It might be him, not her, who could not hide his feelings anymore.

Eckart felt a sense of helplessness, along with a light guilt. He felt those feelings all his life, but now he didn’t think they were awkward because of her.

Meanwhile, Marianne was changing her expression every moment. Her surprised face turned a little red, and she soon bent her eyes to smile. Then, her face quickly turned calm.

“Well, yes. That’s enough for your reply. But it’s not enough for you to pay for the new intelligence I’ve brought to you. ”

Having said that firmly, she pulled away her hand gently.

Eckart knitted his eyebrows as if he was put on the spot. It was not because he didn’t like her trying to get the due credit for the new intelligence, but because he didn’t know what to give her to satisfy her.

“I don’t know what reward can satisfy you..but if you have anything you want, don’t be afraid to tell me. I will prepare whatever you want. ”

Even in the face of her outrageous request, he responded seriously, which disarmed her disguise at once. She wanted to ask for a little more shamelessly but gave up.

He was a man who would never make a vain and reckless promise, but he always vowed to do anything to her.

She felt her heart pounding every time she appreciated his deep affection. Sometimes, she felt it was too much for her to endure, but she was still happy. She even wished she could keep all his love, even if she feels too burdensome.

“I took Phebe with me today when I went to the duke’s mansion to express condolences. I came back early in the afternoon, and Phebe came back a little before I went to the palace. This bad but smart guy overheard something very important.”

She decided to answer his questions before asking for the price.

“Phebe said the witnesses went missing. They were the witnesses that Ober had to bring to testify about Duke Hubble’s crime. They must have been Chester’s moles, too. Ober didn’t kill them, but he would make them hibernate for a very long time.”

Eckhart knew it already, but he nodded without pretending to know.

He already expected what she would say next, but it confirmed what he already heard.

She continued, “Ober and Elias joined hands to kill Duke Hubble. It seemed that Mrs. Chester and Elias’s wife were more influential than Ober and Elias in getting things done. And a welcome guest will come from Faisal.”

But this intelligence was quite new and significant to him.

“From Faisal?”

“Yes. The guest will arrive by the end of this month or by early next month at the latest. Whether or not Empress Alessa is unwilling or unwilling to cooperate, she will have to pretend to do so, and the guest will be a better card than Empress Alessa if they can persuade him to be on their side ”

“Is there any other intelligence?” Eckhart asked with a serious expression.

In his head, he was cross checking it with Curtis’ briefing.

“Well, as soon as the servant came in to announce a new visitor, Mrs. Chester and Ober left the place, so there was no more intelligence. I don’t think it’s important, but if I tell you this..I think I heard Earl Spencer, Marquis Lehman, and Viscount Aquinas came. Oh, I also heard that when the guest from Faisal came, he asked to meet them again. ”

“Hmmm..”

Eckart thought for a moment, then looked at her, who seemed to be asking for his praise.

He smiled tenderly at her with a sincere heart. His straight mouth and sharp eyes drew an enchanting curve as if they were in sync. His passionate love for her, which he didn’t realize, poured out through his hooded eyes.

“Now, it looks like you have become a real spy.”

“..”

“Let me appreciate your hard work very much. Once I find out more through Curtis, I will pass it on to you when I get more surefire intelligence. ”

“..”

“.. Marianne? Are you listening to me? ”

Eckart leaned his head toward her who was making a slightly blank expression.

“.. Ah yes. I know.”

Mariane replied belatedly with a perplexed look, as if she just woke up. She even waved her hand in the air as if she was chasing a fly.

“Okay. Good job!”

Eckart thought that her reaction was a bit strange, but accepted it and gave it a pass without any doubt.

“So, don’t laugh outside recklessly, please.”

“..”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just what I have said. I’m going to keep your expression to myself. You can just keep your image as the ‘Blue Iron Wall of Milan’ as you used to. When you laugh in front of others, do so moderately..You know what I mean, right? ”

“Well. I don’t know..”

Eckhart looked down at her with a perplexed expression.

“Well, look at me well.”

She smiled lovingly, gazing straight at him, standing beside the window to avoid the backlight of the sun. Then she returned to her spot and made a serious expression.

“How would you feel if I talked to Ober with a smile? Of course, I have to do it to deceive him anyway, and will continue to do so. But aside from that, how would you feel in that situation?”

It was an absurd and even outrageous question, but Eckhart immediately realized.

The moment he imagined the situation she proposed, he could come up with a much more accurate answer than lots of explanation.

‘Marianne is laughing innocently and beautifully before that wicked and cunning man with an expression as if she can say she loves him. How would I feel?’

Eckart was filled with anger that he found hard to describe. Probably he couldn’t feel more unpleasant than this.

As if she pulled a face unconsciously, she clapped her hands, “Right! That’s my question. Namely, how you would feel in such a situation. Got it now? ”

He could now quite accurately understand the meaning of what she said. He felt like he was caught doing something, which he should never have let others see.

Embarrassed, he waved his hand in the air and swept his neck once. He cleared his throat unconsciously. When he tried to say something he had never mentioned before, he sighed first.

“Marianne, what you are doing is pointless jealousy. ”

“I know. But when I’m dating somebody, I know it, but I can’t help it. ”

“..”

Eckart was again at a loss for words. One of the words in her reply disturbed him..

Dating? If he listed the words that he thought would not appear in his life, that was one of the ten words he would single out. What was more amazing was that he did not want to deny that word.

“I rarely smile unless I meet you..What does it mean to smile pretty? I never thought of doing so..To tell you the truth, isn’t it you who smiles pretty much more often than I do? You smile at priests, knights, attendants, even maids and servants all the time..”

“Your Majesty,” he relentlessly interrupted Eckart, who was muttering to himself with a confused expression. “I have something to confess to you. In fact, I’m more cunning than you think. I may be cunning, but I don’t want you to be, although I know I’m selfish. ”

“.. ”

“Of course I can’t force you to do it because I hate it. I know you didn’t want me to, but you have been putting up with that until now. So, I tried to put up with it. ”

“.. ”

“But you told me that you would give you anything I want in return, right? ”

“.. ”

In other words, what she wanted in return for her gift was, in her expression, for him not to smile or laugh pretty before others.

Marianne shrugged her shoulders like a triumphant general.

“Be careful when you make a promise to others. Of course, you can promise me anytime. ”

He didn’t hate it, although she was trying to make such an obvious move on him. He felt that even the god Airius would not be able to save him.

Resigned to her move, he accepted her request without any resistance when she hugged him.

Although his body temperature rose when he touched her, he had no intention to resist or protest at all.

This was the game he was supposed to lose from the beginning. It was a game he could never win as long as he loved her.

“Well, would you like to have dinner with me now? In fact, the price I had in mind before you smiled like that was to ask you to invite me to dinner this evening. But you can do me a favor if I ask it now, right?”

“.. Sure.” He nodded gently with a faint smile.

“Thank you. After dinner, I will tell you what I talked about with Ober and Mrs. Chester at the duke’s mansion. Oh, let me tell you about my conversation with Roxanne, too.”

Marianne babbled in satisfaction and left the study, led by him. Walking side by side along the corridor, she vowed firmly that whenever she found new intelligence about the Ober family, she would make this kind of unfair request of the emperor.