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Chapter 12: The Face is the Mirror of the Heart
“I am more than happy to see you, Linzel.”
There was some enthusiasm in Hernan’s voice. It seemed that he felt a sense of competition.
‘Hernan…. You must be jealous because Izekiel seemed to welcome me.’
“It is also nice to meet Hernan here,” Linzel responded to Hernan.
Linzel was a little embarrassed by his honest confession, but it was true that she was glad to see him.
“…..it is.”
A small smile crept across Hernan’s lips. He seemed to like her answer.
It was then that another voice was heard.
“Have a seat.”
She was the empress, Angel.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Majesty the Empress,” Linzel said.
Angel smiled gracefully. She had brown hair and darker green eyes than Linzel’s.
Izekiel didn’t seem to resemble Hernan.
After the greetings, the meal began.
The food in the imperial palace was much better than the food eaten at the duke’s house.
It was to the point where Linzel would have wanted to fill her mouth with food if she could.
But Linzel’s body could not cope with the excessive meal. For days after she ate greedily, she might get a stomachache.
….Oh, of course it would also be against etiquette to eat gluttonously. It was definitely not that she didn’t consider etiquette as an important factor as well. Definitely not.
Appropriate conversation took place during the meal.
The conversation was mostly led by Delta, who mainly asked questions related to Linzel.
What kind of food did she like? What is life like in a duke’s house…?
Maybe it was to gauge her.
It wasn’t that they were unpleasant questions.
The conversation was not boring, the food was delicious, and the atmosphere was friendly. It was an absolutely perfect meal.
After the meal, they had a light tea time.
As Linzel took a sip of the fragrant tea, Delta asked a meaningful question.
“… … So, did Lady Linzel decide to marry Hernan because of his face?”
“……! Pooh-!”
Surprised by the honest question, she spit out the tea she had been holding in her mouth.
Not only did the tea water Linzel spouted splash on the table, but it also dripped down her lips.
It was a familiar situation. It was like this when she was talking to Letty.
Instead of making her feel dirty or foolish, Hernan jumped up from where he was sitting.
“Are you all right?”
He didn’t stop at asking a question, but even went so far as to roughly wipe her lips.
( T/N : who told him to be this cute? (灬♥ω♥灬) )
His white sleeves were beginning to get ugly stains.
“Where are you sick?”
“……”
Hernan seemed to think it was strange that Linzel didn’t answer. She simply looked up at Hernan with a bewildered gaze.
‘Excuse me….I lost my composure because you were talking about me too frankly.’
How should she answer Delta’s question about whether she decided to marry his son because of his face?
She couldn’t say that she decided to get married because of the <Notes from the Imperial Palace>.
“Lady Linzel. No need to panic. I tend to like honest people.”
Those were the words of Angel.
“I also like His Majesty’s good looks. However, I was worried that the young lady might be someone who only cares about appearance.”
“Absolutely not!”
Linzel protested and then smiled awkwardly.
“I’m saying this because the young lady seems to like good-looking people. You know it would be difficult if you like me, right?”
The owner of the voice, full of confidence in his own appearance, was Izekiel.
Izekiel was smiling mischievously.
“I don’t think that will ever happen. Haha.”
Of course, Izekiel was handsome enough.
If he hadn’t been Hernan’s older brother, if he hadn’t been someone Letty liked, Linzel very well could have had a crush on him.
However, there would be no reason to like Izekiel when she decided to become Hernan’s bride. She was not that unprincipled.
“You don’t know that for certain,” Izekiel said as he shrugged his shoulders.
It was obviously directed at Linzel, but somehow it felt like a declaration of war on Hernan.
It was then that Linzel’s vision was obscured.
“…. Huh?”
A large hand hung in front of her eyes. The hand completely obscured her vision, making it impossible to look at Izekiel any longer.
There was no way Linzel didn’t know the owner of this hand.
Hernan, who was standing next to her and had wiped her mouth a while ago, was the owner.
“Don’t look at Izekiel too much.”
Hernan’s voice, which sank heavily, was full of vigilance.
Linzel felt a sense of intimidation there.
That’s right, he was the one nicknamed the ‘War Demon’… … It was the first time Linzel thought of it.
She thought he was a shy cutie. But that didn’t mean he was scared.
It was because she knew why Hernan had told her not to look at Izekiel. Jealousy. Hernan seemed to be jealous of his brother again.
She couldn’t pinpoint if he was jealous because he liked her, or if it was jealousy out of spite.
However, the jealous Hernan looked pretty good.
Was it because she had tasted the jealousy of a man who seemed indifferent?
No wait.
Come to think of it, Hernan in the original work was a person whose jealousy was terrifying enough to make a grave for the eyeballs of those who looked at Letty!
‘There’s no way Izekiel’s eyeballs would be plucked out,’ Linzel thought, with the hope that Izekiel’s eyeballs would be healthy.
“Your Highness Hernan. I am the one who will become Your Highness’s bride.”
With that one sentence, the sense of intimidation Hernan was exuding disappeared. He came to slowly withdraw his hand.
The tips of Hernan’s ears were burning brightly. Did he like the word bride?
‘Ohoho.’
“Hernan, please sit down.”
It was an order from Delta who was watching us.
“Yes, Father.”
After answering, Hernan sat down.
“And the two of you. it’s nice to see that you’re getting along.”
“Thank you for taking good care of me, Your Majesty.”
“I don’t hate the honest Lady Linzel either. Because Hernan and I have the same face. Ha ha ha ha ha.”
Delta let out a pleasant laugh.
It was Hernan’s face that Linzel admired, but suddenly she ended up even indirectly praising Delta’s face.
“But, as the empress said, I’m worried that the young lady might be someone who only cares about people’s outward appearance.”
Hah. It was a time when an image renewal was necessary. She wanted to give a good reason for liking Hernan’s handsome face.
At that moment, an amazing idea came to mind.
‘…..oh!’
It was a ploy that did not deny that Linzel liked a good-looking face, but also would not cause her to be seen as a shallow person.
After clearing her voice, she whipped out the preface.
“Your Majesty. There is a saying that the face is the mirror of the heart.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It is said that people’s faces show the traces and nature of the years they have lived. No matter how hard one tries to hide it, I think it will always come out.”
“Tell me more.”
Delta put on a curious face.
“His Highness Hernan is a great commander who has been on numerous battlefields. That is why his face has an overbearing feeling that makes others recoil.”
“Right.”
“However, the face of His Majesty that I actually met didn’t contain that feeling,” Linzel continued while looking affectionately at Hernan. “I saw innocence, like a child who wants me to look at the clothes he puts on with care!”
“Ooh.”
“And the sun-like warmth that was considerate of my weak body!”
“Oh ho ho.”
“Even though we only met twice, I came to know that Hernan is an upright and warm-hearted person.”
Linzel cupped her heart with both hands.
“I like His Highness’s face, which reveals that kind of mentality and spirit.”
When she sent Hernan a heart made by crossing her index finger and thumb, Hernan’s face turned red rapidly.
It was then that a soft, whimpering sound was heard.
“Oh, that’s a very touching story. I feel ashamed of myself as a mother. Because I’ve never said anything like that to Hernan.”
The person who was wiping away tears with a handkerchief was Angel.
“And since the young lady was the first woman to recognize Hernan’s true face, tears came to my eyes without even realizing it….”
“I’ll try to find out better in the future, Your Majesty the Empress.”
Angel nodded her head. It seemed that she was completely captivated by Linzel’s words.
Delta even acknowledged Linzel with applause.
“The face is the mirror of the heart. That’s a good saying.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Linzel’s speech, which beautifully packaged the fact that she liked Hernan’s handsome face, seemed to have succeeded.
It seemed that the image renewal had definitely been achieved.
“So, Lady Linzel. What is on my face?”
“On His Majesty’s face……”
As she slurred her words, a faint tension hovered in the dining room. She spoke meaningfully, with a low voice.
“There is a handsomeness that is the most handsome of all the handsome men.”
As soon as Linzel finished speaking, the dining room was filled with laughter. Delta, Angel, who was crying, and even Hernan, who was blushing, were united in their laughter.
She seemed to have wittily passed over a difficult question.
Perhaps Hernan, who was about to become a husband, didn’t know. But Linzel couldn’t judge the emperor’s face on her own.
She couldn’t fathom exactly what kind of answer Delta was looking for. In this case, the best thing to do was to move on.
Right now, there was only one person who didn’t laugh.
And it was unfortunate, because Linzel thought his laugh would likely be one of the best.
‘Why does Izekiel have such a stiff face right now?’
It was only for a moment that Izekiel’s face hardened. Then he smiled faintly, as if enjoying the friendly atmosphere.
But that smile only looked bitter. At least that’s how Linzel saw it.
***
Before returning to the duke’s residence, Linzel handed out the presents she had brought.
Everyone liked the presents, but Hernan seemed especially impressed.
He seemed like a person who received a gift from a woman for the first time. Linzel hoped that was the case.
Delta brought out the words to end the meeting.
“Lady Linzel. I think you’d better go back before it’s too late.”
“Yes, then I will go back.”
“Okay. Next time, I don’t think it would be bad to see you at the wedding hall.”
“Oh dear,” the empress gasped quietly. There was nothing an emperor could not say.
Delta, who seemed in a good mood, continued to laugh.
Linzel raised her body to stand up after sitting for a long time. When she strained her legs to stand up, her lower body trembled.
It was a pain that she forgot about for a while, thanks to a delicious meal and pleasant conversation.
Linzel ended up staggering greatly.
She held onto the head of the chair to keep from falling, but…