The Obsessive Male Lead Is Obsessed With Me! - Chapter 135
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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 135
Chapter 11
You will be eternally happy by my side
[Exclusive Reveal! Who is the real owner of the oracle!]
“Did you see that?”
“See what?”
“Velvet Rumor, I mean Velvet Rumor.”
“Velvet Rumor? Isn’t that a third-rate gossip rag?”
Velvet was mainly a fabric that wealthy nobles used to make their clothes, so using that word in the title literally meant it was a gossip magazine that mainly dealt with rumors about nobles.
Since it was a blatantly third-rate gossip magazine from the title alone, people who encountered it for the first time might find it interesting, but most people were disgusted by it, calling it trash full of sensational false rumors.
“Why would you read something like that? It’s about a different world anyway.”
“No, this time there’s a rather interesting story published. Take a look.”
“What are you going on about? …Huh? That oracle wasn’t the Empress’s? How could that be possible?”
“If it’s not royalty, it wouldn’t be impossible to deceive about a commoner’s or noble’s oracle. It’s not like the name is carved on the stone tablet, right?”
That was true. Things like the owner’s name weren’t carved on the stone tablet.
Moreover, there was no way to determine who the owner of the stone tablet was. There had never been a single precedent of someone lying about another person’s oracle being their own.
“If the Empress isn’t the owner, then whose oracle is it exactly?”
The name of that candidate was published right there in Velvet Rumor.
I don’t know what method they used to investigate, but that gossip magazine had written the names of the women Archbishop Seiji had visited for treatment during childbirth.
Seven people in total.
The name written at the very top of that candidate list was Sofia Roheim. And besides her, there were no other nobles.
“Wait a minute, this means… Could it be that Duke Roheim’s wife…”
“There are two Roheim duchesses. Which one?”
“I heard it’s the youngest duchess.”
“The youngest… Your Highness the Grand Duchess?”
“Right, but think about it. Her Highness the Grand Duchess is…”
“Married to His Highness the Grand Duke!”
A duchess who married a prince who received an oracle that he would ascend to a lofty position early on.
If the Empress truly wasn’t the owner of the oracle, who else but Cecilia could be the owner of the oracle!
“It’s certain. The real owner of the oracle is Her Highness the Grand Duchess.”
The number of people chattering with confident voices gradually increased. So it was inevitable that it would reach the ears of nobles who wouldn’t even glance at gossip magazines.
And when signs appeared that the rumor would spread beyond the capital to the entire empire, Count Keller also encountered that rumor and immediately headed to the imperial palace.
“Your Majesty the Former Empress, is this really true!”
He came to find the Former Empress without warning and threw the gossip magazine he was holding onto the floor.
By that time, the Former Empress was also aware of the rumors spreading outside.
The moment she saw the name Velvet Rumor, she bit her lips with a fed-up expression, and Count Keller felt his neck tighten severely at the silent affirmation contained in that expression.
“This… to hide such an important fact!”
“I didn’t hide it! I didn’t know either!”
“Do you call that an excuse now? This isn’t something that can be resolved by saying you didn’t know!”
“…”
“Why of all things, of all things… How, ah!”
At Count Keller’s furious outburst, the Former Empress raised her voice while clutching her chest as if she too felt wronged to death.
“I was deceived too, I was deceived too! How could I have possibly known that cunning Nicole would steal someone else’s oracle and lie that it was hers!”
“You should have known! It’s not just anyone’s oracle but the Empress’s oracle! How could you just believe someone else’s words without doing any cross-verification!”
“Because they were a bishop and an archbishop!”
Nicole was one thing. Her life was at stake.
But she never expected that even Seiji, who was an archbishop, would dare to deceive about the owner of an oracle sent by God.
“The Pope is someone who would die for God’s word. But if he didn’t say anything even when he saw Nicole during the coronation, the Pope probably didn’t know either! If even the Pope was deceived, how could I not have been fooled!”
“…”
That was certainly true.
Count Keller ground his teeth.
Whether she knew his painful inner feelings or not, the Former Empress looked at Count Keller with a dejected face.
“What should we do now?”
“About what?”
“About this situation.”
The Former Empress looked up at Count Keller with dependent eyes.
But could Count Keller have any clever solution in this situation?
Originally, he thought Cayen wouldn’t last long on the throne anyway, so he was planning to approach Lionel regarding Nicole’s custody and whisper to him about whether he had any thoughts of becoming emperor.
Just at that timing, when the Former Empress confined Nicole to the Empress’s palace, he thought the Former Empress had figured out his intentions and was hiding her to protect Nicole.
But that wasn’t it. Nicole was fake. Moreover, the real future empress was already by Lionel’s side.
In this current situation, there was no way for him to subtly join Lionel’s faction.
Now, what he could do to protect his power was…
“Nothing.”
“What, what did you say?”
“In my view, it’s already over.”
There was exactly one method left for Cayen.
Divorcing the Grand Duke and Duchess and placing the Grand Duchess in the new Empress position.
If he could obtain an heir from the new Empress, he could bring over the legitimacy of being an emperor chosen by God, but…
‘It’s a marriage officiated by the Pope. Unless someone has clear grounds for fault, divorce is absolutely impossible.’
If Cayen had received an oracle about becoming emperor, he might have been able to demand that the Pope divorce Lionel and Cecilia for the fulfillment of the oracle.
But the oracle Cayen received wasn’t about becoming emperor…
Above all, there was a decisive reason why Cayen couldn’t use this method.
“Your Majesty the Former Empress, do you know this?”
“Know what exactly…?”
“About His Majesty the Emperor.”
Count Keller opened his mouth without trying to hide his pity for his sister.
“He’s incapable of producing an heir.”
“…What?”
The Former Empress’s face froze completely. As expected, she looked like she had no idea.
Count Keller clicked his tongue lightly.
“Since it was uncertain, I had three court physicians cross-verify it. If you can’t believe it, call the court physicians.”
“That, that’s impossible… It’s a lie, a lie!”
“How much I wish it were a lie.”
The one thing Cayen had over Lionel was that he had the woman who received the oracle as his wife, but even that was taken by Lionel.
At that point, it was safe to say that Cayen’s legitimacy had disappeared.
Whenever it might be, once Lionel ascended to the throne, that fair and just fellow wouldn’t show favoritism just because he was his uncle.
‘I should make do moderately and return to my estate to live quietly like a dead mouse.’
Count Keller shook his head, recalling Lionel who used to look at him with emotionless eyes like a doll.
Rather than trying to win that guy over, it’s better to just reign as king in my own estate.
“Then I’ll take my leave now.”
After Count Keller left his seat, having let go of all lingering attachments, the Former Empress, who had been sitting there dazed, suddenly screamed as if having a fit.
“Court physician! Bring the court physicians!”
No one knew what the Former Empress asked when she summoned the court physicians that day.
However, everyone knew the fact that she had raged and thrown a tantrum, breaking flower vases in her room, and afterward, rumors spread from mouth to mouth due to the gossip magazine that the maids found while cleaning the Former Empress’s room.
The rumor that Cecilia being the real owner of the oracle was probably true.
So when it became almost an established fact that Cecilia was the real owner of the oracle.
The carriage of the Grand Duke and Duchess of Frost passed through the capital’s gates.
* * *
“Liri, Liri.”
“Mmm…?”
“We’ve arrived. Wake up.”
When I opened my eyes to the hand shaking my shoulder, Lionel, who met my gaze, knocked on the carriage door.
Then the door opened from outside. Only then did I notice that the carriage had stopped.
“Yaaawn… Have we already arrived home?”
“Yes.”
Lionel got out first and extended his hand to me from outside, but when I drowsily fumbled around on the seat, still half-asleep, he came back into the carriage and lifted me up in his arms.
I reflexively wrapped my arms around Lionel’s neck and yawned, then squeezed my eyes shut as my vision suddenly brightened the moment we got out of the carriage.
And when I opened my eyes again, I discovered the town house’s head butler and a long line of maids and servants standing behind him, and nearly screamed.
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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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