IDMH - Chapter 25
I Decided My Husband
"From what I heard before, it seems like you want to get out of the imperial palace. Is that right?"
"... Then what are you going to do? I don't deny it. Do you think there is no need to do that since everything has been caught?
You seem complacent.
For an unmarried Prince to leave the imperial palace, can be seen as a bad intention to avoid the Emperor's eyes and raise a rebel force. So it's better to hide it at all costs.
Well, no one would think that the idiot Prince would plan something as big as treason, but he was still the Prince. A Prince with the right to succeed to the throne.
There could be any number of bad people trying to take advantage of it.
For example... Just like me.
I lifted the teacup with a deep smile on my lips. The tea I gave Ian had alcohol in it, but mine and Perdes' tea was normal tea.
Perdes was nervous and didn't answer right away so that he could imagine all sorts of things alone, but deliberately took a pause while drinking his tea.
"What are you doing now?"
Perdes said, knitting his eyebrows as his patience lasted only two sips of tea.
"If you have something to say, say it quickly. Don't intentionally waste time."
"You seem to have a more impatient personality than I thought."
"Do you think I'm in a hurry now?"
Perdes got angry and stood up.
"If you won't tell me, I'll just leave."
You really have an impatient personality. It made me wonder how he was acting like an idiot all this time.
"I will help you."
I said as I watched him walk towards the door.
"I will help His Highness leave the imperial palace."
Perdes stood tall at the additional words and turned his head to look at me.
***
Bang-!
"It's a surprise."
Jack, who was sitting at an old wooden desk writing a horse observation journal, turned around in surprise at the sudden sound of the door opening.
"Your Highness?"
Then he saw Perdes leaning against the door with a frown on his face.
Jack was the only person who knew that Perdes was pretending to be an idiot Prince. That was until Adele found out.
"What's going on? Could it be that His Highness the Third Prince harassed you?"
"No. There's no way that bastard would bother me."
"Then why..."
Perdes flailed his hands as if everything was a bother and collapsed on the only bed.
Perdes, who considered Jack his only family and friend, tended to take the initiative and reveal various stories without being asked.
He tended to talk about everything, whether it was good or bad, but he kept his mouth shut like that and Jack was very worried.
Jack closed the journal he had been writing walked over to Perdes and sat down.
"What happened?"
"..."
"What did you say?"
"I don't like repeating the same thing."
When he said this jokingly, Perdes frowned. It's so easy to read real emotions.
"His Royal Highness said he would help you leave the imperial palace."
"I'm not giving it to you for free, so what do you want?"
She's also quick-witted.
"There is only one thing I want."
I thought it was a good idea to choose her as my assistant.
"Please marry me, Your Highness."
"..."
"Your Highness."
As Jack continued to call, Perdes, who had buried his face in the pillow until he could barely breathe, looked up.
His eyes were looking at Jack's innocent face, but his head was full of other thoughts.
The conversation Perdes had with that woman, Adele Leopold, kept coming back to him.
It bothered him that she asked him to marry her so he could get out of the palace, but that wasn't the important thing.
What bothered Perdes more was what she said after he rejected the offer.
"Your Highness will take my hand. Only then will you be able to protect your precious things."
Important thing. Although it was a generic term, not a person, Perdes thought of Jack. Because the only thing he valued was Jack.
The first reason Perdes was trying to leave the imperial palace was because of Jack.
Jack was very heartbroken and shed tears every time Perdes came home after being treated harshly by his other half-siblings.
Perdes tried to leave the imperial palace because he didn't want to see that anymore and wanted to escape the stuffy cage and find freedom.
There were two ways for the Prince to leave the imperial palace. Either get married or be stripped of your princely status.
The latter was the same as dying, so Perdes didn't even think about it.
Then he had to get married, but there too a problem arose. It was said that it would be difficult to find a nobleman who would send his precious daughter as a spouse for the idiot Prince.
So Perdes was tempted by Adele's offer, but it was only for a moment. It was clear that she was very dissatisfied with the imperial family and was trying to use himself to do something.
Perdes flatly rejected her offer, as he would not be able to achieve the freedom he longed for if he married such a person. But she shook his heart with words like that...!
'It's clearly a joke.'
She must have set a clever trap to use himself somehow.
"Your Highness, are you really not going to tell me?"
Perdes buried his face deep in the pillow again, thinking there was no need to worry.
***
The 5th Prince said that what he was making was a treatment for shellfish allergy.
So, of course, I thought that the ingredients that Sir Aldor had been researching would also be ingredients for a cure.
"Rather, it's a drug that causes shellfish allergy?"
What kind of absurd conclusion is this?
I couldn't believe it so I asked another doctor again, but I got the same answer.
It is said that there is no harm if people who do not have a shellfish allergy eat it, but if someone who is allergic to shellfish eats it, it can cause seizures and, in severe cases, death.
"That's why the 4th prince rolled his eyes."
With this, I completely figured out the reason, but what now?
I doubted whether he would believe me if I ran to Perdes and told him to be careful because something like this would happen in the future.
Instead, they could have treated me like a strange girl and distanced me further than they do now.
Moreover, this was the only card to attract Perdes as my assistant. Even though I think it would be a waste to write it like this.
Maybe a person's life was at stake, and I hated myself for thinking like this.
This wasn't the only thing I was worried about. If I remember and calculate the date, it was roughly two weeks later that the incident occurred. There was no way the impatient Emperor would wait until then. Then you have to make them wait.
"Checkmate."
That was why I sat down and played chess with Chernosor, whom I had promised never to interact with again.
I had to weigh things without being biased towards one side, so it would look like I was having trouble deciding who to choose, so I met Ian and Chernosor alternately on an even basis.
"Okay."
Chernosor frowned, looked at the chessboard, and said to me.
"Can't you just step aside for once?"
"I know you've already backed off more than 10 times."
"That's true, but..."
The wrinkles between Chernosor's eyebrows deepened. The reason he suggested that I play chess, even though he doesn't know how to play, was because I played Reversi (*Othello) with the 3rd Prince, Ian, yesterday.
If you have too much pride. Although I was laughing at him on the inside, I smiled sweetly on the outside and moved the bishop back to his original place.
"Can I do this?"
Chernosor's face brightened as he found a place for King to escape.
"Checkmate."
Less than a minute later it got dark again. Chernosor seemed to be embarrassed to ask me to leave now, so he let out a long sigh and raised both hands to shoulder level.
"I lost."
Is it 5 losses out of 5? In other words, I won all 5 times.
It was a little funny that no matter how many times I watched it, he couldn't win a single game.
"If I had as much time as you, I would have played a lot of chess, but it's a shame."
I was sarcastically saying that I don't have anything to do to leisurely play chess.
"I know, right. But thanks to His Highness the Prince playing with me like this, I'm not bored."
I asked back, saying that since you have nothing to do, why don't you play chess with me?
Chernosor cooed but then closed his mouth. He wanted to say something bitter to me, but it was clear that he was holding back because he thought he would never be chosen by me if he did that.
Since I've played around with him enough, I guess I'll just send him back.
"I'm feeling a little tired, so I'd like to swing my sword for some light exercise. Would you like to join me?"
When he mentioned the sword, Chernosor's face visibly hardened and he stood up straight away.
"Thank you for the offer, but I have urgent business to attend to, so I'll have to go now."
"Oh, really? I'm sorry. Then let's do it together next time."
Chernosor did not reply that he would do so, even if it was just empty words, and stormed out.
***
"Three days ago it was Ian, two days ago it was Chernosor, and today it is Ian again."
After receiving the report from his aide, Daimon smiled and tilted his head. Although he didn't like how Adele was being weighed, the situation itself wasn't a bad thing.
In any case, it meant that both of them had gained Adele's favor.
Daimon was especially pleased that Chernoser had finally come to his senses and won Adele's heart.
'I wish Adele Leopold would choose Chernosor.'
That way, Daimom will be able to control her however he wants.
Ian was too stubborn and cunning to do that. Ian also used a lot of tricks.
No matter how clever the puppet was, it only went against his will and was of no help. So Daimon hoped that Adele would definitely choose Chernosor.
That was why the Book of Chernos was sent to Duke Leopold's funeral. To do that, we need to make Adele's heart lean more towards Chernosor.
"Tell Lady Leopold that we are having a light tea time. I told the news secretly only to Chernosor."
Daimon's plan was simple.
Once he has tea time by calling Adele and asking her what she's up to, Chernosor appears and naturally joins them.
Then, after praising Chernosor and turning Adele's attention to Chernosor, he planned to use work as an excuse to leave the two of them alone.
I definitely planned to do that.
"Young lady, try some of this."
"This tastes better than that, Young Lady."
Why did she even come with Ian?
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