Chapter 130

Of course, Jed couldn’t bring himself to say something as far as that. It was not because he did not regret it, but because he had already a sense of guilt that would come after he admitted it. He even wanted to beat himself hard for that.

Eckart was his closest friend in the world, with whom he grew up with before the emperor could learn how to walk. Although he didn’t know why their parents made sure that they both grew together, there was a clear reason why Jed trusted and followed Eckart now.

Eckart was a great prince. In Jed’s eyes, there was no other legitimate ruler than Eckart during his time, and he was also the only ruler who could rule Aslan most fairly and greatly. Rather than living the life of a wealthy and peaceful bystander only for himself, Jed had firm conviction in the emperor that allowed him to be his close advisor, thus facing the harsh political realities.

Jed thought it was his destiny to assist Eckart, Emperor Frei VII, to go down as one of the most successful rulers in Aslan’s history. Eckart also expected him to carry out his job accordingly. Jed tried to do everything for the emperor. He gave all the wealth of his family and his personal loyalty to Eckart. He was proud of the fact that he was the emperor’s close advisor in any place, so he sometimes did not hesitant to give him bitter advice.

Therefore, he had no regrets about what he had done today.

There was no chance that Eckart wished he would regret it. As Eckart knew why Jed had given him such advice, he would not resent Jed. Of course, Jed was not sure if Eckart really wanted to hear his advice in his capacity as his advisor.

“Mom, I sometimes feel something disrespectful. What if Eckart had not been born in the imperial family, but in a normal noble family?”

Jed suddenly wondered what he really wanted to tell Eckart as his closest advisor.

“What if the emperor had grown up under the love of his parents without any threat to his life, failing and making mistakes like everyone else, crying and laughing freely as he wished and getting more accustomed to trust others rather than dwell in suspicion and wariness?”

Jed was suddenly choked with tears, so he breathed in quickly.

Everyone did their best, nobody did anything wrong, but no one was completely happy.

When his hope was small, Eckart did not know if it was painful enough. It was a time when it was better for him to aim for a larger goal as an excuse as he was obsessed with merely surviving.

He had no choice but to feel the desire for the empire and the imperial family as well as the power and honor more than his personal desires.

Jed suddenly thought that perhaps his advice was the best excuse to force Eckart to sacrifice things without a sense of guilt.

In fact, it wasn’t Eckart who trapped himself inside the iron wall, but everyone around him, including himself.

“If Eckart had been born into a noble man’s family, it may be a great loss to this empire, but I think he may have been happier than he is now.”

“Jed.”

“If that’s the case, I think I could have chatted with him or advised him about love instead of that rubbish talk about politics.”

The countess pitifully looked at her son’s drooped shoulders.

“Don’t blame yourself.”

She put her wrinkled hands silently on the back of his trembling hands.

“Assumption is meaningless in history. No one knows who will be happier as the son of an ordinary noble family or as the successor of the Frey family. It is only God who makes us choose only one out of tens of millions of lives.”

Jed slowly raised his head and looked at his mother. Despite his heavy drinking, his pale face and trembling eyes seemed to have made her recall old memories about him.

She could still find the trace of her son’s face as a kid, who, as a seven-year-old boy who accidentally smashed the prince’s treasure while playing with him and studied his face to check if he was angry.

“What we can do now is… ” she said, stopping for a moment to catch her breath.

At the moment, she felt she had given her son too much burden.

“What we can do for the emperor at this point is to make sure we spare no efforts in making him fully happy.”

But fate was destined to be like that.

Fate was something you couldn’t escape whether you knew it or didn’t. Sometimes it was persistent, harsh, and tormenting, but you would have to put up with it for a long time despite that fact that it felt painful and burdensome.

The countess rose from her seat. Jed slowly looked at her. She looked down at her son and smiled silently.

“Next time you see the emperor, just convey to him your honest opinion.”

“…You mean my inner feelings?”

“You bet. Tell him what you really want to say candidly. You know, the emperor is a tender-hearted man. He will listen to you and forgive you no matter what you say.”

The countess comforted her pale-looking son, patting him on the shoulder. She took off the coat over her shoulders and put it back on his shoulders, hugging his red hair in her arms and stroking it several times. When she told him not to drink too much with a worried voice, he nodded slowly. Having said that, she left the garden.

It was late at night. While returning to the main bedroom, she slowly recalled the daring voice of the woman who visited her mansion recently.

“He will soon destroy the emperor. He will literally usurp his power.”

“So, don’t you think you should be my ally, too, as the emperor’s ally?”

“But that’s true. Apart from political reasons, I love the emperor too much.”

“The sooner, the better. Not just for me, but for the emperor.”

She reached her bedroom finally and let out a long and deep sigh. She barely admitted it while walking into her silent room.

Maybe she didn’t have any other choice in the first place.

***

On June 4th, bright sunshine shone on Milan. Although the sunlight was a bit strong, the wind was moderate and the humidity was not high, so it was perfect for an outing.

It had been five days since the emperor and his fiancee returned safely. The Imperial Palace was quiet, though a scandal involving Lady Marianne shocked the people on the Noble Road. At least it looked so on the surface. As always, secret rumors passed over the high white walls of the Imperial Palace, but the palace was extremely peaceful anyway. It seemed as if the palace was in the middle of the eye of a typhoon.

As a result, the gates of noble families, who didn’t need to pay attention to the emperor,

opened in unison before noon. The wagons headed for Lake Ronen, Palatine Hill and Compiegne Forest drove fast, cutting through the clear air.

Marianne loved to go on picnics during her childhood. As it happened to be, she had no schedule on that day, so Cordelli prepared for a picnic early in the morning as soon as she checked the weather. She put a white lace tablecloth, tea engraved with summer rose leaves, soft cushions, and parasols in a picnic bag.

After having breakfast, Cordelli even enjoyed a sweet dessert. Then she put a snack for Poibe and hung it on the handle of the picnic bag. Cordelli said to Marianne who lay back on the bed after having a quick breakfast, “You know what? I hear Milan has a rainy season in the summer. It’ll rain quite a bit, so it would be hard to go out at that time.”

“…”

“Oh, you told me you promised to take a walk with Sir Iric, right? Oh my goodness, I guess our god has blessed us with a perfect day for your nice walk today. Our lady is also receiving the favor of the nine gods. right?”

“…”

“You told me you wanted to go to Lake Ronen last time, didn’t you? Nowadays, many people go to Palatine Hill or Compiegne Forest. Any place is fine. Wherever you go, you will see lots of flowers and trees you like. Aren’t you curious about how beautiful the flowers are because the weather is so good?”

Marianne just sat down by the bed, staring intently at her sparkling eyes.

Then Cordelli strained her eyes and held her hands.

“Let’s go out, Lady!”

She felt Cordelli was pretty much stubborn. Cordelli was determined to take her out of bed by all means.

In the end, Marianne gave in to her demands. She got out of bed, changed into a light dress and told her she would also call Sir Iric for an outing.

Cordelli was excited and sent someone to the stables. Then, she had two hard-working maids and three servants follow her, holding the picnic bag in hand and looking only at the hem of Marianne’s dress.

But the path Marianne walked was a bit strange. Cordelli walked along the familiar path and asked, “Where are you going?”