episode_0058

This was the first time Deltan knew that Agnes was someone who could make an expression like this.

Well, it wasn’t that I didn’t understand.

After leaving the place for a while, I found that marriage talks were going on between my father and my friend.

This was something that even Deltans who were not very keen on the concept of family could sympathize with.

Lips quivering for a moment.

What came afterward was naturally a form of consolation.

“… They say it’s still at the level of marriage talks. It could fall over. No, aside from that, this is a newspaper published by a private institution. It’s not trustworthy. Maybe that guard was just watching to kill time.”

It has not been that long since the concept of a newspaper was introduced to the empire.

Of course, newspapers were one of the things Deltans invented.

As such, the newspapers of the empire still had no journalistic conscience.

There were cases where even false rumors were spread as if they were true if they thought they would make money.

Especially in the case of private newspapers like this one.

“… Is that so?”

Agnes’ eyes were sinking deeper, as if it wasn’t much of a consolation.

An empty, meaningless smile appeared on his lips.

Deltan’s mouth was tightly shut.

“Deltain.”

“Uh, uh… .”

“I want to ask you a favor.”

Agnes’ voice was emotionless for some reason.

Deltan asked, feeling that he was being noticed.

“… What.”

“Could you ask His Majesty the Emperor if it is true?”

Please.

It was truly an absurd word to come out of her mouth.

However, there was no time to worry about that.

Deltan immediately nodded.

*

What followed was busy.

After dropping Agnes off at the duke’s residence, the Deltan went to the imperial castle and had an audience with the emperor.

Even though I wanted to relieve my travel fatigue, it was like that.

-Please go now. Please.

This is why Agnes even took his hand and asked for it.

No, I can even feel my hands shaking, so how can I refuse in front of him?

“Ah, I heard you are returning. I didn’t know you were already here.”

The emperor was sitting in a restaurant cutting steak.

Deltan said as he sat down across from him.

“Your face looks good.”

“Something good happened.”

The emperor’s face was indeed full of joy.

Deltan narrowed his eyes and asked, ‘No way.’

“… Talking alone?”

“The news is fast.”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“The question is strange.”

Ishmark’s knife stopped.

He asked back with the same smile.

“Is it strange to be happy about your daughter’s marriage?”

The attitude of having no idea what is wrong.

Deltan let out a laugh.

“That daughter is the princess’s friend.”

“I know.”

“You knew about it and pursued it?”

“Count.”

Ishmark’s smile deepened. However, his appearance was cold.

“Marriage is an obligation for nobles. And it’s a contract.”

It means to keep the line.

Deltan narrowed his eyebrows as he understood that.

A nobleman’s marriage is an obligation and a contract.

This was the kind of nagging that Deltans also heard to the point that Gerhart got scabs on his ears.

Marriage is a contract in an aristocratic society where two families call themselves each other’s friends.

It is a contract that binds each other with blood and blood.

In it, love was a luxury.

‘surely… .’

If the 7th princess marries Duke Levadein, it will be beneficial for Ishmark.

As the duke is currently the one that the noble faction is trying to recruit first, marriage would erase any possibility of him being included.

Of course, Duke Levadeine was a talented person who would be loyal to the imperial family even without such a leash, but Ishmark was a man who could feel at ease only if he got rid of even the slightest sense of anxiety.

If I were to talk about this in principle, it would be right for me as a third party, Teltane, to run out of things to say.

However, I still didn’t understand it emotionally.

“… Don’t you think it’s too much for your daughter?”

“What?”

“You’re asking me to become my friend’s mother, right? that… .”

It was such a ridiculous statement that even while I was saying it, I thought to myself, ‘What kind of nonsense is this?’

However, something even more absurd than that came out of Ishmark’s mouth.

“That’s what the daughter wanted. In a private meeting with me.”

“… What?”

“They say she has feelings for Duke Levadein. I can’t let go of the feelings I’ve had for a long time, so I’m asking for help, but as a father, how can I refuse that?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Ishmark joked.

Deltan’s expression became blank.

Something came to mind at that moment.

The day I was recently called to the imperial palace.

So, it was the day I first met Elina von Lebroke.

That day, Elina was chatting with Duke Levadein with a blushing face.

‘no way… .’

Was that the reason why your face was blushing?

Deltan’s eyes closed tightly.

‘… Really damn it.’

I felt dizzy and my back hurt.

*

At the same time, a corner garden of the imperial castle.

Elina was sitting at the outdoor tea table there, sipping tea.

Across from him, Duke Levadein was sitting with his head down, looking uncomfortable.

“Princess… .”

“Yes, four!”

Elina’s back straightened.

Her silver hair shone dazzlingly under the sun, and her indigo eyes sparkled slightly.

Her pale skin had a red tinge to it.

A state in which the heart is racing and the tension rarely goes away.

As about two weeks had passed since we talked about getting married, we were encountering each other more frequently, but my body and mind were having a hard time getting used to it.

After all, wasn’t it a love that had lasted for five years?

It was the first love that came to Elina in her life, and how could she maintain her composure when the last love that would end was right in front of her?

“Please tell me!”

Duke Levadein laughed bitterly at Elina’s tense tone.

“I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble. You must be embarrassed.”

“Not at all! That’s not the case at all!”

Duke Levadein only seemed sorry for Elina’s reaction.

It was natural.

That’s because he doesn’t know why this marriage talk started or why the rumor about Elina being his marriage partner spread so quickly.

That was all Duke Levadeine knew.

In a chaotic situation, the emperor needed assurance that he would not leave.

In other words, in Duke Levadein’s eyes, Elina is nothing more than a delicate daughter who mortgaged her life due to political circumstances.

Duke Levadeine, who had a daughter who was exactly the same age as Elina and who was a close friend, could not accept her as his wife.

“Don’t worry. I will take care of this self-talk.”

I will not allow the grateful people who interact with my daughter to be sacrificed so much.

It was a conviction uttered with determination, and it was a frustrating statement for Elina.

‘Ah really… !’

Elina stamped her feet under the table.

It was because of Duke Levadein’s extremely frustrating and stubborn attitude.

Of course, this gentlemanly attitude is good, but isn’t it necessary for a person to be flexible?

If you just say you understand, what’s the point?

‘Wow, you’re showing off that you like it like this!’

It wasn’t.

Elina was not able to clearly show that she liked her.

She had a very neat and delicate appearance, and her body was stiff due to tension, so it was correct to see her appearance to the outside as trembling with fear.

I was the only one who didn’t know that.

From the perspective of others, she was a mentally unstable monster, but in front of love, Elina was just a shy girl.

“Well, I’m fine! Because it’s really okay… !”

“No. How could I do that? Yes, your Majesty, you need to be sure. It probably won’t stop me from getting married. Don’t worry.”

Duke Levadein’s expression hardened.

“ Above the princess, there are the 3rd princess and the 5th princess, who are not yet married. Even if it means marrying them, the 7th Princess will definitely… .”

“… Wait.”

“Yes?”

A question appeared on Duke Levadein’s face.

Elina’s expression was turning cold.

“Sister? Third sister and fifth sister?”

“That’s right, but… .”

“Huh… .”

Elina thought as she let out a laugh.

The 3rd princess and the 5th princess.

The women were thirty and twenty-seven years old, respectively.

Yes.

The Duke of Levadein was thirty-eight years old, eight and eleven respectively, an age gap that was not very common in aristocratic society.

‘no.’

That wasn’t important.

Are you losing the dukedom to those women who couldn’t marry you because they had a brazen personality?

As soon as Elina thought of that, she felt the urge to hit her head on a rock.

“How… .”

There was anger in Elina’s tone.

“… How can you say something like that?”

Resentment was also evident.

My eyes began to water out of frustration.

Duke Levadein was embarrassed.

He quickly wondered what mistake he had made, but he could not find an answer.

“Hwa, the princess… .”

“Five years.”

Elina suddenly got up from her seat.

The drooping corners of his eyes, which always gave off a neat look, were sticking out.

“It means five years. I endured that much.”

Elina recalled the past.

15 years old, debutante day.

That day was a day when my hair turned white with excitement and nervousness at the thought of entering the social world for the first time.

I wanted to make a great debut like my sisters and make a name for myself in the social world.

However, I was anxious about whether I could do that because I didn’t have the personality like my sisters and my voice was small.

So, as the time to enter the ballroom approached, my body began to shrink, and for some reason, tears welled up in my eyes.

Duke Levadein was the person I met at that moment.

-Why are you crying?

A gentlemanly man whose stylish tailcoat and beard attract attention.

It was the only thing Elina knew about him at that time.

-Who are you?

-It’s not important. Now, stand up. You decorated yourself so beautifully, but wouldn’t it be sad if your makeup smeared with tears?

A hand that lifted me up from a corner of the hallway of the ballroom.

Warm words and gentle smiles.

That was engraved in Elina’s mind like a seaweed.

The same thing happened afterwards.

After learning that he was the Prime Minister, Duke Levadein, my curiosity about him soared and I began to search for information, and I learned that he had a widowed wife and a sick daughter.

Usually I would give up.

A man who has already left his wife.

Moreover, he is a man who takes care of his daughter who may die at any time.

Isn’t he the worst person to marry?

But Elina didn’t give up.

That’s because the warmth of that day penetrated too deeply into my heart.

Elina, who was timid, learned courage for the first time at that moment.

First, he became close to his sickly daughter, Agnes, in order to see her often.

Start with a purpose.

One, I learned friendship by getting closer to her.

I raised my voice to become a confident person.

I started straightening my back and accumulating knowledge.

The girl who was always on the lookout and couldn’t say what she wanted to say was able to become a beautiful woman thanks to Duke Levadein.

“Well, I… .”

That’s why I couldn’t give up.

Elina spoke to Duke Levadein, who was embarrassed.

Closing my eyes tightly.

“I like the Duke! I want to marry the Duke!”

“That’s mousse… .”

“Good! why! Can’t I like it?”

The duke was speechless.

My mind was running faster than calculating the treasury in order to understand the information coming in through my ears.

That was the answer that came out.

“Please stop talking. How could I be with my daughter’s close friend…? .”

“Well, that’s not important!”

chin!

Elina held Duke Levadein’s hand.

When I finally conveyed my feelings, I didn’t want to give up so easily.

Elina pondered the words and emotions that were about to come out again.

There was too much talk.

It means that I’ve liked you for a long time and can’t think of anyone else.

He said that was the reason he first approached Agnes.

However, it is not that he was taking advantage of Agnes, but that he has now become a friend who truly loves Agnes.

He said that he could cherish Agnes like his daughter.

He even said he wanted to become a family with you and Agnes.

I had to get out all the words that were swirling around in my head like a storm, but for some reason I felt impatient.

It would take too many words to explain each thing, but it seemed like the man in front of me would run away before that happened.

‘hurry!’

You need to convey your feelings quickly.

The words came out without thinking because of that impatience.

“value… .”

There is no context.

“… Chi, it’s natural to want to make your friend a younger sibling!”

It was not a natural statement at all.

Duke Levadeine couldn’t believe his ears.