North x Northwest

Chapter 344

As expected, the shocking news of Venua’s murder attempt on Admiral Retiro spread wide and quick, for assassinations between nobles were never taken lightly. Loud clamouring voices, ranging from the old nobility to emerging aristocrats, called for Venua’s severe punishment, but the emperor managed to quell the demands of the parties involved by ordering Venua to pay a large amount of compensation to Roahn. Following, the Prince Regent of Obernyu returned to the Principality in disgrace with an order to recuse himself. The small merchants’ association was fortunate enough to have received compensation as the key party involved. The emperor wanted to silence the union by giving them Venua’s money, and his plan was a success.

In addition, the incident was outrageous enough to cause a stir in various circles and Maxwell Farin, the crucial witness, was forgotten. No one knew where he had gone. Actually, no one even noticed the fact that he had disappeared.

In the end, court became quiet again as the emperor had hoped.

However, no matter how much Lil gained the emperor’s trust, it was far from enough to sway him away from Mireille.

With Venua being taken care of and Ed’s absence, Mireille had nothing to worry about. Rather, the overall circumstances gave him the advantage of being able to proceed with his annulment lawsuit without a hitch. In the meantime, he relentlessly bombarded Lil’s residence, located in the transept of the imperial palace, with flowers and gifts. And even though Lil was adamant in sending back gifts from the duchy, another box of jewels would arrive the very next day. On top of that, Mireille’s gifts for Lil were ordered from Sesbron’s finest jewellers.

Slowly, opinions about Mireille’s extreme sincerity began to circulate throughout Sesbron.

“…Miss Liloa is so cold for refusing to accept him after being courted like this…”

“…Being too arrogant can diminish one’s charm. There are times when things have to be done in moderation…”

“…The Duke’s sincerity is surely touching…”

But also on the other hand.

“…I feel so sorry for the Duchess…”

“…If she is going to refuse, she should make it clear. Is the lady not being a bit too careless by leading him on?…”

“…I heard she is already in a relationship with Admiral Retiro. The Admiral even risked his life by fighting against the wishes of Miss Liloa’s brother, just to win the lady’s heart…”

“…That is what I am saying…”

No matter who people defended or empathised with, Lil was the only one being criticised.

Yet Lil expected all of that. After all, people didn’t hastily challenge power. And it wasn’t something she hadn’t experienced only once or twice, so she was entirely familiar with it by now. It didn’t matter that she clearly expressed her stance to the emperor from the first day she set foot in Sesbron or that Annette kept representing Lil’s feelings in the salon, the two sides continued to argue. The hottest topic in the court was still the lawsuit for annulment of Mireille’s marriage, despite Annette’s stern efforts to shut them up.

Meanwhile, the emperor pretended to care about Lil on the outside, but in reality, he didn’t truly consider her feelings, for it was Mireille, not Lil, who could support the emperor economically and politically. To the emperor, Lil was nothing but a living, breathing reminder of his longing and affection for his sister. But in the end, a sister who died a long time ago couldn’t fill the empire’s treasury.

Annette, leaning on the couch, lamented.

“Who would have thought that Venua would commit such a heinous act? No matter how much he despised Edgar Retiro’s bloodline… it is unacceptable for nobles to attempt something like that against other nobles. It was such a shocking incident that it amplified our people’s concerns. And considering how His Majesty had been supporting Venua for the longest time, I suppose he will not easily forgive the Prince Regent.”

“…”

Annette would tend to talk about Venua to divert the noise. She would also barge into Lil’s boudoir pretty often and ask about her well-being in the middle of the current situation in Sesbron.

“Anyway, where the hell is that damned rascal? René is hastily pushing his agenda.”

At some point, Annette’s nickname for Ed had become “rascal”.

“I can handle it on my own.”

“But I do not like this. It came to my attention what you said to René on the ferry, about your past with him. It saddened me, really… You have no idea how much I regret not being able to stop His Majesty during your engagement… And that nightmare is about to repeat itself again… Does it even make sense that your partner is not here with you at this very moment?”

“As I said before, he is busy. We were supposed to travel to Obernyu together, but halfway something came up that required his urgent attention, so we could not come together. Whether it is related to matters in Roahn or the naval attaché, it is to be expected that he has to be away so often.”

“You indeed said that he is busy… But this Annette thinks that you two are actually plotting something together…”

“..!”

Lil laughed after hearing that Annette had hit the nail on the head. Annette’s eyes narrowed behind her fan.

“You still do not have any tact, but you have become a lot more meticulous. At least you did not come here to throw your bare body at Sesbron. You are not playing around without a plan.”

At that moment, the door to the boudoir opened and a servant came in.

“Someone from the Retiro residence has arrived.”

Annette joked, pretending to be surprised.

“Did he send someone because he knew I was cursing him?”

Lil responded with a light smile.

“Send him in.”

“There are a lot of them.”

“All right. Send all of them in.”

After a while, Lil realised just how many there were.

‘There are indeed so many of them…’

She instantly regretted having taken the servant’s words lightly as she blankly stared at the endless stream of servants of the Retiro family coming in. Each of them carried a chest, containing all kinds of items, ranging from crossbows and guns to jewellery, silk fabrics and shoes.

Annette excitedly opened the boxes that kept arriving in waves.

“Oh my! What is going on?”

Soon, her maids joined in and looked at the items piled up in the inner room.

Lil’s hand reflexively covered her forehead. But before she could do anything, Annette began taking command of the boudoir. Maids sorted the items that the servants brought in under the empress’ clear instructions. In minutes, the room was filled with scattered silks, dresses, and heavy ornaments. Just when a dazed Lil was wondering what to do about this, Annette found to have her own source of excitement.

“Oh my god, look at this incense burner.”

“..?”

Lil’s eyes were drawn to the object in Annette’s hand. The fist-sized incense burner was nothing short of a work of art, meticulously carved from gold and studded with jewels. Annette opened and closed the lid, unable to keep her mouth shut.

“Do you like it?”

The empress held the burner out to Lil.

Even though she grew up surrounded by treasures from a young age, this was the first time Lil had seen jewels like this set in an incense burner. She opened the lid and was met with a pointed candlestick made of gold. As Lil accepted the incense burner, Annette fussed over the rest of the items and held out a few more of them.

Lil secretly glanced at Annette.

‘She’s clearly more amused by my reaction than the items themselves.’

Lil passed the burner to one of the servants. It was then that Annette’s maid held a necklace with an amber encrusted in a delicate glass decoration.

‘It’s beautiful…’

Lil, too, had a discerning eye and she never had shone away from jewellery. She did, however, find it suspicious why Ed suddenly showered her with gifts without prior mention.

“…But why?”

“Why? René sends you flowers and gifts every day, so Edgar must have gotten impatient. Do you really have no idea how he might be feeling right now?”

“Then just send one or two, there is no need to give me this much.”

Annette crossed her arms and shook her head.

“No, Liloa. It is a matter of pride. Think about it. What kind of man would not roll his eyes when his lover is away from him and constantly receives flowers and gifts from another man?”

“Even so, I feel like he went overboard on purpose… Could he be… grumpy?”

Lil made a humming sound because of what Annette pointed out. In the middle of her wandering thoughts, Annette ran her fingertips along the silk she had laid out on her chest.

“Maybe he went indeed a bit overboard. But it is Edgar Retiro we are talking about, so of course he had to do this much. Or maybe our cute little rascal just does not like people talking about you, especially those who are saying that you have to accept René. Edgar just wants to shut up those mouths.”

“…”

Annette, who was looking through the presents, suddenly opened her eyes wide.

“Oh my, look at this guy?”

“..?”

She took out her piece of paper from a box.

“That damned rascal even sent me a letter.”

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