CHAPTER 41………
As soon as Lloyd arrived at the imperial palace, he immediately requested an audience with the Emperor.
After waiting for several dozen minutes in the reception room, the sound of hurried footsteps drew closer, and then the door swung open.
Lloyd rose and bowed his head to her.
“Your Majesty the Emperor.”
“Duke, what brings you here so suddenly?”
The Emperor looked quite startled—Lloyd hardly ever came to the palace unless it was something truly important.
Glancing around, Lloyd wore an uneasy expression.
Understanding his intent, the Emperor dismissed the others.
“Everyone, leave us.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The knights and attendants who had accompanied the Emperor withdrew.
Once the people left, the spacious reception room, filled with ornate furniture, suddenly felt empty.
The Emperor sat down on the sofa and asked quickly, in a low voice,
“So… if you came in such haste, it must be about Minerva, right? Has something—don’t tell me—has something happened to her?”
Taken aback by the Emperor’s unusually urgent tone, Lloyd replied,
“Ah, no. That’s not it, but…”
“What? No?”
The Emperor’s eyes widened, then he let out a sigh of relief.
He knew Lloyd disliked coming to the palace.
And since Lloyd, who found even the semi-annual reports burdensome, had suddenly appeared, the Emperor assumed something grave had happened to Minerva. But it turned out that wasn’t the case.
Relaxed yet still puzzled, the Emperor arched one eyebrow.
“Then why have you come?”
“In truth… I’ve come to ask a favor concerning Her Highness Princess Minerva.”
“A favor… about Minerva?”
The Emperor’s expression grew serious again.
He glanced around warily, as if worried someone might be eavesdropping, then gave a small nod.
Finally, Lloyd spoke quietly.
“I believe we should move Her Highness Princess Minerva’s residence to the Duchy of Eckhart.”
“If nothing’s wrong, then why?”
The Emperor raised an eyebrow at the unexpected—and difficult—request.
Minerva’s place of confinement was not something that could be changed lightly. Lloyd knew this.
But he wanted to repay her.
Clenching his fists, he looked the Emperor straight in the eye and spoke.
“Her Highness lives each day in extreme anxiety, never knowing when death might come for her.”
The Emperor frowned, as if suspecting something.
“Has Mars already tried to harm her?”
“No. But it’s only a matter of time.”
It had already been five years since Minerva was confined.
Prince Mars and his wife Gabriel surely knew she was in Mente territory.
For now, they wouldn’t dare touch her while the Emperor watched.
But once Mars became Emperor, the situation would change.
Given Gabriel’s nature, she would certainly seek to eliminate Minerva to remove any future threats.
Up to this point, the Emperor understood Lloyd’s reasoning.
However…
“Why Eckhart, of all places?”
“The House of Eckhart is neutral. It’s close to the capital, yet outside imperial territory—so even if His Highness ascends to the throne, his influence won’t easily reach there. Isn’t it actually safer than Mente for confinement?”
“That’s… true.”
There was no flaw in Lloyd’s argument.
The Duchy, being well-governed, would be far more secure than some remote countryside; there would be little chance of a surprise attack.
Still, something nagged at the Emperor.
His gaze sharpened.
“Duke… why are you going so far to help Minerva? If I recall correctly, you both were horrified at the idea of a marriage proposal between you.”
Lloyd remembered that time.
Of course, it had been Minerva who had vehemently refused—as if marriage meant death—but he himself hadn’t been fond of the idea either.
He couldn’t openly reject it because of what he’d received from the Emperor, but still.
And yet, here he was—coming to the palace of his own accord, suddenly asking to protect Minerva. Naturally, the Emperor found it suspicious.
He did not know about Aslan.
But Lloyd did.
He decided to tell the Emperor part of the truth.
“…Her Highness saved my daughter.”
“Your daughter… the one you adopted?”
“Yes. I was foolishly away from home for too long and didn’t realize she was being abused by an employee. If Her Highness hadn’t discovered it while tutoring my daughter… I don’t know how long it would have gone on.”
The Emperor’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Minerva was teaching your daughter? The two of them had contact? No—start from the beginning and tell me properly!”
“Ah, yes. So…”
Lloyd recounted to the Emperor how he first met Minerva—carefully omitting any mention of Aslan.
“I see… so Minerva didn’t recognize you.”
“Most likely not. At the time, I was barefaced, using an alias, and I had my daughter with me.”
“And in return, she taught the child…”
The Emperor nodded slowly, seeming to accept the story—then suddenly paused.
“Huh. Even so, Minerva… teaching a child?”
That didn’t sound like her at all.
The Emperor muttered this for a long while, tilting his head.
Honestly, Lloyd had thought the same.
Five years ago, such a thing would have been unthinkable.
The Minerva he knew had been arrogant, silently looking down on everyone with cold eyes.
But with Aslan, she was completely different from her time in the palace.
Her eyes could be so full of life.
Her expression could be so gentle.
She could laugh and cry so openly.
It was as shocking as watching a cold marble statue break open to reveal a living human.
“Her Highness has changed a great deal.”
She had once been selfish, thinking only of herself.
But after Aslan came into her life, she seemed to treasure her as much as she did herself—and came to understand that even other people’s children were precious to them.
You could see it clearly in how she treated Ayla.
“I wish to repay Her Highness’s kindness, no matter what. Please, Your Majesty.”
Lloyd bowed deeply.
If, in the future, the Crown Prince’s faction came to deal with Minerva, Aslan would inevitably be exposed in the process.
Even if she wasn’t discovered, Minerva’s death would be certain.
The only thing that wouldn’t change was that Aslan would survive.
Because Minerva would do anything to save her.
But even if she lived, what kind of life would Aslan have after watching her mother die before her eyes? Lloyd could already imagine.
He wanted to prevent that.
When Ayla entered the Academy, he planned to move to the Duchy of Eckhart.
If that happened, he wouldn’t be able to protect Minerva and her daughter.
The best solution was to bring them to the Duchy now, under his own protection.
The Emperor stared at Lloyd’s bowed head for a long moment, then slowly spoke.
“I…”
Pablo waited anxiously outside the palace for Lloyd to emerge.
After about an hour, the gates opened, and Lloyd walked out.
The moment Pablo saw his face, his own lit up.
“Your Grace, it seems things went well!”
“Yes.”
Even with his face hidden behind a mask, Lloyd’s satisfaction was obvious.
Now he could repay Minerva’s kindness.
Pablo, relieved, hurried to open the carriage door.
“Then let’s return quickly! Lady Ayla is waiting!”
“Before that, we should buy her a gift.”
“Of course! What did she want again?”
“She has plenty of dolls, so this time… let’s get her a dollhouse. A three-story mansion.”
“Excellent idea. Please, get in!”
As if he himself were receiving the present, Pablo climbed eagerly into the driver’s seat.
Lloyd, unable to hide a smile, stepped into the carriage.
