Looking at the emperor bitterly, Kling thought to himself, ‘Although people say the emperor’s wings were clipped by Duke Hubble’s overbearing power..’

He did not see Eckart as an incompetent emperor. He was the son of Cassius and Blair. There was nothing lacking in his qualities as the emperor. Even Frei’s platinum feet and Romanov’s blue eyes were just one of the numerous pieces of evidence that proved the young emperor’s uniqueness.

“There were some disturbances on the way.”

“I guess so,” Eckart answered shamelessly. He put down the glasses on the tray brought by Deputy Chamberlain Kloud.

It was not tea but wine.

“Well, I was not in the mood to have tea leisurely, but if you want tea, let me have them bring it to you.”

“No thanks. I would like to first..”

“Do you want to ask me why I didn’t hide the fact that you came to Milan?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s because I want to publicize your situation. Why do you think I kept you waiting here for three hours? I am the type of person who keeps the appointment well.”

Duke Kling sighed slowly. He now realized that it was because of the emperor’s political calculation that he had to hassle with the security guards at the palace gate and that he had to wait at the parlor for up to three hours.

The rumors in the capital usually spread more quickly than expected. Perhaps tomorrow the rumor that Duke Kling could barely meet with the emperor would spread on the streets.

‘But why?’

Kling filled the glass, still grappling with lots of curiosity. He was thirsty. In the end, he decided to confirm the most urgent matter first.

“Is my daughter safe?”

Though he knew that kind of question would offend his honor, he didn’t care because his top priority was his daughter’s safety.

“Of course, she is. She is a woman who will be in charge of the imperial family’s women’s affairs. Do you think I pulled her eyes and cut her tongue?”

Eckart spat out such cruel words without batting an eyelid.

Kling’s face turned pale instantly. It was not because the emperor’s words were terrible.

“What do you mean by her ruling the women’s affairs of the imperial palace?”

His eyes, which were always mild, trembled. Curtis only said the emperor was protecting his daughter, but he didn’t give any other information. Rather, he would have been less surprised if Curtis had told him she was detained in an old house or dungeon.

“Your daughter has been staying in the Elior Mansion after she was chosen as the emperor’s fiancee,” explained Kloud suddenly.

“How come she..”

Duke Kling could not finish his words. He narrowed his dark eyebrows.

“Your daughter visited my close advisor and told him that Marquis Chester was plotting treason. She was furious, arguing that Ober was using her and you to obtain Lennox. And she also said he planned to kill both of you after he was done. Didn’t you know that?”

At Eckart’s bombshell announcement, Curtis was indifferent while Kloud frowned a bit as if he were surprised.

Duke Kling was surprised the most among them, of course. He distorted his expression more blatantly than before.

He already knew that Ober’s favor was impure. But he was shocked that Ober had been plotting treason. And how did her naive daughter know about it in advance, whom he raised and protected from outsiders?

“Do you have any specific evidence?”

“Unfortunately there is no physical evidence, despite lots of circumstantial evidence. But your daughter said she would help me find it. She said as long as I guarantee the safety of her and her father, she would root out the traitors and make a big contribution to the empire.”

Duke Kling finally realized what it was when she mentioned about ‘the way of protecting me and daddy’ in her letter to him before she left for the capital. He also knew the reason why she was so serious by citing his wife Estelle.

“How could I sit idly when your daughter was working hard for the empire? I agreed to accept her offer gladly. Though I was in a hurry to propose to her, I had to, because she would be safest with me.”

“But my daughter is too inadequate to be your wife, Your Excellency.”

“You’re very rude. How dare you discuss the qualifications of a future empress in front of me?”

Although Duke Kling urgently pleaded with him to think twice, Eckart got furious by cutting him off quickly. His cold eyes as well as his elegant but sharp attitude overwhelmed the duke.

“No matter what, she is now my better half. I have chosen her. Although she is your daughter, I advise you against speaking recklessly about her qualifications as the future empress.”

Duke Kling felt a huge sense of helplessness. It was like a feeling similar to despair. The young emperor already discovered exactly what his weak points were. Once he had Marianne taken from his protection, he had no other option than to accept the realities. His territories or his noble title were just nothing when compared to his daughter.

“Do you want Lennox too?”

So, Duke Kling asked the emperor blatantly. He was willing to donate his territories or power to the emperor if he wanted them like Ober.

Although nobody believed it now, he had never regarded Lennox as his own property. He felt he would have to give it back someday from the moment when he volunteered to keep that land in lieu of Empress Blair.

So, he felt he could gladly hand over Lennox to the emperor even now.

The reason he delayed returning it up until now was for the safety of his daughter, not for his greed for more wealth and land.

“Your daughter takes after you as you like to use violent language.”

Eckhart seemed to understand what he was trying to say.

“To be precise, I would like to earn your trust.”

In other words, what the emperor wanted was much more than the nominal land document or his useless official title.

The emperor wanted something bigger than that, namely the power with which he can actually dominate Lennox.

Stable loyalty and willing sacrifice that can correct this strange imbalance of power.

In other words, the emperor wanted a harsh truth and shame that he had hidden for decades.

“I’m not forcing you. but..”

Eckart stopped talking and emptied the wine glass halfway. The lingering fragrance of the bitter wine tickled down his throat as if he was ready to say something with authority.

“You were a great bystander during my father’s days. You didn’t lose anything thanks to your way of conduct.”

Though his voice was calm, the message was ferocious.

Duke Kling took his words as not only annoying but also painful to his ears. He felt as if the emperor were stabbing his heart with a dagger that had been tempered in a furnace thousands of times.

“But it will be different during my era because your daughter will be my wife.”

Eckart no longer concealed his sharp eyes. He spoke while looking straight at Duke Kling. His blue eyes reflected his anger, which was a sense of intense pressure that would crush the other party to pieces. Even Kloud and Curtis, who were not his target, changed their postures and held their breaths.

“Are you going to keep watching in this situation?”

Eventually, Eckart’s short and plain question sounded to him as follows:

Eckart continued, “You came to Milan for a long time. You’ll stay here longer than you think. Carefully check out what’s going on in the capital while you were absent here.”

Then Eckart left the room. His heartless fury was apparent on his forehead under his crown.

Kling was forced to bow his head behind the emperor’s back.

It was the moment that the success or failure of his second deal was struck.

The Elior Mansion was peaceful at night.

Marianne came back after she walked a little more after Eckart left the garden.

And she went straight into the study.

How long had passed? When she felt her eyes were stiffy, Mrs. Charlotte brought tea.

The tea was brewed with peach leaves. A sweet, fresh scent spilled gently over the wood bookshelves.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Mrs. Charlotte smiled gracefully at her greeting.

“What book were you reading?”

“Oh, it’s not a book.. It’s a collection of public bulletins for the past several years.”

Mrs. Charlotte felt her shy voice was lovely.

“It looks like you are trying to figure out the political situation in the capital.”

“Yeah. there are too many things I don’t know. When I went to the tea party the other day, I didn’t know many of them, let alone their faces. For example, Mrs. Margarita or Roxy..”

Marianne began to mention the names she heard first that day, but slurred because she recalled one of the faces so vividly.