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☾ twenty - two ☾

The Emperor frowned at the Duke's response.

"What? What does that have to do with the assassin who tried to kill me?"

"I heard that there were marks left behind by the intruder which are similar to the one involved in your assassination attempt."

The Emperor shot a glare at the duke.

He had caught on that the "similar footprints" was just an excuse to leave the palace.

'This bastard...how dare you deceive me.'

But the one who ordered the Duke to investigate the attempted assassination was none other than Emperor himself.

And now that evidence had been brought up, the Emperor had no choice but to listen to the demands of Duke Floyen, who was the one in charge of the investigation.

The corners of his mouth lifted when Regis saw the Emperor's piercing glare.

"Therefore, please grant me permission to go check the traces."

_

'Ahh, human beings definitely need to get out occasionally and be under the sun to recharge.'

It was nice living in seclusion indoors the past few days, but I ended up losing a lot of energy.

'Yeah, maybe I'll even get some ideas while being out here.'

While thinking so, I heard my maid speak.

"Milady, the flowers are quite pretty, aren't they?"

"Oh, you're right."

The moment those words left my lips, Marilyn looked at me in the eye and said, "The flowers are beautiful, but they're nowhere near as lovely as you, milady."

If I had to be honest...it was quite burdensome to have someone following me around while giving me such excessive praise.

'Marilyn became strange all of a sudden. Is it due to overworking?'

For a moment, I thought about sending her on vacation before walking over to sit on a bench located on one side of the garden.

'Alright, let's organize my thoughts...I only have two days left until my father is supposed to return.'

Although it was only two days, it should actually be more than enough time to come up with a proper countermeasure to the marriage problem.

I knew that if I were to continue brainstorming in my head, the servants would see me in a daze and find it strange, so I opened up the book that I brought with me, pretending to read.

'Ah, why did it have to be the book on tactics.'

Of course, it was an interesting book–the one my father had recommended to me–but I hadn't meant to bring this one out.

"Oh, are you going to be reading a book, milady?"

Marilyn was staring at me with widened eyes — perhaps she thought it was unexpected that I was sitting down to read when we had come out here with the intention of going out for a walk.

"Yes, it's perfect for spending time alone."

Marilyn had an unreadable expression on her face but quickly lowered her head, "Milady, but..."

"I'll go back on my own, so don't worry about me and feel free to go and tend to your other duties," I said, implying that I wanted to read quietly by myself without being disturbed.