Chapter 12 – Part 4

“My Lord, Lady Alaina is here.”

It was the butler’s voice that roused him from his reverie.

Turning his head, he saw Alaina’s figure through the open door. Her face was as grim as it had been yesterday.

“You’re here.”

She stormed into the room, and the door closed behind her.

Alaina glanced at her mother’s portrait.

“One would think Uncle was really a Marquis.”

Her words mocked him for being in the marchioness’s room. Callian remained silent for a moment before speaking.

“It’s your birthday soon, Alaina.”

“…….”

“Is there anything you want?”

“Not really.”

Alaina answered briefly. She hadn’t smiled even once since her father was imprisoned.

It was natural, but it couldn’t help but feel bitter.

Callian turned his head back to the portrait.

“……Don’t you miss your mother?”

“I’d have to have seen her to miss her.”

Alaina’s demeanor was still cold. Callian laughed softly.

“She was a wonderful woman.”

“…….”

“You’d think coming from a baronet to a marquisate would be intimidating, but she never kept her head down anywhere.”

“She came to the marquisate as a marchioness, so why would she bow her head? Unless she was going to be sold in the slave market.”

“That said.”

At Alaina’s sarcasm, Callian let out a short sigh.

He knew what she had been through. He just assumed it was the work of a bunch of bad debt collectors.

After a short silence, Alaina spoke again.

“Besides, didn’t my uncle…… object to my mother marrying my father?”

“How do you know about that?”

“Why shouldn’t I know?”

Silence descended. Callian opened her mouth, unsure of what to say.

“At first, I did.”

“…….”

“But then I realized that…… seemed like a bit of a waste for her to be with him.”

At that, Alaina looked back at Callian. As their eyes met, Callian’s lips twitched upward in a mischievous smirk.

“Don’t tell my brother.”

“…….”

She looked so much like her mother.

Callian chuckled lowly and stroked her hair.

“And, Alaina, you are not to blame for what happened. It was an unfortunate accident, but…… I don’t blame you.”

He didn’t say the subject clearly, but Alaina seemed to understand what he was trying to say.

“I know, because someone told me about it before.”

“……That’s good.”

Callian smiled. Alaina turned her head to look at him.

“Was it your doing? Spreading the Empress’s letter.”

Alaina’s gaze was harsh, as if telling him not to think about backing away.

Callian opened his mouth while contemplating an answer.

“Is that what you were looking for in the office? ”

“Did your father order you to do this? ”

“…….”

“Did Father tell you to find it and spread it? You didn’t even let me enter the office because you were afraid I would find it and destroy it first? ”

“That’s the only way to save your father. The Noble Faction will not let him die.”

Alaina fell silent at Callian’s answer, her face contorted.

Callian gently patted his niece’s back.

“I know this must have surprised you, but…… think about it for a long time. Being related to the Emperor isn’t such a bad thing for you.”

“My father may have played around with the Empress Dowager, but there’s no proof that his blood is mixed with the Emperor’s, and even if it were true, our family doesn’t have imperial blood in our veins, just an impurity in our blood.”

“Alaina, that’s…….”

“Uncle, do you really think your father is a good person? ”

He was speechless at the sharp question. Alaina chuckled and let out a laugh.

“It’s funny to think a person who tried to marry blood-related siblings is a good person.”

“…….”

“Even if Emperor Leonard is the late Emperor’s child, it does not change the fact that my father left my mother to play with another woman.”

Callian didn’t answer his niece’s words.

His lips twitched as if he wanted to say something, but he ended up swallowing the words back down his throat.

Alaina looked at him with a sneer.

“I don’t want to get married. I’m afraid I might meet someone like my father or uncle.”

With that, Alaina turned and walked away. Callian could only watch her leave the room.

* * *

“My Lady.”

It was Leonard’s appointed maid who called her back into the room.

She lowered her voice as she handed him the letter.

“From His Majesty.”

Alaina took the letter with a frown.

She skimmed the contents quickly and held them over the candle.

“I’ll be traveling to the palace tonight, so be ready.”

“Yes, my lady.”

The maid bowed her head. As she left the room, Alaina glanced at the envelope of letters, her fire burning.

‘It’s faster than I thought.’

Since the Empress Dowager’s letter was leaked, she thought he wouldn’t listen to her request to meet Tenere. At least he gave her a chance to explain herself.

Alaina sat stiffly in her chair and drummed her fingers on the handle.

She remembered the image of her uncle in her mother’s room.

He was a wonderful man, and here he was defending her father.

‘Did he think I would be impressed if he consoled me with his words. Come to think of it, he was just seven years younger than my mother.’

Alaina propped her elbows on her desk and set her jaw.

But it wasn’t important, so she shook her head quickly.

‘I need to prepare to go to the imperial palace.’

It was time to meet someone she hadn’t seen for a long time.

The corners of her mouth twitched upward as she remembered the familiar face.

***
Tenere and Leonard were waiting for Alaina in his office.

A message was immediately sent to Duke Travell, and they should be able to find Livano within the month at the latest.

Even if it took longer, if the Duke’s infertility was discovered later, it would be a nice twist.

“I wish I had told you sooner.”

Leonard smiled bitterly, his face relaxing.

This is the woman who opened her arms to him after his mother’s funeral, the woman who told him it was okay to be vulnerable.

He realized he was trying to put on a bravado that he didn’t deserve.

“You’re right; if you’d told me sooner, I would have gotten it from the North.”

Her pale eyes softened as they always did.

Her voice was light, as if she were joking, but Leonard bowed his head in disbelief.

“……I was wrong.”

“…….”

“I did it because I was afraid you would be disappointed in me, and then you would never love me again.”

Embarrassment spilled out of him in a steady stream. Tenere was silent for a moment, then spoke.

“The only time I was disappointed in you was when I realized you were deceiving me.”

At that, Leonard lowered his eyes like a guilty man.

Now there was no resentment, no accusation, but he was fully aware of what it meant when she no longer called him by his name.

Even though he had high hopes for the trivial affection, he was worried that she might have other feelings, and yet he somehow gave meaning to those meaningless smiles.

Still, he wondered if one day she would whisper her love again.

A day when he will not turn his head at the word I love you, hesitate to answer, or talk about his duties as an emperor.

The day when he takes back the words that he would neither love nor desire love.

“Have you read the diary? ”

It was Tenere who opened her mouth slightly. A worried gaze turned to him.

Leonard paused, but then nodded.

“……Are you all right?”

“Yes?”

“I thought you might have seen something…… that didn’t look good.”

“……ah.”

Tenere sighed briefly. But soon she nodded her head without hesitation.

It didn’t matter what Beatrice felt for her; it didn’t change what she’d done for her.

It was a strange thing to think about.

When she realized Leonard had deceived her, she was ashamed and angry that she’d been deceived, but after reading Beatrice’s diary, she just felt sorry for her loneliness.

“Isn’t it easy to not show hatred? ”

“…….”

“The fact that I have never noticed her heart… that probably means that she really worked hard to hide it.”

How difficult it is to erase unwanted feelings.

How hard it is to try not to hate herself.

Tenere didn’t want to deny her efforts.

She tried to be a good person until the end, which proved her good heart.

“Your Majesty, are you okay? ”

Leonard turned his head at Tenere’s question. Seeing the still worried expression on her face, he raised a brow.

“I was surprised because her belongings were so well organized.”

“…….”

“Well, thanks to you, at least I know about it.”

In the low laughter, Tenere lowered her head, unable to find anything to say.

A long silence followed. It was Leonard who spoke first.

“You’ve met Lady Alaina before.”

Tenere nodded slowly.

“As I said before, we met once before the debutante. But after that, we had no interaction at all.”

It was nothing unusual for the noble children of the capital to meet once or twice, dragged along by their parents.

Children would often hang out in their rooms or gardens while their parents socialized.

There were cases where the relationship from that time on continued even after the debutante, but there were also countless cases where it ended as a one-time affair.

“Do you remember what you did when you met her?”

“Just… at most, it would be like playing house or a puzzle game. Because I was shy, she held out her hand first… … .”

The memories of Tener were just up to there.

She can’t even remember what she was doing, so she tries to think of things she used to do at that age, but it’s just a guess.

“I did send a letter, but since I never got a reply… I just thought she didn’t want to meet me.”

That’s when Ludwig Evan started putting his hand on her.

He accused her of pretending to be friends with Lady Salvatore, the crown prince’s fiancée.

Tears streamed down as she wrote several letters, but no reply ever came, and so time passed by…

“We met again at the debutante ball, but even then, it didn’t seem like she remembered me much. If anything, it seemed like she was a bit… annoyed…”

She caught glimpses of her busy turning away when asked if she had time.

The expression on her face was the same as she looked at the annoying person.

“You seem a bit upset. Do you think she didn’t remember you?”

“……I suppose so.”

Tenere lowered her eyes in thought.

Tap, tap.

It was then that a knock sounded on the door. A servant opened the door and announced Alaina’s arrival.