Dangerous Fiancee

Chapter 143

There was zero possibility for him to do so. Kling and his daughter were like a pair of cards placed side by side. The moment one of them was forcibly taken off from the other, the other card would become useless.

'... Did she approach me from the beginning with that in mind?'

Eckhart breathed out slowly, pondering over that possibility.

Whenever he recalled the Lennox War, the late emperor Cassius repeatedly praised Kling by saying that he could not have finished the war without the duke's wise strategy. Eckart thought his late father's praise of the duke was not that exaggerated. Anyway, the duke was never a pushover.

"I think you're very arrogant to say it like that."

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty."

"Duke, you are now threatening me. Do you think you can take responsibility for your crazy remarks?"

"If you want to punish me for my disrespect, I will receive it gladly. But what I've got now is only Marie. I don't want to lose my family member again in their hands," Duke Kling emphatically retorted.

Eckart narrowed his eyebrows again. It was not because Kling dared not yield to the emperor's reproach.

"...Never again?"

This very word uttered by Kling jarred his nerves sharply.

"Were they involved in the death of your wife?"

Eckart was a clever ruler. He instantly found out the cause and result of the event involving the death of Kling's wife.

"Your Majesty, they do not hesitate to do anything to beat their enemy."

Duke Kling gave him a standard answer instead of denying it. But his voice grew heavier than before.

"I know that. Maybe much more than you. Don't you think they might try to kill you?" Eckart asked back coldly.

There were too many people sacrificed in their hands for Eckart to feel regret each of the lost lives. So, Eckart realized a long time ago that patience and calculation were more helpful than sorrow and understanding. He also forgot about a peaceful life a long time ago. His recollection of the curse of those who prayed for his death was still vivid in his memory.

"Your Majesty, I wonder if they are already trying to do something..."

"Please answer my question first. Was it simply because of her sickness that your wife died or not?"

Duke Kling tried to ask back, as if he guessed such a question, but Eckart cut him off.

"Duke!"

His low voice pressed Kling hard.

"... Marie is building a greenhouse these days in the back garden of the Elior Mansion."

Finally, Kling opened his mouth.

"It wasn't finished yet, but she wanted to show me around, so we took a walk together..."

He calmly recalled what he saw there recently.

"I saw a flower pot on the way to the garden."

Eckart quietly stared at him.

"My late wife and daughter love flowers and trees, but I don't really know much about plants. Every time I played a game of matching similar flowers, I mostly guessed wrong, so my daughter teased me all the time."

"..."

"But I could clearly detect that flower tree among many of them. Mrs. Chester gave it to Marie as her engagement gift."