Chapter 24: 24
“You’re here.”
When they entered the Emperor’s office, Eugene and Aurelia were already there.
It seemed Eugene had been working, while Aurelia was seated on the sofa.
“There’s no need for stiff formalities.”
“Just sit down.”
Eugene sat beside Aurelia and gestured for Noah and Dorothy to take the sofa across from them.
Knowing that outside of official occasions the Emperor preferred to finish business quickly rather than waste time on rigid formal greetings, both Noah and Dorothy simply bowed once and sat down.
“I’ll make some tea now.”
At Aurelia’s words, Dorothy hurriedly stood up.
“Lady Aurelia, I can prepare the tea.”
“It’s fine.”
“Once in a while, I want Eugene to drink tea I’ve made myself.”
“And I’d like you two to have some as well.”
Aurelia cheerfully began brewing the tea, so Dorothy sat back down, still a little flustered.
“Don’t worry about it, Dorothy.”
“Just let Aurelia do as she likes.”
“Yes.”
Eugene looked at Aurelia with gentle eyes.
Seeing the couple, who embodied Dorothy’s ideal image of husband and wife, made her heart ache just a little.
As if sensing Dorothy’s feelings, Noah quietly reached over from where he sat and gently took her hand beneath the desk.
“Here you are.”
Aurelia served the tea with a completely private smile, different from her usual Empress’s expression.
The gentle aroma of tea drifted through the room, carrying with it a sense of warmth.
“It’s good.”
“This tea came from the Kingdom of Frestor, didn’t it?”
“Hehe, I hear it’s Her Majesty the Queen’s favorite.”
“It’s one I personally like, so I thought it would be fine on an occasion like this.”
“There are many who insist on domestic products alone.”
“But I think this is good in its own way.”
“Delicious things cross borders.”
“That’s true.”
“Now then, Dorothy.”
“After such good tea, let’s move on to a less pleasant topic.”
“Yes.”
She had already prepared herself long ago.
Over the past ten days, she had thought through many things, and no matter how she looked at it, the survival of the count’s household was in jeopardy.
Her father would not escape conviction as a criminal, and the person who should have inherited the house had already been offered as a sacrifice and was no longer alive.
The only one left was Dorothy herself, but she had been raised almost entirely confined to the mansion in the capital and had never even set foot in the count’s territory.
Moreover, if asked whether she wanted to inherit the Courtvair Count House, she had no such desire.
There was no meaning in preserving a house full of criminals.
“Your family has already been offered as sacrifices.”
“Your father is still alive for now, but once we extract all the information we can, he will be sent to the mines.”
“He’ll be made to work in the harshest, lowest levels, so if you wish to see him, say so now.”
“It will be your final farewell.”
Eugene denied Dorothy’s father a noble execution and instead deliberately chose forced labor as punishment.
That man was not an important figure, merely a petty one who sought profit by offering sacrifices and locations to the cult.
There was little chance the cult would attempt a rescue.
Rather than executing him quickly, Eugene judged it a harsher punishment to cast a man unused to physical labor into the deepest levels of the mines.
Even so, Eugene did not believe that man’s life would last very long.
“I don’t wish to see him.”
“I don’t think I ever will feel that way in the future either.”
He was the father who had tried to kill her.
She had no desire to see someone who had hated her since she was old enough to remember.
Even if told that he had died in the mines, she would likely respond with nothing more than, ‘I see.’
“When my father decided my marriage, he said that marrying Lord Cyrus would make me happy.”
“At the time, I accepted those words gladly.”
“But looking back now, I think there was no emotion in his words at all.”
“He simply spoke them.”
“I don’t believe he truly wished for my happiness.”
“He probably just wanted to be rid of me.”
And yet, when cornered, he had tried to offer Dorothy as a sacrifice.
What had family meant to her father?
He was a selfish man who would sell his family without hesitation, even knowing they would be killed, if it benefited himself.
“I see.”
“There are those who speak heavy words lightly.”
“There are those who think that merely saying something is enough.”
“Such people take no responsibility for the words they utter.”
“Among the Courtvair Count House, the only one who can clearly be said to have had no involvement with that group is you, Dorothy.”
“To varying degrees, the others were involved.”
“I was never treated as a member of the count’s family.”
“But if I had been, I probably would have been killed as a sacrifice much earlier.”
“I would never have worked at the Imperial Palace.”
“Heh, when you put it that way, perhaps one of that man’s few merits was freeing you from the Courtvair Count House.”
“As for the Courtvair Count House itself, it will be preserved.”
“However, since many of the branch families were also involved with the group, it will be inherited by someone from another house.”
“Yes.”
“I’m grateful even that the house will be preserved.”
“I thought it would be dissolved entirely.”
“I considered that as well, but there was also the issue of what to do with the territory.”
“And we happened to have just the right person.”
“The right person?”
“Yes.”
“I was thinking anyone with even distant blood ties to the Courtvair Count House would suffice.”
“And it just so happened that someone who recently stopped being a recluse had a faint blood connection to the house.”
“A woman from the Courtvair Count House had married into his family several generations back.”
When Noah had heard this from Eugene, even he had been surprised.
As nobles, many people shared blood ties somewhere along the line, but he had never imagined that Clarel was connected to the Courtvair Count House.
That meant Clarel and Dorothy were relatives.
No matter how distant, there was indeed a blood connection.
Clarel had been the eldest son of his count family, but during his years shut away in the library, his younger brother had inherited the title.
Going forward, as Eugene’s aide, Clarel would need a title, and since he would not betray Eugene and had no interest in religion, he was well suited to inherit the Courtvair countship.
Eugene intended to have Clarel inherit the Courtvair Count House and have him act as Dorothy’s guardian, though adopting her outright was out of the question.
Ideally, she would quickly marry Noah, but if she became a marchioness, she would be too busy to continue palace service.
And having just divorced, Dorothy might not be ready to marry so soon.
There was also the issue that the cult had infiltrated the Courtvair territory, requiring a thorough purge.
In that case, it was faster to deal directly with someone who could communicate with Eugene himself.
Entrusting the house to Clarel was also a test of what he could accomplish.
He had knowledge, but no practical achievements.
Reality brought challenges beyond what books taught.
Eugene wanted to see whether Clarel could handle that.
“I won’t handle it poorly.”
“For now, leave matters concerning the Courtvair Count House to us.”
“Please do as you see fit, Your Majesty.”
“I have no intention of inheriting the Courtvair Count House anyway, so I planned to return the territory.”
At present, Dorothy was the only direct descendant left, but she had no attachment to the house.
“Officially, the head of the house will be replaced due to embezzlement and other charges.”
“Driven to despair by my investigation, he murdered his family.”
“That should suffice.”
“I think that’s fine.”
“Leaving behind only a small stain of infamy in history before disappearing seems appropriate.”
Her father had been a proud man.
Once, when drunk, he had boasted that he was the greatest of all the Courtvair counts.
To vanish leaving only a brief line of ill repute in the history books somehow felt fitting.
“Then we’ll proceed in that direction regarding the Courtvair Count House.”
“Next, as for you, Dorothy, continue working as a lady-in-waiting under Aurelia.”
“In your case, more people recognize you as Count Miller’s wife than as the daughter of the Courtvair Count House.”
“And if necessary, Noah’s family has offered to act as your guardians.”
“Noah-sama’s?”
When she looked at Noah beside her, he smiled brightly and nodded.
“My sister consulted our father.”
“Our parents know about you, so they agreed to take on the role of guardians.”
They were also aware that Noah was in the process of proposing.
His father had advised him cryptically not to rush, but also not to miss his chance, and to assume the other party was always ready to flee.
His mother had laughed, which made Noah a little curious about his parents’ past.
“My father also knows that you are someone the Emperor and Empress trust deeply for your diligence.”
“That made the discussion quick.”
“…Thank you very much.”
Unused to praise, being told she was diligent and highly trusted left Dorothy embarrassed.
“I’m glad you won’t be leaving, Dorothy.”
“I still need your help.”
“Yes, Lady Aurelia.”
Dorothy caught a glimpse of Noah making a slightly complicated expression beside her.
She felt a little sorry, but this place was one she had secured through her own efforts.
Regardless of how it began, it was trust she had earned by working sincerely at Aurelia’s side.
She still wanted to be needed here.
So much had happened that she hadn’t yet sorted through her feelings properly, but for now, that was Dorothy’s honest sentiment.