/

Chapter 4.7




Chapter 4.7
Patricia’s smile slightly wavered. It wasn’t very noticeable, so Emma, whose eyes were downcast, didn’t notice it at all.
“The Princess said that?”
“Yes, Red King.”
Emma was very nervous. She had received the Princess’s permission, but she didn’t feel comfortable talking to the Red King. She felt like she was being a double agent, so her heart was racing inside her chest.
“You. What is your name again?”
The Red King had already asked her this when Emma first came at her request. Emma answered it once again.
“My name is Emma Dalton.”
“And you said your father is a baron?”
“No, it was my great-grandfather…”
“Ah, right. The Princess…”
Patricia dragged out the last word as she chuckled.
“Seems to have taken a liking to you.”
Just what does she see in you?
Even slow Emma could hear the unasked question in the Red King’s voice. Embarrassed, Emma’s ears began to turn red.
“Are you married?”
“Not yet.”
“Once you raise a child, you’ll understand. A child will never tell their parent everything. Even though you only want to know what your child likes and dislikes, due to the difference in age and the generation gap, the child will always feel more comfortable opening up to people their own age. It seems that the Princess is no different.”
“Yes, Red King.”
“The child always causes trouble for the parent. It’s quite sad.”
“Yes.”
Patricia told Emma not to tell Sienna that she had called her here and that she had asked her all these questions.
Unaccustomed to the speech used in the Imperial Palace, Emma mindlessly answered Patricia’s questions bluntly. Patricia couldn’t figure out what was going on inside Emma’s head.
‘I need to tell the Princess that I met with the Red King. The Princess didn’t ask me to do it, but I think that is the right thing to do.’
The Red King gestured to a lady-in-waiting behind her. The lady-in-waiting placed a pouch in front of Emma.
Emma looked down at the beautiful pouch before raising her head. When she met Patricia’s eyes, Patricia began to nod.
‘Ah, she must want me to deliver this to the Princess.’
Not realizing that this was money to keep her mouth shut, Emma carefully picked up the pouch with both hands.
“You may leave.”
After Emma left, Patricia began to rub her temple as she closed her eyes. A lady-in-waiting cautiously approached her and spoke.
“Red King, Earl Rimone has arrived.”
“Let him in.”
Patricia still had a grave expression on her face as she sat on the sofa. Doug Rimone, also known as Earl Rimone, was the son of Duke Rimone as well as Patricia’s older brother. When he entered the room, all the ladies-in-waiting left the room.
“Welcome.”
“You don’t look well.”
“How is Father feeling?”
Duke Rimone hadn’t been feeling well these days. He wasn’t as energetic as he used to be. Even though some of the best doctors stayed by his side day and night, they couldn’t stop the effects of aging.
“He looked like he was doing better today.”
“Will he be able to attend the Princess’s coming-of-age party?”
“If it’s possible.”
“That’s not good enough. Father needs to show his face looking healthy. We can’t lose the image of authority that Father has just yet.”
“Father also knows that very well.”
The family trees of the six ducal families all shared the same roots once you went back far enough. For the most part, they all had the same ancestors. Therefore, they were all equally matched when it came to power, but there was still a ranking system among them.
The House of Rimone was ranked higher than the Hosue of Luke. The current Duke Rimone was the of the 33rd generation.
This ranking system was agreed upon by the ducal families. Because there were many powerful feudal families, they needed to create a system to bring some order.
Duke Rimone was considered to be a highly respected elder. If two ducal families had a clash of interests, it was customary for the family with the lower rank to yield.
Because of its rank as well the prestige of producing the Red King, the Rimone family enjoyed many benefits. If Duke Rimone ever passed away, the other ducal families would begin to get noisy.
“Duke Grosi…”
“The Princess…”
The two began speaking at the same time before shutting their mouths.
“What about the Princess?”
Doug asked Patricia to speak first.
“She’s been acting very strange lately.”
“She’s at that age.”
“Did you know that she left the Palace for the first time a few days ago?”
“I heard. Was the boy’s name Joseph? I heard that the grandson of Duke Luke invited her. Weren’t you interested in that boy anyway?”
“It looks like the Princess is interested in someone else.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. I only know that he is from a ducal family. The Princess went onto a balcony with that man. Just the two of them.”
“What?”
Doug stood up in shock.
“No need to be so shocked. I looked into what had happened at the masquerade, and I heard that they didn’t spend that much time together. The Princess wouldn’t have done anything improper with that man. She’s not someone who is indiscreet.”
Doug sighed in relief and flopped back onto the sofa. Patricia began to chew on her red lips.
“I have no idea who that man is.”
“Who told you that he was from a ducal family?”
“The Princess told me herself.”
Actually, she heard it from Emma, and Emma had heard it from Sienna. Of course, Sienna added some truth to her false information.
“What did you want to tell me, Brother?”
“Ah… About Duke Grosi. I heard that he’s been talking to Prince Dian lately, so I’ve planted a few of my men.”
Patricia frowned. If it were any other time, she would have dug into it a bit more thoroughly. But right now, Patricia was mind was on other matters.
“I’m sure that wicked old man is trying to shake things up on our end. That’s not the problem right now, Brother. Please look into the man that approached the Princess.”
“Alright.”\n