Exchanges between the emperor and Ancia continued. Today, he gave a lot of precious ingredients as gifts for her who likes to cook.
Itâs not just the ingredients. From dress, jewelry to Mana Stone, the emperor sent Ancia a gift every day.
Tenstheon provided only a bare minimum budget to the Crown Princeâs palace. However, these days, he sent numerous items, under the pretext of giving gifts to the Crown Princess, Ancia.
After submitting conclusive evidence to overthrow the family of the Marquis Hamel, did she win the favor of the Emperor?
Tensteon was the only person Richard recognized.
He had once hoped that such a man would be his father, and tried to get into his eyes, but he could not penetrate Tenstheonâs impenetrable fortress.
Ancia captured the heart of the emperor, after capturing the monstrous crown princeâs heart.
What the hell happened to Ancia? How can she be so different?
If I knew it would be like this, I would have accepted the childâs heart before.
Richard tried to change Anciaâs mind.
He even sent the breath of mermaids that he had saved to use when it was important. But Ancia didnât even gave Richard a glance on his sincerity.
Sheâs so heartless.
But thatâs why I wanted her more. The more I canât easily get something, the more I want it.
How can I change Anciaâs mind?
I thought I could do anything to make the child mine.
Richard is pondering how to get hold of Ancia, suddenly, his father, the Duke of Cassil, called for him.
Richard entered the office of Duke Cassil. There was also Frank, the eldest son of Duke Cassil, in the office.
âYouâŠâ
A blunt object flew in before he could finish talking. Because it was always the same routine, Richard turned lightly to avoid the object.
âHow the hell do you handle this?!â
âWhat are you talking aboutâŠ?â
Richard knew what the Duke of Cassil means, but he was still trying to feign ignorance.
âHow come you donât know! The emperor sent gifts to the Crown Princeâs palace. The Crown Princess is also going in and out of the Imperial Palace! They are even going to the ball and festival together!â
Soon, the Imperial Palace will held a ball and festival to celebrate the Emperorâs safe return.
This festival was called the âsealing festivalâ*. And the sealing festival was the most important event in the empire. It was also a festival enjoyed not only by the empire but also by the entire western continent.
*TL note : because the emperor suceeded in sealing the dark door, so, itâs called sealing festival.
What would happen if the emperor appeared at a ball where envoys from all over the world gathered?
Everyone will think that the emperor regards the crown prince. Then, the princeâs position would naturally rise.
âIs that so?â
âYouâre not doing anything right, from the Marquis Hamel incident to the sealing festival! Youâre a good-for-nothing!â
The Duke of Cassil blamed Richard for all the incident that had taken place recently. And Frank, his half brother, laughed at Richard.
The Duke of Cassil was the emperorâs brother. But even though they were brothers, the difference was between heaven and earth.
Arnold Cassil was jealous of Tensteon and wanted to covet his place, but he lacked the ability.
The Duke of Cassil had three sons. The first son Frank and the third son Neon were the children of the Duchess, while the second son, Richard is the child of a slave.
The Duke regarded Richard as his own shame. He despised Richard. He didnât want to admit one of his son had the blood of slave.
Arnold Cassil tried to give Frank and Neon all his things.
There was already a crown prince, but he was doomed to die under a curse. The position will soon belonged to Frank or Neon.
Sadly, the eldest son Frank was incompetent because he resembled the Duke of Cassil, and the youngest, Neon, was still too young.
The Duke of Cassil was well aware of this, so if there was an easy and honorable position, he left it to Frank, and he made Richard do the difficult and dirty work.
The funny thing was that no matter who made a mistake, Richard was held responsible.
Of course, Richard has no history of making mistakes, so he was only unilaterally blamed for Frankâs mistakes.
âIâm sorry, since it was Frank who gambled with the money that the Marquis Hamel had embezzled, I was busy trying to stop the newsâŠâ
âWhat! Youâre crazy!â
When his disgrace was revealed, Frank shouted as he watched Richard scold him. The Duke of Cassil also sided with Frank.
âI donât want to hear it. Youâre young, but you want to use nasty tricks for your family. Are you making excuses for that?â
The Duke of Cassil and the Marquis Hamel were close friends, and the Marquis was close to Frank. It was they who recommended Brown Hamel as the chief servant of Crown Prince and entrusted him with the duties of a spy.
But when the incident happened, they blamed Richard. He didnât get angry because it was always like this.
âThe crown princeâs influence should no longer grow! Donât talk nonsense, think of a way to get over this situation!â
âThereâs one way,â
Richard said as he bowed politely.
The Duke of Cassil hated Richardâs origin, but his extraordinary head was useful. The duke was immediately delighted.
âWhat is it?â
âItâs bringing the Crown Princess into our side.â
âYouâre stupid! The Emperor loves her so much, but sheâll stick with us, is that possible?â
âNo matter how well the Emperor has done, she is just the wife of the monstrous Crown Prince. How much longer can she stand living with that monster? If we coax her well, itâll be over soon.â
âIs there a way?â
The Duke of Cassil was pleased with Richardâs words. Although he was young, he was a child who always found the correct solution.
âThe Crown Princess was always thirsty for her fatherâs love. Count Bellacianâs words will be easy to follow.â
âThe Count of BellacianâŠâ
The dukeâs lips went up satisfactorily. Count Bellacian was an easy-to-handle opponent.
***
Count Bellacian has been extremely busy these days.
When Ancia was favored by the emperor, the nobles and merchants fought and invited her father, Gilbert Bellacian, to their meetings and home.
Their ancestor and great light wizard, Liontel Bellacian, is said to have helped Emperor Phillip build the Asteric Empire.
But the descendants somehow failed to properly deal with the power of light, and even the âsuccessor of lightâ was weak.
Now, there was no successor with full power.
The Bellacian family gradually declined, and Gilbert even married the only daughter of a wealthy baron because of the money.
Theyâre not even a Viscount, they are a Baron!
When his first wife died after giving birth to Ancia, Gilbert hurried to wed his second wife. She was a woman of the same standing as Gilbert. They got a lovely daughter named Diana.
When the emperor sent in proposal of marriage, Gilbert freaked out.
What the emperor wanted was clearly Diana. But Gilbert could not send his beloved daughter to the Monstrous Crown Prince.
Of course, the proposal was not compulsory. Emperor Tensteon was strong, but heâs not a tyrant. He was not going to retaliate them for refusing the proposal.
However, Gilbert, who received the huge wedding gift sent by the emperor, sent Ancia instead of Diana.
She was the unwanted child after all. He sold her at a high price, so there was nothing more he could hope for.
However, Ancia, caught the emperorâs eye. These days the Emperor doted on Ancia like his own daughter.
The nobles, who had secretly ignored Gilbert and mocked the monstrous prince being his son-in-law, changed their attitude 180 degrees as soon as they heard the news.
However, Gilbert was not comfortable when he was invited to some noble party.
âHis Majesty has booked all these fancy dress for the Crown Princess. My daughter were screaming and crying.â
âHaha. He did.â
âI heard that His Majesty also bought this pink diamond for the Crown Princess.â
âYeah, well.â
Gilbert reacted insignificantly as if he had known it all, but in fact it was all new to him.
Ancia hasnât contacted them since she got married.
Gilbert didnât want to hear from her, either, so he didnât care much about it.
Marrying the cursed monster was a disgrace to the House of Bellacian.
Gilbert planned to throw out Ancia from the family register if the monstrous crown prince died.
But things have changed. The emperor began to care for Ancia like his own daughter.
Upon hearing the news, Gilbert hurriedly sent a letter to Ancia.
It was about how she would be a little bit of help to the family. But Ancia doesnât send back any answer.
âI hear youâre rearranging the road to the north this time, isnât Count Bellacian taking the right to build?â
âWith the Hamel family gone, the Bellacians may be crowned this time.â
âIf you want any good information, please let me know.â
âMy son graduated from the Knight Academy this time, but his grades were a little low. Iâd like him to join the First Order, Count, please help me.â
Gilbert, who listened to the nobles, only smiled awkwardly.