In the audience chamber, Marquis Usta waited anxiously for the Emperor. Normally, one needed to make an appointment, but this was such an urgent matter that he had rushed over without one, which was why he couldn’t see the Emperor immediately.

The Marquis’s nerves frayed as he waited for the Emperor to appear.

He had come here all because of Claude.

‘Do you know anything about the woman I’ve been looking for? If my memory serves me correctly, Mother and the former Empress were close friends?’

As soon as he discovered Lisette’s identity, Claude had come straight to the Marquis and questioned him about various matters.

This was inevitable.

‘Yes. They were close friends while she was alive.’

‘I thought she looked familiar.’

Just as Claude said, the Marchioness Usta and the former Empress had been close friends. That was why Lisette had been the imperial princess whom the Marchioness Usta had adored so much.

At four years old, Lisette was too young to remember, but Claude, who had been six, seemed to have recalled meeting the Empress from the depths of his memory. Of course, he couldn’t remember her face clearly.

‘Then why have you ignored Imperial Princess Lisette all this time?’

‘There were circumstances.’

‘What circumstances? Whatever they were, you abandoned the daughter of someone who was close to Mother. I’m disappointed.’

‘It was difficult for me too. I didn’t have the emotional capacity to look after others. Besides, when I returned to the capital after leaving for recovery, it had been a long time since everything had happened.’

After the Marchioness Usta died from illness, the Marquis had stayed at a country villa far from the capital for recovery, disconnected from information. By the time he returned, the situation had quieted down.

Later, he heard that the princess had fallen out of favor after the new Empress arrived, but he couldn’t bring himself to step forward. He worried about potential harm to the Usta family.

‘You can still look after her now.’

‘What do you expect me to do at this point?’

‘I’m going to rescue Imperial Princess Lisette, so please speak to His Majesty on my behalf.’

‘Wh-what do you mean?’

‘Ask him to give me his daughter. I believe he won’t object to my marrying a member of the imperial family.’

His son was predictable, as always.

‘This is our chance to make up for past mistakes.’

Unable to dissuade his stubborn son, the Marquis had reluctantly come before the Emperor.

Of course, there was another reason. The claim that the former Empress had committed adultery kept bothering him.

That’s nonsense.

No matter how much he thought about it, the Marquis couldn’t believe it. He had heard through his wife how deeply the former Empress had loved the Emperor.

Therefore, for the sake of the former Empress’s honor, he needed to carefully inquire about what had happened, starting with why the Emperor believed such a thing.

Of course, his priority was to first obtain permission for the marriage.

“His Imperial Majesty the Emperor enters.”

At the announcement, Marquis Usta bowed his head and waited until the Emperor took his seat on the throne. Once seated, the Emperor spoke.

“It’s been a while since you requested a private audience, Marquis Usta. You came without an appointment—is it urgent?”

“Yes. The matter is so pressing that I came without making an appointment. Please forgive my rudeness.”

The Marquis bent one knee and apologized respectfully.

“Very well, let me hear what this is about.”

“My son wishes to marry someone.”

“Didn’t he already reject marriage to Natalie? So it’s not her… Is this someone who requires my permission?”

The Emperor’s brow furrowed slightly at the mention of marriage. Naturally, he couldn’t look favorably upon Claude, who had rejected his beloved daughter.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Why come to me? Unless…”

Marriages between nobles typically didn’t require the Emperor’s approval, so his expression quickly hardened as realization dawned. Since he had two daughters, if not Natalie, it must be the other one.

“Yes. He wishes to marry Lisette Islesford.”

“Lisette? Is that true?”

The Emperor’s eyes widened when his suspicion was confirmed.

She was the daughter he couldn’t bring himself to cast aside, having adored her so much when she was little. But his love for the Empress was matched by his hatred, making Lisette a painful reminder he couldn’t face.

He had contemplated visiting her many times, but each time he felt the Empress’s betrayal, so he never followed through—theirs was a relationship of love and hate.

‘Lisette is my daughter whom Your Majesty has acknowledged, so I’ll take care of her. Please don’t worry.’

So he left the rest to the Empress. He believed that since he had acknowledged Lisette as his daughter, the Empress would embrace her as well. He trusted that she would handle things properly on his behalf.

To outsiders, it appeared the Emperor didn’t love Lisette—a perfect situation for misunderstanding—but that was the best he could do. And now someone wanted to marry this daughter of his…

“Please grant permission for the marriage.”

“You know how harshly I’ve treated that child, yet you still wish to marry her?”

“Actually, I know the reason.”

“You know? How?”

“I overheard Imperial Princess Natalie telling Claude.”

“Natalie told him? About the former Empress?”

“Yes. That she enjoyed secret meetings with another man.”

Marquis Usta carefully spoke while gauging the Emperor’s reaction.

“My, my. I tried to hide it to spare the imperial family embarrassment, but the truth is indeed difficult to conceal.”

She must have been quite angry to speak of something meant to be kept secret. Natalie must have been furious after being rejected by the man she admired so much.

The Emperor understood her anger was justified. However, he thought she had been too rash this time. No matter how angry she was, she should have considered the dignity of the imperial family first.

“And yet you still request marriage?”

“Yes.”

“What is it about that child…”

The Emperor recalled the former Empress when he first fell in love with her—her pure, beautiful, and dignified appearance.

“Marquis Usta, do you have no objections to this marriage?”

“I cannot overcome my son’s stubbornness. That’s why I rushed here, hoping to change Your Majesty’s decree. Please withdraw the marriage arrangement with Baron Jerzy.”

“Withdraw the marriage?”

The Emperor narrowed his eyes at this unexpected request.

“I understand an imperial decree was issued for Lisette Islesford to marry Baron Jerzy two months from now.”

The Emperor finally remembered. The Empress had mentioned that Lisette was well past marriageable age and said she wanted to take care of the matter herself, to which he had agreed.

He had belatedly realized Lisette was far beyond marriageable age and trusted the Empress would find her a good match.

“Baron Jerzy, you say?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

He had heard the name vaguely but couldn’t recall it, as the family wasn’t particularly prestigious.

The Empress had said she would take care of it, but was she sending Lisette to such an obscure family?

“What kind of man is he? Since the Empress said she would handle it, I assumed it was at least a respectable family.”

Feeling uneasy, the Emperor inquired about the Jerzy baronial family.

“He has been married three times and is thirty years older than Imperial Princess Lisette. He’s even older than I am. For reference, all his wives died under mysterious circumstances.”

“What did you say?”

Upon hearing this, the Emperor felt his heart sink with a sense of dissonance. He had trusted the Empress all this time, but now felt betrayed.

Neglecting Lisette was wrong, but he had still wanted her to grow up loved. That’s why he entrusted her to the Empress.

The position of Empress required magnanimity, and he believed she could give Lisette the love he couldn’t provide.

But all of this was just his delusion… Why had she deceived him?

He could play the villain, but the Empress shouldn’t have. Yet she had done what she shouldn’t have.

Though resentment toward the Empress rose within him, the Emperor tried to suppress it.

No matter how wrong she was, he was the worst offender. It felt like punishment for neglecting his responsibilities and leaving them to others under the pretext of pain.

Though much too late, he now felt he should personally look after Lisette.

“Very well, I will cancel that arrangement immediately. As for the marriage… my opinion hardly seems necessary, does it? Even if I opposed it, you would proceed anyway, wouldn’t you, Lord Usta?”

“That is correct.”

The Emperor knew Claude’s character well—once he made a decision, he never backed down without a compelling reason.

The two men, each burdened with their own troubles, felt a sense of kinship as they unloaded the heavy weights they had carried in their hearts.