Please Repay Me with Marriage! - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Make it up to me by marrying me!
Chapter 21
“That must be because my fiancé is a minor noble with no real power.”
“Yes. If he had known he was your fiancé, I would have had a word with Al right then.”
Had it been Count Elpias, it would have been fine, but Marquess Blair’s fiancé was someone the Second Prince should neither draw close to nor make an enemy of.
So the Emperor was now scolding her for hiding her fiancé’s identity so carefully that it had turned into this mess.
“But Your Majesty, how could I possibly stand before you and say, ‘As of today, this man is mine, so I beg you to look after him’?”
Unable to admit that she had only become engaged to him this very morning, Irene-ah lowered her brows and spoke in a subdued voice.
And when he thought about it, she was right. Behaving that way would only look like someone growing arrogant on the strength of the Emperor’s favor.
“Haah…”
The Emperor pressed a finger to his throbbing temple. Looking at the newspapers piled on the table only made the headache worse.
‘That boy Al… When was the last time I actually scolded him?’
Even when he heard about the trouble Al caused here and there, he deliberately refrained from scolding him harshly.
No one of sound mind would nominate as the next emperor a man who went about wearing down his own reputation.
Half from that calculation, and half from a guilty conscience, the Emperor had indulged the Second Prince and raised him that way. But now, it seemed, the time had come to rein him in.
‘Of all the people to provoke, it had to be Marquess Blair.’
If the opponent had been some politically seasoned heavyweight, they could have settled things neatly after a few rounds of maneuvering, trading gains and losses. He had years of accumulated data on people like that.
But Irene-ah was one of those retainers he still couldn’t quite figure out how to handle. She had risen suddenly from nothing, with no backing whatsoever, and she was still expanding her influence to this day. If she grew insolent, he could crush her by force, yet she pledged blind loyalty to the Imperial Family, and that was precisely what made it so difficult.
Whether for good reasons or bad, wherever Marquess Blair passed through, a topic always lingered behind.
That was why the press had begun to inflate whatever she had done, and even invent what she hadn’t.
Yet in truth, for the past three years she had not caused a single incident worth the name.
This was the first time. And the first time her name had come up in connection with the Imperial Family at all.
‘Even if there was no evidence, could this child really have made things this big because she had no other way out?’
Irene-ah could have resolved this matter far more wisely. Yet she had chosen to blow it up to this scale, which meant…
‘It’s a warning.’
A message to keep my son in check so that nothing like this happens again.
For a number of reasons, the Emperor could not punish Irene-ah severely for this. She had probably calculated even that before setting it in motion.
‘What a shrewd little thing.’
The Emperor stared at Irene-ah, who wore an expression of the utmost injustice and grief.
He felt like flicking her forehead, but considering the loyalty she had shown the Imperial Family all this time, he decided to hold back.
Besides, looking at it in the long run, this was not a bad outcome. He had firmly secured one of Marquess Blair’s weaknesses, after all.
“For now, I will apologize on behalf of my son’s foolishness. As soon as I send you back, I’ll summon him and give him a proper scolding, so put this matter out of your mind.”
“Please don’t worry, Your Majesty. How could I hold on to a single mistake?”
So that means twice would not be a mistake, is that right?
By now the Emperor was genuinely curious about Count Elpias. What kind of charm had he used to win people over, that Marquess Blair would cover for him like this?
“Since you have said what you have said in front of people, I will let the prince’s transgression pass as it is. If there is something you want in return, tell me.”
“There is nothing, Your Majesty. I am content that Your Majesty’s misunderstanding has been resolved.”
“Don’t hesitate. I mean to impose a punishment commensurate with this.”
Whatever the truth, Irene-ah had become a sly little woman who had dared to carry on a romance over the Sword of the First Emperor. With the press prattling on about the dignity of the Imperial Family, the Emperor had no choice but to rebuke her.
Irene-ah had already guessed as much, so instead of weeping over the injustice, she said, ‘Then…’ and made a single request.
“Please come in person to my wedding, which will take place a month from now.”
“In person?”
“Yes. If Your Majesty personally congratulates our marriage, then no other nobles will dare point fingers at my fiancé.”
“Hmm…”
She was well aware that Elpias was treated like a crow among swans.
“Very well. I shall do so.”
“I am deeply grateful, Your Majesty.”
“Grateful, my foot. From now on I’ll be the one shouting, so you can just sit there with your head bowed.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
So that anyone passing by could hear, the Emperor bellowed at the top of his lungs.
Something about the dignity of the Imperial Family and the humiliation of it all. As Irene-ah wept and apologized, sobbing, the Emperor flew into a rage, saying he couldn’t stand to hear it.
“Until the day of your wedding, you will remain at home in seclusion for one month. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I will do as you say.”
After Irene-ah bowed respectfully and withdrew, the Emperor, left alone, called for the chief lady-in-waiting to bring wine and tossed back a cup in one go.
“I can’t make heads or tails of this mess this early in the morning. Lady Roam, Lloyd Mathias should be carrying an Imperial Palace pass.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. As far as I know, it was guaranteed by His Highness the Prince.”
“Go to the Mathias house at once… No, never mind that. Instruct them that if Lloyd Mathias comes to see the Second Prince, he is not to be let through under any circumstances, and confiscate his pass.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
While the chief lady-in-waiting stepped out briefly to carry out the order, the Emperor issued a command to the chief attendant.
“Go and fetch the Second Prince. He can come in his nightclothes if he must, so don’t dawdle. Bring him now!”
“As you command, Your Majesty.”
How ironic that, at this very moment, the Second Prince had run straight into Leonard, who was waiting in the Sun Palace garden for Irene.

* * *
Only Irene had been granted an audience, so Leonard, who had escorted her, was led off separately to the Sun Palace garden.
Since he had no companions, the maid who served him tea and sweets kept the conversation light and steered it toward small talk, taking care that he wouldn’t grow bored.
By the time Leonard had emptied his teacup, she offered to show him around the garden.
“Am I allowed to wander about the grounds?”
“Of course. Just don’t go inside the buildings.”
The maid who personally guided him through the garden was remarkably kind.
Wherever you go, you can tell where someone’s heart lies by how they treat their staff. Judging by the way he was being treated, Irene probably wasn’t being mistreated either, and Leonard allowed himself to relax.
But his relief had come a little too soon.
“Well, well, look who it is. Unless my eyes are deceiving me, that fellow standing over there looks like a mongrel of unknown birth. Wouldn’t you agree?”
When contempt and disdain were this blatant, they hardly stung at all.
‘Of all the places to run into him, what rotten luck.’
That was all he thought, and he let it go at that.
But the maid guiding him didn’t seem to share his indifference. At once her face hardened, and she stepped between Leonard and the Second Prince.
“Greetings, Your Highness the Second Prince. Are you on your way to see His Majesty?”
“Yes. I was on my way to see my mother the Empress. But I hope my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me. Why is that man here?”
Under the prince’s gaze as it swept Leonard from head to toe, the maid let out a breath, as if resigned.
“Your Highness, please mind your words and conduct. This gentleman is His Majesty’s guest.”
“So what if he is? Ah, my mistake. I failed to recognize my mother’s guest and held my head high. Shall I kneel and pay my respects now?”
“Y-Your Highness! You must not!”
As the Second Prince bent forward as though about to kneel, his attendants seized him by both arms and tried to hold him back.
Soon they shot the emperor’s maid meaningful glances. It was an order to apologize at once. Their coordinated little act left the maid staring in disbelief.
“Ha…”
What on earth had she done wrong?
Since the maid had lost her words, Leonard stepped in to smooth things over, going down on one knee before the Second Prince to offer the proper greeting.
“I greet you, Your Highness the Second Prince.”
“Hmph. So that expensive knee of yours finally touches the ground.”
The corners of the Second Prince’s mouth twitched ugly as he looked Leonard up and down.
Naturally, he had never had any intention of kneeling on the ground. He shook off his attendants roughly and pulled free.
“So how exactly did a wretch like you earn an invitation from my mother? You had better answer properly. If it’s a lie, I’ll have your tongue cut out!”
To be precise, the emperor’s guest had not been Leonard at all, but Irene. Still, the maid had claimed he was the emperor’s guest for a reason: insulting the fiancé of the Marquis of Blair would gain no one anything.
Whatever her intentions, it was still a lie, and the maid’s face drained of color. Before the Second Prince’s gaze could land on her, Leonard answered calmly.
“It is thanks to my fiancée.”
“Your fiancée? Hah, you mean that illustrious Marquis of Blair.”
“Yes. The most illustrious Marquis of Blair.”
The Second Prince seethed as Leonard took his sneering remark and treated it, without a flicker, as praise.
Ignoring even his attendant’s earnest warning that the Sun Palace was right nearby and he should show some restraint, he gave free rein to his temper.
“Your fiancée has been lording it over everyone, riding on our mother’s favor far beyond what she deserves, and her arrogance reaches the heavens! Her influence is truly something to behold. And she dared to exploit the Great Emperor’s prestige for your petty little love affair?”
“A love affair, you say?”
“Yes! I saw it with my own two eyes, so don’t even think about denying it!”
Ah, so he means to tear up the verbal agreement entirely, then.
Leonard looked steadily at the Second Prince. One of the prince’s cheeks twitched, as if he had something to hide. After a moment, his gaze, which had been wandering elsewhere, returned to Leonard, blazing with fury.
“Our mother must be furious, too, and that’s surely why she summoned your fiancée. The Marquis of Blair’s renown is finally going to come crashing down. It should be quite a sight!”
“With all due respect, Your Highness.”
“What? Are you afraid now that your precious fiancée is about to be cut loose like a kite with its string snapped? Begging on your knees won’t help you now…”
“Your Highness will never be able to employ mercenaries again.”
“What?”
In that instant, a pale, shimmering halo of light mingled with the sunshine and settled upon the Second Prince’s gaping lips.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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