Chapter 60

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Chapter 60

Having said that, Zachary straightened his back. The way he rolled his lips and smiled wildly was terrifying.

“Your Majesty… I had no idea that Your Majesty had such delusions.”

“Duke Hessenweitz.”

“Otherwise, how would you be able to connect me with the Princess as if it was natural?”

His languid eyes turned to the Emperor. The kindness he usually showed to Iellie was nowhere to be seen, though the current Zachary was the next monarch who held the rough northern part in one hand.

Zachary continued coldly.

“There were many rumors that you were a smart emperor, but I guess that rumor was false?”

“Young Duke, I was just joking. What rudeness is this?”

“If you really made a joke about the marriage between me and the Princess, you would be foolish, too.”

At that, the glared at Zachary as though he was about to tear him apart. Nonetheless, he only shrugged his shoulders.

“Is that an act that you can’t even see the current reality?”

At that, he must have been offended by those words. The Emperor, who lowered his voice a lot, growled coldly.

“Be in moderation, Young Duke. I have no intention of putting it up any longer.”

“It would be better for Your Majesty to do it in moderation.”

Still, Zachary countered him with a cold voice. The Emperor raised his voice without realizing it at his words, “Are you intimidating me now?”

“Well, I am not scared. I am just stating the facts.”

Even though it was Zachary who had been smiling the whole time, his blue eyes weren’t smiling at all. Taking a step forward, the bewildered Emperor took a step back.

Zachary asked coldly.

“You don’t want the North to regain the throne again, do you, Your Majesty?”

“Young Duke, what is that…?!”

“It is not that the North was unable to regain the throne.”

The Emperor’s words were choked. As if he was stating the most obvious fact, Zachary declared with an arrogant face.

“It’s not what I’m looking for.”

“….”

The moment he heard those words, the Emperor bit his lips.

People were also taken aback by the blatant remarks. However, they didn’t care at all because he was just telling a realistic story.

“I believe that Your Majesty is well aware of how much we are tolerating the Imperial Family’s disrespect now.”

A cold silence passed. Everyone knew what Zachary was talking about. In order to ensure a stable succession to the dukedom, the Duchy was tolerating the imperial family’s rudeness. The next moment, he reached out and opened his mouth again.

“Oh, I will return this handkerchief.”

A white handkerchief fluttered from his fingertips. The handkerchief engraved with the Imperial Family crest was an item that the Emperor had forcibly handed to Iellie. Zachary narrowed his eyes and smiled.

“It seems a bit inappropriate for the next Mistress of Hessenweitz to have.”

“….”

Seeing the handkerchief rolling on the floor, he hardened his face. Nevertheless, Zachary only looked back at Iellie.

“Let’s go, Len.”

“Yes.”

A cold silence passed, and she followed Zachary’s footsteps. Finally, when she turned around, her eyes met the Emperor’s that seemed as if he had been hit in the face. In the meantime, he still smiled faintly.

‘…I feel bad.’

Goosebumps rose, and she quickly turned her head. But, she couldn’t stop the snake-like gray eyes from obsessively following her back. Iellie had a foreboding feeling that it was not going to go away like this.

After getting into her carriage, Iellie was preoccupied with reconsidering the recent affairs with the Emperor.

‘Oh my, God… what kind of threats did Zachary make in front of the Emperor?’

With that thought, she squinted at Zachary.

It would probably be impossible to overthrow the entire empire with the power of the North. However, it was possible for Hessenweitz to give up the name of the Duchy and take the name of the Emperor if they wanted to.

In addition, if the northern part became independent, the one who would suffer the most was probably the Imperial Family.

‘But, even if it’s a fact that everyone knows, it’s different to say it outright…’

Besides, the other person was the Emperor. Iellie wondered if she was expressing her dislike too openly like this, so she sighed.

“Zachary.”

“Yes, Len.”

Zachary, who had glanced at her for a moment, answered in surprise. Iellie tilted her head and asked.

“…Is it okay to treat the Emperor like that?”

“What does it matter, that punk?”

After saying that, he chewed his lips and looked at her before apologizing.

“…I’m more sorry than that, Len.”

“Yes? Why…?”

“That guy was rude to you. I should have stayed by your side.”

Saying so, he let out a brief sigh. Still, Iellie firmly shook her head and she asked back.

“No, why is Zachary apologizing to me?”

“However…”

“You don’t have to apologize for everything that happened to me.”

As she said that, she gently bent her eyes. Her fingers gently caressed Zachary’s cheek, “…And, especially if it’s not your fault.”

“Len.”

He sat down next to her and put his head on her shoulder. Seeing that, she patted him on the shoulder softly.

“Regardless, it made me worry…”

“Well, I’m fine.”

Iellie was always mature. Just as he depended on her, Zachary wished she could depend on him a little bit. It was a little sad that she always said, ‘It’s okay.’

At that time, she groaned slightly.

“But, I don’t want to hear you talking with the princess.”

“Me?”

“Well… Who would like their husband to be involved with another woman?”

Hearing those words, Zachary’s eyes instantly fluttered like the moon reflected in the water. On the other hand, she smiled brightly.

“From now on, I want to hear the story from your own mouth, not from anyone else.”

“Yes, Len.”

Zachary smiled, hearing her words. His smile was clearly brighter than before, so Iellie was a little puzzled.

‘Hmm, it looks like Zachary was feeling really good all of a sudden. Why…?’

On the other hand, in the carriage where the Emperor and the Princess are riding, there was only a chilling silence. Even if it was not the truth, the brothers and sisters rode a carriage together to pretend that they were good siblings on the outside.

The Princess swallowed her breath.

“…Iellie.”

Suddenly, the Emperor muttered in an anxious tone. Since no one was watching, he didn’t even use the name ‘Lady Hessenweitz.’ Despite her refusal, he was not angry. Instead, it only strengthened his possessiveness towards her.

“Your Majesty. You’d better not approach Lady Hessenweitz any further…”

The Princess, who could not bear to see it, carefully opened her lips.

That moment…

Slap!

He hit the Princess’s cheek.

“How dare you interfere in my actions as Emperor?”

“Your, Your Majesty…”

“I’m not the only one to be interfered with by the likes of you.”

The Emperor, who answered coldly, turned his head. Even though he knew his behavior was irrational, he couldn’t stop his possessiveness towards her. The fluttering pink hair, the slender body glimmer before his eyes…

‘I’ll somehow get her in my hands.’

She was a lovely woman, even with light green eyes with a hint of contempt. He thought he would die if he didn’t have her.

‘…In order to do that, she has to come up to the capital, she’s now in the enemy base.’

Thinking that, his eyes sank deeply, embracing a strange light. The Princess looked at the Emperor holding his breath. She couldn’t understand why he was so obsessed with Lady Hessenweitz this much.

‘Is this obsession really going to end in a good way…?’

Biting her lip softly, she had an ominous premonition that the future was going to be quite troublesome.

After the opera was over, Iellie started making the handkerchief once again. She followed the seamstress and discussed the design, and perhaps, it was worthwhile to make it. She managed to come up with a handkerchief-like shape.

“Phew, it’s finally finished.”

She carefully picked up the finished handkerchief.

Iellie, who was not confident in her own craftsmanship, gave up on the colorful embroidery in the first place. It had been a long time since she embroidered the coat of arms of Hessenweitz in the corner.

“…Um, is it too shabby?”

Narrowing her brow, she glanced at the handkerchief. She thought it was probably a little lacking since the other ladies must have brought luxurious handkerchiefs. With that thought, Iellie sighed as she sprinkled a few drops of perfume.

‘If you think about tying this around Zachary’s wrist…’

Her eyes darkened. She wondered if the other noble ladies would laugh at her a lot. Worst of all, Zachary would be so proud to wrap her handkerchief around his wrist. Iellie made a groaning sound.

“Well, though…….”

Zachary would be happy.

As she imagined his happy face, she blushed slightly. Anyway, she had no intention of showing this handkerchief until that day, and she put the handkerchief in the drawer.

“Hmm, then, shall we check the letters that came to the Duke’s residence today?”

Since the Duchy rarely appeared in the Capital, invitations and miscellaneous letters came in frequently. Of course, the two of them planned to return to the duchy again after completing the minimum schedule.

“What is this?”

Iellie’s expression hardened slightly as she looked at the letter. In her hand was a luxury letter envelope with a colorful floral design. Written on an envelope with a strong perfume smell, the sender was…

“…Elysee Lauren?”

She was a little perplexed. Did Elysee have any reason to send a letter?

Besides, the recipient was…

“It’s Zachary.”

Although the two were cousins, she didn’t think they were close enough to write letters to each other. In the end, Iellie stood up with the letter in hand. She was going to ask Zachary.

“Zachary?”

“Len, what’s going on?”

Zachary, who had been wielding a practice sword for a long time at the training ground behind the townhouse, asked a question curiously.

“That’s because you got a letter.”

“For me…?”

“Yes.”

As she nodded her head, he put down the sword and approached her with a bewildered face. He opened his mouth, “Is this an important letter?”

“I don’t know if it’s important or not…”

Narrowing her brow, Iellie held out the letter to him.

Zachary, who was receiving the letter, wrinkled his brow.

“Ugh, the smell of perfume…”

Perfume needed to be sprayed in moderation for it to be fragrant, because of that, he glanced over the letter.

Checking the sender, Zachary squinted his eyes and asked with a confused look.

“…Elysee Lauren? Why is she writing to me?”

“That I don’t know.”

A vague answer came back.

Zachary shrugged his shoulders and ripped open the envelope.

“There’s nothing much to it?”

After reading the letter roughly, he said to Iellie. She glared at him, pretending not to be interested as she asked back, “Well, what is it?”

“She just said it was nice to meet me this time.”

After saying that, he gave her a letter, and he casually proposed to her.

“Would you like to read it?”

“Yes.”

Immediately, Iellie quickly grabbed the letter and opened it. The smell of perfume rushed over to her unexpectedly.

[ ‘Dear Duke of Hessenweitz.’ ]

…Who is the Dear?

Iellie felt her mood drop sharply. She read the following sentence.

[ ‘Hello, Young Duke. It’s Elysee.’

Even though I’m your cousin, I think we’ve had very little interaction.

…That’s because everybody treated Zachary as a monster and kept me away! I am already feeling frustrated.

‘I was delighted to meet the Young Duke at the Opera House this time. I haven’t been able to go down to the Duchy often because I’m in the Capital. In the future, I hope to see each other often and build close friendships. I can’t wait for the jousting match to be held soon.’ ]

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