I Got Engaged To The Blind Duke - Chapter 224

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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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I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke Episode 224

* * *

Your Grace! Ah, I greet you!

By the time you read this letter, I will have already departed, so you won’t be able to scold me.

Please don’t scold my nanny either.

When Your Grace sent me to the Imperial Palace, you told me never to act recklessly.

But being with my enemy, I could no longer contain my desire for revenge.

I thought I would feel satisfied if I drove the Emperor mad.

I thought I would feel better if I made the Emperor unable to swallow anything.

But I was wrong.

Unless I finish it with my own hands, I realized I couldn’t live.

So I sent the Emperor away first.

And now I too will depart.

I was worried that if I remained alive, I might somehow become a burden to Your Grace, so this was the only way.

I’m sorry.

And thank you for everything until now.

* * *

The Emperor had passed away.

The sudden news of death turned the Imperial Palace upside down.

Alexpert, who entered the Emperor’s bedroom, quietly gazed at the Emperor lying there.

The Emperor lay with his eyes closed, his face pale white like an expressionless mask.

“His Majesty passed away in his sleep?”

The Imperial Physician standing behind him hurriedly answered.

“Yes. It appears so.”

Unless an autopsy was performed, the exact cause of death was still unknown.

“Then did he pass away peacefully?”

“Pardon? There is such a saying, but…”

The Imperial Physician stammered awkwardly in confusion.

“Well, is there really good or bad in death? An autopsy would be the only way to know the exact cause, wouldn’t it?”

“That’s correct.”

Alexpert fell into contemplation while continuing to look down at the Emperor’s face.

There were suspicious aspects to this sudden death, but should they really proceed with an autopsy?

“Proceed with the autopsy, but don’t record the results and report only to me.”

“I will follow your command.”

At the Imperial Physician’s faithful response, the Crown Prince briefly thought of the 7th Imperial Consort.

She had written a heartfelt suicide note saying she had failed to properly serve His Majesty the Emperor, then attempted to take her own life in the bathtub.

Sir Dimon had discovered her in time and barely saved her life, but when the 7th Imperial Consort regained consciousness, she wept and tried to take her own life again.

To stop the 7th Imperial Consort, they had to constantly keep someone by her side to watch over her.

If anything were to be revealed through an autopsy, he intended to resolve it within his own means.

“Please step aside for a moment.”

“Yes.”

Alecpet gazed silently at the Emperor’s pale face.

“Imperial Father… I can only call you that now after you’ve passed away. You’ve worked hard all this time.”

When he had confined the Emperor to the separate palace, he had abandoned all expectations of his father.

That title the Emperor had never once allowed. He wanted to call him father at least once at the end.

Soon Alecpet turned around without lingering attachment.

And he looked down at his own feet.

From now on, each step he took would become the path of an Emperor.

When Alecpet raised his head, his gaze had changed to that of an Emperor bearing the weight of the Empire.

* * *

When the Emperor’s death was announced, black flags were hung throughout the capital, fluttering in the wind.

All Imperial Citizens wore black mourning clothes for a week to honor the Emperor.

At the same time, the coronation ceremony for the next Emperor was hastily arranged.

The Solar Hall was opened again after a long time.

Under the glass dome where natural light poured down, nobles dressed in black mourning clothes filled the hall.

Though it should have been a coronation filled with cheers and celebratory cannons, the atmosphere remained calm and quiet due to the Former Emperor’s funeral period.

The massive main gate of the Solar Hall slowly opened, and a white chariot carrying the Crown Prince entered.

It was the entrance of the Crown Prince dressed in white ceremonial robes.

His wavy golden hair was neatly swept back, and his honey-colored golden eyes were clear and bright.

The nobles’ gazes, filled with admiration and awe, followed the Crown Prince.

The white chariot racing over the red carpet stopped in front of the high platform.

Since the Emperor who should have bestowed the crown from the top had passed away, the Prime Minister stood before the platform holding the crown in the Emperor’s place.

The Crown Prince who stepped down from the chariot knelt on one knee with a reverent expression.

The Prime Minister asked solemnly.

“Alecpet von Oman. Do you truly vow to share in the dignity of the Imperial Family?”

“I swear to God in the name of Alecpet von Oman. Henceforth, the eternal glory of the Imperial Family shall bloom through me, the Oman Empire shall prosper endlessly, and its brilliant history shall be recorded for eternity.”

The Prime Minister placed the crown upon the Crown Prince’s head.

The Emperor, now crowned, rose and ascended to the highest platform.

And sitting upon the Imperial Throne, he looked in turn at the four Ducal Houses positioned before the marble table.

The Southern Duke had a calm expression, the Duchess of the East had taken the Eastern Duke’s place, and the Northern Duke, who had arrived just the day before the coronation, looked tired.

Finally, his eyes met with the Western Duke.

Seeing his indifferent expression somehow brought him relief.

The Former Emperor had suddenly passed away, and time had flown by like an arrow until reaching this moment.

Now it was his era.

Alexpert looked down at the nobles and made a vow.

“I will look not to the sky but to the earth, and I will care for what the lowest and weakest should rightfully have and achieve. A new era will dawn, so trust and follow me.”

“We shall follow.”

The nobles clasped their hands together and bowed their heads before the Emperor.

The sunlight illuminating the Emperor shone more brilliantly than ever before.

* * *

Despite it being the day of the Emperor’s coronation, the Imperial Palace remained quiet without any commemorative banquet as they mourned the Former Emperor’s passing.

On that silent night, the Empress secretly visited a certain place.

“7th Imperial Consort.”

It was a bedroom completely empty without a single common decorative item.

Since the 7th Imperial Consort kept trying to harm herself, they had removed all objects from the room.

And to closely monitor her, Knight Demon was always stationed by her side.

Eira, who had been lying weakly on the bed, suddenly raised her head at the Empress’s voice.

“I greet Your Majesty.”

When the gaunt Eira tried to get up from the bed, the Empress raised her hand to stop her.

“That’s enough.”

As the Empress looked around, Demon quickly brought over a chair.

Sitting in the chair, she gazed intently at the 7th Imperial Consort who seemed to have lost her will to live.

“…Eira.”

Called by her name rather than her title, Eira looked up at the Empress with a bewildered expression.

“Who did you see through me?”

At her question, tears welled up in Eira’s large eyes and her lips trembled. And once again, she looked at her as if longing for someone.

Facing that sorrowful expression, the Empress smiled bitterly.

“You always looked at me that way.”

“I’m sorry.”

Eira lowered her head with a sad face. The tears that had been pooling dropped onto the sheets with soft thuds.

Her apology was both an admission and an answer.

Who could it have been? Her mother? Another member of her family?

The Empress’s gaze grew complex as she looked at Eira.

Since entering this palace, Eira had been the Emperor’s flower and companion, and ultimately even offered to be his final companion in death.

But was that really what she wanted? Or was it a means to cover up something else?

“Leave this palace within an hour.”

“What?”

Startled, Eira opened her eyes wide as if she couldn’t believe it.

“You died while harming yourself. It’s fortunate you didn’t bear the Former Emperor’s child. Otherwise, you would have been bound to live in the palace like the other Imperial Consorts.”

For no mother could leave behind her own child.

“Why are you letting me…?”

Looking at Eira, the Empress recalled the Western Duke who had visited her the previous day.

“Thank you for helping the Crown Prince.”

“Then give it to me.”

“What?”

When the Empress looked at him with puzzled eyes, the Western Duke opened his mouth with a troubled expression.

“Give me compensation.”

“What do you want? I’ll give you anything.”

“Give me the 7th Imperial Consort’s life.”

The Empress, who had been smiling kindly, showed a surprised face.

“Was she your person?”

Oh no. The Empress bit her lips and regretted the words she had just spoken.

The one who had been in the greatest confrontation with the Emperor before his death was the Western Duke.

But if the 7th Imperial Consort was the Western Duke’s person, then she had killed the Emperor at his instigation.

She who had watched over the Emperor’s final moments and even attempted suicide absolutely could not be a Western person.

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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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