He thought it was a wonderful moment for the male protagonist to save the female protagonist. He coincidentally meets the woman protagonist cornered in a dilemma, saves her, and falls in love with her glassy tears…. Well, that kind of situation.
“What are you all doing?”
“Your Grace…!”
“Ms. Tooper is my aunt’s cousin and a member of the Jouper Ducal family. Count Louisette, you lack dignity.”
Suddenly, a verse from ‘The Rose of La Hart’ came to mind. Originally, this part featured Celeste tormenting Laila, not Tecla, and Karl passing by, seeing Celeste’s cruelty towards Laila, being enraged, punishing Celeste, and triggering a protective instinct upon seeing Laila trembling like a deer, thus igniting love as the first catalyst.
Until recently, the situation in the book was very similar. The only difference was that Celeste was missing from the group of villains.
Cornered Laila shed tears, and Albrecht the Duke, passing by, heard the sound and approached, stopping the evil villains instead of simply passing by.
Yes, it was a cliché that could be seen in any novel up to that point. Now, if Karl took revenge on the villains and gallantly saved the female lead and left, it would have been perfect. However, at the last moment, Karl chose to save me, not Laila.
“I apologize. I was wrong, Your Grace. I never intended to insult your lineage. Please forgive my ignorant words.”
Tecla’s voice was now almost close to tears. Despite apologizing and humbly waiting for a response, receiving none probably heightened her fear to its peak.
However, I had no idea what Karl was thinking. Even though I couldn’t hide it, or rather it wasn’t something I could hide, I still worried whether it was right to expose Valerie so recklessly.
Even now, I still don’t know what kind of relationship Celeste and Karl had! Roughly hearing the story, they might have been lovers or passionate one-night stand partners, but whatever the case, I never expected the conclusion to be ‘marriage’… I had no idea!
Feeling desperate, I tried to signal SOS to Hannah with my eyes. Whether she understood my burning feelings or not, Hannah’s face seemed filled with emotion. It seemed like she wouldn’t be of any help at all.
Eventually, feeling halfway resigned, I felt a strong presence enveloping my shoulders. Startled, I looked to see Karl casually holding onto my shoulders and pulling me into an embrace.
Swiftly, he pulled me close with his strong arms. I felt the solidness of his chest against my back. My heart fluttered, and I could hear its beats.
Surprised by the warmth of his body compared to his cold demeanor, I found myself half-cradled in Karl’s arms without any room for resistance. It felt as if we were affectionate lovers who could never stop loving each other.
***
After gathering and organizing all kinds of news that had happened in the capital overnight, Schultz started his morning routine by delivering it to his master. Performing his usual tasks without any difference, a faint sigh escaped his lips today for some reason.
Franz, who had attended Emperor Maximilian’s court, returned home much earlier than expected, with a far more troubled expression than anticipated.
Knowing that Franz always returned from encounters with the imperial court in the worst condition, Schultz was quite worried about his state. However, what troubled Schultz more than his worries was Franz’s continuously disturbed expression.
At the young age of around thirteen, Franz set foot in the palace for the first time. His mother, Marina, was once described as the empire’s beloved beauty who charmed the Emperor with her youth and loveliness, in essence, the emperor’s favorite.
Compared to the previous emperors, Alexander was not particularly womanizing, but Marina captivated him immediately with her beauty and charisma.
Shortly after entering the emperor’s chambers, she bore a child and thankfully gave birth to a son who resembled his father’s eyes.
However, she kept her son strictly hidden until he became a young boy because there was no strong family backing to protect him. Tearfully explaining that she had no choice but to hide her son to protect him, Alexander willingly accepted her son as a prince without any formalities.
Thus began Marina and Franz’s life in the imperial court, which was far from easy. Unaware that life after entering the palace would be much more challenging, Marina, determined to secure her son’s position, began to engage in all kinds of activities to make his position strong.
She sought the Emperor’s favor through evening hairpin games and attempted to win over nobles during the day by carrying the Emperor’s name on her back.
She didn’t care about the process. Marina only cared about the outcome. Her reason and goal in life were to make her son a prince whom no one could ignore.
From a certain point, Emperor Alexander, due to deteriorating health, spent many days not coming out of his bedroom. Marina, claiming to have received delegation from His Majesty, went so far as to touch the Emperor’s seal without permission.
As the horrifying reality of her father being manipulated by the government and losing even the Emperor’s authority unfolded, Princess Pulcheria, who could not bear it, began to confront Marina openly. In an effort to prevent her from appearing in official functions, she deployed knights, and she summoned nobles allied with Marina to the palace to assert her dominance.
She warned not to underestimate a woman who only does things in the bedroom; her son from such a woman would never be accepted into the imperial family.
The nobles who knew the willful nature of Pulcheria began to show signs of yielding, sensing her determination.
The disdain of the nobles towards Franz became increasingly apparent. Franz found the reason for the rejection by the imperial family in his bloodline, though there was another real reason he did not want to admit.
Thus, the weakness of his lineage turned into an inferiority complex. As he grew closer to adulthood, Franz was constantly compared to his royal peers of similar age but found himself lacking in every aspect. One of these royal peers was the present Duke Albrecht.
With his well-rounded virtues and perfect lineage as the son of the Emperor’s rival, it was easy for his twisted inferiority complex to turn into anger toward his peers.
Who will be the fortunate protagonist to hold both titles of Duke Louisette?
The new appearance of the Duchess, the progress of Duke Toskur
The bold headline is so explicit that it is almost provocative.
The fastest word in the world is said to be the word without feet. The news of Duke Albrecht’s wedding immediately became front-page headlines in all newspapers, turning into established facts.
Third-rate magazines and newspapers plastered with all kinds of provocative words behaved as though the entire world’s attention was focused on Duke Albrecht’s marriage.
As Schultz climbed the stairs, he wondered if gathering and bringing these newspapers to Franz would be of any help.
Since all of Franz’s emotions towards Duke Albrecht stemmed from inferiority, Schultz didn’t want to inform his master about anything related to Duke Albrecht if he could help it.
However, he didn’t have the choice to make that decision. He simply carried out what his master ordered and nothing more. That had been his entire duty for over twenty years of serving Franz.
Smart.
“Your Grace.”
They arrived at their destination. Schultz knocked, waiting for a response from inside, but no sound came. Perhaps His Grace hadn’t cleared his throat yet.
Internally counting to five, Schultz knocked again. If there was still no response after the third knock, he had resolved to quietly enter, leave the newspapers, and depart.
“I will enter.”
As he stepped inside, a thick smoke greeted him. This, too, was a familiar occurrence.
“Are you up?”
“Today, the number of newspapers seems unusually high. Seems like there might be some interesting headlines.”
“These types of magazines mostly exaggerate, don’t they?”
“Still, why bring all of them?”
“…Nevertheless, I think you should take a look at least once.”
“Why, what kind of news is it, Schultz?”
He reached out his hand without holding a cigar. It was a request to hand him the newspaper.
It had been requested to have at least a glass of water before asking for the time immediately upon waking up in the morning. But His Grace really never listened to such things. Schultz couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
“Duke Albrecht is getting married.”
“What?”
Only then did Franz lower the watch from his hand.
