Chapter 59
A Dangerous Invitation
Eddie Lev, who had rushed over, wore an anxious expression beneath his solemn face.
It was because of the report he had received yesterday.
The news that Bolonico, the First Imperial Prince, had visited the Lev Marquess family cemetery.
"Bolonico?"
"Besides, I heard your wife returned home later than usual yesterday. Isn't that right?"
"What are you trying to say?"
Klaud's face twisted with displeasure.
"Bolonico suddenly visited the Marquess family cemetery, and Yuan was there. But why does it seem like you're more suspicious than worried?"
"They say the two of them were talking in front of Louise Pellieresse's tombstone. It didn't seem like they were just exchanging greetings. And even though it should have taken two or three hours at most, she didn't return until after sunset? Isn't that obviously suspicious?"
"She said she was carsick. She didn't look well all day yesterday."
"I could make that excuse too. I'm on my way back from questioning the coachman. He said that while he was resting with the carriage in the Marquess territory, your wife got into the carriage, and strangers suddenly drove it into the forest!"
"What?"
A more serious look appeared on Klaud's face than when he had heard about Bolonico.
Eddie Lev, now looking like he was finally getting through, continued.
"When they hurriedly caught up, those guys had already run away, and your wife told them not to make a big deal out of it—"
"So, you're saying my household servants didn't report to me that their mistress was almost kidnapped."
Eddie, who had been speaking passionately, froze with his mouth open.
He couldn't understand why Klaud was focusing on that when there were so many suspicious things about his wife.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying that the servants and the mistress are in cahoots and didn't tell me anything. It sounds like a dangerous situation to me. Yuan meeting Bolonico, and someone kidnapping the carriage."
"You're the one who's dangerous, Klaud!"
Eddie shouted, frustrated.
"Where is your wife right now? She heads to that chapel beyond the forest every morning. She says she's going to pray, but she always disappears towards the cemetery, and then strange noises are heard not long after."
Klaud's face immediately darkened with displeasure. Sharp eyes pierced Eddie Lev's face.
"You had someone follow her?"
"Lancelot was ordered to keep an eye on her to see if there were any inconveniences. Did you think we were tailing her?"
"You had someone follow her."
"Klaud!"
Eddie shook his head in disbelief.
He didn't have an ounce of personal feeling for Klaud's ninth bride.
His and Marquis Lev's top priority was only Klaud Euphris, this precious person.
Klaud straightened his back and tapped his long fingers on the table at a steady pace.
Eddie, who had been staring intently at him, blurted out a piece of his hidden feelings.
"Igor Euphris. That damn Emperor killed so many people."
The day the late Emperor Alexei was seriously injured. Most of the late Emperor's closest aides who had gone on the hunting festival with him were either seriously injured or killed.
The day the current Emperor Igor brought the northern troops into the capital under the pretext of repelling the suddenly rising rebels and protecting Prince Klaud Euphris.
There were countless deaths that are now buried.
The shadow of those deaths, even 10 years after Igor became Emperor, would occasionally loom over the Lev brothers, plunging them into a deep fear.
If Marquis Lev hadn't been by Klaud's side that day, the Lev brothers would have lost their father as well.
"You can't even stand to see a small creature die in this Mansion."
"……."
"But I, Klaud Euphris, could do it if it meant saving only you, even if everyone else in this Mansion died."
It was an excessively cold statement for someone who had become so familiar with the servants while frequenting the Mansion.
But Eddie was serious.
The unfortunate Deposed Emperor Klaud was the one the anti-Emperor faction, who bowed their heads under Igor's tyranny, were protecting with all their hearts.
Euphris's treasure.
Euphris's hope.
Klaud was a cousin and the most beloved friend in the world to both Eddie and Lancelot, no different from a sibling.
He couldn't allow any small risk to be near him. Until now, Klaud had been wary on his own, but now…….
Eddie Lev glared at the book that was asserting its presence on the edge of the desk, piled high with documents.
A collection of medical papers that Klaud had personally requested Lancelot to obtain from the Marquess territory.
There was no way Eddie wouldn't realize who it was for.
"I don't want to suspect your wife either. I admit that most of the credit for getting you back on your feet and making you work so hard goes to your wife. Damn it."
"……."
"But as far as I'm concerned, I'm going crazy with anxiety about anyone with even the slightest connection to the Imperial Family being near you."
"I'm not a fool or a child. If there was anything suspicious, I would have noticed it first. You know me, Eddie Lev."
"I hope so too. I hope it's just my misunderstanding. If your wife is innocent, it will be resolved on its own."
"……."
"Since you look so displeased, I'll refrain from rashly suspecting her. But I can't help but watch from afar. So, you should also be restrained until it becomes clear that it's a misunderstanding."
"Restrained."
"I mean, don't give her your heart."
Klaud shook his head as if he had heard something that didn't suit him at all, then chuckled.
"Who was it who said that if you can't treat her well at night, you should treat her well during the day? I think your brother said something like that."
"Who said I can't? Don't give her your heart. Your heart."
Eddie's straight index finger pressed firmly on Klaud's chest.
"That vow not to love anyone. That confession that you can't love anyone. Just like you told your father that you can't love her, so you have no choice but to treat her well. Don't change like that."
***
Eddie Lev passed Yuan, who had returned to the Mansion with a simple nod.
Although it was accompanied by a somewhat cold gaze, Yuan, who had been anxious all day about whether she would suddenly collapse or have a nosebleed, didn't have the mental space to dwell on it.
The maids, unaware of Yuan's uneasy heart, chattered with Michelle, the dressmaker who visited the Mansion every day.
Yuan stood blankly, wearing the dress that Michelle had taken out, saying it was almost finished, like a mannequin in the drawing room.
The dress, which revealed her long neck and slender shoulders, flowed smoothly along her soft body lines.
The dress, decorated with a large ribbon made of organza to eliminate the plainness, was faithful to the Debutante dress's unique design that was both simple and sparkling.
Yuan watched in the full-length mirror as the maids put on a set of pearl earrings and a necklace, as well as a small tiara made of pearls, and fiddled with her hair.
The apricot-colored blush that Monica had gently applied gave her a lively look under the sunlight.
'You're going to die soon too.'
I'm not going to die.
Yuan's appearance in the mirror was small in stature, but she looked young, healthy, and beautiful to anyone who saw her.
Yuan thought that she, at least, should not be fooled by her uncle's bluster and lies.
Her uncle was just a quack doctor who used people's anxieties to sell the medicine Yuan made and boasted that he had discovered the pain of the sick that Yuan had personally felt through his own treatment.
It would be the same this time.
Because of the Pellieresse business that would surely lose its reputation after Yuan left.
A hypocrite who pretended to care for her because he missed her.
Just a fat hyena trying to trap her in the name of family.
'You're going to die soon too.'
Yuan quickly shook her head at the sentence floating in her head.
I'll never be fooled.
'I will never, ever go back.'
At that moment, the sound of bustling footsteps was heard from outside, and soon the drawing room door was opened noisily.
The eyes of the people, startled and wide, gathered at the door.
Gustav, the butler who was always gentle, was panting outside the door.
In his wrinkled hand was a golden envelope sealed with purple wax.
The seal was a wolf's face.
It was sent from the Imperial Family.
With a feeling that her heart was sinking, Yuan took a trembling step forward.
As soon as she stood in front of the pale-faced butler, a hand suddenly cut between them and snatched the envelope.
"An invitation to the Imperial Court Debutante. The sender is…… Bolonico Euphris?"
It was Klaud.
The dressmaker's employees and Michelle's excited reactions followed the voice that echoed softly in the drawing room.
Leaving behind the excited voices of the people, Yuan looked up at Klaud, who was standing in front of the drawing room door, slowly scanning the invitation.
Soon, he handed the invitation to Yuan without any further comment.
Yuan didn't take the invitation that Klaud handed her and stared at him blankly before looking up at him again.
She didn't want to hold anything related to Bolonico in her hands.
"It seems you've been invited to the Debutante held at the Imperial Palace. It overlaps with the day it's held in the Marquess territory."
Klaud said as he squeezed into the drawing room.
Michelle's face, who had been staring at the owner of the beautiful Mansion and concentrating on what he was saying, flushed red.
"T-The Imperial Palace!"
The excitement of the dressmaker, who had been stuck in the northwest and unable to properly demonstrate her skills, quickly began to spread to the people around her.
The dressmaker's employees quickly began to discuss as if there was no option to not go to the Imperial Court Debutante.
However, the butler and maids hesitated, waiting for the reaction of the Deposed Emperor couple.
Klaud stood leaning against the window on one side of the drawing room, holding the invitation.
Gustav, the butler who had been impatient with the owner's usual behavior, finally opened his mouth first.
"If you reject the invitation to the Debutante directly from the Imperial Palace and go to the Marquess territory, it will never sound good. Unless you all don't attend for health reasons……."
A worried voice flowed into the quiet couple.
The first to react to the butler's voice were Michelle and her employees, who were gathered far away.
A chill like a well-honed sword ran across Michelle's face, who was always smiling brightly.
"Rejection?"
