bring me the things I asked for yesterday?”
“You mean the framed note and the cloak with the stitched spell, right? I’ll get them for you right away.”
The day before, Edith had asked Vivian, who was going to tidy up her room, for two things.
One was the frame she received when Elizabeth came to her, asking for revenge. The other was the imprisonment magic spell she found in the secret passage of Fortrion Manor.
Thinking it might be useless, she had considered tidying it up and throwing it away, but since it was related to Nicholas Fortrion, she planned to show it to Theos.
『 It contains the spell that the Viscount cast on Walter, so just in case, there might be information that I cannot decipher within.』
Edith recalled the conversation she had with Elizabeth at the wedding.
⋙“If it’s Nicholas Fortrion, hmm… such a shady man, wouldn’t he have known?”⋘
⋙“Did he ever tell you?”⋘
⋙“Because he was always out every day, we didn’t have time to have that conversation.”⋘
⋙“That’s true.”⋘
⋙“However, the Little Duke’s full name was written on the back of the note I gave you before. The Viscount may have seen his father’s surname before the ink smudged.”⋘
The back of the note. Edith had never bothered to take it out of the frame so as not to damage the hastily scribbled note that Isaac had written just before he lost his memory.
『 Bringing Elizabeth to our side was useful even in situations like this.』
As she was looking at the things Vivian brought her, Walter sneakily approached her and asked.
“What’s this?”
“The imprisonment spell that Nicholas Fortrion used on you. Originally, I planned to ask Isabelle and her father to hire a mage to undo this.”
So, she tore this up and kicked me out.
Walter was annoyed by Edith’s calm demeanor, so he lightly bit the back of her neck. It seemed like his grudge was longer than he had thought.
“Ugh—.”
“Because you thought the situation was going awry, you had no choice but to kick out this stableman.”
“Ahem. Elizabeth said your name was… on the back of the note, but the last name part was smudged so it wasn’t recognizable.”
“We may never know. Maybe Nicholas Fortrion saw the last name of my name and intentionally erased it with ink.”
The Nicholas Fortrion they remembered was someone who could easily do such a thing.
After a while, Theos, summoned by Edith, arrived.
“Did you call for me, M’lady?”
“Theos, can you find out about the magic behind this spell? It may not have much information, but I’m curious.”
Theos squinted his eyes as he examined the magic scroll. Soon, his eyes sparkled like someone who had discovered something amazing.
“M’lady, where did you get this? It seems to have been made for at least over 200 years.”
“… What?”
“This is an imprisonment spell created at the request of the Imperial Family to control the imperial bloodline that had spread widely in the early days of the founding of the nation. I’ve heard stories that it’s occasionally traded in the black market, but it’s my first time seeing it.”
“It was made to control the imperial bloodline?”
“Yes. During the early days of the founding, there were too many successors, so the Imperial Family would have had to kill off their blood relatives in many cases.”
“Hmm…”
All these circumstances meant one thing.
If they were going to find out the story of Walter’s father, they would have to start at the Imperial Palace.
In order to find out the story related to Walter’s father, the investigation had to begin step by step from the Imperial Palace.
After sending Theos out, Edith said something with a determined look on her face.
──────────✿◦•
“Really, Elizabeth?”
A few days later, after hearing the good news, Patricia asked back with a brighter expression on her face. Elizabeth answered with a drawn smile.
“Yes. The person sent by Lexion just arrived. They said she would start working from next Monday.”
“How did you convince her? I’m sure she wouldn’t have been happy about it either.”
“I think it worked when I told her that His Majesty’s health had deteriorated significantly. I also said that this offer was a kind of apology from Your Highness regarding Gilbert’s affairs. I suppose they preferred not to be stubbornly rebellious in case there was a change of Emperor soon.”
“Oh, you stimulated her fear? You’ve done a very neat job.”
Patricia smiled brightly for the first time in a long time. After Gilbert was locked up in the temple’s underground, she was worried that Elizabeth would do things sloppily.
However, perhaps because of her anxiety over losing her connection with Gilbert, Elizabeth had been more loyal to her recently.
『 Well, how anxious must this illegitimate bastard be, knowing that I am now the only person she can trust.』
Patricia’s trust in Elizabeth grew a little stronger. She leaned back on the sofa and waved her hand.
“You’ve done well, but you can go now. Now that the Young Lady of Lexion is coming, tell her that I won’t have her doing any chores.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Elizabeth politely replied, swallowing any hint of a smirk.
❀.°• ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ •°.❀
