As I moved to the reception room with the attendant, the Emperor’s back came into view, standing in front of the large window looking up at the sky.
Although he must have sensed Cabelased and the attendant’s presence earlier, the Emperor still did not turn around.
“Please come inside.”
The attendant extended his hand as if to say enter.
Cabelased glanced around the interior of the reception room and slowly walked towards the Emperor.
It was only when he approached the sofa that the Emperor turned to face Cabelased.
Moving towards the seat of honor, the Emperor said,
“Sit.”
Nodding his head, Cabelased sat on the sofa diagonally to his right.
Soon, the attendant placed teacups filled with tea in front of the two men.
The fragrant aroma of tea soon spread through the reception room, but neither Cabelased nor the Emperor touched their cups.
The Emperor stared intently at Cabelased, with a relaxed yet confident posture, his arms resting on the wide sofa armrests. It was an inscrutable gaze.
However, they had just had a meeting about the salt business, and the Emperor had sided with Cabelased’s opinion then.
Both he and the Emperor knew that further discussion related to this would be necessary.
Nevertheless, Cabelased opened his mouth, feigning ignorance about why the Emperor had summoned him.
“I heard you were looking for me.”
Usually, the Emperor severely punished those who tried to pry into and guess his thoughts.
It was because he considered it presumptuous for anyone to dare to speculate about the mind of the Emperor of the Empire, a descendant of heaven.
But fortunately, today he didn’t seem displeased by Cabelased’s attitude.
“To think the day would come when Duke Cardia would read my mood.”
“……”
“By the way, does the Duke know who reported this salt matter?”
“Weren’t you already certain it was me?”
The Emperor let out a small snort and stared at Cabelased as if to say, go on, keep talking.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t the one who proposed to review the salt business of the Antares Marquis family.”
“……?”
One of the Emperor’s eyebrows shot up. To the Emperor’s gaze that seemed to ask who it was then, Cabelased spoke again.
“It was my fiancée, the young lady of Duke Amaterasu.”
“The young lady of Duke Amaterasu……”
The Emperor stopped there, closing his mouth.
But Cabelased could guess what he was about to say.
‘He was probably going to mention the past rumors surrounding Jieselgrante.’
Refraining from mentioning his fiancée’s unfavorable rumors in front of Cabelased must have been to avoid spoiling his mood.
This was certainly unlike the Emperor he knew.
“I’d like to see her once.”
Cabelased’s handsome brow furrowed slightly.
He wondered if he had understood correctly.
“Don’t glare at me with such a displeased expression. I’m getting old now too. It’s too much for me to handle spirited young people.”
Though his white hair had certainly increased, the Emperor still looked much younger than his actual age. Given that he consumed everything good for the body, even from distant continents beyond the empire, this was perhaps only natural.
“You still look healthy.”
The Emperor laughed heartily at Cabelased’s blunt remark.
“You’ve grown old too. You even know how to compliment me now.”
“……”
“Or perhaps someone has changed you, Duke Cardia.”
Cabelased slowly blinked and lowered his gaze.
Come to think of it, he had been hearing lately that he seemed to be in a good mood.
Of course, this had led to some troublesome situations. People from here and there would try to strike up conversations with him.
He knew well who had brought about this change.
Whenever he thought of Jieselgrante during his busy days, his mood would always improve.
“If it’s the young lady of Duke Amaterasu, I’d like to meet her once.”
Cabelased’s expression stiffened slightly. The Emperor chuckled and added,
“Don’t be so scared. It’s to bless the two of you before an important imperial marriage.”
[This is the timeline separator]After finishing his schedule, Cabelased returned to the Cardia mansion, trying to hide his uncomfortable mood.
The reason for his discomfort was the Emperor’s sudden change in attitude.
‘Is he really about to die?’
The Emperor today was a bit strange, enough to make such a thought arise spontaneously.
Of course, it wasn’t as if he had frequent private audiences with the Emperor, so it might be a bit of a stretch to claim he knew him inside out, but…
Still, something felt off.
The way he had quickly dealt with this matter without a word to the Empress, and suddenly saying he wanted to see Jieselgrante…
‘What exactly is his intention?’
Cabelased’s handsome brow clearly showed his discomfort due to the inscrutable Emperor.
“You’ve returned… Welcome back.”
The butler who had come out to greet him had his expression rapidly darken.
Just as the butler was about to ask what had happened at the Imperial Palace, his lips parting,
“Welcome back.”
A familiar voice wrapped around Cabelased’s ears.
It wasn’t just the butler who had come out to greet Cabelased at the entrance.
“……Jieselgrante.”
The moment he saw her, Cabelased’s expression instantly softened.
It wasn’t just the butler who was surprised by this change in Cabelased.
Jieselgrante, who had already noticed his bad mood, was equally surprised.
“Weren’t you in a bad mood?”
“Me? Not at all.”
Cabelased shook his head with a faint smile on his lips.
Then he approached Jieselgrante and put his arm around her slender waist.
“Have you had dinner?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Then let’s have some tea at least.”
“……Alright.”
Jieselgrante took a somewhat awkward step. It was because of his arm around her sensitive waist.
But she couldn’t push Cabelased away in front of the butler and all the employees.
Although it was still uncertain how the marriage would turn out, she was currently staying at this mansion as Cabelased’s fiancée after all.
Moreover, the butler and employees all seemed to accept Cabelased’s somewhat bold contact as natural.
Among the employees who stood still, watching the backs of Cabelased and Jieselgrante until they completely left, whispers could be heard.
“Did you see that just now?”
“Yes, yes! I saw it! It’s so shocking. The way his expression completely changed when he saw the young lady’s face……”
“Wow, I never imagined our Duke would change like that……”
Ahem, ahem.
The butler deliberately let out a loud fake cough to cut off the employees’ chatter. Then he sent them a sharp glance.
Soon, the employees gathered at the entrance dispersed to find their respective tasks.
Looking at the now empty entrance, the butler smiled secretly as he walked towards the conference room where Cabelased and Jieselgrante had headed earlier.
[This is the timeline separator]As Cabelased and Jieselgrante entered the conference room and sat on the sofa, Count Preston also entered belatedly.
“I’m a bit late. I thought it would be better not to reveal our relationship to the outside yet, so I took a bit of a detour.”
“That seems to have all gone to waste as of today.”
As Cabelased let out a small snort, Count Preston, approaching the sofa, drooped his lips and shrugged.
“I got carried away thinking it was too good an opportunity and ended up casting a vote in favor of the Duke’s opinion. Ah, of course, I regretted it a bit later. Wondering if this might be a trap……”
Jieselgrante’s gaze darted back and forth between the faces of the two men conversing.
Glancing at this sight, Cabelased took Jieselgrante’s small hand, which was resting quietly on her knee, as if to cover it.
Surprised by the sudden contact, Jieselgrante flinched, her shoulders jerking slightly.
“What’s the matter, young lady of Duke Amaterasu?”
Count Preston, who was about to sit opposite her, asked with a puzzled expression.
“Well……”
Flustered, Jieselgrante’s lips quivered as if trying to make an excuse, glancing at Cabelased’s face.
Finding this cute as well, Cabelased quietly watched her instead of stepping in to help.
Blinking slowly as she looked at him, Jieselgrante’s eyes soon turned sharp.
She seemed to have noticed that he was enjoying watching her troubled reaction.
Jieselgrante tried to free her hand from his grasp under the table, hidden from Count Preston’s view.
But Cabelased held her hand even tighter and spoke.
“It seems a bit cold.”
“Ah, now that you mention it, the window was open.”
After quickly surveying the surroundings, Count Preston noticed the curtains fluttering in the breeze and approached the window.
Just then, as Lady Greykin entered the conference room, she added,
“We should add some more firewood too.”
Having heard the conversation between Cabelased and Count Preston earlier, Lady Greykin walked towards the fireplace.
After closing the window and carefully drawing the curtains, Count Preston quickly approached the fireplace.
And as Lady Greykin was picking up dry firewood from the large basket next to the fireplace, he said,
“Please, let me do it.”
“Will you?”
Lady Greykin handed the dry firewood she was holding to Count Preston.
Then she leisurely took a seat opposite Jieselgrante and Cabelased.
The three people sitting on the sofa quietly watched as the esteemed Count personally stoked the fire in the fireplace with a poker.
Whoosh.
After watching the flames begin to rise for a while, Count Preston stood up.
“It’s done.”
As the fire was lit in the fireplace, the air in the conference room became warm.
“It’s gotten warmer thanks to you. Thank you.”
Jieselgrante smiled brightly at Count Preston as she spoke.
“It’s nothing. There are too many people in this world who wouldn’t leave me alone if the young lady of Duke Amaterasu were to catch a cold.”
Count Preston glanced at Cabelased as he sat on the sofa, and Cabelased nodded as if it were only natural.
“You know well. About the fuss Duke Amaterasu and the young duke would make.”
Perhaps due to working close to the fire, beads of sweat that had formed on Count Preston’s forehead rolled down and gathered on his sharp chin.
Count Preston wiped away the sweat that was about to drip with the back of his hand.
Watching this from the side, Lady Greykin hurriedly pulled out a handkerchief and said,
“Count Preston, just a moment.”
“……What is it?”
Lady Greykin wiped the soot smudge on Count Preston’s cheek with her handkerchief.
“Oh ho.”
Cabelased let out a small exclamation as he watched this, and Count Preston bit his lip slightly as if embarrassed, lowering his gaze.
On the other hand, Lady Greykin carefully folded the now dirty handkerchief and placed it on the chair beside her, then raised her gaze.
Puzzled by Jieselgrante and Cabelased’s obvious stares, Lady Greykin opened her mouth.
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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