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“So… We don’t know how it happened, but it seemed that Miss Lise helped the prince who was sitting on the table next to her.”
“She diagnosed the Crown Prince’s eye disease, whom even military medical officers didn’t know well.”
The knights who had been escorting Lise in the Free City looked at each other while talking about the matter.
They were already intimidated, but it would be worse if they didn’t report.
Erhan’s expression turned darker and stiffer as he listened to their story without saying anything.
“Is it true that Lise said she wanted to see the Crown Prince again?”
The knights exchanged glances, and eventually, the oldest one sighed and nodded.
“Yes.”
Erhan touched his forehead and made a light groan. They couldn’t hear exactly, but the knights noticed a mixture of profanity and swear words.
He asked with a low voice to the stiff knights.
“What did you think when you saw Prince Jade in person?”
He was ill, hidden inside the Duke’s Castle until he was thirteen, so he didn’t have much interaction with others. And since then, he stayed in Irvia, so of course, he had never seen the Crown Prince.
He was probably going to see him for the first time at this victory banquet.
“I don’t need anything else, just tell me if he’s more handsome or fitter than me.”
Erhan, who knew Lise has a weakness for beauty, asked questionably.
The knights replied while thinking that there has been no such difficult situation since they came to the Duke’s Castle.
“Well… You have different styles. The Crown Prince has a softer impression….”
“He’s shorter than your Grace, but he’s in good shape since he’s been in a long war.”
“I think that there’s a rumor that his blue eyes are like glass beads….”
“I didn’t think his words and actions were crude. I saw him, and he looked like an innocent boy.”
Zickel, who was standing behind Erhan, shook his head secretly. It meant for them to stop immediately.
In front of the knights who shut their mouths in an instant, Erhan exhaled a harsh breath.
“Go.”
The knights retreated faster than ever after they had given their courtesy. Zickel and Erhan remained alone and kept quiet for a while until one spoke in a low voice.
“Lise directly said… That she wanted to meet again? And to the Crown Prince, she has met for the first time in her life at that? This is unacceptable.”
“Well….”
Zickel answered while scratching his chin.
“Well, the Prince even invited her to the victory banquet. It doesn’t seem to be a one-sided thing. It could also mean that he’s going to do the first dance with Miss Lise.”
“Ah, the first dance….”
He murmured as if it were terrible just thinking about it.
“He’ll be holding Lise’s waist and spinning her around? Damn it.”
“Well….”
“That’s ridiculous. Even me, who spent our childhood together with her, had never danced with her.”
“Your Grace, that’s….”
Zickel spoke cautiously.
“When I brought Miss Lise to the garden, on the evening of the inauguration, we exchanged a few words.” (Zickel)
“The meaning of spending that childhood together… Seems different for the two of you.” (Zickel)
Erhan raised his eyebrows as if commanding him to say more.
“Miss Lise thinks that she simply ‘raised’ the Duke when you’re both a child.” (Zickel)
“That’s right.”
“But with that in mind, she probably wouldn’t see the Duke as a man in her eyes.”
“…Why?”
“Because she only remembers your baby-like days when you were younger.”
Zickel explained like it was the most natural of things.
“In addition, Miss Lise is a commoner, so she would naturally want to have a good relationship with the Duke in the first place. Has His Grace ever considered that she might not have that kind of feeling with you?”
“Then what about the Crown Prince?”
“The royal family can have several wives, and even commoners are fine if it’s not an official seat….”
“That’s ridiculous.”
A vein popped up in Erhan’s clenched fist.
“I can never imagine Lise going to someone else, even more so as a mistress.”
“Even so, there are many people who are impatient to get there.”
“Shut up.”
He sprang to his feet.
“Even if Lise doesn’t see me as a man, that doesn’t mean I’m a woman.”
“Yes, but….”
“There is not much time left until her coming of age.”
“······.”
“I just have to look like a man to her until then.”
“What if you’re not seen as a man until the end?”
“Then it means I really don’t have a masculine charm.”
Erhan murmured in a disastrous tone.
“Lise is absolutely right in all things. If that really happens to be the case, it just means I’m not good enough.”
There were no emotions in Lise’s green eyes while looking at him when he first returned from Irvia. Only when he was really determined and seduced her would she show a wavering expression on her face.
And it was difficult to hold on to that atmosphere because, after a little while, her empty eyes would soon come back. He quickly realized that their feelings for each other were different.
She has no idea how much that makes him anxious.
He missed her so much for five years that the moment he met her, he felt like he was struck by lightning. The more they stay together, the more vivid it becomes, these emotions that only she can make him feel.
At least according to the imperial law, he had to win her heart until she reached adulthood. And once she reached adulthood, he wanted to start dating, get engaged, and get married.
Even if the Imperial Law prevents their marriage, of course, there were always many alternatives.
It was not the right time to express impatience.
There really isn’t much time left now.
As soon as Lise reached adulthood, he was planning to confess and propose an established relationship. But before that, his goal was to win her heart calmly and leisurely. However, he couldn’t believe that even the Crown Prince would intervene in an already difficult situation.
Now that he has taken over the Duchy, he has made up his mind to earnestly stick to Lise.
On the other hand, Zickel sighed secretly. He knew it was strange, but he really doesn’t think he should turn his eyes away anymore.
It was difficult for Zickel to guess exactly what Erhan wanted. Most people no longer bother about the fact that nobles and commoners could not marry anyway.
Lise was someone akin to an absolute existence to Erhan, and Zickel was reluctant to even ask what she really meant to him.
That’s why it was time for him to worry about Lise’s future, and Erhan to worry about his future. The doors to the training center opened up.
“Here you are.”
It was Joaquin.
He only showed his face briefly at the inauguration ceremony because of Kane’s interrogation.
“I thought I had to report urgently.”
It was late at night on a crescent moon. Joaquin’s voice was so serious that even Erhan stood up with a firm expression on his face.
“Kane’s interrogation is over. He couldn’t overcome the pain and ended up dying of a heart attack.”
“…They shouldn’t have tortured him until he was dead.”
“It must have been worse than expected.”
“Did he say something like who was behind him?”
“No. He kept his mouth shut about the direct head.”
Joaquin didn’t have much expectation in the first place as he often ended the interrogations without getting any leads before.
No matter who was behind them, it was clear that he had meticulously picked up spies who could do a good job of cleaning up behind themselves without implicating their figurehead even if they were caught.
He had known Kane for over 10 years.
Seeing that he kept his breath quietly and never revealed it all these years, it would be difficult to force open his mouth through questioning.
“But we’ve found an indirect background.”
“Indirect?”
“I smoked some sleeping incense and caught some words that he muttered involuntarily.”
Joaquin sighed seriously. That, too, was an unbelievable result.
“Your Grace.”
“Say it.”
“…The rebels seem to be involved.”
Erhan’s brows lifted.
“Rebellion?”
He thought that it was only a rumor that there was a group of rebels in the Empire.
The Crown Prince came back victorious and his success was clear as day, not to mention that the Empire was peaceful. Who would dream of having a rebellion at this point?
“There’s really a group of insurgents?”
“If it’s true, it’s already been organized for a long time. Kane has been at the Duchy for years.”
“So it means that the rebels have been targeting Cerceus from a long time ago.”
“I didn’t tell the Duke since you were still young then, but there was an attempt to poison the Duchess five years ago. Miss Lise found it out using the Ciputz fruit.”
“Oh, that incident….”
Erhan folded his arms and was lost in thought.
“That just showed that they targeted Lise next, and then Joaquin.”
He murmured low.
“Of course, I could also be included.”
All of this was revealed by Lise.
If his guess is true, Lise wanted to protect him, too. He was just afraid that she would get hurt while doing it.
“Rebels….”
His eyes sank deep.