Chapter 47

She made a deal with him, shared secret intelligence with him, and learned to set a trap with him. Although it was a short time of less than three weeks, she went through ups and downs that others would have never experienced.

That was why she was mistaken.

She felt she was close enough to him.

In fact, he didn’t scold her even if she behaved informally, he caught her when she fell, he helped her in her dream, and sent her an ointment when her mouth hurt. Although he said he couldn’t work with a weak-hearted person like her, he was being nice to her. She was mistaken in all of these, though.

‘I think I still have a long way to go. How naive and stupid I am…’

Treating someone kindly didn’t necessarily mean being close to him or her. The emperor’s goodwill toward her was the expression of his patience for her as his hostage and considerations as her supervisor.

He was right. ‘You should not trust people easily.’ Even though she heard his serious advice many times, she believed the very person who advised her was an exception. She just felt ashamed of herself when she thought that she ended up with a terrible death in her previous life because she trusted people so easily.

“Lady!” Marianne woke up from her deep thinking when somebody called her.

“You don’t like the meal? Do you want something else?”

“Pardon? No, that’s fine…”

Marianne looked at the plate in front of her. She saw meat loaves torn apart by the fork. Obviously, she kept poking the meat with the fork unconsciously.

“Sorry. The food is great, but I don’t feel any appetite.”

At her confession, Mrs. Charlotte quickly beckoned the maid to put the plates away.

The maids and servants who were waiting near the table disappeared into the kitchen, each carrying a plate. Though they didn’t dare to look at her face, they went away with lots of curiosity and worries about her.

“Would you like to go back to the room? Let me tell them to bring some tea.”

“Thank you.”

Mrs. Charlotte supported her and left the restaurant. The mansion staff fixed their gazes at her back, when she, helped by Mrs. Charlotte, was walking back to her room with a distrait face.

After meeting with the emperor for a long time, Marianne cried after leaving the room. Her hair was dishevelled as if it had been pulled by someone and the back of her hands and her dress were messy. Although her wounds weren’t that bad, she obviously wasn’t in good shape.

The emperor also quickly went out of the parlor with a displeased look and left.

When they went into the parlor, they found that the room was a mess with the couch and other furniture broken and strewn all over the floor, as if he intended to break them one by one.

Naturally, they began to gossip about the emperor and Marianne. They even wondered whether the emperor beat her until they discovered later that the pet bird, which the emperor gave her as a gift, was responsible for the scars on her hands. Even after the fact became known, they suspected that the emperor who hated her purposely gave a bad bird to her.

“Phebe… Where is that pet bird the emperor gave me as a gift?”

“Well, you didn’t say anything, so I put it on the balcony of your bedroom.”

Even though she was harassed by Phebe, she didn’t hate the bird.

She was so delighted to put Poibe in the cage with Curtis’s help. Although it was a small achievement, she wanted to show it to the emperor. In the end, she was reproached by the emperor without mentioning Poibe, or Phebe.

“What about the party plan I asked you to take care of in the morning?”

Marianne asked with a sullen face, shoulders down.

When she recalled Eckart’s scary face, she wanted to stay put on her bed without doing anything for three days.

But time didn’t wait for anyone. She felt Ober would be in the thick of plotting treason even at this moment. Though she hated the emperor, he was the strongest of her available cards to stop Ober’s treason. She couldn’t afford to play the baby or not.

“I’ve compiled a list of those nobles whom you would like to send invitations to. And I’ve submitted an official letter requesting cooperation with the palace affairs office after getting Sir Kloud’s advice. And I think it’s a good idea to order flowers and decorations in advance, so I’ve informed the shop I’m collaborating with.”

“How many days will it take to prepare the party in the fastest way?”

“For a banquet of this size, we need at least 15 days of preparation. If you want an earlier date, we can advance it by about five days.”

“Okay. Let’s have that tea party in about ten days. Isn’t it enough for your wife or others to prepare?”

“You don’t really have to take into account those who are lower ranked than you.”

“Well, that’s not what I mean. I just want to hold the party on that day.”

Mrs. Charlotte laughed.

Aside from the rumors on the street, it was a fact that Marianne would soon become the empress of the times, regardless of whether she had a formal engagement ceremony or not.

Her power would not be taken as lightly once she became an empress. It was lucky for the maids and attendants at the mansion that she was kind enough to schedule the tea party by taking into account the situation of those who would be invited to the party.

“Okay. We’ll carry out your order without any failure. So, please don’t worry and go to bed early. You look pale, so I’m worried that you might collapse,” said Mrs. Charlotte.

“Thank you. Please let Cordelli come in a moment. And make sure others don’t come in my room until tomorrow morning.”

“Got it. Have a good rest.”

Marianne stepped into the bedroom door that Mrs. Charlotte opened. When her long dress was completely drawn through the doorway, she locked the door carefully.

She flopped down on the bed and lay on her back immediately. Though she had something to do, her eyes closed naturally. She felt the day had been too long.

That night, a shadow snuck into the crescent-shaped garden at night.

The shadow crossed the garden and came near the big tree, muffling their footsteps. After making sure no one was around, they squatted in front of the bench next to the rose fence. Then the person took a small letter out of their inside pocket and hid it under a decorative stone by the bench. Then the person left the garden quietly again.

The next morning, the gardener led the maids and servants to clean up the garden. After cleaning and inspecting the garden, the garden was spick and span as usual.

Except for one. Under the bench next to the rose fence, one of the decoration stones was placed crookedly unlike the other stones.

* * *

Spring pervaded the air in Milan in mid-May. The engagement date of the emperor was set. The most fortunate date, set through several cabinet meetings and internal reviews, was the last day of May.

It was an event of the imperial family that came a long time after the emperor’s crowning ceremony. Be it nobles or commoners, whenever two or more people gathered, they talked about the fiancée who would be a bride during a sunny May.

“It’s wonderful that the day has come when His Majesty will receive his bride. I thought he might live alone all his life because the emperor regarded women like stones on the street.”

“I hear the bride is so beautiful that she puts in shade that those young ladies regard as beautiful. I hear the emperor is only four years older than the bride. When they pose for a picture side by side, they are the most fantastic couple.”

“In my mind, she is marrying for political reasons. Duke Hubble has no daughter, and Duke Lamont’s daughter is the emperor’s cousin, so he coveted Duke Kling’s daughter. As she is his only daughter, I guess his big territory could be her marriage portion.”

“I think Duke Kling’s daughter has found the most fantastic man. Given the choice between the marquis and the emperor, I would choose the emperor. How can you compare the wife of a marquis and the wife of the emperor? Besides, one is an illegitimate person while the other is not. The legitimate son is definitely better.” Of course, the marquis here was Ober.

Their gossip continued endlessly.

“I don’t want to say this, but don’t you think the bride would be better off with Marquis Chester strongly backed by Duke Hubble rather than the powerless emperor? If she wants to live a comfortable life when she grows old, she should definitely get married to the marquis.”