“Let’s wrap up the preparations and start moving. Tell Edith not to prepare and to get some more rest.”
Walter walked quickly in his well-polished, dust-free shoes. Cassius followed him and was secretly amazed.
Just a moment ago, Walter had certainly looked like a promiscuous stableman, but with the help of servants, he neatly combed his hair, dressed, and instantly looked more like a noble.
“With that clean face, you will be successful in improvising without any problems.”
Instead of denying it, Walter smirked and looked at Cassius. More precisely, his eyes were focused on the thick report he was holding.
“Have the people you sent to Fortrion and the convent already returned?”
While putting Edith to sleep, who had been tense due to mental stress, he also had a task entrusted to Cassius.
『 No matter how much I think about it, it bothers me that Nicholas Fortrion knew how to recover my memories.』
Therefore, Walter sent someone to the convent where Sophia and Whitman were located, and to Fortrion Manor, where traces left by Nicholas remain.
Before entering the drawing room where the Emperor and the Duke were seated, he quickly glanced at the report, and it was as he had anticipated.
“Was it really my mother who taught Nicholas how to restore my memories that were lost due to the magic outburst?”
His voice sank low with anger. Cassius slightly lowered his head and replied.
“It’s as you expected. Lady Leah did not die immediately after being attacked by the mages, but it seems she survived for some time. The mages probably died on the spot.”
“…”
“Thanks to your recollection of the places in question, I was able to investigate. Viscountess Helen has been cooperative also. Sophia and Whitman’s memoirs also record that Nicholas suddenly ordered them to plant a tree at the place where Lady Leah died.”
“It looks like the convent is really squeezing people out. A memoir, huh?”
Walter was not in a very good mood, as evidenced by the awkward smile on his lips.
“Nicholas… that bastard, probably approached my mother as if he was worried about me and asked her how he could help, while thinking about using my bloodline for his benefit.”
“Well, he was the type to think well in that direction…”
Leah didn’t know what kind of guy he was, and out of concern for her son, she probably told him to burn something that was likely imprinted deep in his subconscious with a flame spell.
Nicholas, that stupid bastard, must have understood that as burning something that remains deep in his memory.
Walter, who suffered a magic outburst, knew that no matter what first aid Nicholas had administered in that situation, his mother would not have survived.
But if he had seen the note he left before losing his memory, he should have at least contacted House Lexion to inform them that their kin was here.
“It was a good thing they killed Nicholas Fortrion, so should we show Patricia and her cronies the mercy of being beheaded rather than being burned?”
Walter was infuriated that his tragedy and the lonely times Edith endured all started because of those kinds of people.
As they reached the drawing room where the Emperor and the Duke were enjoying drinking tea, Walter relaxed his cruelly furrowed brow.
“I apologize for being late, Your Majesty. My wife, who was taking care of me, was sick from exhaustion, and it was difficult for me to leave her.”
Cassius gasped at his shameless lie just to get Edith to rest.
『 Who is to blame for M’lady’s exhaustion…』
Both the Duke of Lexion and the Emperor were great men notoriously famous for not going easy on anyone. But for some reason, their faces softened at the mention of Edith.
“She must have been very scared when Walter was attacked, and his magic went out of control. I hope Your Majesty understands.”
The Duke defended Edith without batting an eye. The Emperor shrugged his eyebrows in agreement.
“The Duke seems to think that I am a cold-blooded person who doesn’t care for my daughter-in-law. The Little Duke seems to be in good health, as I heard, so there is no problem.”
The Emperor naturally used the title ‘daughter-in-law,’ a title that even the Duke of Lexion had yet to officially use.
『 … Everyone seems kind to Lady Edith, so there is no need to worry. For some reason, it seems like they are even more favorably disposed toward her than Walter.』
Cassius quietly retreated, thinking that similar situations had occurred several times.
Actually, the Emperor and the Duke were talking about Edith in the drawing room filled with silence and the scent of tea.
To Leah and Walter, she brought joy, and to House Lexion and the Imperial Family, a ray of light with great impact.
The fact that these three men were able to drink tea together at this moment was thanks to Edith’s refusal to let her memories of Walter pass over as just ancient history.
The Emperor watched as Walter, sitting in a straight posture, raised his teacup.
The reason he gave him a sword even when he didn’t know who Walter’s father was was because his face surprisingly bore a remarkable trace of Leah.
But now that the Emperor knew that he was Walter’s father, he felt satisfied just thinking about Walter’s existence.
“I’m glad you woke up unharmed.”
“I was confused for a few days. Fortunately, during my recovery, I was able to recall even the memories that hadn’t come back yet, thanks to Your Majesty’s blood.”
Walter smoothly redirected the conversation. The Duke of Lexion, as if waiting for this topic to come up, focused intently.
“What happened to Leah?”
“I think I need to tell both of you about Mother’s death.”
Walter continued speaking in a calm voice. The story of how Leah gave birth to him and raised him while wandering around through villages. Things his mother said to him while staying at Lowell Manor, and her death, including Nicholas Fortrion.
As the narrative unfolded, revealing that Nicholas had covered up Leah’s death and imprisoned Walter for his own personal gain, not only the Duke but also the Emperor was outraged.
“I think I must return immediately and pronounce the death sentence to House Fortrion.”
“Helen, who is now Viscountess Fortrion, is the benefactor of my wife and me, so I hope you will refrain, Your Majesty.”
“…”
“Instead, I think that for Patricia, who killed Nicholas, wouldn’t beheading be better than burning? My wife doesn’t particularly like cruelty.”
“She’s guilty of taunting the Imperial Family of Agnas, so she should be hanged.”
The Emperor’s voice and expression did not waver. Walter hesitated for a moment, thinking that his reputation as a cold-blooded, cruel emperor was quite true.
『 Thinking about love or something similar without Edith’s existence gives me goosebumps.』
But fearing Edith’s nagging if he omitted this part of the story, Walter reluctantly spoke up.
“And… Mother loved Your Majesty very much.”
“…”
At that moment, a great agitation appeared on the Emperor’s face. The composed demeanor he had just shown was now barely recognizable.
That vulnerability served as proof that the Emperor had never forgotten Leah.
“… Did Leah say such things?”
“She loved only Your Majesty. She said that she left the capital because if you had something to protect, it would interfere with your consolidation of power.”
“…”
“She wanted to introduce me to Your Majesty one day and ask if you would allow me to take on the surname of Agnas. Things took a different turn, so it never happened.”
“…”
The Emperor remained silent for a while as if he was thinking of Leah.
After she left, he absorbed the power with the mentality that he had nothing left to lose, so he couldn’t blame Leah.
She was right that the Fourth Prince would firmly establish his position on the throne without her.
The Emperor wondered why such a wise woman, who failed to see through his feelings, attempted to ask an unnecessary question.
“If Leah had brought you before me, I would have allowed you the last name Agnas without any questions.”
“…”
“We’ll have to hurry up with the Investiture Ceremony so you can be addressed as Crown Prince instead of the Little Duke of Lexion. I think the end of next month would be a good time.”
“If it’s the end of next month…”
The Duke’s words trailed off. It was amazing that the Emperor had remembered Leah’s birthday all this time, but it was too bad that his daughter didn’t know this.
──────────✿◦•
The fact that the Crown Prince would be appointed on the deceased Leah Lexion’s birthday made the front page of the newspaper the next day.
“Just because the Little Duke has woken up after being attacked, the crime of attempting to assassinate the Imperial Family will not be lightened.”
An Imperial Knight spoke in a stern voice before walking away.
The expressions of Count Gerturk, the Countess, Patricia, and Gilbert, each confined in separate underground cells, became even more grim.
“Ugh, argh!”
Patricia, who had already been gagged, became furious. Gilbert seemed to know why she was upset without having to ask.
『 Noonim… even after hearing those words, you can’t admit that the Little Duke is of Imperial Blood?』
Count Gerturk, the Countess, and Gilbert glared at the angry Patricia. Among them, Gilbert, the only one not wearing a gag, fired back.
“You have no right to go mad like that, Noonim.”
“Ugh!”
“Even Rosaline, who was just a servant, knew that Claude was not of Imperial Blood, but you hid that important fact from us.”
“…”
“I guess you thought we were too stupid to be trusted, and now we’re paying the price for your crime.”
Patricia stared at Gilbert with scary eyes, but he was not scared.
“After deceiving even your own family, do you think there’s anyone left willing to risk their lives to help you?”
Gilbert looked pitifully at Patricia and Count Gerturk. He couldn’t stop thinking about the difference between their situation and his own.
『 Elizabeth hasn’t been captured. The Imperial Knights must have judged that Elizabeth wasn’t involved in this.』
Among the four members of the Gerturk family confined underground, he was the only one who was not gagged.
Furthermore, his daughter Elise, who was currently away under investigation, was also in prison as a member of the Gerturk family.
『 As long as I have Elise, Elizabeth can’t abandon me.』
Gilbert’s brain, twisted by the extreme situation, began to harbor hope that he might be able to escape this place without being sentenced to death.
“Gilbert…”
And as if to prove his hope, Elizabeth appeared.
“Ellie!”
Gilbert greeted her with a bright face as if he were deeply in love. Elizabeth, being clever, might find a way to turn the death penalty into exile somehow.
“Elizabeth… I guess God didn’t gag me just so I could say my final farewell to you.”
“Ugh.”
Patricia made a gagging sound, but Gilbert paid no heed and looked at Elizabeth with gloomy eyes.
Elizabeth grinned as she pondered over his sweet words. A kind explanation might be needed for the dull Gilbert.
“It’s not like that, Gilbert. I suggested to Lady Lexion that if the stupidest one kept talking, the rest of the Gerturks’ blood pressure would rise.”
❀.°• ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ •°.❀
