Chapter 59
59
Dad chuckled softly.
"LeBlaine."
"Yes?"
"We have a banquet to attend next week, so I'll call Viscount Dubois and the Chairman."
"Can't I go too?"
Isaac, who had been snickering, immediately shouted, "No way!"
"Kid, do you know how annoying The Capital is?"
Of course, I do.
I nodded inwardly but blinked, feigning ignorance.
"The Temple and the Empress Dowager are already waiting for you with bated breath. If you go, they'll swarm you like a pack of dogs and try to take you to the Central Temple."
"Yes, LeBlaine. It's better for you to stay in the territory."
Even Henri added his voice.
'I'm going to separate that Temple and the Empress Dowager.'
More than anything, I couldn't stay in the territory forever.
The Dubled family was powerful enough, but if they got caught up in my future misfortunes, they could face annihilation in the worst-case scenario.
I had to gain power.
I had to become a powerful figure, make Dubled independent, and prevent it from being swayed by the Imperial Palace and the Temple.
'That's what these five years of preparation were for.'
I was already ready to go out into the world.
I got up from my chair and ran to Dad.
"Then I might be separated from Dad and my brothers."
"What?"
"I know everything. I heard the vassals and servants talking. They said that I was in the territory for a sabbatical in the first year, and Dad should originally live in The Capital."
"……."
"You're staying in the territory, forcing yourself because of me. They said that if you keep doing this, you'll be pushed out of the center. That's bad for Dubled."
This was true.
It was the part I was most worried about.
"I want to live in The Capital too. I want to live with Dad and my brothers."
"You really are……."
Dad stroked my head as I looked dejected.
"You worry about unnecessary things too much."
"……."
"Alright. Let's attend the banquet. But living in The Capital is something we need to assess the situation further."
"Yay!"
I quickly hugged Dad's neck.
The Imperial Palace garden.
Elderly noblewomen attending Empress Dowager Marcia Ruerg's tea party exchanged greetings.
"You look much better."
"Perhaps it's because I received a summons from the Empress Dowager after a long time."
"Your Majesty, please call us often. We're not at an age where we can look forward to next year. We were very disappointed that the winter party was canceled."
The Empress Dowager smiled as she held her teacup.
"How could I not know your hearts? I couldn't help it because I caught a cold and couldn't withstand the winter chill."
"Your Majesty has always been weak against the cold. You suffered every winter even in your younger days."
"At this age, winter becomes more dreadful with each passing year."
In the amicable atmosphere, the Empress Dowager tightly clenched her handkerchief.
She couldn't bear the itching all over her body due to the skin rash.
It was much better now, with spring approaching.
In the middle of winter, the rash had climbed up her knees and even onto her face, leaving her unable to move in her room.
The Priest told her in her suffering.
[Devote yourself more to the faith. Our God will surely show mercy to Your Majesty.]
'How much more faith must I devote?'
The Empress Dowager suppressed a sigh, pressing her handkerchief against the slight tremor on her lips.
"But you really do look much better."
"Could it be because my persistent arthritis has healed?"
"I heard you brought in a new chief physician. Is he that skilled? Please introduce him to me."
"It's not thanks to the chief physician, but because of the medicine."
As she said this and laughed softly, the gazes of the noblewomen sitting at the table focused on her.
"Are you perhaps talking about the youth-restoring medicine?"
"You know about it too."
"Of course. It's the talk of the town. I also tried to have a servant buy it, but they said I couldn't purchase it unless I went myself. These merchants are truly audacious these days."
"Don't do that, just go yourself. It really worked. My husband saw results for his lifelong toothache."
Then other noblewomen nodded.
"My younger sibling also saw results. It's also effective for the skin……."
The Empress Dowager's eyes widened at her words.
"Even for skin diseases?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. My younger brother had scaly skin and itching on his lower abdomen for some time, but after taking the youth-restoring medicine, his skin returned to normal."
It was a symptom similar to her skin disease.
'It might be effective for me too…….'
"Where did you say they sell it?"
The Empress Dowager asked.
Before the banquet, our family left the castle to go to The Capital.
"Don't worry about the castle and have a safe trip."
While Viscount Dubois was greeting Dad, the Chairman approached me slightly.
"Always carry the Communication Stone with you."
"Okay. Oh, Chairman, you have to eat well."
As I frowned and spoke, the Chairman coughed.
"I am! Eating well. Got it?"
"……Yes."
Since his wife and son died, the Chairman had no one to take care of him and often skipped meals.
"But…… won't you tell His Excellency about the young lady's past?"
At the Chairman's words, I glanced at Dad and my brothers.
"Load more blankets. If my daughter catches a cold, the lives of one or two of you won't be enough."
"Are you kidding me? Put down more cushions, more cushions! The kid's butt will get sore!"
"Is this all the clothes you packed for LeBlaine? It seems like you've either lost your attachment to life or gone crazy while I was away."
The Chairman, looking at the family with cloudy eyes, nodded.
"It would be a disaster if he knew the past."
Imagining Dad and my brothers setting fire to the Temple sent shivers down my spine.
Then would the Temple stay still?
"If you start a war with the Temple, all the Dubled people will die……."
"You must never say anything."
I nodded.
Receiving the greetings of the Dubled people, we got into the carriage.
It took two days to get to The Capital.
Considering it took ten days when I first came to Dubled in the Imperial Palace's Magic Carriage, it was an incredibly fast speed.
Getting out of the carriage, I gaped.
Endless garden.
Well-maintained garden trees.
The mansion was the largest and most magnificent building I had seen in The Capital.
Three buildings were connected in a bracket shape, soaring upwards as if reaching the sky.
Countless employees stood in two rows along the path leading to the mansion, bowing.
"We greet the master."
"We greet the master."
Startled by the resounding voices of the employees, I clung to Dad's arm.
At that moment, a man in a neatly combed tailcoat approached from among the employees.
"We greet the young lady."
As I hid behind Dad's arm, feeling awkward, he smiled.
"I'm Hederson. It's an honor to meet the young lady."
"It's LeBlaine……."
"You're even more lovely than I imagined. Everyone in the mansion has been eagerly awaiting your arrival."
Dad picked me up and said.
"Where's Javelin?"
Javelin was Dad's half-sister, my Aunt.
One of the two people who survived the Dubled brothers' infighting in the past.
She now managed the Ariege family, a branch family, and managed the mansion in The Capital.
"She went to a party."
"If Aunt went to a party, she'll be back in about four days."
As Isaac spoke sarcastically, the butler Hederson smiled.
We went into the mansion together. The interior was even more splendid than the exterior.
Dad and my brothers immediately went to the study and the knight's order to take care of work, and I followed Hederson to see my room.
"Well, this is the young lady's room."
'Jackpot!'
It wasn't as big as my room in the castle, but it had a reception room, a dressing room, a bedroom, a study, and a bathroom, and it was very luxurious.
It was more like a room for a girl than the room in the castle.
I quickly ran to the sofa, bounced on my butt, and hugged the cushion.
Leah, who came with me, laughed softly and asked, "Do you like it?"
"So-o much."
"I'm glad."
"But Leah, your clothes are different today."
She usually wore a maid's uniform, but today she wore armor and a black cloak symbolizing the Dubled knight.
"While you're in The Capital, I'm your escort knight."
"Wow!"
"Are you that happy?"
"Leah, because you look cool."
"I'm pleased."
While Leah and I were chatting, the butler brought someone.
She was a girl with bright red hair, green eyes, and charming freckles on her nose. She looked about fifteen years old.
"This is Laura. She has been assigned as the young lady's maid."
She was a cheerful and bright child. Leah whispered, "She's Linda's cousin."
'Ah.'
Other employees came to greet me as well.
After receiving the greetings of these people, from maids to butlers, numbering at least fifty, I asked the most important thing.
"So, how many felonies do you all have?"
-and.
Everyone standing before Theodore Dubled, who had returned to the mansion after five years, forcibly tightened their shoulders, which were naturally stiffening.
Whether it was because he had been on the battlefield for nearly a year, or because he had naturally accumulated it as he entered his mid-30s, Theodore had gained experience.
The young masters standing on either side of him had also grown noticeably. The eyes of the two young masters, who resembled their father more and more as they grew, were as eerie as those of a slaughterer.
The Duke glanced at the numerous knights kneeling on one knee and the office workers and managerial-level employees standing askew beside them.
The weak office worker swallowed hard at the cold glint in his eyes.
The Duke had summoned people as soon as he arrived in The Capital. From the wolves guarding the mansion in The Capital to the Dubled's pride, the dark forces (intelligence department).
Judging from the fact that he had gathered all these people, something serious must have happened.
Was it a territorial war with another family?
Or had the senators finally caused trouble?
Finally, the Duke opened his mouth.
"If LeBlaine gets a hangnail, it's your fault."
The eyes of the people who didn't understand his words rolled quickly.
A code?
An idiom?
'What does it mean?'
Just as they were pondering, the young masters next to the Duke said.
"Even if the kid…… LeBlaine has trouble sleeping, it's your fault."
"If even a single strand of that child's hair is harmed, don't even think about dying peacefully."
……Yes?
The office worker, staring at the Duke and the young masters on the platform with dumbfounded eyes, blinked.
The Duke's low voice fell over the heads of the people who were making bewildered expressions.
"Deploy the entire force of The Capital to protect LeBlaine. If a male approaches, stab them first and then identify them."
It was the beginning of the life in The Capital that would later be called the Fool for His Daughter's Rebellion.
