Chapter 61

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“Wait.”

Talking to the person in the driver’s seat, Kathleen slightly opened the window on the door.

“Count Schenberg. I thought you left.”

“I took the kid all the way to the main road for a moment. I came back because I had something to tell Madame.”

“What do you mean?”

“I want to thank you for your help last time. Could you spare a moment for me?”

Count Schenberg neatly added.

“There is a tea salon I frequent nearby, and I would like to introduce it to you.”

Her business with the boutique was finished and Alexis had gone first, so she thought it’d be fine if only for a while. As Kathleen nodded her head, Count Schenberg smiled and talked to the coachman.

“We’ll go to the tea salon down the alley, so wait in front of it.”

He naturally led her to the tea salon, like he said, he was familiar with it. When he pushed the door with the cute sign hanging, the staff welcomed them and guided them inside.

The interior of the salon had a fresh and cozy atmosphere and was based on a garden concept, but strangely, there were no other customers. It seemed to be operated by a reservation system so that only a few could enter.

“It’s surprising. The Count would not have come up to Meyer very often, but he knew a place like this.”

“This is a place I recently discovered. The great nobles of the capital mostly use the tea rooms in their mansions, but as you know, I don’t own a mansion in Meyer. I found this place by chance and came here often.”

As if to prove his words, even though they hadn’t ordered, the staff served a plate of eclairs, scones, and cookies along with a teapot.

Count Schenberg took the teapot brought by the staff and poured the tea himself. There was a faint fragrance from the warm, steaming cup.

“Will you be staying in Meyer?”

“Perhaps I will. His Highness is busier than I thought. And I guess that makes me so.”

Now that the wedding has been canceled, they no longer had ties, so why was he busy with Peter?

Kathleen tried to figure out what he meant and asked.

“Are you planning on continuing to serve as His Highness’ aide?”

“Yes. I was put in charge of the banquet for His Highness’ coming-of-age ceremony, which will be held soon.”

It was unexpected. It was not unusual for the Crown Prince to have a low-ranking nobleman as an aide when the emperor was unable to run state affairs normally, but Peter has so far only made an aide from commoners in order to maintain neutrality among nobles. Therefore, it was quite unexpected that she chose a nobleman from a former royal family. Moreover, since Count Schenberg is the family of the person who was the subject of marriage talks, there was a greater chance for the secret to be revealed, but she was willing to take that risk?

“His Highness didn’t seem to want to pay more.”

Count Schenberg joked as he pushed the teacup closer. Kathleen accepted it and answered.

“That’s great. Congratulations.”

Peter never mentioned the count of Schenberg in any of her letters. She took a sip of the tea, thinking that she should ask when they meet later. It had a clean and soft, grain-like taste.

“It’s a kind of herb that only grows in the South.”

Count Schenberg explained.

“How is it? Do you like it?”

“Yes. It has a unique feel to it that is unlike tea leaves. It’s an herb, but it smells and tastes like grains. It can be considered as one of the South’s specialties.”

“I am glad that Madame said so. You can enjoy Southern tea at Meyer’s Tea Salon, and there’s also the Walten residence, so there’s hope for Trivellian.”

“Hope?”

“Because we can’t talk about the unification of the South and the North without mentioning the two. Especially His Grace.”

“I don’t know what you mean. What kind of answer do you want to hear?”

She thought the tea salon and tea were a form of trickery. As Kathleen put down her teacup, he stared at her. A brief silence passed.

“You don’t know?”

Count Schenberg broke the silence first. He seemed a little puzzled.

“His Grace’s mother is from the South.”

“What?”

“I was convinced when I saw His Grace protecting a child from the South. Ordinary citizens, especially the imperial family, would not be interested.”

It was as if he had expected Alexis to act like that.

“His golden eyes resembled southern purebloods. I can understand why he’s trying to hide it, since he is from the South. But you can’t always deceive the facts.”

It sounded like there was a thorn hidden in the words he had spoken. She was confused because it was the first time she had heard of it, but Kathleen said firmly without showing any expression.

“I’m telling you, since you’re new to Meyer, Count Shenberg, you don’t seem to know. His Majesty the Emperor has ordered not to mention the Duke’s mother.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just so glad that the Duke is from the same place as me…”

“The Duke is from Meyer. It has been recorded that way in the imperial family records, but the count’s own judgment that he was from the south is a declaration that can be comparable to the crime of insulting the imperial family. Are you going to say more?”

“…No. I made a mistake.”

Count Schenberg neatly surrendered and withdrew. Kathleen stood up.

“I should go back now. Thank you for the tea, Count.”

“Thank you for your time. Madame. Then I will see you at the banquet.”

Count Schenberg reached out to escort her out of the salon, but Kathleen refused and left the salon alone and got into the waiting carriage.

‘It’ll be suspicious to get too close.’

Since he was a member of a family with authority in the South, having him by their side would increase the authority of the imperial family, however, there were many disadvantages to Peter. When she meets her at the banquet, she should bring it up.

‘The blood of a pure southerner flows through him?’

Moreover, although it was only speculation, the words of Count Schenberg were quite meaningful. This is because, like the northern winter fairies, the purebloods from the south were also indigenous peoples who lived together before the founding of Trivellian. After they were incorporated into the Empire, they could not withstand the persecution and were now almost extinct, but the people of the South still regarded them as high-ranking nobles like the Schenbergs. So, along with the Schenbergs, the imperial family regarded them as eyesores and seeds of rebellion.

Under this circumstance, if the southern royal family, Schenberg, talked about Alexis’ origins, there was a good chance that the problem would become bigger.

Perhaps his position as the Duke of the Empire would be in jeopardy.

“Madame, you’re here?”

Immersed in her thoughts, Emily greeted her as she entered the main building. The servants were in the process of moving boxes containing items for a long time.

“What is all this?”

“Ah, they are items that were supposed to be stored in a local estate, but they were instead sent to Meyer due to a mistake in communication. The butler will ask Master and decide on what to do with them.”

Emily answered, fiddling the dust with her hand. Kathleen looked around, but neither Alexis nor Viscount Rylent were there.

“Is the Duke here?”

“Ah, didn’t you go out together? He hasn’t come back yet.”

“He left first because he had urgent business.”

“I think the Master is busy because of the coming-of-age ceremony. He’ll be here soon. Are you thirsty? Shall I bring you tea?”

Kathleen was about to say she was fine since she had been drinking outside, but then changed her mind.

“I’m going to the library, so bring it there.”

“Yes, Madame.”

The books that she had glanced at from the bookshelf came to mind. Kathleen repressed her impatience, and she headed to the library.

‘If he’s really from the South…’

Recalling the words of Count Schenberg, a strange anxiety grew like a snowball. Kathleen found a book in the library that might have something written about the indigenous peoples of the South and began to read it.

[Unlike the Northerners, the clan that originated from the southernmost tip of the continent, kept the energy of the golden land and the light of the sunset sunlight in their eyes and hair, were called the fairy of the lands for their fertile cultivation of grains and fruits.]

The moment she found one of the tightly attached footnotes on the very back of the book The History of the Empire, Kathleen was blown away.

‘Fairies of the Land.’

She remembered a memory she had long forgotten.

Her mother, who died when she was very young, told her many fairy tales at bedtime. One day, when she complained that she didn’t like the color of her eyes and hair that was different from others, she told the story of the fairies of the land.

– Just as we inherited the blood of winter, they inherited the blood of the earth. If we meet them someday, we can be friends. They’re very similar to us.

She flipped through the book but The History of the Empire didn’t devote more space to the indigenous people.

– Just as you inherited your mother’s eye and hair color, they also inherit the colors of their eyes and hair through blood. Even the power, thoughts, and temperament that flow within it. Maybe they’re even stronger than us.

When she was a kid, the story of the clouds** and the sun making a bet to take off a stranger’s clothes was more interesting, so she easily forgot about it because she had begged her mother to tell that story instead. She remembered it due to Count Schenberg’s words.

Kathleen closed the book with trembling hands and put it away.

‘The reason Luci was sick was because of poison.’

She vaguely guessed. She had been ignoring it and didn’t think that it would come to light like this. The poison that had flowed through his veins for a long time was also passed on to Luci. In the end, for her child, Alexis Walten was something that could not be ignored.

Conflict arose as she thought whether it was necessary to inform Dr. Cavel or Edith so that the child could also be examined. Once she put the book back and left the library, the front door opened.

“Kathleen.”

Alexis, who found her, came running in one step.

“I’m sorry. We should have gone together, but I needed to check… Why is your face like that?”

“It’s nothing. I’m just a little tired.”

She had complicated thoughts and tried to avoid him, but he blocked her way.

“Aren’t you wondering where I’ve been?”

“You must have been busy.”

“I thought you would be angry. We went out together, but you had to come back alone.”

“It’s nothing new.”

She was used to going back alone in the past. However, Alexis’ face darkened.

“Kathleen.”

He stretched out his arm aiming to grab her hand, but then pulled away and said.

“I went to the protected area near the Imperial Palace. From what I saw earlier, it seems that the regulations were not being followed.

“…Did you go to the protected area yourself?”

He left alone without taking his lieutenant either. Of course she knew what kind of area the poor were in, but she didn’t expect for him to be interested enough to go and check it out himself.

Kathleen, who had been donating to the poor relief project through the Temple for a long time, was deeply surprised that Alexis had personally visited there.

But his answer stunned her even more.

“Yes. Because you care about that place.”

“……”

“I wanted to try. So that you would look at me, even a little.”

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[T/N: So I tried to look it up and there’s a story about the North Wind and the Sun competing over which one of them is stronger. The challenge was to make a passing traveler remove his cloak. Wiki]

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