[CHAPTER 77]
Silence fell over the study.
Sir Marek Loisen avoided Rision’s gaze, as if he had already anticipated his reaction.
In the end, it was Ravelan Arasas who spoke first.
“So your idea is to ask Miss Ortensa for her opinion?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Miss Ortensa always comes up with good ideas.”
It was a very Sir Marek Loisen-like answer.
Simple, clear, and utterly lacking in tact.
For the first time in a long while, Rision found himself resenting his loyal guard knight.
It was not as though Rision himself had never considered it.
Throughout their fruitless discussions, there had been a voice whispering in the back of his mind.
‘Why not ask Dianu?’
‘She would surely come up with a clever solution.’
As time passed, it became increasingly difficult to ignore that voice.
Ravelan Arasas glanced at Rision and shrugged.
“Well, I agree.”
“If she shows even half the ingenuity she used to fleece me at cards, I would be grateful.”
Whenever something displeased him, headaches were one of Rision’s chronic ailments.
He pressed his throbbing temples, which felt as though drums were pounding inside them, and shook his head.
“No.”
“I cannot involve her in this any further.”
“You are not asking her to strangle the Belua Duke with her own hands.”
“It is just offering an idea.”
“There is practically no danger at all, is there?”
Ravelan Arasas might have thought so.
But Rision’s experience and instincts whispered otherwise.
‘The moment I ask Dianu, it will not end with merely offering an idea.’
She would certainly become far more deeply entangled in this affair, whether by her own will or not.
That was precisely why he wanted to cut off the possibility altogether.
Knowing that she would be disappointed by this, it made forcing her to leave imperial palace affairs feel utterly pointless.
“…I will think about it.”
In the end, Rision chose to delay the decision with an answer that was neither here nor there.
Ravelan Arasas shot him a reproachful look, as though he could see straight through him.
* * *
The meeting ended without any gains at all.
They agreed to revisit the matter tomorrow, but it did not seem likely that a good idea would magically appear overnight.
Above all, the biggest problem was that Ravelan Arasas could not remain in the Catalos Empire indefinitely.
He had many obligations in his homeland.
‘One week.’
‘That is the limit.’
The look in Ravelan Arasas’s eyes as he said it was laden with meaning.
It was a reproach that, since they could no longer afford to be picky, they should use every card available, whether that card was Dianu or anyone else.
After forcing down a dinner that would not go down easily, Rision lay in the sitting room, trying to gather his thoughts.
At that moment, the door burst open and two dogs came charging in.
No, one was a dog, and the other was Erin Erbinjel.
Upon spotting Rision rising from the long chair, the young Grand Duke froze in place, flustered.
The problem was that the dog who had rushed in with Erin Erbinjel came barreling toward Rision with a beaming grin.
Erin shouted in a shrill voice.
“No, Nunu!”
“Wait!”
The puppy that had once been barely weaned when it was sent to Erin had now grown considerably.
It stopped just before leaping onto Rision’s knees.
Rision was honestly impressed.
“You trained it well.”
Erin ran over and wrapped his arms around the dog’s neck.
His face was deeply embarrassed.
“Thank you.”
At his unexpectedly mature tone, Rision smiled.
Since Elpenlira had grown up, Erin Erbinjel was the only child around Rision.
When he had heard that the boy had fallen into mutism, how his heart had ached.
Come to think of it, the one who had cured Erin was also Dianu.
As Rision absently stroked the panting dog at his feet, Erin spoke again.
“Its name is Nunu.”
The tone, unique to a child proudly showing off something precious, was adorable.
Yet Rision hesitated for a different reason.
“Nunu…?”
“I named it after my teacher.”
“I even got permission by letter.”
It was unbearably charming.
Unable to suppress the smile that threatened to spill out, Rision hurriedly covered his mouth.
Fortunately, Erin was too busy gazing at Nunu with eyes full of affection to notice Rision’s expression.
“She promised she would be my teacher again after helping the Princess.”
“Do you know when she is coming back?”
At the innocent question so typical of a child, Rision was momentarily at a loss for words.
How could he possibly say it to that face?
That Dianu could no longer be his teacher.
That she would marry Rision and become Empress.
That the care and wisdom the boy had once enjoyed would now belong entirely to him alone.
Rision learned the truth behind Elpenlira striking Bertona Aldebaron across the cheek later that night.
The letter delivered by a servant of Oak Palace was written in the refined hand of Countess Ornin.
“Your Majesty,”
“I trust that you have already heard through Sir Roysen that Her Highness the Princess struck Miss Bertona Aldebaron across the cheek.”
“According to what the maid Cora, whom you met previously, informed me, this was retaliation for Miss Aldebaron striking Miss Ortensa.”
“There are rumors among the maids that Miss Aldebaron hurled verbal abuse at Miss Ortensa, though the details are not yet known.”
“Considering Miss Aldebaron’s special position, that may be for the best.”
“According to Cora, Miss Ortensa does not intend to make this incident known to others.”
“She even asked Cora not to report it to me.”
“It seems likely she intended to hide it from Your Majesty as well.”
“I offer my deepest apologies that such an unsavory incident occurred within Oak Palace.”
– Ibelina Ornin.
From the second paragraph onward, the veins on Rision’s hand began to bulge.
By the time he reached the line suggesting she intended to hide it even from him, they stood out starkly.
If he stayed like this, he felt he might crumple the letter into nothing.
Rision handed it to Sir Marek Loisen, who stood beside him with a worried expression, and sat down.
After quickly scanning the letter, Sir Marek Loisen let out a short sigh.
Rision spoke in a half-growl.
“What should I do about this?”
“Your Majesty…”
“To forget her position as the Princess’s maid, act as a spy within Oak Palace, and even strike Miss Dianu?”
“The audacity knows no bounds.”
Up until now, Rision had held no personal feelings toward Bertona Aldebaron.
He merely remembered the fact that the Baron Aldebaron’s daughter had been appointed as Elpenlira’s maid.
Even after learning that Bertona had been leaking information from Oak Palace, she had simply been added to the list of those who would someday pay for their crimes.
There had been no personal animosity involved.
But Bertona had struck Dianu.
Had she been a man, Rision would have challenged her to a duel on the spot.
For the first time in a very long while, Rision felt his vision redden with rage.
The fact that the target was a young lady posed no problem at all, surprisingly.
He propped his chin at an angle and looked up at Sir Marek Loisen.
“Should I make her kneel and beg Miss Dianu, then banish her from this land forever?”
“…”
“At least she would be spared from watching her traitor father lose his head.”
“That might even be merciful.”
Sir Marek Loisen folded the letter in his hand and set it down carefully.
“Should you not ask Miss Ortensa what she wants to do?”
Rision smiled savagely.
In truth, that might have been what angered him the most.
“She is trying to hide this from me.”
“…”
“Why would she tell a mere maid, yet not tell me?”
Sir Marek Loisen lowered his gaze as he spoke.
“Could it be that she fears how angry you would become?”
Rision felt as though he had been struck where he least expected it.
“She fears me?”
That could not be.
Rision had never once behaved threateningly toward Dianu.
Had he not always maintained the gentlest and kindest demeanor he could possibly show in front of her?
Part of it was because she was a lady.
Another part was because he knew she sometimes felt uncomfortable with the weight of his authority.
Still, as her constant guard knight, perhaps Sir Marek Loisen had noticed something Rision himself had overlooked.
A sudden fear seized him.
Sir Marek Loisen shook his head.
“Is fearing Your Majesty not different from fearing what Your Majesty is capable of doing?”
“…What?”
“Miss Ortensa is, in the end, an ordinary person.”
“Ordinary people are frightened even by guard knights, let alone an Emperor.”
Rision could not immediately find a proper response.
Perhaps misinterpreting his silence, Sir Marek Loisen hurriedly added,
“I do not mean that Miss Ortensa feels threatened by Your Majesty—”
“That is enough.”
“I understand what you mean.”
He understood it with his head.
But accepting it deep in his heart was far more difficult.
Letting out a sigh, Rision buried his face in his hands.
Love, which he had experienced for the first time in his life, was far too difficult.
