The sharer of the Grand Duchess Lariessa’s secret was Count Lebian, a close aide of the Grand Duke of Balboa. He wasn’t a member of the royal family and therefore couldn’t be present here.
In other words, there was no one to control Lariessa’s mouth. Queen Marguerite ordered a maid to fetch Count Lebian, who was somewhere in the palace, to prevent Lariessa from dropping any more bombshells.
The interpreter, who had turned pale, quickly suggested to Grand Duchess Lariessa,
“Your Highness, wouldn’t it be better if you spoke in Galician for smoother communication?”
Lariessa, who had been slightly frustrated, agreed with a bright smile.
“Shall I?”
With the language barrier removed, Grand Duchess Lariessa let loose her tale. To the ears of the king’s secretary, Sir Delfiano, it sounded like bombs were exploding everywhere.
“It was a close call, but Prince Alfonso stepped in personally to save Count Cesare’s fiancee, who was facing a slanderous situation. She was mistaken for a mistress of a bad man, but the prince testified that he was with her! Later, Count Cesare thanked Prince Alfonso. The chivalry of Etruscan men is really cool, isn’t it?”
“Count Cesare’s fiancee…?”
Count Cesare doesn’t have a fiancee. But the king’s intuition was pointing in a certain direction.
“If you’re referring to Count Cesare’s fiancee, could it be the second daughter of Cardinal de Mare?”
The interpreter immediately relayed this to Grand Duchess Lariessa, who then stared at King Leo III with wide eyes.
“Yes, that’s right… But don’t you, Your Majesty, know who Count Cesare’s fiancee is? Has Count Cesare not yet received your approval for the marriage? And yet you stepped in, oh my, how romantic!”
King Leo III was a crafty ruler. As soon as he heard the Grand Duchess Lariessa’s story, he had a rough idea of what had happened the day before.
Cesare doesn’t have a fiancee. It seems that Alfonso was fooling around in the royal garden. The victim was probably the second daughter of Cardinal de Mare. Cesare seemed to have cleaned up after him. Meanwhile, he seemed to have declared himself as the king’s son.
His eldest son was not one to act purely for the sake of others in a situation that brought him no benefit. Either the situation was amusing, or Alfonso owed him something.
King Leo III turned to look at Sir Delfiano, who was shaking like a leaf in the wind.
“Lord Delfiano? I believe there are more reports I should be receiving.”
Already tense enough to break into a sweat, Lord Delfiano immediately understood the meaning and bowed deeply to King Leo III.
“I will arrange to report immediately.”
King Leo III nodded towards Archduchess Lariessa with an inscrutable expression, then he looked at Queen Marguerite and Prince Alfonso.
Queen Marguerite held her breath. That was an expression the king wore when he was terribly angry.
“You. Follow.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
King Leo III left his entourage behind and headed towards the royal office, even omitting the proper honorifics for his queen in front of Archduchess Lariessa.
Realizing why the king was angry, Prince Alfonso followed King Leo III and Queen Marguerite to the royal office. But Queen Marguerite stopped her son.
“Hush. Go back to the prince’s palace. You don’t need to come in too.”
She quickly followed King Leo III and Lord Delfiano into the king’s office, leaving Prince Alfonso and Archduchess Lariessa behind.
Archduchess Lariessa, left alone with Prince Alfonso and not understanding the situation, asked Alfonso,
“Prince, did I make a mistake?”
Prince Alfonso, unable to say ‘it’s not your fault’, instead gave a brief reply.
“It’s a matter of our country, it has nothing to do with the Archduchess. Let’s go, I’ll escort you to your quarters.”
Count LeBien, who was late to arrive and was in charge of the marriage negotiations and Archduchess Lariessa’s protector, rushed over, but everything had already ended.
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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