58
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Count Domenico's expression turned peculiar at Cesare's words. He looked as if he doubted his own ears, just as Aileen had when she heard the dog remark from the Count's mouth earlier.
While Count Domenico was frozen stiff, Aileen blushed and looked up at Cesare. She had heard he had entered the Imperial Palace, so she thought she wouldn't see him anymore today.
She couldn't believe that she could see him yesterday and today. Cesare had even come to see her.
'I'm so glad I became the Grand Duchess.'
It was like a dream to be in this kind of relationship with him. Aileen suppressed the urge to pinch her arm and opened her lips.
"I heard you were busy."
"I am busy."
He answered leisurely and swept back Aileen's hair that had been disheveled by the breeze. Aileen held her breath for a moment at the sensation of the leather glove brushing against her skin. Cesare tapped the tip of Aileen's nose with his finger and smiled.
"I have time to see my wife's face. Do you dislike it?"
There was no way she could dislike it. Her cheeks kept turning red with the ticklish feeling. Aileen answered quietly.
"I'm glad you came..."
Hearing the answer he wanted, Cesare kissed Aileen's flushed cheek. Aileen shrugged her shoulders, feeling both happy and embarrassed by the lips that landed softly.
"Why are you standing on the street when you're not feeling well?"
"Ah, that's..."
Aileen, who had been in a daze as if lost in a dream at Cesare's question, regained her senses a little. Aileen looked back at Count Domenico. He had been dragged away by Michele to a distant place.
It was a distance far enough that his voice couldn't be heard. After confirming the Count's location, Aileen stretched up and whispered quietly in Cesare's ear.
"He wants to be a dog...!"
Then Cesare laughed out loud. She was momentarily mesmerized by his face as he squinted and laughed softly, but belatedly realized it.
Now that she finally had someone to ask, she was so impatient that she blurted out the most important question without any explanation. Aileen hurriedly added a quiet explanation.
"So, I didn't know, but it turns out that the Count was a customer who bought Consenting Harmony Herb from me. When I arrived at the inn, the Count was looking for me, who had disappeared, so I revealed that I was an apothecary in case something big had happened."
At this point, she paused her explanation for a moment and apologized to Cesare for revealing her identity without permission. Fortunately, Cesare generously said that Aileen could do as she pleased.
Aileen continued her explanation with a lighter heart.
"Thank you, Your Grace. Anyway, then the Count suddenly said he had to become the Grand Duchess's dog. Of course, I never asked him to be a dog. Could it be some kind of slang in society that I don't know about? Do you know what it means, Your Grace?"
"We're married, and you're still calling me 'Your Grace'?"
Aileen glanced at Count Domenico again and answered.
"That's... I thought I shouldn't call you by your name carelessly in front of others. I'll make sure to call you by your name from now on, Cesare. Anyway, please let me know if you know what it means. Even Sir Michele doesn't seem to know..."
However, unlike the serious Aileen, Cesare kept laughing. After laughing for a while, Cesare, still with a smiling face, said to Aileen.
"I think the Count is saying that because he wants to express his gratitude to you."
Although her curiosity wasn't completely resolved, she nodded, thinking that his words seemed to be roughly correct.
"I hope that's the case."
"If you don't like an old dog, should I get you a young puppy?"
"Pardon? Uh, I like all dogs. But if you're asking if I dislike Count Domenico, that's not true..."
Cesare laughed again at Aileen's flustered appearance, not knowing where the joke ended and the truth began.
While Aileen and Cesare were talking, Count Domenico, who had been watching the scene quietly, blinked his eyes.
He looked at the Grand Duke couple and slowly turned to Michele. His eyes were asking what the heck was going on.
Michele, rustling a paper bag and checking what kind of bread was inside, looked back at the Count with a 'what' expression. There was no surprise in Michele's carefree eyes, as if this was ordinary life.
"Heh heh..."
Count Domenico swallowed a hollow laugh. He thought that Cesare cherished his wife very much.
The kiss he showed on the wedding day, and the fact that he threatened the Speaker of the Senate to tell him to become the Grand Duchess's dog. He assumed that he cherished her because the Grand Duchess had great beauty and let it go.
But he never knew that a man who seemed to be made of swords and gunpowder could have such a sweet look in his eyes. Not only him, but any aristocratic noble would be shocked to see this scene.
Cesare smiling happily. It was truly a sight he couldn't even imagine in his dreams.
The world's assessment of Grand Duke Erzeht was extreme. He was often compared to the god of war because he possessed outstanding looks and amazing martial power.
Everyone admired Cesare. Even if he showed fierce eyes, they regarded it as the wildness of a soldier and only saw it in a good light.
But those who had experienced Cesare's true nature even a little knew very well that they should not be fooled by his beautiful exterior.
He did not possess human emotions. He was an existence incapable of pitying, loving, grieving, or regretting anyone.
It was the consensus among the nobles that Cesare's cruelty was partly due to his nature, but largely due to his environment.
The twin Emperor's biological mother particularly hated and tormented Cesare. She believed that the reason the Emperor's favor had fallen was all because of Cesare. Obsessed with superstition, she believed that cursing Cesare would bring back the Emperor's love.
The biological mother performed all sorts of sorcery on the young Cesare. Making him wear the raw blood of animals on a bizarre sorcery circle was a minor matter.
She would cut open the belly of a black goat alive and make him sleep overnight inside its entrails, or force him to eat herbs that induced hallucinations, including Consenting Harmony Herb, and lock him in a dark room for days without giving him a drop of water.
Nevertheless, Cesare survived. Since he didn't die from various curses, the biological mother drove the young Emperor to the battlefield.
Usually, young soldiers of noble status would stay safely in the rear and gain experience. But Cesare was forced by his biological mother to experience the horrors of the battlefield firsthand and wallow in the bottom.
Even though he had been dispatched several times, he did not die and made achievements, so he eventually caught the Emperor's eye. But that was the beginning of another misfortune. The Emperor was greatly pleased that there was an Emperor who was useful and sent Cesare to even more dangerous battlefields.
It was a life that had been sustained by taking the blood and flesh of others. It was, in a way, natural that Cesare grew up with a cruel disposition.
When the twin Emperors won the civil war and seized the throne, Count Domenico was relieved that Leone, not Cesare, was given the name of Imperator.
No matter how much of a god of war he was, how could someone who did not know human emotions become an Emperor who cared for the Imperial people? Fortunately, Cesare did not have much interest in politics.
Then, in recent years, he suddenly began to show movements to actively intervene in politics.
After overturning the parliament with the demand to build the Arch of Triumph, Cesare quickly expanded his power by using the Imperial Army, which was absolutely loyal to him. Therefore, the nobles were wary of Cesare...
Looking at the man's face as he smiled happily at his wife, Count Domenico somehow felt like he knew the reason for Cesare's change.
It was similar to his own heart when he became a spy for Kalpen for his wife. However, it was hard to believe because it was none other than Cesare.
After staring at Cesare and Aileen for a while, Count Domenico let out a faint sigh. In any case, he was glad that he had a chance to repay his benefactor. He was still chilled to the bone by the fact that he had almost harmed her.
If he had followed the orders of the King of Kalpen, his wife, who could not get out of bed due to illness, would already be a cold corpse.
But the heavens had given him a golden opportunity. Count Domenico was determined to repay her with all his might.
For Archduchess of Erzeht, Aileen.
