Chapter 79: Chapter 79

“Why do you like to bet on something on the honor of your name like a gambler?”

She was not sure if he really knew the weight of his pledge to her.

“Oh, I’m just kidding.”

As she whispered while smiling, he felt all the lights nearby were reflected on her face.

Her clear green eyes sparkled like the sun in a sunny spot burning the shade.

“Anyway, don’t be stubborn again. You probably don’t remember it all, but you had a close call yesterday.”

She fastened the last button of the shirt and asked him a favor as if she wanted to get his reassurances.

“If you break the promise with me, I will never forgive you.”

Her clear and embarrassing voice threatened him loosely.

Until then, he didn’t even realize that he made so many promises that he couldn’t keep since he met her. He also didn’t realize how much his promises would affect his life later.

* * *

Shortly after the supporting unit left the southern gate of the Lucio Imperial Palace, Ober returned to his special villa in the capital.

The messenger bird arrived early in the morning, as Grand Duke Christopher had said.

Among the news the bird brought by flying all night was the news about Mrs. Chester’s injuries.

As soon as Ober heard it, he instantly realized that she was not responsible for this accident.

As far as he knew, his mother was not the type of woman who would risk her life to break the emperor’s carriage. He might have doubted her if the accident had been limited to the emperor’s carriage. But all the horses in the procession following the emperor’s were running wildly, according to the message. Therefore, it was clear that somebody else was behind the accident.

And there was only person among the suspects he felt was the main culprit. That suspect would benefit the most from the accident. He was a powerful cabinet member who had the power to make such a plot by controlling his minions in local areas.

“Hubble! It looks like this old dotard has gone senile.”

Ober spat out foul words in a fit of anger.

“But don’t you think he is too sophisticated to go senile?”

Arnet on the opposite side shrugged his shoulders.

Auber frowned violently and said, “He is not sophisticated, but he lost his cool. He didn’t kill them cleanly, right? Missing? What the heck was he doing? What if they come back alive? Look, it’s a piece of cake to take your life. Did he do that to threaten the emperor? That’s the clear evidence that shows that he went senile. He brought a poisonous snake at the banquet only a few days ago. No matter how stupid the emperor was, did he think the emperor didn’t know who was responsible?”

“Oh, that makes sense…It doesn’t befit Duke Hubble at all.”

“I’m pretty sure he has gone crazy. If not, how could he hold the spear backwards at this critical point in time? Aside from my mother, how dare he start all this without keeping me in the loop?”

Ober was very upset when he thought that not only his mother was injured in this accident, but also Marianne, who he asked Hubble not to harm under any circumstances, was pushed down the falls.

After sizing up the accident, what angered Ober most was that Hubble dared to move and tear the cards in ‘his’ hands without his ‘permission’.

Clenching his teeth, Ober shivered with anger. What happened in the morning came to his mind.

After roughly forming the supporting troops and arranging cooperation among the departments, the two first left Conrad Hall. While suppressing his soaring anger, Ober barely asked, “Was it your plot?”

“Plot? Marquis, don’t try to blame me without any evidence!”

Hubble didn’t brief him at all with such a shameless expression.

“Do you intend to hide the secret from me? You should think about the time when the emperor returned as a dead body. There are not many candidates who can succeed the throne. Wasn’t it you who said that it is also important to keep what you have as much as what you gain?”

Duke Hubble did not reply. Ober was annoyed by his strange silence.

He was not sure if his silence meant an implicit agreement or deliberate avoidance of his reply.

“Isn’t it too tricky for you to give guidance from here? It would have been easier if you had sought the marquise.”

“Well, the fewer people who know about this, the more effective it is.”

What Hubble said was ambiguous. In other words, he virtually admitted that he was behind this accident, and at the same time all those involved in the accident were already killed.

“Why did you try to kill Marianne? I told you about it before. She is too precious a card to get rid of now.”

“I’m sorry about that. But don’t all accidents inadvertently involve innocent victims? It is up to god, not me, to determine the scapegoat.”

His olive eyes flashed quietly. Ober sneered at him without reservation.

“I didn’t know that you were such a faithful man. I wish Roshan’s gods grant miracles befitting your faith.”

Although he criticized him sarcastically, Duke Hubble didn’t get upset.

“Marquis, don’t hurry up. If you wait, you will naturally find out. Tell your scouts to check out the flag of the procession whether it is Brenda’s insignia or dark blue clothes.”

Ober grabbed a glass of alcohol and ice. Given that he emptied the glass quickly, he was pretty upset. The strong scent of brandy erased his bad mood little by little.

However, the subtle, overwhelming voice of Duke Hubble still hovered into his ears.

“Giyom!”

Giyom, who was standing behind Ober, came near. He tilted the brandy bottle he was holding. The empty glass that had only three or four pieces of ice was half full again. A translucent brandy glass went round and round in his hand.

Alcohol was his rest and weapon. Strong alcohol refined dozens of times calmed him down and sometimes made him feel emboldened. As if to prove that, the hostility in his gray eyes slowly faded away. Of course, it did not disappear however. He just trampled, boiled, refined, and poured it deep into his stomach. It wasn’t so hard to keep it there until he came to his senses, shaking off these lousy feelings.

“Choose some good breeds among the Kiara dogs.”

Giyom bowed his head as a sign of obedience and stepped back.

“Arnette, release some more Roeth breeds at the duke’s mansion. Right now!”

“Yes, sir!”

She laid her hands on her chest and showed polite manners. Watching her neat skirt slipping out of the door, Ober emptied the glass.

Clink.

The half-melted ice made a sharp clink as if to reflect his feelings.

***

“… Marianne!”

Eckart knitted his brows furtively.

“Is there an orchard near here?”

“Nope. Just wood, stones, rivers, grass…That’s all. I couldn’t find any paths because it’s so secluded and remote.”

“Then, where are we….” he mumbled. His blue eyes showed he was a bit embarrassed.

Her skirt was full of fruits. Black ripe audi, red raspberries, blue plums, yellowish apricots.

Each of the different fruits stained her skirt with various colors. Not to mention the variety of the fruit, she had simply too many fruits.

“I just picked everything I could see. Because it’s wild fruit, I don’t know what they taste like. Do not worry. I only brought things that are definitely edible.”

Having said that proudly, she sat down with her skirt spread wide. She came back with the fruits two hours after disappearing, saying she would get something to eat.

The fruits that nature raised with sunlight, water, wind, and the earth looked delicious.

As they were not raised by humans, their shape was a little more crude.

The fruit’s sour and fresh scent filled the cave they were staying in.

“I wanted to find more, but I got too many already, and it was too heavy. I’ve cleaned them all, so you can eat them right away.”

She put a ripe apricot in his hand. As she was very hungry, she picked up a plum right away. Her green eyes twinkled in anticipation.

“…Oops!”

As soon as she bit the unpeeled plum, she threw it out as if she didn’t like it.

“I think it’s not ripe yet. It tastes weird. Ugh…”

She awkwardly made an excuse and brushed her mouth with the back of her hand.

She then picked up a mulberry with her slender fingers.

“Ah. This is delicious. Sweet.”

Her small lips wiggled cutely. As if the fruits tasted really good, she made a happy expression while enjoying them. And then she picked some raspberries and apricots. While eating them, she made pleasant nasal sounds instead of complaining.

He just looked at her blankly.

As far as he knew, she was a woman who had the most peaceful life. Under the protection of Duke Kling whom he believed was a betrayed bystander, she was raised as a precious noble daughter in the long and high-walled area in the north. Naturally, she must have selected and enjoyed the best in the duke’s estate, including material wealth, honor and affection.