Chapter 28

Meanwhile, the emperor got used to collecting letters sent by nobles about his prospective bride and use them as kindling. Hubble and Chester strongly recommended Roxanne to him as his bride candidate, but he rejected. Out of defiance, he didn’t want to think about marriage. Jed’s joke that the young ladies of the noble families regarded the emperor as ‘Blue Iron Wall’ was no exaggeration at all.

Nonetheless, the emperor and daughter of Duke Kling chose each other as their spouses. One looked indifferent to her, but spared no effort to care for her, while the other caused trouble with an innocent face whenever she went. She announced her engagement to the emperor, shocking the entire empire, and now she asked Mrs. Charlotte to sow the seeds of their trouble in less than one week of her announcement.

Mrs. Charlotte was accustomed to the deal and settlement behind the scenes. Naturally, she assumed there was some sort of promise between the emperor and Marianne. That’s why she became more suspicious about them. Marianne was too ignorant of the situation to interpret her marriage as a political alliance, but their mutual attitude, or rather the situation, was too hostile to be taken as affection.

“I tried to sound out Marianne’s feelings by citing Marquise Chester’s letter, but she got angry, complaining that the marquise’s way of running the salon was too harsh and irrational. Her anger didn’t look like fake in my eyes.”

From the beginning she did not believe Marianne altogether. Marianne was attractive enough, but it was one thing to regard her as an ally and trust her while it was another thing to feel interested in her as a human and have good feelings about her.

“If I could have my way, I would’ve stopped their marriage,” she said.

Kloud gladly agreed with her. He also felt the same way.

“But the emperor said as for all the matters in this mansion, we have to respect her wishes on the condition that he gets fully briefed about it,” Kloud said.

Mrs. Charlotte sighed loudly at his words.

‘Well, if that’s the emperor’s intention…”

It was dangerous to leak any rumors about their trouble when they were not formally engaged yet. Nonetheless, Marianne was willing to take the risk.

She touched the handle of the mug and got lost in her thoughts.

Which way was it?

Was it the last piece of the puzzle, or was she the most dangerous witch? Or perhaps neither?

She was sliding in her thoughts about it all night.

* * *

Late in the morning, the huge iron gate of the Elior Mansion was opened. A luxurious six-horse carriage came out, accompanied by splendid knights. Their destination was the mansion of Marquise Chester, southeast of Alpha Bridge.

It was of course Marianne who got inside the carriage. Cordelli pulled the lace curtains a bit. While looking out the window, she fidgeted at her handkerchief. The scenery of the capital streets as the carriage ran fast was unfamiliar to her.

In fact, she didn’t have many chances to visit the capital city. During her previous life, she had only come to Milan only a few times.

“It’s going to take a while to get to the marquise’s mansion. Are you okay? If you are uncomfortable with your dress, feel free to tell me,” Cordelli said.

Marianne nodded instead of answering. Cordelli’s words reminded her of one name.

Erica Bayer von Chester. She was Ober’s biological mother and the most famous woman of the late emperor’s concubines. All the aristocrats throughout the empire including the capital knew her name. Marianne should have known more about her informally when she had a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship with Mrs. Chester in her past life, but she did not know her well back then.

Marianne met Mrs. Chester only once, only at her wedding. Mrs. Chester stayed with a smile throughout the wedding but never called her separately as her daughter-in-law.

She didn’t even share any well-wishing remarks with Marianne or inquire after her through letters. The wedding gifts were delivered by a person who had nothing to do with her, and even when her father died, she did not attend the funeral for health reasons.

At that time, she believed everything Mrs. Chester said. She believed her mother-in-law when she said she was sick or when she said she was busy.

“Cordelli.”

“Yes, young lady.”

“Have you heard anything more about the marquise? For example, what do the maids say about her?”

Cordelli narrowed her brows at her question.

“Well, I hear she is a scary woman. According to Lila, when a viscountess whom she served had been invited to her tea party once, she was most scared when Mrs. Chester got angry while breaking a teacup with a smiling face.”

“… It looks like she can be violent sometimes. I hear even famous nobles allegedly got cold feet when they saw them. I don’t think she can dare treat you roughly as you have a good relationship with Marquis Chester. Anyway, the emperor is behind you now. Unless she is ready to risk her life, she can’t be rude to you.”

Cordelli comforted Marianne with confidence. Of course, she would have no doubt agreed with Cordelli in her previous life. Back then she felt no one could hurt her easily, and she could achieve everything she had planned in the future.

Come to think of it, she was well-raised without any worry, but she was too alienated from the truth. The wives of the northern social circles did not tell Marianne the inside story of what was going on in the capital, especially after her marriage to the Chester family had been decided.

She heard once that Mrs. Chester’s salon was big and magnificent, but she never heard that the salon’s tea party served as a test to determine someone’s life. They praised Marianne’s beauty and attractiveness, but they didn’t tell her that Mrs. Chester broke a teacup with a smile and ruined someone’s future.

Though she thought she was loved back then, she belatedly found out that she only knew the half truth. She couldn’t repeat the same mistake now.

‘Daddy…’

Marianne recalled the initiator of this strange love. She did not think that her father’s overprotection was not love. She believed her father. There must have been some reason and meaning for that.

‘But why… Because my mother died early? Was that all?’

At this point, however, Marianne had to doubt it. She could no longer take things at face value. She couldn’t do so anymore.

“Cordelli!”

“Yes, lady.”

“You are my maid, right? You should not betray me, okay?”

At her unexpected question, Cordelli turned pale as if her face had been slapped by somebody.

“What are you talking about? How can I betray you? I’m a confirmed defender of yours. Why are you saying that suddenly? What did I do wrong?”

“No, that’s not what I mean. As you know, I don’t know many people in the capital. Except for you and Iric, they are all strangers to me. You might be curious why I left Lennox and why I got engaged to the emperor, but I’ve not yet explained it to you. I’m sorry.”

“Lady…”

“Can you trust me and promise not to lie to me?”

How selfish and bad was she when she asked Cordelli to be faithful to her while she was deceiving everybody?

Marianne couldn’t hide her wet eyes, seized with remorse.

“Absolutely! You can talk to me about your situation later. I think Sir Iric must feel the same way. We all think that everything you’re doing now is right. Oh, except for that strange play you learned from Evelyn,” Cordelli joked on purpose. She held Marianne’s hands tenderly and made eye contact with her. Facing her eyes, Marianne felt relieved unconsciously.

Marianne didn’t want to lose these people who trusted her even without knowing the specific situation, trying to protect her tender world as much as they could.

The emperor said she should not trust people easily, but Marianne wanted to feel the warmth of Cordelli and Iric a little more.

“Thanks.”

Marianne cast a glance over the window again instead of saying long.

She saw her new battlefield was getting closer over the pure white walls of the castle.

* * *

Ober clenched his teeth. His clenched fists trembled. He did not want to believe the scene unfolding before his eyes. He let out a short breath. He arrived in the capital last night. It took him three full days to arrive in the capital from Chester.

Arriving at his own mansion in the capital, Ober looked for Annette without even saying hello to his wife. Annette was one of the beloved maids his wife favored as well as his trusted mole in the house.

Annette gave him a piece of intelligence that she gave to the marquise.

“They picked up new staff at the Elior Mansion this time,” she said.

“So what?”

“Well, according to our spy maid, the new owner was a woman with chocolate hair and emerald eyes.”