I Became the Wife of the Hero Who Killed Me - Chapter 122
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#Episode 122
To be honest, Edwin had no talent for jokes, whether in the past or now.
He seemed to have ambition in this area, but his sense was too ahead of its time. By about a thousand years?
But since the one you love loses, I suppose I’ll have to embrace even this Edwin.
“So, to finish what I was trying to say earlier, thank you for helping me.”
In truth, sending a message to Mariana would not have been easy without Edwin’s help.
Even Isabella, who stayed in the same Imperial Court, had failed repeatedly.
But Edwin willingly did it just at my request, without even asking what the contents were.
Through his network planted in the Imperial Palace, he slipped the message into the Empress Palace in just half a day.
“It’s only natural. I am your husband, after all.”
“Edwin…”
Was his heart moved by my smiling face?
Edwin gently kissed me as I lay leaning against the sofa.
Even so, he restrained himself and was careful not to strain my body.
Even though I had secretly confessed that Brother Matthew had healed me, his movements were still as soft as feathers.
As if he couldn’t bear to hurt me even a little.
‘Hmm, I’m seriously considering whether I should send a letter to Ramon.’
I was thinking about the miracle acupuncturist he had suggested, when Edwin’s eyes became a bit sulky, as if he noticed my thoughts had wandered elsewhere.
“What are you thinking about with me right in front of you?”
“Another man?”
“Who would that be?”
Edwin asked softly.
The look in his eyes as he gazed at me still dripped with honey. But it seemed as if I could clearly see what he was thinking in his head.
After all, wasn’t he the one who was even jealous of Count Baron?
Out of consideration for him, whose eyes were glued to the ground, I decided to stop the joke here.
“Well. Edwin Nazar La Lombard from a few days ago, who was confessing his love to me?”
Edwin opened his eyes wide, as if he didn’t understand my joke.
I added cheekily.
“Don’t you know? He’s the most handsome man in the Northern Region, but he’s temporarily in the Southern Region now.”
“Elisia…”
“What? You make strange jokes too, so why can’t I?”
“Of course you can.”
When I was about to sulk, Edwin answered faster than light.
Even the dangerous glint in his eyes melted more sweetly than honey, a specialty of the Northern Region.
“I would like to apologize for hurting Elisia’s feelings.”
“Just with words?”
“As if.”
Edwin was caressing my lips and about to kiss me again when we heard Berry coming up the stairs.
Of course, I didn’t use clairvoyance, but my servant’s footsteps were as bold and unwavering as those of a skilled knight, so I could tell without even looking.
“What’s the matter?”
Hearing my voice, Berry came inside.
“Madam, Marquise Ferang, whom you have an appointment with, has arrived with an acquaintance!”
“…!”
I, who had been slumped against the sofa, sprang up from my seat like a bouncing spring.
It was a completely different speed from just moments before when I kept sliding down no matter how much Edwin tried to make me sit up.
That was because today’s appointment was—
“Is, is Sermont really here? Really? Huff huff, my heart feels like it’s going to burst!”
It was with none other than the superstar of the intellectual world.
I hurriedly ran to the bookshelf and swept up all three copies of books I had bought for practical use, display, and collection.
I had to get them signed.
Naturally, I had already gotten signatures from Isabella on all the books I had stockpiled for the three purposes mentioned above, plus family heirloom use, national treasure use, and just-in-case use.
It was something I was confident was the best thing I’d done since coming to the Imperial Capital.
“Berry, do I look pretty? These clothes should be appropriate enough, right?”
“Madam is always beautiful!”
“Good, phew, calm down. I need to calm down. But I’m so excited, what should I do?!”
The impulse to rush out right now and greet Sermont clashed with the self-restraint that I should leave an elegant first impression befitting an intellectual.
Of course, the former won in one second.
“Ed, I’ll be back!”
“…Take care.”
I excitedly ran downstairs.
And Berry, the only witness who saw Edwin’s expression, would later recall this day’s events as follows.
The Lord’s expression as he watched Madam’s retreating figure was like that of a legitimate wife who had been robbed of her husband’s affection.
* * *
I exchanged my first greetings with Sermont through Isabella’s arrangement.
Actually, we didn’t just exchange greetings but did many other things as well. It was a very fulfilling time.
And when we finally sat down thirty minutes after the visit began, Sermont evaluated me as follows.
“Rumors really can’t be trusted. I can roughly guess who has been spreading such absurd false rumors about Lady Elisia all this time.”
“Don’t you value your neck?”
“Lady Isabella, you speak so boldly while brazenly walking around with someone who has a bounty on his head.”
As expected, Sermont’s new publication was completely recalled and burned just days after its release.
A bounty was even placed on his head.
Anyone who read the book could guess that it was content that sharply criticized the Emperor’s incompetence.
Thanks to that, he said he was continuing his activities while hiding his identity.
‘The mastermind behind spreading the rumors is as I suspected, but the past Elisia really was someone who deserved to hear such rumors.’
I decided to keep that fact as a confession in my heart only.
Sermont, having finished his light verbal sparring with Isabella, continued speaking.
“Anyway, let’s get to the main point. I heard you wanted to see me privately.”
“Yes, I’d like to commission a poem. A series of them.”
“I’m curious about what specific content you want. Would it be fine if it’s content that clears up the public’s misunderstandings about you?”
“No.”
After this time, I had no intention of ever coming down to the Imperial Capital again.
I was sick and tired of having to watch the stupid Emperor’s moods here when I could wield power like a tyrant in Lombard.
I preferred Lombard where I could roam around like a queen.
However, even if I were to be permanently banished from the Imperial Capital, I wanted to make sure the Emperor could never again utter words like conversion.
The Protestant Church advocates strict faith that interprets doctrine literally.
They created countless taboos that would set back history, including the Salic law that prohibits female inheritance.
Moreover, persecution of heretics was extreme, and many nations that had accepted Protestantism were already suffering from serious religious civil wars.
If Baldin were to join them, then a truly bloody storm would sweep across the continent.
This was something that had to be prevented.
“I need poetry that will move the citizens’ hearts. The only way to prevent His Majesty’s conversion is for public sentiment to completely turn its back on him.”
“The answer is only public sentiment… Do you truly believe that?”
“The more one covets absolute power, the more one must never be hated by the people. A monarch’s true authority comes not from bloodline, but from public support.”
Regardless of different nations and different eras, this was one unchanging truth.
A ruler who fails to win public sentiment ultimately cannot reign.
Sermont seemed surprised by my firm answer.
From the moment he came to meet me despite having a bounty on his head, I had guessed that he regarded me as someone somewhat trustworthy.
But it seemed he hadn’t expected that I, a member of the Imperial Family, would say such things.
After a moment of silence, he asked.
“Then may I write the content of the poem freely without restrictions?”
“Yes, I believe your emotionally compelling writing can move people’s hearts.”
“That’s perfect. I just had a very good inspiration come to mind.”
When I asked about the commission fee, Sermont firmly shook his head.
It was because his art couldn’t be valued with money.
Rather, he said he had gained good inspiration from today’s conversation, and would bring a nice gift soon as a token of gratitude.
* * *
The gathering that began during the day continued late into the night in a warm atmosphere.
Sermont left the townhouse with the Duke and Duchess Lombard seeing him off.
“Finally, I too have found a muse to unleash my artistic soul.”
That the title of the poem series had been decided as ‘The Secret Private Life of the Scoundrel Duchess’ was still his secret alone that no one else knew.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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