Chapter 11

Chapter 11

“I think it’s you who have bad hands.”

“What about me?”

“You said you like my chest and abs, so now you are interested in this as well.”

Adele opened her mouth. ‘What is this man saying?’

“If you are interested, I am ready anytime.”

“No I am not interested.”

It is true that Adele touched Van’s body in my dreams. Because she thought it was a dream. There was nothing to be rough about. But he knows what she did in her last dream. ‘I think this person is not Van but the Emperor. Does that mean the man who appeared in my dreams was the Emperor?’ Adele’s mind was confused.

“Didn’t your hands wander when you kissed me first?”

“No I was just trying to hug him, but my hand…”

She fumbled a little, but then found the entrance of his pants pocket. After that, Adele rolled on the bed and laid flat on her back.

“I’m going to sleep, take care.”

“Adele”

Van persistently wrapped his arms around her from behind. Adele closed her eyes and sighed. The mental fatigue reached its peak after scuffling with him. ‘I’m getting sleepy now, I think I can sleep.’ Adele fell asleep as if she had fallen unconscious.

***

*Knock knock*

“Miss Ernst, I will enter.”

Adele woke up at the sound of Yuria’s knock on the door. Adele jumped up and lifted the pillow  ‘There isn’t anything.’

Yuria looked at Adele with a puzzled look.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Nothing.”

‘The watch I placed under my pillow last night before going to sleep is not there anymore. I put it in Van’s pocket… As expected it’s not a dream.’ Adele couldn’t think of the Emperor as crazy. When she met Van in her dreams, he remembered the story Adele told him last time. Adele considered him to be a product from her subconscious. If the Van she had met until now in her dreams was the Emperor… ‘We’ll see if we wait.’ Adele returned the pillow she had been holding in her hand.

***

Count Alvin Castellan was in a good mood today. ‘I can’t believe you don’t want to be an Empress.’ Adele’s words were a great boon to him. He felt like he lost a thorn that has been hanging on his mind for the âst four years.

“Count”

Someone called Alvin from behind. As he looked back, a woman in uniform was walking. He had dark reddish brown hair tied up. Her navy blue eyes like the deep sea looked strong. The sword on her waist shook rhythmically with every step she took.

“Sir Ellipson”

Alvin raised his hand to greet her.

“I’m glad you’re alive.”

“Yes but he said there would be no mercy twice.”

“Yes. If it’s you he will show you mercy three times.”

Ellipson Dreykus, she was a knight. It was no coincidence that she joined the army as a knight, and was involved in the battle for the succession of her family’s estate. It was the order of the next Emperor. Ellipson went to war with Prince Vanhelm. The Prince was theGod of Death on the battlefield. He was the only one who decided who would live and who would die in the blood stained land. And she realized that the battle for the throne was meaningless. If he wanted to, Prince Vanhelm could sit on the throne, but he did not convey such thoughts to his father, because Prince Vanhelm himself did not seem to have much desire to sit on the throne.

‘In the end, Prince Vanhelm became the Emperor.’ Even Ellipson didn’t know the exact reason why the Emperor, who was seventh in line, changed his mind. She could only guess from a woman’s sense. Dogs with something they wanted to protect also had lions bite.

“Is that so ?  Would you like tea ?”

Alvin was delighted. Ellipson narrowed her eyes and looked at Alvin.

“I thought you were worried.”

“I have good news”

“What?”

Alvin lowered his voice after looking at the empty hallway.

“Miss Ernst doesn’t want to become Empress.”

“What?”

Alvin coin’t hide his excitement.

“It might work out easily”

Ellipson almost punched Alvin without realising it. The skilled knight’s mental strength managed to retreat her fist.

“What is it with that fist?!”

Alvin looked at her and took a step back.

“The Count is a great man.”

Alvin straightened his shriveled shoulders.

“I know that.”

“When I look at the Count, I don’t think that brightness and sense are proportional.”

“What do you mean?!”

“Miss Ernst should be Empress.”

Alvin’s face frowned at once.

“Didn’t the Lord himself make a way for you to runaway?”

“I just thought the situation in the palace was not good to serve you now.”

At Ellipson’s words, Alvin jumped as if he had been betrayed.

“What do you mean? In this situation, we can not help it! It is best for Bellota Young-ae to become Empress.”

“Is that really the best way Count?”

Alvin’s expression became serious. His voice was lower than before.

“Do you know how many people must die for Miss Ernst to become Empress?”

Ellipson did not answer.

“The Emperor is a person who can destroy the entire country!”

“Why don’t you think he’s a person who can build a new country?”

“What!!? What?”

“You must have never thought that the Emperor could leave this country with just Miss Ernst and Leo.”

Ellipson moved her feet as if she had finished talking.

“No! Wait a minute!”

The contemplative Alvin followed. Alvin Castellan was a genius. At the age of 10, he could speak seven languages. He was only 14 years old when he launched a tactic to end the 30-years war in Berne Castle.

However, Ellipson’s assessment of Alvin was harsh. ‘An idiot who can see only one.’

***

It was sunny and nice weather, and the silver waves of Lake Viner were more beautiful than usual.Adele played with Leo in the garden.

“Mom! You have to hit harder!”

Today was a game of hitting small balls filled with cotton with a stick. You score points by driving the ball around and placing it in the place marked as the opponent’s area. The Emperor attached a Nanny and maids to Leo. So Leo just enjoyed every day because there were many people who played with him.

‘Is it the constitution of palace life?’ He originally had white skin, but recently Adele saw her beautiful son with a blooming face. On the other hand, what Adele was going through these days was painful. She was worried about everything in her ambiguous situation, and she couldn’t sleep well at night. There was a separate reason for being tired. If meeting Van is not a dream, then the Emperor woke me up every dawn and talked to me. It explains why I was tired even if I came to the palace and slept the whole time.

‘Why is he doing this to me?’ She thought about asking him openly. However, no matter how hard she tried, she did not seem to be able to get the answer she was looking for. It was a question where she couldn’t know the answer because she thought about it alone.

Adele swallowed a sigh inside.

“Mom! Faster!”

It was comforting for Adele that Leo was doing well in the imperial palace.

“I won!”

“I know. Your Highness Leopold is great.”

“I’m sure you’ll be good at handling kendo like his Majesty the Emperor.”

Leo’s eyes twinkled happily at the fair praise of the maids.

“Hehe.”

“Leo. Come here and drink water.”

Adele called Leo to the shade. When Leo could rest, so did the maids. At Adele’s words, everyone sat comfortably in the shade and enjoyed the afternoon. Looking at Lake Viner, Adele’s complicated thoughts were a little distant.

“Phew.”

Yuria laughed as Adele sighed.

“Mr. Ernst, you’re tired, right?”

“No, It’s just playing with my child.”

“Did you not sleep well last night?”

“Yes.”

Yuria understood that the reason Adele took a nap all morning was because of  insomnia.

“I guess it’s because I’m not used to the palace.”

“I’ll give you peppermint tea before you go to bed today.”

“Thank you. Yuria.”

Then a group of ladies approached the tree. Yuria and some maids, who recognized the Lady at the forefront of them, quickly got up from their seats.

‘She must be from a noble family.’ Adele also got up from her seat.

The ladies who stopped under the shade of the tree were all pretty and bright. Among them, a Young-ae, who was standing at the front, was a beauty with silver blonde’s hair and gentle and large sky blue eyes. The color, which may look blurry as a whole, met white skin, and only her place looked bright. I was blinded to the point where it was too bad to just call her a beauty. ‘I’ve never seen such a pretty person before.’ Even though Adele was the same woman, it was hard to take her eyes off of this Lady.

“Everyone is having a good time.”

It was a pure and beautiful voice. At her graceful and noble gesture, everyone bowed their head down almost at the same time.

Adele didn’t know etiquette yet, so she bowed to her with the maids. None of them will have a lower status than herself, a commoner.

“What’s wrong with Bellota Youngae?”

Yuria stepped up and said hello. There was a sense of humor in those words. This was the emperor’s garden. Bellota smiled, covering her mouth slightly with a fan.

“Is there a place in the imperial palace where I can’t go? Because the weather was nice, I thought about drinking tea while looking at Lake Viner.”

Behind Bellota were a group of noble ladies and servants with tables and tableware. Suddenly, Bellota’s eyes turned to Leo, holding Adele’s skirt and staring at her.

“Is this child the emperor’s?”

“Yes, it is.”

At Yuria’s words, Bellota came close to Adele and Leo.

“What’s your name?”

At Bellota’s words, Leo moved his small lips.

“It’s Leo. Leopold.”

“Your Highness Leopold.”

Bellota smiled brightly. At that moment, her face really seemed to shine. Adele frowned as if she were blinded without realizing it.

“Sister. My sister’s face is blazing and shining.”

There is no way that you can’t feel what Adele felt as a child. Leo’s words were exactly what Adele felt.

“The prince speaks so beautifully.”

Bellota smiled once again, pleased at the words.

“But that name is not right, so I need to correct it.”

Bellota met Leo’s eye level.

“I’m the one to be your mother, Your Highness Leopold.”