Who knows what part of that treasure shop Duke Reshaniel’s got his greedy eyes on… Whatever it is, I’ll take every last thing you wanted, you damn b*stard.
Letting out a sly, sinister laugh, I spoke up. “Wot really wants to explore that treasure ship! Suddenly, it feels like something socially and publicly very necessary.”
“Is that so…? I like your boldness. And now that the reward’s been decided, all the better.” For the briefest moment, a sharp glint flashed across the emperor’s previously easygoing face. “In that case, it’s time we showed everyone the empress in good health.”
In other words, he meant to show the world that the empress, who’d been holed up in her quarters for some time and rumored to be ill, was in fact alive and well. And he must also mean to spread the word about the Celestine Green poison. In that case…
Count Florette spoke up in my stead, saying exactly what I’d wanted to say. “Duke Reshaniel will soon hear of it as well, the news that Her Majesty has made a complete recovery.”
* * *
Meanwhile, even though a recess had been declared, there were still those who hadn’t left their seats for hours… including Duke Kalinos and Duke Reshaniel. The two sat facing each other, going over the legal issues in the bill about concubines that Duke Reshaniel had introduced.
“This bill fundamentally violates the empire’s higher law.”
“Then perhaps that higher law must also be amended.”
“The higher law was one that the late emperor himself safeguarded. In all our history, it has never once been changed.”
The exchange took on a peculiar pattern. Duke Kalinos would examine the bill from a legal standpoint and voice his next objection, and Duke Reshaniel would immediately counter it. Because the two of them were glaring at each other as they spoke, the other nobles couldn’t bring themselves to leave. Since those two sat at the very pinnacle of power in the current empire (aside from the emperor), most people had no choice but to remain in the chamber, except for reckless types like Count Florette or those with no interest whatsoever in the central authority.
“I truly don’t understand why Duke Kalinos is so vehemently opposed to this bill,” Duke Reshaniel said, his expression nothing but clean and innocent.
But Vientin could feel it. Somewhere beneath the surface, there had to be a purpose behind putting forward such an underhanded law. And that purpose was probably… Giselle.
The paper in Vientin’s hand crumpled viciously. As the crumpling sound snapped him back to himself, he loosened his grip, and a particular passage caught his eye.
[Some widows or divorced women often find themselves in the unreasonable position of being excluded from society. Accordingly, it shall be permissible to petition for ‘annulment of marriage’ so that such women may be taken in as concubines.]
“How dare you pull such a filthy trick…”
“That’s rather harsh. It seems Duke Kalinos regards women as something to be monopolized.”
Contrary to his righteous words, the desire glinting in Duke Reshaniel’s gaze was, put simply, the look of a man treating Giselle as an object he absolutely had to own. Something that rightfully ought to end up in his arms. Yet once he truly had it, he would lose interest, handling it like some trivial bauble.
Vientin’s usually indifferent gaze held a faint trace of anger. But I’m not like that. He wanted to be the object of Giselle’s exclusivity. And he wished to be in that position in her heart as well.
As if only now realizing his own feelings, he murmured, his expression slightly changed. “I suppose you could call it possessiveness.” Tilting his head a little, Vientin lifted the sheet of paper with the bill written on it, his face cool and casual. “Which is why I don’t like this in the slightest.”
Rip. Paper tore with a crisp, satisfying rip. Only his flustered aide Peterson muttered to himself, “T-They say people in love start to act like, and now even his behavior is just like La-Lady Giselle’s…”
In a low, gentle voice, Duke Reshaniel said, “Well now, His Majesty is about to give that bill his approval. Are you refusing His Majesty’s command?”
The air between them was tight with tension. Just then, from the chamber doorway, they heard the emperor burst into a hearty laugh.
“Ah, I declared a recess, but… most of you are still in your seats. All the better.” He was the very same emperor who had stalked out a little while ago with a face like death… and yet now he was entering the council chamber wearing a pleased expression.
As the bewildered vassals traded looks with one another, the emperor went on.
“I decided we need to start over from a fresh agenda this session, so I was about to hurriedly reconvene the meetings. It seems my timing is perfect.”
Before Duke Reshaniel could voice his question, the empress appeared in the doorway with an elegant countenance. She looked healthy, and there was even something relieved about her.
Duke Reshaniel’s gaze, almost of its own accord, dropped to the empress’s bare wrist. There are no blotches at all. Even her formerly pale complexion had returned a healthy hue.
Duke Reshaniel’s face went rigid. The moment the empress appeared smiling and took her place at the emperor’s side, he instinctively knew that what he had intended had gone awry.
“I’m well aware that unsettling rumors about my being ill have been spreading among the public.”
“Ah…”
She was right. Among the great houses, rumors had been quietly circulating that the empress’s health was failing. The fact that she had appeared in such robust health and that she had, in passing, acknowledged that she truly had been ill before, naturally left the chamber in a state of confusion.
“It seems what made me sick was a dye called Celestine Green. We’ll be drafting a bill to ban the distribution of that dye.”
“Just as the empress says. We’ll be enacting a special law to recall all Celestine Green dye and subject it to a full investigation. As for Marquis Berto, who supplied the dye, we’ll be putting him in prison for now and interrogating him first.”
When the emperor and empress finished speaking, a shockwave ran through the room.
“That Marquis Berto again? He really is a walking disaster!”
“Pathetic…”
“They’ll have to interrogate him properly this time!”
Harsh condemnations like that flew back and forth for a brief moment.
In the middle of the uproar, Duke Reshaniel ran a hand through his hair, his expression a little disordered. Now that the empress had recovered, it was obvious that the bill he had introduced would be thrown out. Useless as ever, Marquis Berto.
With a mild, gentle smile that would never let anyone imagine he had been bargaining with the empress’s very life, Duke Reshaniel said pleasantly, “I see. Your Majesty, allow me to congratulate you on your recovery.”
The empress regarded him steadily for a moment, then smiled as well and delivered a line with a sharp edge. “Duke Reshaniel, you went to such trouble as well… What a pity for you. The famed doctor Wot, who saved the late Duke Kalinos, is truly remarkable.”
The instant those words left her lips, everyone, including the vassals of the Kalinos family, began looking at one another.
“Doctor Wot has saved someone again?”
“At this point, isn’t that more amazing than divine power?”
“You bet it is! Doctor Wot really does save people out of the purest intentions!”
The mood that had been busy condemning Marquis Berto swung around in an instant, and soon the chamber was abuzz with talk of Wot instead. The world that had until now supported Duke Reshaniel seemed to tilt in an unsettling new direction.
It felt filthy, as if he’d become a mere piece in some revenge drama someone else had carefully laid out. Duke Reshaniel felt a pressing need to look into the enigmatic figure known as Wot.
* * *
“No matter how I think about it, coughing up blood is clearly serious. There might be something wrong. Let’s go back to our mansion.”
After the emperor and empress left for the council chamber, Giselle and Count Florette had agreed to part ways and return to their respective homes. So they had taken off their disguises inside the count’s carriage, which no one would recognize, and yet…
“Why on earth is this carriage heading toward the Florette Mansion? I’m supposed to be going back to Kalinos Mansion…”
“Enough! Those people don’t even know about your condition!”
“I told you, I’m healthy.”
“Absolutely not. We’re going to have you examined from head to toe. W-W-What if y-y-you only have little ti-ti-time left to live…?” Sniffling, on the verge of tears, Count Florette crushed the handkerchief in his fist and blew his nose with a loud honk.
Giselle couldn’t possibly dissuade him.
Due to Count Florette’s severe stubbornness, they ended up at his mansion and immediately started putting her through every test imaginable…
I mean it, I really am healthy.
Every time a test result came back, Count Florette let out a long, heavy sigh. They kept at it so long that by the time they were done, the night was nearly over. Long enough that even the Kalinos family, who were accustomed to Giselle appearing and disappearing unpredictably, sent people out looking for her.
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