Also, it was not much different from the current Cardan and the original.

I nodded my head.

Once a bastard is an eternal bastard.

“Of course, I know that. If Young-ae wants to stop trying to be a concubine now, I will do so.”

No matter how urgent my situation was, I didn’t want to push an unwanted marriage to an innocent girl in my conscience.

“Oh, no! Absolutely not.”

The count shook his hands in a hurry.

“It is my child’s lifelong dream to be a woman of the Emperor. It’s just…………….”

The count looked at my count again.

“What’s the problem?”

The count stooped to 90 degrees.

“Please help my daughter!”

I blinked in bewilderment.

“Well, what do you mean………….”

“There’s no one who knows your Majesty’s taste better than the Duke!”

I barely put up with wanting to scrub my face.

“So I said………

“Help my daughter be liked by His Majesty!”

***

“My ears are itchy today.”

At that time, Cardan, who was digging through the Duke’s office, picked his ears.

The duke left for Count Linoa and could afford to go through her office for a few days, but there was no decent result.

Cardan put back the last book he looked at on the shelf.

All were books on politics, economics, and history, and no memos appeared to be secret codes.

There was no hidden vault or secret space, and there was no clue to Eleanor’s location.

I also searched the Duke’s bedroom in the office, but there were only achromatic jackets and pants with a design similar to a simple bed.

Cardan sighed and rubbed his forehead.

The only thing the Duke had hidden was the bottom drawer of the desk.

Cardan opened the last drawer.

When the double floor was uncovered, the portrait of his mother was revealed.

My mother, who always looked sad even when she was smiling, was smiling like she was crying in the picture.

Cardan slowly shifted the portrait aside with a hesitant touch.

Underneath was a book of my mother’s herbology.

Certainly, when she was young, Erina followed her mother more than he did, as her own son, cultivating a garden and growing various herbs according to her teachings.

‘I didn’t know you’d have this until now.’

Cardan tapped the surface of the book.

It was the only book I saw in this room with a note, but none of it was a clue.

In addition, most of the writings were in his mother’s handwriting, so the probability of it being a secret password was low.

Does that mean that portraits and books are purely for memories?

Cardan was sarcastic.

The more he looked, the less funny she was.

“Does she feel guilty at all?”

Cardan closed the drawer without hesitation.

If he can’t find a clue in the office, he’ll have to find it from the duke herself.

Cardan’s blood-colored eyes flashed fiercely.

“I’ll have to get the right drink.”

The morning after being drunk, he was reminded of the face of the duke, who had been distorted by a shock close to fear, which gave him a pleasant smile.

I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to let her misunderstand again this time.

Even if it was childish, it was a small revenge for only being beaten by the duke.

***

I carefully chose a jacket to wear at the Cabinet meeting.

Today is the day of offering 100-year-old wine, so whenever she has the time, she shows up at the dinghy cabinet meeting.

“The Emperor’s preference…………”

When it comes to women, the emperor of the original work did not discriminate between aristocrats, commoners, and even prostitutes.

It only covered their appearance. To be exact, he seemed to see a smooth face and a full body.

In the original version, the Count Young-ae of Linoa, her beauty was excellent enough to easily enter the emperor’s harem, so there will be no unexpected change this time.

I ended up standing in front of the mirror in a black jacket.

She then habitually changed her outer glasses. And I looked at myself in the mirror with a satisfied face.

The black jacket made my sickly pale skin look more flaky, but it didn’t matter.

I’d be happy to wear a rag if I could stand out more next to the Young Lady of Count Linoa.

“Very haggard.”

Finally, after grinning at myself in the mirror, I walked confidently to the conference room.

When I entered the venue, the eyes of the nobles who had already gathered were all drawn to me.

When they saw my empty hands, they said,

“Wine is….”

“No matter how much Duke Baloa………”

The same whisper was heard.

Ignoring them, she settled in the closest upper seat to the imperial throne.

Shortly afterwards, I heard the voice of the servant announcing the emperor’s arrival, and the murmur surrounding me stopped.

As soon as Cardan settled on the throne, I greeted him faster than anyone else.

“I see the sun of the empire.”

Cardan, sitting on the throne, stared at me with his chin in his hand.

A body leaning diagonally on the throne, a uniform button that is roughly untied instead of filling it to the end, and a slightly disheveled hair.

He looked relaxed as if he didn’t care about the emperor’s dignity at all, but the longer his eyes stayed with me, the more strangely she became nervous.

“Yeah. Did you get the wine?”

Cardan’s blood-colored eyes ran down my empty hand.

“Or is it time to let the Duke go?”

I thought I would know where she would be sent without even asking.

Advanced chapters here~