Chapter 10: The Lady’s Truth Part 2
The crown prince’s actions directly touched Zed’s temper. This was a mockery of not only Lucifella but also of Zed.
The Emperor who summoned Zed was looking at the crown prince and Zed alternately.
He wants to make sure if Zed has resentment toward the crown prince because of the betrothal that he was forced into by his father’s will.
“Long time no see, Duke.”
At that time, the second prince, Eozif, greeted him, asking for a handshake. The thick glasses in his eyes flowed down.
Zed smiled bitterly inside when he saw that clumsy figure. It was because he didn’t know how long he had to see that.
“Your eyes seem to have gotten worse.”
“I read a lot of books.”
Zed purposely clenched Eozif’s gloved hand. Eozif smiled kindly at him. The Emperor spoke at the end of their casual greeting.
“Duke of Heint.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The face of the Emperor wearing a hard mask was loosened at once. The old Emperor smiled.
“Boy, you don’t have to be so rigid.”
The previous Duke of Heint and the Emperor had a close relationship. And the Emperor adored the young Zed. The Emperor smiled as if looking at his son. But Zed’s expression remained the same. However, the emperor was the emperor.
“I think the previous Duke made a mistake. I can’t believe he’s making an engagement that you’ll be in trouble with.”
“Not really. I think he had a reason.”
I really wish there was a reason. If you put yourself in such a bloody situation, there had to be a good reason. Otherwise, I’ll flip it over.
“I believe that it will not make an uncomfortable relationship with Temir. Isn’t that right?”
Zed smiled at him.
“Things of the past are just things of the past. This is not going to break my relationship with Your Majesty.”
The Emperor chuckled at his answer. The crown prince also smiled facing each other.
“Thank God, Duke, I was afraid of losing the Duke.”
What do you mean you’re afraid of losing him? He and the Heint family were not even the crown prince’s faction from the beginning. He smiled bitterly at the Emperor’s act of openly empowering the crown prince.
Zed looked at the crown prince, Temir. The young man with his hair neatly brushed looked like he had been painted with a decent appearance. But Zed was always in doubt.
Why is he the crown prince?
Emperor Baidu was not a fool. Then, why did he appoint Temir, the first prince, as the crown prince? In Jansgar’s succession to the throne, the eldest son had priority, but it was literally ‘first’.
The Emperor was able to decide on his successor. Nevertheless, is it because of her love for the first Empress who gave birth to the crown prince who seems to lack qualifications in many ways?
The Emperor appointed ten-year-old Temir as the crown prince, and as he grew up, he has been steadily gathering his power.
Zed saw the Second Prince Eozif. Eozif was smiling with a good-natured face. What seems a little lacking may be the Emperor’s idea that a docile Eozif can’t lead the empire.
But doesn’t the Emperor know that Eozif is better than the crown prince?
Zed saw the men of the royal family in front of him. They looked alike but not alike.
After the small talk, everyone got up from their seats when the time came. Upon arriving at the banquet hall with the royal family, Zed glanced over the banquet hall.
Because there was a fiancée who he needed to dance with today in the crowded place.
He quickly found his fiancée.
His fiancée’s strikingly beautiful looks, well, his compliments made his mouth sore.
She was a beautiful person from the beginning, and it was only natural that a person who was beautiful from the beginning and wore all kinds of beautiful things was beautiful. This was an objective evaluation, not an in-and-out thought.
The imperial family was located on a high level, so Zed could look down at the people, and he realized that people had gathered around Lucifella.
Surely nothing good would have been done. He heard she was not feeling well, but now she was having a hard time too.
Then Lucifella looked at him. Is she’s still looking at him as her fiancé? But it was an illusion and her gaze shifted to the crown prince, right next to him.
I knew it. I felt dirty knowing that. Shouldn’t you protect your fiancé’s face?
The crown prince also looked at Lucifella and looked at Zed, as if he had noticed the gaze. Zed’s mood quickly got dirty with that triumphant smile.
She’s such a single-minded woman. Zed glared at her. He thought that even if it wasn’t for the Empress’s invitation, Lucifella would have come here. Zed didn’t approach her on purpose.
Shouldn’t you pay attention to what people think? Seeing the crown prince openly like that, people are talking openly about it.
Or does that mean it doesn’t matter what people think? Well, I wouldn’t even have jumped into the lake if it had mattered.
What’s Count Aydin doing? Is it okay to leave her alone like that? Looking towards Count Aydin, he was talking to the Duke of Idris.
Then she looked around and headed elsewhere.
What are you trying to do? When Zed frowned at her, she went upstairs.
Zed looked at her back and turned to where she was standing.
People were talking about her. All the people who had been giving Lucifella an unfavorable look turned to Zed for what had been said.
Zed kept a blank face, not the expression they expected. Among them, he cast a warning glance at those who looked persistent.
“I’m thirsty. I’ll be right back.”
The crown prince, who had been standing for a long time, went down to the banquet hall.
He was greeted by people who approached him naturally and then mixed into the group. Then he disappeared naturally to the second floor.
Are you going to meet Lucifella? Was it a sign that she was looking toward the prince earlier that she wanted to meet him?
Damn it! I’m surprised.
Zed spit out a swear word inside with a disgusted expression. I don’t know when I will get married, but it will be very far in the future, and as soon as I do, I will divorce and leave a long way on the list of nobles.
It was disgraceful, but it would be more honorable than continuing to watch this scene.
Then he became enraged. Come to think of it, it was disgusting. You’re supposed to dance with me today, and you’re having a secret meeting, right in front of my eyes?
Then he made eye contact with Eozif. The grinning face looked like he knew everything.
Reading minds was, of course, dirty. Thinking about what to do, he headed to the second floor with an unknown feeling.
Is the heart of a person who goes to dig out a lover’s infidelity so filthy?
Zed thought that if he had another girl, he’d never date a woman who has a lover as he’s always been.
It’s enough for him to experience such a dirty feeling.
Not long after the banquet began, there were no people in the hallway connected to the lounge.
He found Lucifella and the crown prince. But Lucifella did not seem to be on the second floor. Then his gaze reached the far end room. It was a lounge for the imperial family. Zed headed there, frowning.
As the distance drew closer, Zed felt a sense of presence there.
The Emperor, the Empress, and Eozif are also in the banquet hall, so the crown prince must be here. Along with that, he could certainly hear a woman’s voice.
It was obvious whose voice it was. The unquestionable denial forced Zed to calm his irritation and the ensuing anger.
Then the door opened.
What was it? A cry of pain was leaking through the door. Zed frowned and walked over to it.
“I’ll kill you! How dare you do this to me?!”
Zed doubted his ears. The crown prince was clearly screaming with pain and anger. He was followed by a voice from Lucifella.
“If you’re going to kill me, kill me.”
“Uh! Ugh!”
“You’ve done something that’s not as good as a dog to a woman! Tell Your Majesty you got dumped. I’m confident that I’m innocent.”
Her words were overly clear and low-level language, but they contained all the keywords for this situation that Zed wanted to know.
Lucifella, who was coming out of the room, made eye contact with Zed. She opened her eyes wide. It was just the face of a person who was caught committing a crime.
***
Thank you for reading!
Nice kicking skills 👌