'But just looking at you, it doesn't look like you've worked out much... Are you sure you're okay?'
However, it seemed like it would be extremely difficult for Ethan, who was not a knight. I nervously looked back and forth between Ethan and the railing.
Ethan used his long legs to cross the railing. And naturally, crossing the other leg over the railing—what a joke! He staggered and grabbed onto the railing. Ethan's wide-eyed gaze met mine.
"Something terrible is going to happen at this rate. It's too dangerous!"
I walked hurriedly toward the railing as if I couldn't take it anymore. At that, he averted his eyes with an embarrassed look and smirked.
"Ah. I just almost tripped."
"It wasn't just a little. What would have happened if you had really tripped and fallen?"
"Haha, you're right. But I'm really fine. I'll try one more time, and if it doesn't work out, I'll give up immediately."
No, I'm the one who's not okay with watching this, man!
I almost screamed in anger. He looked like a kind, intellectually handsome man who wouldn't do anything careless, but his actions were the epitome of a total goofball. As we talked more, I glared at him with increasing disdain as he seemed more and more insignificant.
As if he had noticed my gaze, Ethan lowered the corners of his eyebrows and started acting pitiful. Seeing that pathetic look—like a puppy trying to gauge the situation, looking as if he were about to whine at any moment—I sighed, half-giving up.
"I wanted to show you a great side of myself... but I ended up failing. I really hope we can meet again next time with a better performance."
"...What if it's not cool? The most important thing is not getting hurt. I hope we can meet next time in a place where we don't have to go through this."
His face brightened instantly. Enough to bring out the boyish smile that appeared occasionally.
I found Ethan somewhat fascinating; he seemed to be around the same age as Thierry, yet strangely exuded the fresh, youthful vibe of a young boy. Thinking, "So there are people like this," I stared at him blankly.
In the meantime, Ethan glanced toward the terrace door and urgently greeted me with a look on his face as if he really needed to see it.
"I hope to see you again. Have a good night, Princess."
Swish, he let go of his hand and fell down.
I ran toward the railing with a startled look on my face. I hurriedly looked down at where Ethan might have fallen, but I could see only bushes swaying in the wind; there was not a single trace of him.
I looked down here and there like someone possessed by a ghost. But no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't see a single ant. Could it be that he collapsed in the bushes?
While worrying about that, I came to my senses at the sound of a quiet wind blowing belatedly.
"...Did you use magic?"
As I spoke, I became convinced. Soon, I scanned my lower body in disbelief and let out a hollow laugh.
"...Why on earth is it hanging from the railing?"
As I stepped out feeling relieved, the blowing wind finally felt chilly. I hunched my shoulders and shivered.
'This isn't going to work. I'm going to catch a cold at this rate.'
I turned around to quickly go inside. But had I taken even a single step? Suddenly, an angry voice was heard.
"Can't you stand there!"
The sound came from the direction of the terrace directly opposite, but it seemed to be quite far away. If it had been a quiet conversation, I would never have heard it, but perhaps because they were excited, their voices were so loud that they cut through the sound of the wind rustling through the bushes and lodged clearly in my ears.
'Ah. It's so cold, but I'm also so curious... Shall I take a quick look to see what's going on?'
It is a fight to watch, yet you turn your back on it and walk away? That must be seen as having no interest in life. How can you ignore this and coldly turn your back?
The answer was already decided. I ended my internal conflict in a second and moved nimbly. I sat pressed close to the railing where the sound was coming from to hide myself, and concentrated by peeking through the closely spaced gaps in the railing.
'Uh? That person...'
Soon, the two eyes that had narrowed slightly widened in an instant.
***
A vein bulged on Duke Joubert's forehead. With a face full of rage, he grabbed Sylvia's wrist as she crossed through the bushes.
"What kind of bad manners are you!"
Sylvia's body swayed as her slender arm was held tightly.
Duke Joubert and Sylvia stood face to face in the middle of the bushes, their gazes clashing in the air. They looked like blood relatives, identical down to their silver hair and blue eyes, yet not a shred of warmth could be seen in the eyes glaring at each other.
'Damn it. If it weren't for that bastard, things wouldn't have gotten this twisted.'
The path ahead for Duke Joubert, who had been expanding his power along a smooth road, began to become difficult when Thierry staged a coup.
The Prince, whose very existence was unknown, suddenly appeared one day and captured the imperial palace in an instant with only a small number of people. The people, who had become complacent due to the long peace, crumbled easily, and Thierry captivated the people of the empire by exposing the secrets of the royal family in detail.
Since the current imperial family was primarily responsible for widening the gap between the rich and the poor in the first place, Thierry's actions, which seemed to prioritize the people of the empire over the nobility, were welcomed.
As soon as the nobles rebelled, they would follow the same path as the deceased royal family, and they ended up in a position where they were constantly watching each other's reactions.
Thierry was insanely strong and excessively autocratic. He barely survived by playing the right game at the last minute, but the fact that he was strong meant that the power of the nobility had weakened accordingly. Therefore, it was extremely difficult to establish oneself as a member of the aristocratic faction under Thierry.
So, as a second-best option, Duke Joubert set his sights on expanding his power by marrying Sylvia to the Emperor. It was a plan with nothing to lose, as it would be the icing on the cake if the Emperor fell deeply in love with Sylvia, even if it was a political marriage.
"You call this a porch?"
"Yes. They say they are requesting a deal in exchange for a title. They claim it is a mysterious medicinal herb secretly passed down only within their family for generations and offer to share even the cultivation methods. What should we do?"
"Oh, if it pretends to be a medicinal herb but is actually a poisonous one, it wouldn't be a bad idea to agree."
"I checked, and there was no falsehood. Then, what shall we do about the title?"
"Soothe him well until he swallows the herbs. So that we can handle it easily later."
However, the turning point came when an old nobleman who had fled from the fallen Kingdom of Cassifel into the Empire brought poisonous herbs and handed them over to Duke Joubert.
He had braced himself for a long period of preparation and was about to bribe many people and spend a large amount of money behind the scenes, but God did not abandon him and gave him his own power to command nobles in addition to money.
'I just needed to wait a little longer... but of all people, that stupid girl used Pochi on her own!'
Moreover, to think that the tail would be revealed to the Princess, who looked so stupid of all people. As a result, Pochi surfaced, and all contracts fell through.
'I shouldn't have let that girl get away with it.'
Je thought Thierry was taking an interest in Elisha, so he tried to take advantage of the moment things loosened up to expand his business, but he didn't expect it to hold him back like this.
With both Pochi and the Head Maid now in Thierry's hands, Duke Joubert's anxiety reached its limit.
At this rate, it was the worst-case scenario where the entire distribution line would be raided, and if things went wrong, the involvement in the scheme could be exposed. No matter how thoroughly everything had been handled, he was extremely anxious.
'I know I'll never get caught, but it feels like I'm living with explosives, and it's driving me crazy with anxiety.'
Furthermore, Thierry had been keeping a close eye on nobles in general lately. Given the situation, he could not carelessly take items out of his home.
He hid the remaining Pochi deep in a secret underground vault known only to the heads of the family for generations, but since his opponent was Thierry, he felt like he was walking on thin ice every day.
It was a truly maddening situation in many ways, and as a result, Duke Joubert's judgment gradually became clouded. Therefore, since he did not know when he might be discovered and his head chopped off, he ordered Sylvia to go ahead and do whatever it takes to get to Thierry if she was not confident in approaching and seducing him, even though he knew it was dangerous.
He just asked her to go to the bedroom to buy some time to tidy up. She ran out of the hall because she couldn't even do something as trivial as that?
'However, I never dreamed that my daughter, whom I had believed to be obedient all this time, would rebel at such a crucial moment.'
All Sylvia had to do was captivate the Emperor, who didn't seem to have any women by his side, and sit on the throne as Empress. That was all. He had given birth to her beautifully and raised her without lacking anything, yet to think she would stab him in the back like this.
Duke Joubert was dumbfounded. If she didn't even do this much, what on earth was she useful to?
The Duke's neck gradually turned red, and bright red blood vessels rose in his eyes.
"Are you daring to disobey my command right now?"
It was a situation he would normally have been cautious about. However, as he was driven into a corner day by day, Duke Joubert's extreme anxiety caused him to lose the composure he had barely managed to maintain.
"Father."
Sylvia stared at Duke Joubert with eyes filled with a mixture of disappointment and humiliation.
"I would do my utmost not to disobey your order, but this time, I simply cannot obey."
Despite the calm tone, the anger was clearly palpable. Faced with this unusual intensity for the first time, Duke Joubert momentarily forgot to get angry and fell silent.
"If there were even the slightest bit of room, I would at least pretend to try, but honestly, given the current situation, it looks like I'm digging my own grave in anyone's eyes. Even someone as inadequate as me can tell; so do you, someone so competent, really not realize what is going on?"
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