Chapter 128

The tip of the pen with the feather of a white swan crumpled with a pleasant sound. Ink ran, leaving ugly stains on the bottom of the edict, set to be completed with the emperor’s signature.

Eckart looked at the ink on the feather tip spreading wider and darker on the edict helplessly.

“It’s a pity that innocent swans have come to get their feathers plucked again.”

Someone who suddenly shouted like that stole the broken quill from Eckart’s hand. This man’s action was not only rude but also senseless.

But Eckart pushed aside the edict to the edge of the desk instead of rebuking him. Then he took out one of the stacks of papers and laid it out again, reaching out as if he wanted a new pen with a shameless expression.

“Your Excellency, do you know how many pens you have broken until now?” Jed asked, barely suppressing his frustration with his actions.

He rummaged in the drawer for a new pen, frowning deeply as if he had chewed a rotten apple and spit it out. He then comforted himself, thinking sadly that his honor as the emperor’s close advisor was not easily earned.

“Do I need to know that?”

Eckart’s fingertips were still twitching, his gaze fixated on the desk.

“Of course, you should know!”

“Why?”

“Well…! ” Jed was at a loss for words at the moment.

If Eckart wanted to find an issue with the relevant regulation, Jed had nothing to say.

Eckart was the only master of Aslan, the emperor with a crown of nine jewels. He was an absolute ruler who didn’t need to worry about crushing or burning a few quills a day. It was not his job to count the number of discarded pens and order new pens from the craftsman to refill the drawers even if he broke fifty more pens at the desk.

But the draft of the edict and other documents were written by Jed himself. So, when the documents were damaged by accident while the emperor was signing them, it was Jed who had to draft them again.

“If you really insist, I have no choice but to do…”

Jed suddenly put the quill pen back in the drawer. Instead, he took out an iron pen embossed with a laurel branch and put a thin metal nib on it.

After making a new pen instantly, he handed it to Eckart with a triumphant expression.

Eckart received it without any resistance.

He looked at Jed, who seemed to challenge him to break it if he wanted to, and then a clean piece of paper was prepared on his desk.

In no time, a hard metal nib ripped the paper and even scratched the desk.

“Ah! You’re so annoying!”

Jed shouted at him, losing his temper. Seeing red, he stared at Eckart intensely.

“If you have complaints, just speak out right now!”

“No complaints.”

“No, you have complaints! If you don’t, why did you break five quill pens and even tear the paper”

“It’s my mistake.”

“Oh my god. You don’t make any mistake usually, but why are you making such a silly mistake today?”

“Jed. Nothing’s as dumb as arguing about the cause of what happened by coincidence.”

While replying calmly, Eckart pushed the torn paper aside.

As if he was dumbfounded, Jed stared at him sharply, who was the revered emperor as well as his old friend who seemed to be his worst enemy at this moment.

“If I had known this, I would not have requested you to give Colin special vacation leave. Why did you grant my request? You should have stopped me!”

“I’m disappointed you are working as the chief secretary of the Treasury Department when you don’t think ahead at all. I’m just worried if I can trust you and leave the financial affairs of this country to you.”

As Eckart responded confidently, Jed got upset again.

‘Is he going to pick a fight with me?’

Jed was not thinking of seriously challenging Eckart, which would be unthinkable for Kloud or Colin.

It was a kind of friendly protest that only Jed among the numerous vassals of the emperor could think of and put into action.

“Your Excellency, tell me honestly.”

“I’m always treating you sincerely, Jed.”

“Is it because of Lady Marianne that you are cross with me?”

While he was signing the documents, Eckart suddenly stopped and stared into the air.

Although he grabbed the pen and finished signing the documents, he was already trapped into the trick set up by Jed who had been keeping an eye on his every move.

Jed tightened his shoulders and straightened his back as if he cut the enemy leader’s neck. Since he was a big guy, Jed felt he was more confident and proud by changing his posture even a little bit.

“Oh I now know it. That was the reason! I think that strange rumor has already reached the main office here at the Imperial.”

“… Hey, don’t guess about things blindly!”

“You don’t have to stare at me so angrily, Your Majesty!”

Jed boldly faced up to him even if Eckart was glaring at him fiercely. Eckart shot him a look and then turned his eyes away.

Jed opened his mouth as if on cue.

“The rumor is just a rumor. You know that, right? It was you who wanted to use Lady Marianne as a double-edged sword. Didn’t you start this at the risk of a more dangerous situation? She is doing her bit very well now.”

“…”

“Why? At that time you were so peaceful and calm, but are you now worried about her as if she is like a child just at the edge of the water? Even if you know that the rumors are all lies, you can’t sleep well at night because you are so upset, right?”

Eckart did not answer and kept his mouth shut.

Jed was right. It was Eckart himself who took her as a hostage and tried to use her as a double spy. He thought she was the perfect spy who could serve by freely shuttling between the emperor and his enemy Hubble and Ober as his fiancee as well as a fantastic card to shake the huge chessboard called Aslan, through which he could obtain hard evidence about their treason and gain Duke Kling’s support.

That was all he wanted from her. Therefore, like Jed recommended, he thought of using more cunning tricks, and decided he should.

But the situation changed.

Marianne was still a useful card to him, but he was uncomfortable with using her only for his own purpose. Of course, Jed knew the reason better than him who was deliberately annoying him at the moment. Jed knew how ridiculous and poor the reason was.

“Why are you so silent, Your Majesty? Is the rumor true?”

Jed frowned at Eckart who seemed very nervous and uncomfortable at the moment.

As far as he knew, Eckart was not the type of person who revealed his true feelings so easily.

He rarely could go to sleep because he was so worried about somebody, or he was not the type of man who was now being optimistic, or rather pessimistic because of the groundless rumors circulating in the social circles.

Normally Eckart would have sharply shouted at Jed to stop his nonsense, but he didn’t this time.

His unusual attitude eventually disturbed Jed’s mind a lot.

“Oh my god, Your Majesty, I feel sorry as you act like this. I wish I had believed that new general who told me that you and Lady Marianne got very close in Roshan.”

“Curtis is not that new general, man.”

“That doesn’t matter, right? Don’t you remember you told me to do justice and then be executed? You tried to behead the horseman right after the wagon accident, right? That’s why Lady Marianne was not injured at all while you were seriously wounded when both of you fell from the falls.”

“… Jed.”

“Twenty years of our friendship seems to be nothing before your love. Is that the reason why you didn’t want to involve her from the beginning?”

“If you say more and annoy me…”

Eckart picked up the ink bottle without saying anything. When he tilted his wrist to pour it over a stack of papers, Jed, who seemed to be sneering at him, grabbed a pile of papers in astonishment.

“Hold on a moment! Sorry! Please calm down! What I mean is just…”

Eckart put the ink bottle down in front of Jed desperately pleading with him to stop it.

With a mix of relief and resentment, Jed stood up, looking at the ink bottle with a sultry expression.

“My father told me that the more you stop somebody’s love, his or her love would be more passionate. That’s the way how things work in this world, so how can I stop you? I think Lady Marianne is one of the two types of women when someone like you who is very suspicious is love with her.”

“… ”

“She must be a woman who is warm enough to melt the ‘Blue Iron Wall’ of Milan, or she’s a wicked villain who can’t compare with Ober.”

That was a very natural assumption. His assumption about Marianne’s identity was something that his former self, or even his current self should always keep in mind.