157. Perhaps It’s Time to Get Married

2024.03.05.

Enoch Pelliese opened his mouth as if something had caught in his throat, but seeing Yuan Pelliese’s firm gaze, he slowly closed it again.

Louise must have worn that same expression too.

When she left home in place of ‘Yuan Pelliese,’ the only daughter of the late Count Pelliese, as rumored throughout the land.

When she entered the palace under Bollonico Euphris’s command, with the look of someone who believed no one else could resolve the matter. Accepting even death as an opportunity granted by heaven.

Faced with Yuan Pelliese, who had learned love from Louise and thus could do nothing else, he could not bring himself to tell her to flee for the sake of her fading life. Instead, he silently took the leather pouch she held out to him.

He could see something inside—letters. Just the thought that they might bear traces of Louise blurred his vision with tears.

“…If I discover new facts, I will inform you.”

Seeing Yuan Pelliese’s face lighten faintly, Enoch added, as if to caution her:

“But I won’t stand by and let you declare yourself hopeless. I will do everything in my power to save your life. I’ll prescribe medicine to ease your symptoms. So don’t assume what you wish to do will be the final act of your life.”

Each time Yuan met those deep black eyes so like her own, she had to suppress the tears threatening to spill.

It was because too many beloved faces passed before her in Enoch Pelliese’s features.

Only after seeing Enoch off and returning to her room could Yuan finally steady her heart.

Bollonico Euphris had once said that the day would come when he would use Yuan, and when that time arrived, she was to follow him without objection.

Recalling Bollonico’s doll-like face, which had gleamed with excitement at the thought that Yuan might accomplish what Louise had failed to do, she could finally guess the nature of the command she had been trying so hard to decipher.

‘When the time comes, they’ll send me into the Emperor’s bedroom, just as they did with Louise.’

The reason Empress Marilyn had called Bollonico Euphris “my son, yet horrifying” was not merely because his cruelty resembled the Emperor’s.

Piecing together fragments of information she had overheard during conversations with Noel Euphris and Tasha Kimfri, Yuan could infer that Bollonico had offered women to win the Emperor’s favor, regardless of whether his own mother grieved.

In Bollonico’s view, it was better to offer women he could control than to let the Emperor sire bastards in unpredictable places.

He likely saw it as a way to suppress potential future brothers who might become rivals.

‘Bollonico, who knows about the Pelliese treasure, wouldn’t have sent Louise merely to serve at night.’

If only she could find a clue about what would happen in Emperor Igor Euphris’s bedroom, Yuan could prepare herself thoroughly for that moment.

Whatever it was, one thing was certain—it would be something worth risking her life for.

‘I’ll stop here for today.’

Her eyes, swollen from crying earlier while speaking with Enoch Pelliese about Louise’s past, now felt nearly raw.

As Yuan pressed the back of her hand firmly against her eyes to collect her thoughts, a knock sounded.

Startled, she lifted her head toward the door to find Eugene Kimfri standing there, gazing at her quietly.

His neatly combed black hair and pale face.

Her gaze flickered over his flushed, irritated eyes and slightly damp cheeks.

“The Empress wishes everyone to assemble. My grandfather has just returned after completing the harvest festival preparations.”

Eugene Kimfri’s grandfather was Count Kimfri. Yuan nodded and stepped out of the room.

Yet Eugene Kimfri didn’t release the doorknob, instead staring down at her intently.

“Is there something you wish to say?”

“…No.”

Along the corridor toward the reception hall, Eugene and Yuan exchanged not a single word.

Yuan walked in despair, pondering how she might grow stronger, enough to one day kill not only Bollonico Euphris but Igor Euphris as well.

Eugene followed silently behind her.

Finally, they arrived at the reception hall.

“Your Grace.”

The attendants bowed respectfully, about to open the door.

Then, from above Yuan’s head, Eugene Kimfri’s low voice poured down.

“You may use it once more.”

When Yuan turned, startled, to look at him—

he had already passed through the open door and entered ahead of her.

***

The Kimfri Estate, Reception Hall.

Empress Marilyn was beginning to understand why Eugene Kimfri had desired her visit here.

What was the Eastern Province?

Known as the empire’s granary, it supplied vast quantities of grain across the nation each year.

But after Count Drietter, the great noble and landowner who had long shared control of the East with the Kimfri family, was elevated to a ducal house and relocated to the North, nearly half the region’s production had plummeted due to the mass migration of people following him.

Moreover, the loss of military strength needed to jointly defend against monsters migrating south from the North had allowed magically contaminated lands to spread.

Even with the Kimfri family’s relentless efforts, losing the Drietter family—their steadfast ally in confronting enemies—was a painful blow.

Despite distributing stored grain and reducing taxes, the fundamental shortage in absolute yield could not be overcome.

Eugene Kimfri had brought Empress Marilyn here in place of an Emperor who seemed indifferent to the Eastern Province’s plight, so she could witness the situation firsthand.

Noel Euphris, too, felt uneasy—seeing with his own eyes the slow collapse of the East alongside the Empress.

After all, this crisis stemmed directly from his own father’s mismanagement.

Seeing the elderly Count return, Empress Marilyn had to abandon her earlier determination to push forward Noel and Tasha’s engagement and instead attend this emergency meeting to try, however slightly, to improve the situation.

Yes, right here, right now.

“As the mother of the Empire, I humbly request Your Majesty’s opinion on how best to survive this winter. I will listen attentively to even the smallest suggestion.”

Ultimately, without the Emperor or Bollonico Euphris’s direct involvement, there were limits to what could be done for the East.

The elderly Count was clearly testing Empress Marilyn.

Tasha Kimfri, accompanying the Empress, shot sharp glances at the elderly Count and Eugene Kimfri, as if asking whether they really had to go this far. Yet they waited, hoping the Empress would show even the slightest interest.

“I do not ask for grand support.”

The face of Empress Marilyn, long troubled by Federico Companni and Harol Companni—her two sons—and the Emperor’s concubine issues, grew increasingly red, then darkened to a dull hue.

Her beautiful golden eyes wandered aimlessly before finally dropping downward.

This was a tremendous humiliation, and she knew it reflected poorly on her as a sovereign. Yet her mind went blank, and she could not utter a single word.

“I…”

That was when it happened.

“I do not know if I am permitted to speak here, but—”

The voice came from someone no one had expected to contribute: the widowed crown princess, Yuan Pelliese.

Empress Marilyn abruptly lifted her head.

“If the main issue is that harvest seasons keep getting delayed, then the key is to find something that can sustain people for a few days without hunger, correct?”

“Indeed. Without this, people scour mountains and fields, digging up roots and stripping bark to eat, further devastating the land.”

The elderly Count replied sharply. Yet Yuan did not cower before his seasoned tone.

“In the Northwestern region of Roxenhardt, there’s something called ‘Full Belly Tea.’ As you know, Roxenhardt’s winters are as long and harsh as the North’s, making food abundance difficult. The locals there, seeking to overcome hunger, invented this ‘Full Belly Tea’—a drink that not only creates a sense of fullness but has actually helped them endure food-scarce winters.”

“…Tea?”

“Yes. You might think it’s no different than just drinking water to fill the stomach. But since it’s a method developed by the people of Roxenhardt, who face hunger daily, perhaps it’s worth considering? Your Majesty may have even tasted it once before. I served it to you previously, and you showed great interest then. You even mentioned how beneficial it would be if the Northwest and East could exchange resources.”

Empress Marilyn had no memory of such a conversation.

Yet under Yuan’s gentle words, she found herself nodding instinctively and turning her gaze toward the elderly Count.

It was a minor suggestion, one that could easily have been dismissed as trivial. Yet to the experienced elderly Count, it sounded different.

First, that the widowed crown princess—a noble—knew of and had personally tried a solution devised by commoners.

And second, that she had brought it forward in an effort to help the East.

Apparently satisfied, he replied that he would contact Roxenhardt to see if they could purchase some.

“When those above are wise, those below follow suit. Whether great or small, the East values such intentions. If even a lady-in-waiting like the widowed crown princess is so aware of the people’s plight, how much more so must the Empress be? You have fine attendants. I thank you both—Your Grace, and Your Majesty.”

Empress Marilyn responded with an awkward smile.

The stern expression on the elderly Count’s face, who had never expected much from the Empress, finally softened.

With a slightly eased expression, he glanced around the room.

Then he noticed his grandson, Eugene Kimfri, still gazing at the widowed crown princess with shimmering eyes.

Seeing such a rare expression on his grandson’s face, one of the elderly Count’s white eyebrows arched sharply upward.

His sharp eyes remained fixed on his grandson, who continued staring at the empty space where Yuan had stood, long after all the guests had left the reception hall.

A crooked smile tugged at the elderly Count’s lips.

“Perhaps it’s time your son got married.”