Chapter 157: 157

Gretel noticed Fritz’s intentions.

‘That’s why you are here to see me.’

He probably meant to provoke the spies. If someone was monitoring this place, he would think this situation was suspicious and try to get close.

Thinking like that, I understand why he came to apologize at this late hour.

Gretel glanced at the window. The dark streets are still crowded with people. From this position, she can’t see the carriage that the Duke rode on. But it must be in front of the building.

“Are the duke’s people around?”

Fritz, who was holding a teacup, slowly raised his gaze. 

Gretel asked frankly, “If the Duke is here, will the people who are watching over me come close?”

“I hope so.”

Fritz quickly reassured Gretel, “Don’t worry. My men are hiding their identities and monitoring the surroundings. If a suspicious person appears, they will easily catch him.”

“I’m not really worried,” Gretel replied bluntly.

“If he was trying to kidnap or harm me, he would have done it last night.”

The best chance to kill Gretel was last night when she came home alone.

Fritz looked at her with slightly surprised eyes.

“You are brave.”

Gretel said with a smile. “I am not. The duke’s people are protecting around, so I feel safe. Thank you.”

“Don’t say that. It’s only natural for us to protect Miss Gretel. You’re my family’s benefactor.”

A faint smile appeared on Fritz’s lips.

Gretel was struck with admiration. She also met other nobles as a pharmacist, but few nobles were polite to a lowly pharmacist.

In that sense, Astelle and Fritz are really good people.

Gretel smiled and asked again, “Do you like the tea?”

Fritz smiled as he took another sip of the tea in the mug.

“It smells really good. What tea is it?”

“I made it by combining various herbs. It’s a herbal tea that clears your mind.”

Fritz sipped his tea a few more times. Does he like it?

‘Seems like he likes it. I’ll have to give him some more later.’

Gretel looked at Fritz carefully, thinking about the rest of the tea in the cupboard.

Fritz resembles Astelle a lot. The first time she saw Fritz, she just stared at him blankly. Astelle is also beautiful and elegant, but her older brother is a handsome man with a gentle appearance.

‘His Majesty is fine too, but he has a scary aura.’

I don’t know how Astelle can live as a couple with such a person.

Gretel drank her tea with that in mind.

Then there was the sound of urgent footsteps outside.

Someone knocked hard on the door.

“Duke!”

A stranger opened the door and entered.

He is probably Fritz’s subordinate.

“What’s going on?”

“We caught someone suspicious.”

Fritz got up from the seat after exchanging glances with Gretel.

“Where is he now?”

“I kept him in the carriage, but… … .”

The duke’s subordinate continued after hesitating for a while.

“You should meet him in person.”

 

***

 

It was late at night when Astelle met Kaizen again.

He must have been very busy with this matter, even if he did not go into detail. Astelle in the study got up and greeted him.

“Your Majesty.”

“Theor?”

“He’s already asleep.”

Theor put up with his drowsiness while waiting for Kaizen, but fell asleep after Hannah read him a bedtime story.

“Oh, no.”

Kaizen sighed, feeling sorry to have kept his son waiting.

“We have many more days to meet.”

“Right.”

Kaizen drew closer.

Astelle took a step back, pretending to put the book away. After the moment when he almost kissed her here, Astelle avoided being too close to him. Not because she hated him, but because she felt a strange palpitation every time he approached her like that.

“Are you reading a book like this again?”

Kaizen, taking a step closer to Astelle, looked at the book on the table and sighed.

Astelle walked up to him with a smile.

“I have other news today.”

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Astelle conveyed Gretel’s idea to Kaizen, that she wanted to cultivate herbs in the southern mountains.

After hearing the explanation, Kaizen nodded.

“I think that’s a good idea. It’s good to cultivate a lot of those herbs by any means, to prevent poisoning.”

As he said, it’s useful for cultivating detoxifying herbs for the future imperial family.

Kaizen looked at the book Astelld was looking at for a moment and asked, “Shall we go to the South?”

“Yes?” Astelle asked back and looked at him blankly.

“Once this is over, I plan to make a trip to the South next year,” Kaizen replied, avoiding her gaze.

“To the South?”

Are you going on a trip again? You already went to the East in the spring of this year.

Suddenly, memories from the past came to mind. Meeting Kaizen and going on a trip, raining in the forest, even the ball where Kaizen held her hand and danced together to bring Theor back.

Since he had gone to the East this year, he must have planned to go to the South next year. As the will of the late Empress Dowager was completed, the southern estate officially became his property.

“Theor has never been to any other territory. It would be best to take a look at the land he will rule someday.”

Astelle glanced back at him.

There was a hint of anticipation in Kaizen’s voice.

He seems to want to take Theor on a trip with him.

They had done it before, but at the time, he didn’t know that Theor was his son.

That’s a good idea, but Astelle is still worried.

“But, are you okay?”

You haven’t fully recovered yet. Wouldn’t it be difficult to go a long way?

Kaizen approached Astelle, smiling helplessly.

“Don’t make that face.”

“What’s my face like?”

Astelle thought about taking a step back as he came close, but this time she did not.

“You have a face full of worries.”

“Because I’m worried.”

Astelle felt nervous every time she saw Kaizen. Even though Kaizen looked healthier than Astelle herself, she never knew when his health would deteriorate again.

Kaizen comforted Astelle with a bitter look.

“We can wait and see a little more. I have some time until next year.”

Astelle remained silent.

The fact that Kaizen is still in good health after a year or two might ease her worries. Still, the best thing for her is that Kaizen can recover completely.

‘I hope we can go South together.’

I heard that the South is a warm and peaceful land.

Astelle had never been there in person either. If the three went on a trip together to that beautiful land, it would be a precious memory that they will never forget.

Suddenly, Hannah knocked on the door and came in.

“Your Majesty, the Duke is here.”

“Fritz?”

Hannah looked at Kaizen for a moment and lowered her head.

“Your Majesty, excuse me for a moment.”

“Yes.”

Astelle left Kaizen and went out to the drawing room.

“Brother? What’s going on?”

“Your Majesty.”

Seeing him in light clothes and only a coat, it seems he came here in a hurry. As Astelle remembers, this is the first time he’s come to the palace in such comfortable clothes.

Did something urgent happen?

Feeling anxious, she approached him quickly.

“As you commanded, I was monitoring Miss Gretel and caught a suspicious person,” Fritz got straight to the point.

Astelle contacted Fritz immediately after hearing about the intruder from Gretel.

“Good. Where is that person? You must have held him well, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but… … .”

Fritz hesitated for a while.

“He is one of His Majesty’s investigators,” he said.

“Is he the emperor’s investigator?”

Astelle stared at him blankly.

His Majesty’s investigator was watching Gretel?

While she was bewildered by the unexpected result, she suddenly realized something.

Astelle recalled a conversation she had with Seibel during the day.

The main topic was the post-processing of this case. It was said that the emperor’s investigators were investigating the case and had captured the nobles involved.

Seibel told such a story and carefully said that Vellian was suspicious of her. 

At that time, she listened indifferently.

‘Because I’m sure Vellian isn’t the only one who suspects me.’

After hearing from Fritz that the investigator monitoring Gretel had been arrested, Vellian came to mind.

‘Did Vellian do it?’

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