Chapter 43

Of course, there were a lot of people who felt he should have taken an important position in the government. However, he made the decision comfortably because he hated the power struggle in the capital.

The problem was Cassius who trusted and valued him as his close friend. The young emperor often had him as his temporary advisor and asked for his counseling. Although Kling was determined to stay away from the central power, he had no choice but to follow the young emperor’s order, which was beyond his control.

In the end, he often went to the palace because of the emperor’s order.

It was at that time when he met Empress Blair and her little prince Eckart. Looking back, he regretted his decision to take charge of Lennox, the capital of the ruined kingdom, when he vowed not to take any government position again.

‘Just like how I protected Estelle and Marie, I should have protected them to the end.’

He felt bitter when he remembered his actions in the past. He walked down the corridor, feeling depressed.

Though he had lots of regrets, his actions were irreversible. He couldn’t shake off any of the names that came to his mind.

At that moment, he heard somebody tapping the floor with a cane.

“Oh, who is this? Aren’t you Wales?”

Duke Kling turned back at someone’s greeting.

A metal cane popped up from the corner of the hallway.

“Sir Balter!”

Kling showed his manners. When Kling called his name, Duke Hubble walked up to him with a stride. Though he was holding a cane, he didn’t seem to have any problem with mobility. His cane looked like an accessory.

“Looks like I’m very lucky today as I’ve met you who is harder to see than the emperor.”

“You look healthy, Duke Hubble.”

“Oh, I’m good. If you grow old, you need to know when to retire. But I’m too healthy to retire. You might feel sorry that I’m still working, right?”

“You’re kidding me, sir.”

Kling gently responded to his stinging words.

Hubble laughed as if he thought Kling’s response was ridiculous.

Their official titles were the same. The difference was that Kling was a former official during Cassius’s reign, while Hubble started his job during Cassisus’s father’s reign. Unlike Kling, who didn’t have grey hair yet, Hubble was an old man who swept hoary hair and carried a cane.

They had differences in age, career, and experience, but Kling and Duke Lamont treated him with respect. That’s why Kling used honorific language and respected Hubble who was the same rank as him.

“It’s you who’s cracking a joke now. Were we close enough to joke?”

Having said that, Hubble hit the floor with a cane.

“I didn’t stop by the capital often, so I have a lot of things to learn here. I hope you can help me a lot.”

Klinger tried to change the topic by flattering him.

“Something to learn? It’s you, not me, who I have to learn from.”

But his opponent was Duke Hubble. He was sixty-six years old this year. At seventeen, he joined the Foreign Ministry as a clerk and served for 50 full years.

There was little he could fear in the world, and his name itself was dreadful enough to arouse fear. As he was so skillful in life and politics, there was no chance he could be deceived by his opponent’s shallow trick.

“So, you have sold your daughter to the emperor to get a government position? That’s something I’ve never done before.”

By any standard, what Hubble said was too harsh.

“Sir Balter!” said Kling, frowning.

He usually smiled when talking to somebody, so it was quite rare for him to change his facial expression suddenly, which meant that was the last straw he could stand.

Nevertheless, Hubble did not stop. On the contrary, he went further as if to add fuel to the fire.

“Well, it’s nothing new. You did that before. I don’t understand why you thought that territory was such a big deal back then, but you dragged your pregnant wife to that remote valley in the north…”

“Stop it, Sir Balter!”

“Why. Was I wrong? If you want to get angry, express your displeasure to the emperor. You gave your precious only daughter to him, but what you got was the trivial position of the Chief Chamberlain taking care of miscellaneous errands at the palace. If you don’t fix the situation, you will see that even the territory you earned through hard work would be forcibly passed over to his hands. I guess you must be pissed off deep inside.”

Hubble tilted his eyebrows and shook his head gently. His slanted lips showed how crooked he was.

“Ambition is for young people. Never has old blood like us taken the initiative and gotten good results.”

“…”

Kling clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. His upper eyelid trembled. It looked like he was going to open his mouth and say something that nobody should listen to at all.

Hubble tapped Kling on the shoulder as if he felt sorry for him.

Not content with that, Hubble shook his head and whispered in his ears.

“Don’t you know that? These guys with the bloodline of the Frey family are just cold-hearted. Even if you make sacrifices for them, you will be betrayed and deprived of everything you have.”

Hubble just made remarks almost close to treason, but he laughed casually.

Kling stared at Hubble sharply instead of responding.

It was a close call.

“Sir Balter, Sir Wales! You arrived early today.”

Right at that moment, Duke Lamont appeared and greeted them gladly.

As if nothing had happened, Hubble greeted by quickly raising his hand and left the place.

“Sir Shane!” said Kling, barely breathing out. When he turned to Duke Lamont for a long time, he heard Hubble tapping the floor with a cane while walking down the hallway.

As if to hit the heated iron, his metal cane was hitting the floor noisily.

* * *

“What’s this?”

Marianne looked at something on the table with a quirky face. It was a birdcage with silver frames and a diamond about the size of a baby’s fist engraved on top.

“You don’t know what it is? It’s a bird.”

It was a bird. A beautiful cockatiel with fluffy white feathers and a pointed yellow crown on its head.

“Why are you giving it to me?”

“Since you are not used to living in the capital, I thought it would be good for you to have something like this at hand.”

“Me?”

Eckart nodded casually at her reply.

“When did I ask you…”

At that moment, he put down the teacup with a bang.

“Oh, I now remember. How kind-hearted you are!”

Marianne hurriedly corrected her tone and looked back at the cage with a troubled expression.

Sitting on the reef and looking down, the parrot happened to make eye contact with her.

Of course, she lied when she said she remembered it. But she could not say so.

The place where the two met today was not the back garden but the parlor of the mansion.

A maid and attendant were on standby. Of course, the place was not good for them to share their secret talk openly.

“Einz.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“This tea doesn’t taste good. Go to the kitchen and look at the tea leaves and pick a new one.”

“Will do, Your Majesty.”

As if she felt the same, Marianne let a maid out of the parlor, “Cordelli, can you go with him and help? Einz is new to this mansion, so he won’t be used to it.”

She glanced at Cordelli and smiled. Quickly noticing it, she nodded and followed Einz.

When the door was closed, only two people were left alone in the room.

“Please tell me now. What the heck is this bird? You haven’t really brought me this as a pet, did you?”

“You bet.”

“I don’t like birds that much. Given the choice, I like puppies, cats, and rabbits.”

Eckart heaved a long sigh, leaning on the sofa.

It was the first time that he was faced with such a reaction from somebody who received his gift. Typically people were supposed to show honor and joy over the emperor’s gift. In return, they flattered the emperor with all kinds of compliments, praising his gifts as something like a treasure that they would hand over for generations.

Of course, Marianne didn’t react artificially.

Nonetheless, he felt bitter when she showed a rude reaction.

In fact, he was now accustomed to her rude reactions.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt frustrated by her reaction.

“Poibe is a parrot that has been trained for a long time. She can understand most of what you’re talking about, and she memorize and convey some common expressions.”

“Well, pets look cute when they don’t know how to speak. Like hairy pets that can’t even understand what I’m saying.”

“Really? I’m sorry. I thought Poibe would be your favorite pet.”