Chapter 114

Chapter 114: Chapter 113

Marianne looked at Kloud like Eckart.

“By the way, don’t you think you’re overworking yourself? Is there anyone else besides you who can serve the emperor? I know you were injured a lot in Roshan, too. I don’t want to believe the emperor ordered you to cancel your vacation or forced you to hold out when you were sick.”

“No, not at all. Thanks to your warm considerations after I returned to the capital, I am much better now. In fact, His Excellency told me to rest more, but as I was stubborn, I kept working until now.”

“Oh, you should follow the emperor’s order. I’m sorry for Mrs. Charlotte, your wife, in various ways. How can I see you and your wife if your wounds get infected?”

“Fine. I will do my best to make sure you should not worry about me.”

Kloud bowed to her with a gentle smile.

She felt sorry for him as he didn’t stop working to leave the room, but she slowly stood up instead of replying.

“Your Majesty, I have to leave now as I have to stop by to see Countess Renault in the afternoon.”

“Are you going to see the countess?”

“Yes. I haven’t apologized to her since I saw her at the recent ball. I would like to see her before it’s too late. I have got something to tell her…”

Eckart nodded casually, feeling some regrets that she had to leave now.

She put on the gloves she took off, took her foldable fan, and looked back at him at his eye level.

“Do you have anything more to say, Your Majesty?”

“Um….”

He seemed to be in thought about something briefly before he said, “As for the gambling I talked about recently, I flipped my first card today.”

“Oh, yes. Ober came to see you today. He didn’t look so good. I guess your first move was quite successful.”

Although he used a figurative expression, she could easily understand it. He put the teacup down roughly as if he was bothered by her remarks.

“Did you meet him? When?”

“Oh, I bumped into him on my way here. He doubted me as expected … So, I made plausible excuses.” She tried to answer as calmly as possible.

But Ober’s voice, which she deliberately tried to forget, came to her mind helplessly.

Was it because of that? She could not stop replying to his question confidently.

“… Was he willingly deceived by you?”

Eckart already sensed she was taken in again, but he asked, pretending not to know.

“Your Majesty.”

She called the emperor as if she was hanging onto something desperately.

What she heard at the moment was her own voice when she called the emperor, but it was Ober’s whispering that was louder and clearer in her ears.

“Marie. Duke Kling may already have known that perhaps the emperor wants to make you, your father, and your family unhappy forever.”

She recounted Ober’s words one more time before erasing them from her mind.

Obviously Ober lied, she thought.

If she wanted to know the exact reason for her father’s secluded lifestyle, she could get the answer if she asked her father. The rest of what Ober said was his own cunning trick. To doubt her father was a trap Ober set for her. She thought she shouldn’t believe anything she hadn’t double-checked directly.

“… Don’t worry. I’m better at disguising my true feelings than you think.”

Having said that, she laughed brightly as usual. When she called Phebe, the bird, which was pecking at something near the window, flew back.

Now with the parrot on her shoulder, she said goodbye to him politely.

“Please take your medicine as I advised you before. I’ll be back soon.”

“Okay. Let me contact you again.”

He saw her off with a casual look.

She gradually faded out of his sight, dragging her colorful dress slowly.

The door of his study was opened and closed.

“Curtis.”

Immediately, he called Curtis with a very low voice.

“Yes.”

Curtis appeared quietly from the bookshelves behind him.

He stared intently at the door of his study, which was a bit away from him.

He was quiet for a moment, and then looked at the seat where she sat a moment ago.

After watching it for a while, he opened his mouth.

“I want you to investigate something.”

* * *

Leaving the imperial palace, Marianne returned to the Elior Mansion. As she had free time before her scheduled visit to the countess, she thought she was going to rest for a while before changing her dress.

But as soon as she entered the mansion’s main lobby, she decided to reschedule.

“Daddy!”

When she called cheerfully, Duke Kling looked back.

“Marie.”

“What business has you brought here? I wish I had come earlier if I had known it earlier.

Did you eat anything? Did you sleep well?”

She pulled her away from Cordelli who was supporting her, and hugged his arms without hesitation and played the baby. He smiled kindly and patted her.

“I just stopped by because I had something to pick up. I had lunch a minute ago and slept well.”

“Don’t lie, Dad. I hear you went to the palace secretly yesterday, too. I heard everything about you from Codelli. She said after you had dinner with me, you went back to work at night.

How can you sleep well in that small janitor’s room?”

“I’m more worried about you. I understand you had a hard time traveling all the way back here. How come you are moving around already? Are you okay? Take a rest for a few more days.”

“Don’t you know how fit I am now? I sleep very well and eat very well. Didn’t you see me last night? I ate two pieces of big steak.”

As she was babbling happily, he just laughed, casting a lovely glance at her.

He felt like he got over fatigue right away when he saw her acting so cutely.

“By the way, are you going back to the palace now?”

“I should. I’ve got some more work to do.”

“What is it? Is it urgent? Do you have to finish it right away?”

“Well. It is not that urgent, but…”

“If that’s the case, can’t you stay a little longer? I should visit Countess Renault anyway soon because I promised to see her when I came back from Roshan. Why don’t we walk together until then? Come one! Thirty minutes, or fifteen minutes is okay. Okay?”

As if hanging on to his arms, she begged, making eye contact. Her green eyes sparkled with big expectations. It was her lovely way of melting the opponent’s heart.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

As always, Kling, who always gave in to her, nodded pleasantly. Telling his servant to wait for a little more, he escorted her out of the house.

With their arms folded side by side, the two headed for the back garden. The midday sun made the lush garden even brighter. Indeed, the two hadn’t had private time in a long time, so the staff with the mansion stepped back and quietly followed them from a distance.

Kling put up an umbrella for her in person. She leaned her head on his arms, fully appreciating his considerations.

“I just had wicked thoughts.”

“Wicked thoughts?”

“Yeah. I just wished you were my servant or a knight.”

What she said was very disrespectful, of course. But Kling responded with a good smile.

“Haha. Is it because you want me to put up an umbrella for you like this? Well, I can always do it for you even if I were not your servant or knight.”

“No, what I mean is…If you were my subordinate, you would not disobey my order, right? So, I’m going to give you an order right now. Eat well and sleep well for three days from today. You shall work for only six hours a day, walk with me every day, and eat breakfast and dinner together. ”

Duke Kling looked down at her daughter tenderly. The sunshade of his umbrella tilted further toward her.

“Of course, I know my subordinate wouldn’t obey all my orders. Do you know how hard it was for me to have Iric rest today? He only gave up after I persuaded him for thirty minutes. If I hadn’t threatened to fire him, he would not have obeyed my order.”

“As he is a loyal man by nature, it’s very hard to have him follow your will. It’s hard to change him.”

“Well, he listens to me very well when I give him other assignments. But he wouldn’t budge a bit even when it’s very obvious that he will have a hard time physically. He doesn’t know how worried I am about him.”

Marianne walked around the garden, babbling like a baby bird. Duke Kling responded with a gentle reply or laugh. They enjoyed a peaceful and leisurely walk in the dark for a while.

While they were walking, chattering in a happy mood, they passed by several places.

By the time they passed the flower garden, where crippled flowers were growing in abundance, she pulled his arms as if she had struck an idea.