The Viscount Antares had deployed more personnel than usual at the date and location written on the parchment received from the Empress.
Although some time had passed since Baron Cyprus was imprisoned, the surveillance system still seemed to be in place, so they had to move very carefully.
To think that he would witness the Duke of Kardia and Marquis Ratse together in the midst of this.
‘Why are the two of them together?’
Although he had been suspecting the betrayal of the Ratse family, he couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
Viscount Antares observed the two from a distance.
Due to the distance, he couldn’t hear their conversation, but it seemed they were having a serious discussion.
The Duke of Kardia was known to strongly dislike wasting time, and didn’t engage in trivial matters beyond necessary words and actions.
So it was possible to roughly predict what the two might be discussing now.
For example, something related to Baron Cyprus…
It was just as Viscount Antares thought that far.
Suddenly, the Duke of Kardia turned his head this way.
He seemed to have felt the gaze.
He quickly hid his body behind a statue.
At that moment, the voice of Marquis Ratse faintly reached his ears.
“What’s the matter?”
“I thought I felt someone looking, but it seems I was mistaken.”
“I hear that wild animals sometimes appear around here, as there aren’t many people passing by…”
The voices of the two grew fainter. They seemed to be moving to another location.
Viscount Antares stared at the two retreating figures for a while before heading back towards the imperial palace.
[This is the timeline separator]“You say it was Marquis Ratse and Duke Kardia? The ones who appeared at the location written on the parchment?”
The Empress’s sharp voice echoed in the quiet reception room.
“Yes. I saw them clearly just now.”
Suspicion had become reality.
Recalling this fact once again, the Empress was indignant. The same was true for Viscount Antares.
“You must banish them quickly before they ruin things further.”
The Empress agreed. She intended to exact the price of betrayal with interest, not just twofold, but even more.
After all, one cannot simply overlook a dog biting its master, no matter how long it had been kept.
“Of course, that’s what we must do.”
With narrowed eyes, the Empress nodded her head.
However, she did not immediately issue an order to arrest Marquis Ratse and his family.
‘When did it start, I wonder.’
The Empress had always given only the best to the Marchioness Ratse.
Not only that, she had long entrusted her with the role of head lady-in-waiting.
Even while Countess Minster had been coveting the position of head lady-in-waiting, she remained unchanged.
She had intended to let them take the place of existing dukes who wouldn’t listen, sweeping them away if Joshua became Emperor without incident.
‘But… why!’
While agreeing with the opinion that the Ratse family should be removed, Viscount Antares noticed the Empress’s hesitant attitude and carefully reminded her.
“…Your Majesty?”
Worried that the Empress might not be able to dismiss the Marchioness Ratse due to their long-standing relationship, Viscount Antares tried to persuade her.
“Do you remember when internal information first started leaking?”
Only then did the Empress turn her gaze towards Viscount Antares.
“It was right before the news of Duke Kardia and Duke Amaterasu’s daughter’s engagement was revealed.”
“…”
“It’s highly likely that the Ratse family felt a sense of crisis after securing evidence that the two families were working behind the scenes. Or perhaps the two families approached the Ratse family first.”
The Empress’s eyelashes trembled at Viscount Antares’s logical reasoning.
“So you’re saying they were gauging which side to join, and then made their decision after the alliance between the two families became certain?”
With his brows deeply furrowed, Viscount Antares nodded.
“Moreover, His Majesty the Emperor detained my father after the report on Baron Cyprus was submitted. There must have been information related to our family in it…”
He could find no other reason beyond that.
The documents about Baron Cyprus that were to be submitted to the Emperor had been fabricated by the Antares family.
The Ratse family knew this fact as well.
And if fabrication was possible, someone else might have intentionally altered the contents once again.
To the disadvantage of the Antares family, that is.
Viscount Antares’s eyes blazed.
His anger was clearly visible, to the point where it wouldn’t have been strange if he had gone to the Ratse family right then and there to start a fight.
With his fists clenched and trembling, Viscount Antares continued.
“…Your Majesty, the Crown Prince may even face an investigation in the future.”
The Antares family, the Empress, and the Crown Prince were entangled in many incidents like one body.
This meant that simply cutting off the tail, as they had tried with Baron Cyprus, wouldn’t be enough to remove all traces.
“Haa…”
Finally, a long sigh escaped the Empress’s lips.
“I fully understand that they bit their master despite being fed on time. Don’t worry. I won’t just let this slide.”
[This is the timeline separator]The red tea swirled in circles, moving this way and that following the motion of the teaspoon.
After stirring the tea adequately, Jieselgrante put down the teaspoon and picked up the teacup.
“If this matter is resolved well, the Empress will end up disposing of her own allies with her own hands.”
The young lady of Count Grey, who had been adding sugar that clumped arbitrarily in the hot tea, carefully raised a question.
“That would be good, but… is it really possible?”
Having worked as Trinity’s lady-in-waiting for a long time, the young lady of Count Grey had many opportunities to witness the Empress and Marchioness Ratse up close.
While their relationship seemed to be one of love and hate at a glance, the bond between the two was strong.
So she didn’t think the Empress would be able to easily cut off the Marchioness Ratse.
“We’ll have to wait and see for now.”
Taking a sip of the warm tea, Jieselgrante gazed out the window.
The sky had long since turned dark.
Although no specific time had been written on the parchment sent through the Empress’s hands, since Cabelased said he would attempt contact to coincide with Marquis Ratse’s return time from work, it meant he was still far from coming back.
“You’ve been looking out the window for a while now.”
“I’m just a bit concerned.”
The task Cabelased was to carry out wasn’t the kind that entailed danger.
But considering the recent unstable mental state of Viscount Antares, one couldn’t be at ease.
“What part are you concerned about?”
“Viscount Antares has always been the one to come up with solutions, and Baron Cyprus was the one to put them into action. But now, Viscount Antares is bearing all the burden alone. The stress must be extreme.”
It wasn’t out of concern for Viscount Antares’s mental health that she said this.
It was merely a worry about whether someone backed into a corner could think rationally.
“I suppose so. He seemed even younger than me…”
Though she said that, there was no trace of pity for Viscount Antares in the young lady of Count Grey’s expression either.
The young lady of Count Grey had nearly died at their hands, and because of them, she was still believed to be missing.
She had been confined within the Duke of Kardia’s residence for several months now, unable to take a single step outside.
Her family was still searching for their missing daughter and sister.
So she might rejoice at the tragedy that had befallen the Antares family, but there was no reason for her to feel sorry for them.
“But how did you manage it? I never imagined there would come a day when the Antares family would fall out of the Emperor’s favor.”
To the young lady of Count Grey’s question, Jieselgrante explained step by step.
“It was thanks to someone slipping documents about the Antares family’s embezzlement into Baron Cyprus’s report that was to be submitted to the Emperor.”
Finding her story interesting, the young lady of Count Grey’s eyes lit up and she nodded, urging her to continue.
“Until then, the Antares family had raised salt prices across the board and pocketed the difference, without reporting this separately to the Emperor.”
“Isn’t that tax evasion?”
“That’s right. It could be considered an act of deceiving the Emperor.”
The Emperor was, above all, a person with a strong desire for control.
He particularly couldn’t tolerate things that went beyond his control and acted on their own.
The behavior of the Antares family that came to light this time was enough to anger the Emperor.
“Ah, so that’s why he kept Viscount Antares in the palace, even knowing it would upset the Empress.”
As Jieselgrante nodded, a maid entered the reception room. When she looked at her, the maid said,
“The Duke has returned home. He asked if Lady Amaterasu would be available to see him briefly, if it’s alright with you. What should I tell him?”
Jieselgrante turned her head towards the young lady of Count Grey. As their eyes met, the young lady of Count Grey spoke first.
“Go ahead and see him. You’ve been eagerly waiting for Duke Kardia to return, haven’t you?”
Those words sounded as if she alone had been desperate to see Cabelased.
As Jieselgrante’s brows furrowed slightly at this, Cabelased’s voice was heard.
“I’m honored to hear that you’ve been eagerly waiting to see me.”
Soon after, Cabelased strode into the reception room.
Glancing at him, the young lady of Count Grey whispered softly into Jieselgrante’s ear.
Male lead is reincarnated to save his wife
I’ve also read this one twice already. The female lead is kinda soft and gets embarrassed easily—not really my type, but the plot is definitely worth reading. Hurry up and read it, y’all!
Intro
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
