Since I Don't Know Anything About It, Shall We Break Up, Your Majesty? - Chapter 50

“Me?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. They could say that it was Your Majesty himself who opened the treasury, or they might deny having the key to the treasury at all. Even if we manage to create the perception that it was taken by force, the king will be criticized for his incompetence in letting it be taken.”

There were several other scenarios one could imagine.

For instance, they could slander by saying the king is so infatuated with the new queen that he’s lavishing gifts to the point of depleting the treasury.

How many times has such a thing happened in history?

Because it’s something that could easily happen, no one would doubt it.

Since Maria Tartien is hailed as the beauty of the century, it would be even easier to fabricate such a story.

Whatever excuse is used, the king will surely be pointed at or cursed as incompetent.

Fuego was genuinely concerned about this.

Seeing his worried face, Karl suddenly burst into laughter.

It was an incredibly refreshing laugh.

“Hey, Fuego.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Are you worried about me being hated?”

“……Your Majesty.”

Fuego looked at Karl with pained eyes at his question.

It hurt his heart that such an obvious question was being asked as if it wasn’t obvious.

“I’m touched that there’s someone who cares about such things. It warms my heart.”

“Your Majesty, how can you say such things.”

“It’s alright. You know too. This country hates me anyway. The nobles despise me, and the people don’t care about me. At best, they pity me. From the moment my parents burned until now….. The truth doesn’t matter to them. But someday, the truth they’ve hidden, the truth they’ve been ignoring……”

Karl’s smile settled heavily.

“It will overturn this entire false situation.”

In front of that smile filled with clear determination, Fuego felt ashamed of himself for a moment.

‘How dare I try to pity this person? You’ve become quite weak, Fuego.’

He was a man who, even in harsh reality, was unwavering in finding his own path.

Fuego had never seen a man with such strong will as him.

“The flow of a play is a condensation of life. Fuego, do you like plays?”

“……I prefer opera to plays.”

“Plays are good, and operas are good too. Even puppet shows. They’re all the same. A condensation of life.”

“Is that so.”

“The climax is more dramatic when it comes after a great crisis. That reversal captivates people.”

Karl shrugged and leaned back against the backrest.

It was clearly a sensitive and unpleasant moment, but he wasn’t feeling as low as expected.

He knew the reason for that.

Karl closed his eyes and touched his dried lips.

“I’m fine. Even if everyone hates me….. As long as there’s just one person.”

Of course, even if that person doesn’t remember loving him now……

Well, it doesn’t matter.

We can fall in love again.

‘Those always terribly sweet lips. Sweet enough to make one think they might be in hell….’

Karl closed his heavy eyelids and slowly ran his tongue along the inside of his lips.

A languid shiver ran down the back of his neck at the lingering memory of that inner flesh.

Karl believes that if there’s misfortune, there must be luck hidden somewhere.

His luck was Lumiere.

He had no doubt that if he cherished and loved that luck, it would turn into happiness.

Karl slowly got up and stood by the window.

In the distance, he could see Tartien’s carriage crossing the bridge.

Landers.

The pinnacle of arrogant aristocracy.

‘But…… the world you want won’t come, Landers Tartien. Because I won’t let it.’

He turned to Fuego with a slight smile, after persistently following the carriage with his eyes.

“Well then, now let’s hear that story about the spy we sent to the Tartien mansion returning.”

The night was long, and there was an abundance of stories to tell.

* * *

[I’ve obtained the book you mentioned.
It’s classified as a Gold Label book, so the inspection is strict. I’ve secretly set it aside, so please come quickly.]

Upon receiving the urgent note at dawn, Tamia wasted no time in getting dressed.

Her head was throbbing after suffering from nightmares all night, but time was of the essence.

‘It’s faster than I expected. I need to hurry more.’

She didn’t expect the young lady to try to regain her memories this quickly.

It’s not time yet.

Tamia had temporarily halted Lumiere’s memories along with her physical abnormalities using a spell.

This meant that when the spell is lifted, her addiction symptoms could resurface.

Lumiere’s memories should be recalled only after her body has fully recovered.

Although she was neutralizing it with what she had, it was unclear how many more months it would take at this rate.

‘The Golden Flower Exius.’

A forbidden plant where the petals, roots, stem, and even honey all cause addiction.

Using dried petals in moderation can dispel depression and maintain a good mood, but it wasn’t used carelessly due to its extreme addictiveness.

Moreover, its stem and roots cause hallucinations and volatilize pain, making it highly susceptible to abuse.

After many cases of overdose leading to murder or suicide, the temple took action to make the flower extinct.

‘How did Tartien find it, and how did they manage to cultivate it?’

It’s amazing enough that they found it, but to cultivate it on a garden scale is incredible.

To grow such a dangerous flower, they must surely have a method to counter the addiction as well.

From what Tamia had found out, all the documents within Levania had already been transferred to the Tartien family.

The few that remained outside were all either burned in unfortunate accidents or damaged beyond recognition.

But after persistent inquiries, she was contacted about finding a related book in an old, neglected temple archive.

Tamia desperately needed it.

When Tamia, having finished preparing to go out, hurriedly came outside, the morning was just beginning.

She was about to take out a small cargo cart used by servants when she gazed at Jeffrey’s cottage.

‘Come to think of it, last night’s dream……’

She saw Jeffrey wailing in the noisy nightmare from last night.

The death of something young and pretty, blood spurting up, Jeffrey crying.

It was certainly an ominous dream.

But she couldn’t stay here guarding the place just because the dream was unsettling. She needed to get to the temple as soon as possible.

After hesitating, Tamia headed towards Jeffrey’s cottage.

Knock knock knock.

When she knocked on the cottage door, there was a rustling sound and the door opened.

Jeffrey, looking haggard as if he hadn’t slept well, came out.

He looked at her in surprise and asked.

“Tamia? What brings you here at this hour?”

“I need to go out for a bit, so I think I’ll need to use the cargo cart. The small one-person carriage.”

At her request, Jeffrey looked at her with puzzled eyes.

Tamia’s outings were frequent, but it was rare for her to approach Jeffrey directly like this.

Usually, she would tell him the day before or leave a note.

“Ah… Oh, I see. I’ll get the carriage out for you.”

“No, actually, I’ve already taken it out. Rather, Jeffrey.”

Jeffrey looked at Tamia as if asking what was wrong.

Tamia hesitated, glanced inside, then approached Jeffrey closely and whispered in his ear.

“Don’t take your eyes off Laurel today. You must stay with her.”

“……”

Jeffrey couldn’t hide his momentary confusion at Tamia’s words.

He looked at Tamia with wavering eyes, then slowly nodded without asking anything.

Tamia gave him another careful look before turning her back and hurriedly walking away.

Thud.

Jeffrey closed the door as he watched Tamia leave.

He sighed heavily and looked towards the bedroom inside the cottage.

His complex gaze was directed at the woman sitting curled up on the bed, hugging her legs.

“……Laurel.”

Jeffrey’s voice calling her name was bitter.

A few days ago, after going out saying she had an urgent place to visit, Laurel’s condition had been strange.

Then the day before yesterday, she suddenly came late at night and started crying without saying anything.

It had been two days already.

Jeffrey had told Cindy on Laurel’s behalf that she wasn’t feeling well and needed to rest.

That’s how bad Laurel’s condition was.

‘What on earth happened?’

It would be better if she would just talk, but she just stared into space like a person out of her mind, only shedding tears.

“Laurel. Are you not going to tell me what’s wrong?”

Jeffrey asked once more with a concerned heart, but she just shook her head while hugging her knees.

After staying by her side for a while, Jeffrey got up to go to work.

‘Don’t take your eyes off Laurel today.’

Does Tamia know what happened to Laurel?

Tamia had always had good intuition since long ago.

Whenever she warned about something, something would surely happen that day.

‘I hope it’s nothing serious.’

He placed some food Laurel might eat on the bedside table and carefully went outside.

What on earth could have happened?

Is it okay to leave Laurel alone here?

‘……I should just check on the horses quickly and come back.’

Jeffrey looked at the closed door for a long time with anxious eyes before heading to the stable.