Dangerous Fiancee

Chapter 142

The black sky where spring rain poured like a lullaby. The gloomy air which seemed as if it could snatch his ankle at any time. The coldness of the floor on which he knelt in front of the bed...

Those were the words of his mother with a pale look on her face while whispering into his ears.

Eckart slowly let out a very deep and long sigh.

If what Duke Kling said was true, one of the persons that Blair said he "should not trust" might be Blair herself.

"To be honest, I don't like these kinds of excuses..."

Eckart thought about all the possibilities imaginable, including the possibility that Kling got this ring and made a fake story, the possibility that he forcibly took it from Blair, or received it for some other reason or the possibility that he made a fake confession after robbing the imperial family shrine or the possibility that this ring itself was a fake.

Whatever the reason, he thought about all sorts of possibilities that Kling might have been tricking him with.

"I think that's a pretty good excuse."

When he took into account all the possibilities, he concluded that there was a much higher probability that what Kling told him was true.

"So, in your logic, you rejected the emperor's offers of top positions in order to keep your promise with Blair, right?"

"That's correct."

"Although this was not known to the outside, I understand that Emperor Blair wrote to you several times, asking for help."

"I've kept all the letters sent by the empress. Only I know where the mailbox is located, but even if someone finds out, they won't be able to guess what it is anyway."

"You said her letters contained nothing except for your help, right?"

Kling nodded.

"The empress wished that the day she met me didn't exist at all on the calendar. But I felt that it would be the best policy for me not to reply to her wishes."

It was because of Duke Kling's absolute thorough neutrality that he could maintain his reputation in the social circles. The first and last thing that he coveted was Lennox Castle, and he was never involved in politics since he became the new lord of the Lennox after Grand Duke Bertrand.

Even after Kling came back to Milan amid everyone's attention, following a scandal involving her daughter's engagement to Eckart, many people believed that to be so.

Now, Eckhart began to trust Kling more and more, given all the possibilities.

In his assumption, Kling should have been away from the capital on purpose in order to keep his promise. That might be the only way for him to break down his opponents' wariness. He would have no reason to disobey the empress's order while she was alive, be it for his own shallow conscience or for his aiming for substantive power.

"Did you reject my offer for the same reason?"

"..."

"You just told me that when I succeeded the throne safely, you would not have to honor your promise, right?"

"That's right."

"But my inauguration ceremony took place four years ago, and now I'm into the fifth year of ruling. As you attended my coronation with your daughter at that time, unfortunately your poor excuse that you didn't know it because you lived in a faraway and remote place is not persuasive."

"..."

"Does that mean that you dare not recognize me as Aslan's emperor?"

Eckart turned his back slightly. Obviously he was pressing Kling with a sharp glance.