I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess - Chapter 190



190 – In the Garden of the Imperial Palace

Bartheus, who had temporarily left the room under the pretext of being unwell, was face to face with Albrich alone.

His face was fresh, as if his dark complexion just a moment ago was a lie.

A feeling of guilt pierced his heart, but Albrich, who did not know this, just stared at him with an indifferent expression.

“… I almost made a mistake. Marquis.”

Bartheus spoke to Albrich, who was looking at him with his head stiffly raised even though he was in front of the emperor, with an emotion that was unclear whether it was regret or relief.

At this, Albrich’s emotionless eyebrow twitched slightly.

He knew better than anyone else that Bartheus was hostile towards him compared to the relatively docile previous emperors.

That’s why we carefully monitor him and make sure there are no people around him as much as possible.

But when these words came out of Bartheus’s mouth, it felt like nothing more than a blatant provocation.

Rather, considering his personality, it is clear that he would have liked to see Albrich go through a little more trouble.

It’s like, ‘It could have been fun, but it’s a shame I didn’t get to see it.’ It sounded like he was saying it in reverse.

“Are you saying that from my perspective? Are you speaking from His Majesty’s point of view?”

“Hmm, weren’t you and I destined to be in the same boat? “It’s strange that there is such a thing as someone’s point of view.”

“…”

Albrich thought about activating the curse planted in his body like before, but he tried to shake off his anger and withdrew his hand.

The reason this man was bound in the first place was not pain.

It’s just because Albrich holds something precious to him in his hands.

Here, as an example, you should punish him and this man will laugh at him even in pain.

“Anyway, it wasn’t a bad response. I wondered if Jim would help, but there was no need.”

“It’s okay because in the end, you helped me.” “It probably wasn’t worth your help in the first place.”

A strange way of speaking that exudes politeness and rudeness at the same time.

In response, Bartheus raised one corner of his mouth and smiled for the first time in a long time out of joy.

Although he pretended to be emotionless and not greedy for anything on the outside, he knew better than anyone else what this man was like.

However, he always seemed to act polite and gentlemanly in front of others, but today he seemed to be quite heated.

Otherwise, there was no way he would have shown his emotions so blatantly.

“Your tone has become quite rough. Well, that mask was also quite old.”

“… If you’re thinking of making me angry, I have an idea too.”

“Damn, was I too harsh? “Be self-respectful.”

Bartheus walked away, joking as much as he could, but inside he felt his heart sinking.

In any case, in the relationship between these two people, Albrich was holding the sword.

It is not a sword that can cut off Bartheus’ head, but a sword hilt that can completely cut out his heart.

“What do you plan to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Looking at you, you don’t seem to have an unusual sense of humor. Do you think it’s okay if I just leave it alone?”

“Are you referring to the Archduke?”

When Albrich’s sunken eyes stared at Bartheus, he felt a prickly feeling.

‘I knew it.’

Before he arrived, he met a man called the Archduke’s lover and had a private conversation.

Moreover, the man’s behavior was unusual.

“I had a rough guess. As expected, most of the opinions expressed by the Archduke today are actually his works.”

“Do you think so highly of him?”

Bartheus, who hadn’t even thought about it that far, opened his eyes wide.

In other words, it would mean that he is in fact the brains of the Robeheim family.

However, in Bartheus’s opinion, he did not think that he was a very bright man, even if he had a rather good sense of insight.

“I rate it highly… I guess it’s not a wrong expression. From my perspective, it would be correct to see it as annoying.”

“I guess it makes sense to some extent. Doesn’t that mean that an annoying enemy is a capable person?”

“I won’t deny it.”

When Albrich spoke for the first time as if someone acknowledged, Bartheus’ mouth opened slightly.

At this point, it would be correct to say that an incident happened to Albrich that would allow us to gauge his abilities rather than intuition or insight.

“I guess there was some reason I became wary of that man.”

“I have no obligation to inform Your Majesty that far.”

Albrich seems secretive, but he is quite talkative.

To be precise, he tends to say most things without hesitation to those he has the upper hand on.

‘Even if you know this, you can’t harm me.’ It could be said to be a kind of expression of confidence.

Nevertheless, the fact that he clearly told me not to ask any more questions means that what follows will reveal his weaknesses or his secrets.

When Bartheus realized this, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

“I know. But just those words alone make it clear that there is something there.”

“…”

At the same time, Albrich got up and left the room as if there was nothing left to watch.

From noble mtl dot come

There was no time now to spend time flirting with this illusory emperor.

I have to get rid of the intruders right away, even tonight.

For that, groundwork was needed.

“There, come here.”

“Yes, Your Excellency…”

Albrich secretly called a maid who was wandering in the hallway and moved with her.

If you don’t have a usable card, you can make one.

If I could just get rid of that guy anyway, I didn’t know what would happen afterward.

And he had a way to hide evidence and a way to confuse the situation.

‘I’m staying here for a day.’

He bitterly smiled after hearing Ariel’s secret story her earlier

It seemed that the Goddess of Victory was smiling at him.

*

Edgar looked down at Ariel with a light blush and smiled bitterly.

Still, I didn’t expect that the request would be made in the imperial palace in broad daylight, but it was canceled due to interference on the way.

Thanks to that, the mood was completely broken, and the two of them decided to go to the garden or look around together.

Don’t get me wrong, Ariel declared war, saying that she would easily go away at night, but to Edgar, she was just a cute flirt.

That’s because, even though Ariel has made many loud remarks, she has never really stood up.

“What, why are you looking at me like that?”

As Edgar stared at her with his eyes looking at the cute creature, Ariel reacted by shaking her shoulders slightly and feeling like her feet were going numb.

Normally, Edgar would have teased her a bit more, but she decided to go peacefully today.

I thought it would be more enjoyable to just relax and enjoy the sunshine and spend time leisurely with Ariel.

“Just. It’s been a while since I’ve been to the imperial palace, so I’m looking forward to it. “Do you think you’re not good?”

“Not really… It’s not much different from Robeheim Castle anyway.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Of course, even if the castle of the Amman Robeheim family was compared to the imperial palace, it would be only slightly inferior, but in Edgar’s opinion, it was not inferior in grandeur.

Moreover, while Robeheim Castle retains understated beauty and strength, the imperial palace seemed to have been designed primarily for splendor.

It was definitely jaw-dropping the first time I saw it, but after seeing it a few times, I didn’t feel like I was getting tired of it.

Of course, it was Edgar’s personal opinion.

“Furthermore…”

“Hmm?”

Edgar’s head turned again as Ariel tried to say something with red cheeks.

I wondered if she wanted to say more about what she was dissatisfied with with the palace, but the comment that came out of her mouth was unexpected.

“Ha, anywhere is fine as long as we’re together.” Even if it’s a hut that’s all falling down.”

“… Foot.”

At Ariel’s cute expression of affection, he couldn’t stop laughing and wrapped his hand around her her shoulder her her her.

Her face was bright red not just because of the sunlight, but it felt really cute to say this.

Above all, even though it is a very crying line for her to say, it is admirable that she somehow tries to please her lover.

“You can’t take someone precious to a place like that.”

“Well, that’s what you say. “You idiot.”

“Know. “I’ve done it too.”

As Edgar gently pinched her cheek and walked away, her gorgeous garden immediately caught her eye.

Unlike other places, this was not an open place, and it was a place where only distinguished guests invited to the annex or members of the imperial palace could enter.

Perhaps that’s why it was even more gorgeous than the garden they saw when they first entered the palace.

In particular, the flowers embroidered in different colors and the tall stone statue in the center added to the charm.

On the one hand, the hard work of the gardeners and landscapers who put in the effort to decorate this level of landscaping seemed to shine through.

In order to appreciate their hard work, Edgar thought it would be best to walk around the garden on his own two feet and enjoy it, so he walked with Ariel gently.

At the same time, the scenery changed once again.

“That’s cool. Isn’t that right?”

“It’s worth a look. “Anyway, does it seem like there’s someone over there?”

“I still felt like I was popular. “Are you a gardener?”

Considering that gardeners generally go out to work when there are no visitors, the possibility of that happening was low.

Moreover, this was the garden of the imperial palace, not any other place.

Unless the gardener is stupid, he or she would know such basic manners.

Then, wondering if there were other visitors, the two walked forward in a stride, taking a step forward while walking around the flower garden and checking for other visitors.

As soon as that happened, the figure of a passenger hidden behind the stone statue was revealed…

“Empress… “Your Highness?”

Compared to when I saw her before, I couldn’t immediately recognize her because she looked much more gaunt, but I carefully revealed her identity in contrast to her face that remained blurry in my memory of her.

At this, Empress Beatria Hellvenir’s body slowly turned and the gazes of the three people met.

“There was another visitor. “Is this the first time you’ve met since you became the Grand Duke?”

Beatria approaches with a gentle smile, without the slightest embarrassment despite the sudden meeting.

In this way, the meeting took place again after about 5 years.