Will You Accept The Deal (5)

“Yes.”

Alicia glared once more at the culprits behind the problem, then turned away.

After moving two steps, Alicia suddenly turned back toward Josephina and Juan and whispered.

“I’m going to sell you two out.”

The words of a curse echoed coldly.

They wanted to ask what she meant by selling people out, but there was no time for that.

Alicia stirred up a chilly wind and left.

Alicia immediately put what she had said into action.

The next day, as soon as dawn broke, she entered the palace.

Chief Steward Eugene recognized Alicia and approached her.

“I wish to see His Majesty.”

Alicia quickly stated her business.

Eugene asked her to wait a moment and entered the office.

“Your Majesty.”

The Emperor looked at the Chief Steward, who had returned again as soon as he stepped out of the office, with puzzlement.

“The Grand Duchess has come.”

In a gentle voice, Eugene spoke an awkward reality.

Lately, the Emperor and the Chief Steward had been sensitive about Tessen’s visits.

Especially the Emperor, who showed an uncomfortable and prickly reaction whenever Alicia was mentioned.

“Why did she come?”

The Emperor set down the quill pen he had been holding.

“I beg your pardon. Even this lowly one does not know that far. She urgently requested an audience.”

“How did she look?”

“You know, Your Majesty. When the Grand Duchess does not smile, she looks cold, so she seems displeased. She was not smiling.”

Chief Steward Eugene’s words were not encouraging.

But the Emperor looked a little more at ease at the words that Alicia was not smiling.

“I’ll see her in the office.”

“Yes.”

The Chief Steward prepared a seat for the Grand Duchess in the office and left the room.

Led by him, Alicia entered the office.

“Your Majesty the Emperor, I greet the noble one.”

Alicia offered an elegant greeting and headed to the prepared seat.

The Emperor, who had intended to receive her out of courtesy, stared blankly at Alicia as she sat down in an instant.

“Grand Duchess.”

“Your Majesty, I have brought good news.”

Without any pleasantries, Alicia brought up the main point.

“Good news, you say. That is something to look forward to. What is it?”

The Emperor erased his doubts and spoke.

Alicia smiled brightly.

“It seems Josephina and Juan are dating.”

The Emperor’s expression, which had been fixed on her fresh smile, subtly scattered.

As Alicia claimed, it really was good news.

“Josephina did?”

Only a few days ago, the Emperor had spoken with Josephina herself about marriage.

Josephina, who had nearly ended an engagement with war, frowned at the word marriage.

She had said she had no man she was dating or even interested in, but he had not believed it, thinking it would be awkward for his niece to talk about romance to her uncle.

“Yes, Your Majesty. Besides me, many people have seen the two getting along well together. However……”

Alicia spoke with a confident attitude.

“However, what? If it’s Juan, isn’t he Sir Juan Lukens of the Lukens family? What could be a problem?”

“Josephina likes Juan far more.”

Alicia whispered, looking a little shy.

“Grand Duchess, matters between a man and a woman are things no one knows unless they are the parties involved, are they not?”

The Emperor said with a brilliant smile.

His expression was smiling, but the words he uttered sounded somewhat curt.

He seemed displeased, as if it sounded like his cherished niece was chasing after a man.

“No, Your Majesty. I have seen Josephina following Juan around several times. It may be difficult for Your Majesty to understand, but if you consider Juan’s position, I understand why he is reluctant.”

Seizing the gap in the gentle atmosphere, Eugene served Alicia tea.

“Are you saying Josephina has a problem?”

Offering tea, the Emperor pressed Alicia softly.

“Of course not. Josephina has a strong personality, a strong sense of self, and she does not hesitate to carry out what she decides, so some people may find her difficult, but I view her very positively.”

Alicia praised Josephina with a smiling face, but the Emperor’s expression turned a little bitter.

“Josephina is like that.”

Alicia continued in a bright tone.

“Juan is from the Lukens family, which has produced many excellent knights, but Josephina is Your Majesty’s niece, Her Highness the Princess’s daughter, and also a Duke’s daughter. Juan’s family is also a distinguished house within the Empire, but the imperial family is a difficult counterpart, is it not. Perhaps because of that, Juan finds Josephina daunting.”

“That could be.”

At what Alicia said next, the Emperor’s face noticeably brightened.

“From what I have observed, it seems hard for Josephina to keep acting proactively toward Juan. It is not easy for the lady who will become the next Duke of Lirin to keep doing that to a specific man. And yet, when will Juan ever act proactively toward Josephina, who is Your Majesty’s especially cherished niece and a great-noble lady…….”

Alicia said with a truly regretful air.

The Emperor actively agreed, offered Alicia tea, and drank tea himself.

“Your heart is considerate, Grand Duchess.”

“I am honored. I thought that if I conveyed the news to Your Majesty, it might be a small help to the couple who are just beginning, so I dared to speak of it.”

Alicia spoke respectfully.

“Juan Lukens. The Lukens family, hm. Not bad. In the Grand Duchess’s view, what is Juan like?”

At the Emperor’s question, Alicia answered without hesitation.

“Juan is, as Your Majesty knows, from the prestigious Lukens family. Within his house, he possesses the strongest swordsmanship of the current generation. However, Sir Juan does not highly value his own inborn swordsmanship. He knows he is an outstanding swordsman, but he likes drawing more. As for his personality, he is sociable and widely popular with everyone.”

Even someone who had not cared about Juan would, after hearing Alicia’s description, regard Juan Lukens as the best possible groom.

“Good. Where is Juan Lukens?”

“He is waiting for this lowly one outside this building.”

At Alicia’s answer, the Emperor only smiled without speaking.

“Grand Duchess. I truly value the Grand Duchess’s ability highly. Above all, it impressed me most that you turned that stubborn Reichardt into an excellent politician. It seems you will show even more surprising and impressive feats in the future.”

“You are overpraising me.”

“I should meet Juan shortly. Would it be fine for you to wait outside the audience chamber? Or would you go to the Empress’s palace?”

The Emperor was a man as quick to act as Alicia.

“I will wait outside the audience chamber.”

Alicia smiled brightly.

“Eugene. Let Sir Lukens enter the audience chamber, and prepare the Grand Duchess’s seat.”

“I shall obey your command.”

It was a historic moment in which Juan Lukens, akin to an ordinary knight in the palace, would have a private audience with the Emperor.

“I greet Your Majesty the Emperor.”

Having received the imperial order to enter the Grand Real Session, Juan was bewildered.

Since it was the Chief Steward’s message, he obeyed first, but there were one or two things that did not make sense.

Alicia had said she would sell him out.

Juan felt wronged, but since he had, in a way, provided the cause that injured the Grand Duke, he decided to endure the Grand Duchess’s anger.

As soon as morning dawned, Alicia demanded that he stand guard as she went to the imperial palace, and once again said, “I’m going to sell Juan out.”

Juan thought that even if she sold a man like him, a junior nobleman, who would buy him.

So, at Alicia’s harsh grumbling, he had told her to do so if it would ease her mind.

But it seemed Alicia really had sold him out to the Emperor.

“Juan?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Please command me.”

Seated at the high seat, the Emperor had a dazzling, angel-like appearance, just as the rumors said.

“Where would be good for your wedding venue with Josephina? I think the Great Hall would be good, but it is too large and burdensome. Josephina would likely like Grace Hall in the Water Palace, so where would be good for you? You are also a party involved, so at least offer an opinion.”

In a gentle voice, the Emperor delivered an overbearing statement.

Juan remained bewildered.

He could not understand why the Emperor was asking him about Lady Josephina’s wedding venue.

Because the one asking was the Emperor, it was terrifying.

“I beg your pardon, Your Majesty. Whose… whose… wedding is it?”

Juan asked, braving his fear.

“It is your wedding with Josephina.”

The Emperor answered smoothly.

“…….”

Juan grew more and more confused.

Recently, the days of being assaulted by Josephina had continued.

Then yesterday, there had been an accident.

Even so, Josephina kept barking at Juan to accept a sparring match.

With her fantastic appearance and refined, beautiful voice, she kept making violent demands.

That alone had been difficult and painful for Juan.

And yet, it felt like the Emperor intended to marry him to that Josephina.

Not just the mood—he looked as if he had already reached a conclusion.

“I beg your pardon, Your Majesty…….”

Juan tried, risking his life, to correct the wrong situation properly.

“I know that you escorted the Grand Duchess and stayed in Tessen for a long time. However, do not forget that you are a member of the Rune Empire and a descendant of the Lukens family.”

The Emperor elegantly crushed Juan’s words.

He openly threatened that if Juan refused the imperial marriage order, his family could be ruined.

“…….”

Juan rummaged for what he might have done wrong.

Nothing came to mind other than refusing Josephina’s sparring.

Should he have just sparred?

But he was happier holding a brush than swinging a sword.

“Your Majesty, the Grand Duke has arrived.”

As Juan floundered in an incomprehensible reality, his last hope appeared.

The Emperor allowed Reichardt into the audience chamber.

Reichardt entered, following the Chief Steward.

“…….”

Juan conveyed the miserable reality with sorrowful eyes.

Reichardt threw Juan a brief glance, then paid respects to the Emperor.

“Your Majesty, you summoned me.”

“Grand Duke, greet him. He is the imperial family’s new kin. Reichardt, did you know that Josephina and Sir Lukens are on good terms?”

The Emperor shamelessly asserted something absurd.

Juan was dumbfounded.

‘Your Highness, don’t be fooled!’

Juan screamed with his eyes toward Reichardt, who was looking at him.

Reichardt looked at Juan for a long time.

It seemed he understood what Juan was trying to convey.

Turning his gaze away, Reichardt looked up at the Emperor.

The Emperor offered Reichardt a brilliant smile.

“I do know that Josephina and Juan took a walk at the Grand Duke’s residence yesterday as well.”

Reichardt, whom Juan had desperately trusted, said something unbelievable.

‘Who did!?’

What Juan had done with Josephina yesterday had been flight and pursuit.

If Josephina stuck to him, she told him to accept a sparring match, and Juan had run away.

‘You traitor!’

There was no way the Grand Duke did not know that.

Reichardt intended to follow the Emperor’s will, not Juan the ordinary knight.

The Grand Duke had always been like that.

He prioritized matters involving the imperial family above all else.

At that moment, the audience chamber door flew open—bang!

Josephina dashed inside, panting.

From behind her came a flustered voice trying to stop her: “My lady…!”

The Emperor gave Josephina, who had committed a breach of etiquette, a warm and benevolent smile.

“Josephina, you have come.”

“Your Majesty.”

Josephina quickly bent her knee and paid her respects.

Her clear blue eyes looked up at the Emperor, then shifted to Juan standing in the center of the audience chamber.

Josephina, who had come to interfere after hearing that the Emperor was looking at her prospective groom in the audience chamber, blinked when she saw Juan.

“Now all the parties have gathered. Josephina, I wish to hold your wedding at the Great Hall. Where would you like it? Sir Lukens says that anywhere you decide is fine.”

The Emperor poured an angel-like smile toward his beloved niece.

Juan was no longer even surprised by the Emperor’s scam-level lie.

He was so stunned that he could only listen blankly.