My Sweet Deceiver - Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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A tall, brown-haired man got off the ship in the harbour and stretched out.
It was the first ship coming from Enland in a month.
People lined up and started getting off the ship.
Each had different expressions, but since it was the first land in a month, their faces were more tired than excited. However, the brown-haired man had a bright expression on his face that didn’t look like he had travelled for a long time.
Passers-by in the harbour glanced at him.
He did not look like a commoner, nor did he look like a nobleman.
He looked like the son of a fallen aristocrat.
The coat he wore looked quite expensive but had cuffs.
Besides, if it was a normal aristocratic trip, three or four suitcases would have been the default, but he was carrying only one suitcase.
The bag he carried was padded here and there and looked old and worn out. However, the product was made by a famous craftsman in Lubern. It was an expensive product made from finely tanned cowhide.
“Your master! Here you are!”
A familiar face met him.
“Long time no see, Butler!”
He smiled cheerfully and grabbed the wrinkled butler Benjaman’s hand.
It was the return of Max Ingeliger after six years.
“You seem a little taller, Young Master.”
Perhaps it was thrilling to see him after a long time, Benjamin’s words were full of emotions.
“Didn’t you get shorter?”
Max laughed softly in response.
Benjamin and Max returned to the mansion in a carriage side by side.
Max asked the butler.
The news was unrealistic until he received a letter and got a ticket.
“Is it true that father was shot?”
“Yes, Young Master.”
The butler answered as if it were tragic.
“Hmm.”
Since then, Max has been lost in deep thought, and there has been no answer.
“We have arrived, Young Master.”
“Great.”
Max jumped out of the wagon and entered the mansion.
“What about you?”
“I’m yet to retire. Would you like to greet the Marquis first?”
“Change your clothes. Saying hello a few minutes later won’t wake up the unconscious.”
“…Yes, Young Master. Then let’s go in.”
“Give me some warm bath water. I’ve been homeless for a while, and my joints hurt.”
After saying that, Max grabbed his back and turned it left and right as if uncomfortable.
“…Okay, Young master.”
Benjamin went out quietly and closed the door.
As Max turned his back, there was a ‘crack’ from his vertebrae.
As he turned around his waist, he roughly took his luggage out of his suitcase and unpacked it quickly.
He had become a master at packing and unpacking for long trips.
He went to the window and looked out.
The same flowers and trees as six years ago.
He looked around his room.
It seemed to have not changed an inch before he left the house.
A tranquil, stifling, repressive mansion
“Ha… This house hasn’t changed in six years. Nothing has changed.”
Max went to the dining hall with a warm, fresh face, apparently soaking his body in hot water for a long time.
The food he used to eat was still served.
He was pleased to see the hot soup on the table.
“This soup! I really missed it so much!”
He quickly sat down and ate his food in haste.
“Eat slowly, Young Master. Do you want more?”
“Of course, I am going to eat more.”
After eating two more bowls, Max said, patting his stomach.
“Shall we go see my father now?”
Max went to the Marquis’ room.
The Marquis was still unconscious.
Benjamin followed and explained the condition of the Marquis.
“The gunshot wound is almost healed.”
“And?”
“The only problem is that he is unconscious.”
“What did the physician say?”
“He said he would wake up.”
“When?”
“That…”
Benjamin didn’t answer as if he was in trouble.
“I’ll say hello to my father for a moment, so please leave.”
“All right, Young Master.”
The door closed behind his back.
Max stood and looked down at his father.
Lying down with a pale face.
The incarnation of a tyrant, ambitious, slanderer…
He ran out of more nicknames.
“Did you deserve it, father?”
After staring at him for a while with an expressionless face, Max left the Marquis’ room without any regrets. After coming home after a long time, Max was lying in bed, killing time. It was because he was glad he was lying on the bed properly.
“The meal is ready.”
“Did brother leave the palace?”
“No, Young Master.”
“Okay, I am coming.”
Max got up from bed and went to the dining hall.
“Max!”
Richard, sitting on his seat, jumped up and hugged Max.
Max also patted Richard’s back once and sat down.
Since they met after a long time, they ate while sharing what they had been unable to do.
Set aside the Marquis lying on the bed for now.
Then, all of a sudden, Max spoke up.
“What about Tehez?”
“She is still fine.”
Richard answered without any expression on his face.
“What about you?”
“What?”
Richard took a bite of the food and replied with a smile.
“Why are you still alone? Get a wife while I’m away.”
At first glance, Max’s words sounded blunt. However, Richard, who was well aware of Max’s language habits, knew that it was Max’s own concern.
He was just worried. Many of Richard’s friends were already married and had two or three children.
“What about you?”
Richard gave Max a chin.
“My brother is still single, so what am I going to do?”
“Did I not tell you before?”
Richard answered, putting down the knife.
Max looked at Richard with questionable eyes.
“Max, I’m not getting a partner… I don’t want to give the pain I went through, even to the person I love. I don’t want to show her a shameful figure trembling in front of my father… It’s just a burden I’ll carry for the rest of my life.”
It was a decisiveness that wasn’t like Richard’s usual.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall sank heavily.
Max, too, was looking somewhere on the empty plate, not saying anything.
“…”
“I will look for a suitable child before I die and hand over the title.”
“I thought you were kidding. Were you serious?”
“Max, you know I’m not good at joking.”
Richard answered with a weak smile.
“Then what about me?”
“Max, you live as you want, as you do now. Whatever father says. I’ll hold on here.”
“…So what about Tehez?”
Richard paused for a moment, then looked at the empty space for a long time.
“Tehez… Our youngest…”
Richard paused for a moment, then looked into space for a while.
“…Max, she is doing the best she can.”
“What is she doing? I heard the news on the way. The reason Tehez doesn’t have a baby is that she is not on good terms with the Prince. They said she might get divorced soon!”
Richard countered Max’s words.
“That’s not true! Tehez is doing her best. And I’m doing my best, too. And no one on the outside knows about marital relationships.”
Max got up from his seat and shouted.
“Brother, you have been like this always! You always say you are doing your best. But you don’t actually do anything! Putting all the blame on the powerless youngest, the older brother is now pretending to be the victim.”
“Max!”
Richard exclaimed. But Max continued without hesitation.
“Honestly, wasn’t father’s attention and anger always directed at Tehez? Because he only beats her. Didn’t you feel comfortable getting away from father at times like that? Do you really have the right to talk about pain and hurt?”
“Max, you’ve crossed the line.”
Richard frowned and said.
“I was just telling the truth. Even after six years, nothing has changed. Not only this mansion, but my brother is the same. I’ll leave first.”
“Max! Max!”
Max threw the napkin and left the dining hall.
Richard sighed and buried his face in his hands in agony.
***
Late night.
Several nobles were gathered at Count Liddell’s residence.
They were the old nobles.
They were playing cards slowly, turning cards.
At that moment, someone spoke up.
“The execution of the Duke of Briem is set for the next week.”
“…”
The nobles, who were playing cards, distorted their faces as if they had heard something they shouldn’t hear.
“Why are you talking like that in this place?”
Count Liddell shouted at first.
The Count’s face did not look good, perhaps because he had not slept for several days.
“Isn’t that what we came together to talk about, Count?”
Baron Flanders, one of the youngest nobles of the group, responded sharply.
Count Liddell chewed his cigar as if he didn’t like it.
“Well, then, tell me if you have any tricks!”
“…”
Count Liddell, the second oldest in the Old Nobility after Duke of Briem, was hot-tempered.
Count Liddell was good at work but bad at handling things.
That was Duke Briem’s speciality.
Since the main axis of the scheme was not here, so no matter how many people gathered, it was like a mess.
The person who spoke was frustrated, and he looked at the audience with a sigh.
“But wouldn’t the Duke of Briem not speak of us?”
It was a hopeful statement.
“Yes, that’s right! We take that rebellion…”
“Be careful what you say!”
A soldier was also found in the Duke’s mansion while collecting evidence of heresy, adding to the charge of plotting against him. Seeing how it turned around, the other nobles quickly abandoned all related content and walked away.
To make it seem like the Duke of Briem alone had been plotting the treason.
“We were going to do it anyway, but we didn’t mean to worship heretics, right?”
“Right.”
Count Liddell nodded his head.
“So we have nothing to do with the Duke of Briem.”
“That’s right. I’ve only served Nate all my life.”
When one nobleman opened his mouth, the other nobleman joined in as well.
“I can’t miss it either! Our family is famous for offering the highest number of sacrifices to the temple in the capital city.”
“Well, of course, my family is, too. Even the boy in my brother-in-law’s family is a Nate priest.”
“Do you know him?”
“Yes, he’s close! I know him…”
“Oh, my.”
When it suddenly seemed like they were fighting over the depth of their devotion, Count Liddell snorted out of absurdity.
“Anyways! We have nothing to do with it. You’re all saying that, right?”
Count Liddell asked, looking at the faces of the crowd.
“That’s right.”
Count Liddell nodded.
“Still, everyone, please be careful for a while. The atmosphere in the capital city is chaotic these days.”
Baroness Flanders said, “I know. I heard that there are people in the capital who are demanding the King’s resignation these days…”
“Your Highness? Why?”
Count Liddell asked back because he had never heard of it before.
“Don’t you know?”
“What?”
Baron Flanders lowered his voice and said,
“There is a rumour going around that Your Highness worshipped paganism.”
“What?”
“He negotiated it with the temple and stopped it with money.”
“Huh…”
Count Liddell stared blankly at Baron Flanders, forgetting that he had chewed on cigars.
“Is that really true?”
Count Liddell stammered unknowingly.
“I don’t know if it’s true or not. It’s just that the rumours are spreading in the capital.”
“…”
Count Liddell swallowed.
Baron Flanders continued.
“But the public opinion leaned towards the truth. Furthermore, some claim that the source of the wealth brought out in negotiations with the temple is the national treasury.”
“National treasury?”
“It is said that the negotiating money was handed over to the national property, not the King’s private property. Of course, these are all rumours that have not been confirmed.”
Baron Flanders laughed and comforted Count Liddell.
“Your Highness can’t do that. The whole country of Valloise is on his shoulders, so he must always count many things.”
“…”
People stared at Baron Flanders without affirmation or denial.
“That’s right. Your Highness can’t do that.”
Count Liddell nodded.
‘But if that’s true…’
Count Liddell shuddered. For a moment, he felt like he was in the cold water, and came to his senses.
“It’s late at night, so go home now.”
When Count Liddell hurriedly issued an order to leave, the nobles looked puzzled and returned to their mansions.
In the quiet room where everyone returned to the mansion, Count Liddell was lost in thought.
‘If that’s true, who will be the next King?’
‘If the King is forced to abdicate the throne without the Crown Prince being crowned.’
Count Liddell was not a good fighter. However, his intuition was excellent.
Thus, for several decades, he was able to live as a second person among the nobility of the capital city.
His keen intuition was telling.
If the King stepped down, the next king was the First Prince.
Before that, he must make the Second Prince the Crown Prince.
Otherwise, what had been built up so far would go in vain.
***
Baron Flanders laughed as he recalled the pale face of Count Liddell while riding in a carriage.
“Why are you laughing?”
His assistant, sitting opposite him, looked at him and said,
“I thought of something funny. Alain…”
“Okay”
“Who do you think will be the next King?”
“…This is a difficult question.”
Alain said in a distressing tone.
“Is that so? Then let’s change the question. Who is right to be the King?”
“If that’s the case…”
“You can talk comfortably.”
Alain gulped, then replied.
“The First Prince…”
“Right? Even if you think so.”
Pierre looked out the window and smiled.
Pierre Flanders.
He was a young man, and less than two years ago, when his father, his predecessor, he inherited the title. He was also among the youngest members of the Old Nobility.
As an only child, he was raised for succession to the title from an early age. But theory and practice were distinctly different parts. After the previous Baron passed away due to illness, he ran into limits.
The first was the limitation of one’s ability, and the second was the limitation of the stigma of the Old Nobility.
‘The world is changing.’
Of course, that may have been the answer in his father’s time.
But not now.
That’s the wrong answer.
Pierre concluded.
Unlike his father, he decided to support the First Prince.
(To be continued in the next episode)
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