31
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Creak. The old door opened with a timid sound. Hesitantly stepping outside, her father looked up at Diego, who was about the same height as the door.
Diego grinned, and her father immediately lowered his gaze to the floor. Rohan, who had been watching the scene with an expressionless face, simply nodded to indicate a seat.
“Please sit here.”
It was between Rohan and Diego. Rohan had moved one seat over to make room. Of course, it wasn’t out of consideration.
Michele, sitting across from them, rested his chin on one hand and sent a crooked look. Senon, sitting next to Michele, didn’t say anything, but he couldn’t hide the subtle contempt and displeasure in his expression.
‘It wasn’t this bad before.’
The knights had disliked her father for a long time. They hadn’t particularly liked Aileen’s mother either, but as the Imperial Palace nanny, they had always treated her with respect.
But since her mother’s death, they had slowly begun to show their animosity towards her father, and it had reached its peak recently since returning to the capital. As Cesare’s henchmen, they knew all about what had happened.
Including the fact that Aileen had almost been sold off to a foreign country…
The more she thought about it, the more foolish she felt for worrying about her father’s meal. Everyone was silent, but how frustrating must they find her?
‘But he’s still my father.’
No matter how much she hated him, how could she cut off her own flesh and blood? Aileen listlessly fiddled with her fork.
Then, noticing Senon’s gaze on her, she quickly smiled again. She couldn’t create a gloomy atmosphere when she had invited guests.
“Is everyone hungry? Let’s eat.”
“Thank you for the meal.”
With words of gratitude, the dinner began in earnest. Chicken cooked in wine, venison with plenty of spices, lark stuffed with rice, herring and trout dishes, stew with various seafood…
If it were a noble’s banquet, they would have had to follow complicated etiquette, but since it was a gathering of close friends, they ate freely without worrying about such things.
Everyone ate comfortably, except for Senon, who maintained some semblance of etiquette. He had lived as a soldier for a long time, but his essence was that of a nobleman.
At the table laden with food, everyone laughed and talked amiably as they continued their meal. Except for one person.
Her father clattered his silverware with a gloomy face. If his elbow accidentally bumped into the large men sitting on either side of him, he would immediately bow and apologize.
“S-sorry.”
“Eat comfortably. You need to eat a lot to have strength.”
Diego sneered in a tone that was hard to tell whether he was telling him to eat or not. Then, when he met Aileen’s eyes, he seemed to realize his mistake and corrected himself.
“Eat a lot, Baron.”
Her father chewed his food very slowly with a pale face. But after that, the knights didn’t put any more pressure on him, and at some point, he began to use his silverware comfortably.
It seemed that he was slowly relaxing as he filled his stomach. It also seemed to be thanks to the alcohol, which had made him tipsy. Her father, who had been eating the alcohol and food greedily as if he had been quite hungry, took a bite of arancini with tomato sauce and asked casually.
“Did you make this?”
When Aileen said yes, her father clicked his tongue.
“No wonder it tastes so…”
He didn’t even finish the sentence, “not very good,” when a loud, thunderous sound rang out. Michele had slammed the table roughly with his fist holding the fork. Her father gasped and dropped the silverware he was holding.
“I thought it tasted heavenly. Does the Baron need to go to heaven to know? Should I send you there?”
“Michele.”
Rohan immediately called his name in a stern voice. Senon also grabbed Michele’s forearm tightly on the table.
“Ah, yes. Sorry.”
Michele apologized perfunctorily and pouted. His attitude showed no sign of remorse, but Rohan didn’t say anything more and left him alone.
But after meeting Aileen’s eyes, the confident Michele began to mumble.
“Well, everyone has their own taste… I think it’s delicious.”
Seeing the situation, Aileen thought it would be better for everyone to get her father out of here quickly. Aileen threw a lifeline to her father, who was fidgeting as if sitting on thorns.
“Come to think of it, didn’t you say you had an appointment today?”
“Ah, that’s right, I did, I had an appointment.”
Her father quickly got up from his seat. He got up so quickly that the chair, pushed by the force of his rising, almost fell backward. Rohan and Diego reached out from either side and caught the falling chair.
“Thank you. I-it was a pleasant meal. I have an appointment with a friend, so I’ll be going now…”
After greeting them in a fluster, her father hurriedly left the room. After her father disappeared as if escaping from the brick house, the atmosphere became even warmer.
After finishing the meal, they drank some wine and chatted. The topics were mostly lighthearted, such as everyday matters, rather than things that had happened on the battlefield. It was when they heard the news that Diego had decided to raise a cat he had met on the street.
“Aileen.”
Rohan opened his mouth in a serious tone. Sensing that something was amiss, everyone quieted down.
“Emperor wishes to meet Aileen.”
Aileen froze for a moment, then reacted a beat late.
“…Emperor?!”
“Yes. He wishes to have a private meeting with Aileen without informing Grand Duke.”
Rohan calmly continued to explain that Emperor had secretly asked him. Michele, who had been listening quietly, raised his hand.
“Wait a minute. Emperor asked you secretly, but why are you saying it here?”
Rohan replied with a blunt face.
“I can’t be the only one getting scolded by Grand Duke.”
The other three, who had been completely caught in Rohan’s scheme, screamed. Michele pointed at Rohan and shouted.
“Y-y-you smart bastard…!”
He couldn’t bring himself to swear in front of Aileen, so he replaced the curse with a glare. Diego and Senon were the same. Diego clenched his fist in the air instead of grabbing Rohan’s collar, and Senon sighed deeply, holding his forehead.
While the knights were despairing in their own ways, Aileen was struggling to digest the words that had been placed on her.
‘So… it’s finally here.’
She was shocked to the point of fainting, but on the other hand, she felt that it was something that was bound to happen. She had already met Leone, Cesare’s brother, several times. By diligently frequenting the Imperial Palace, she had naturally been able to associate with Leone.
Cesare and Leone were twins, but they were different in many ways. Unlike Cesare, who had a sharp, beautiful appearance, Leone’s features were softer.
His eyes were also droopy, and his physique was somewhat slender. His personality was also the opposite of Cesare’s, who was cold and rational, and he had emotional and delicate aspects.
Whenever they happened to meet in the Imperial Palace, Leone would give Aileen sweet snacks and play with her.
But after the late Emperor died and the battle for the throne began in earnest, they had not been able to meet. If she were to have a private audience this time, it would be the first time she had seen him in a long time.
The reason why he wanted to meet her alone in secret must be…
‘It must be because of my marriage to Grand Duke.’
Aileen swallowed hard. Her heart was already pounding with tension.
When she was young, Leone had doted on her, but that was only because she was Cesare’s beloved ‘child.’ She wondered if he would still be favorable to her now that she was going to be his brother’s ‘wife.’
But she couldn’t refuse Emperor’s summons. Aileen replied with a heavy heart.
“I will go to the Imperial Palace, Lord Rotan.”
It was already night when she entered the Imperial Palace to attend the victory celebration banquet. At that time, she was so nervous that she couldn’t properly observe her surroundings.
Of course, it wasn’t much different now than it had been on the day of the banquet. Aileen followed Rotan like a wooden doll.
The path that Rotan guided Aileen on was a place where only the Imperial family and a small number of permitted people could pass. Thanks to this, Aileen was able to avoid meeting any other nobles.
After walking diligently, they finally arrived at the audience chamber.
‘I’ve arrived…’
She had hoped that the corridor would continue forever, but the path was too short.
As the door to the audience chamber opened, she saw a man standing in the sunlight pouring in from a large window. He had been pacing around with a slightly anxious look, but he smiled warmly when he saw Aileen.
“Lady Elrod.”
The door closed behind her. Aileen, who was now alone with Emperor, desperately scraped together the Imperial Palace etiquette that remained in her head and paid her respects.
“I-I greet Imperator.”
She had stuttered a little because she was so nervous, but it wasn’t wrong. Leone burst out laughing at her trembling voice.
“There’s no need to be so afraid. Please, have a seat.”
But as soon as Aileen sat down, Leone began to say things that made it necessary to be afraid.
“Do you have any antipathy towards Traon Empire?”
Before Aileen could react, he asked again.
“You didn’t ask Cesare to kill about half of the Empire’s citizens, did you?”
“…Pardon?!”
