The Archduke’s Flower is in Jeopardy - Chapter 153



Only Krnovel

Episode 153 Side Story: The Last Key
2024.03.17.

　
The crunching sound of the ink pen hitting the paper stopped. The man put the pen down on the office desk and opened his mouth.

“If you look at me like that… … .”

Her shoulders flinched at the sound of his low voice, and she hurriedly lifted the book she was holding in her hand and covered her face. It was like a startled deer hiding in the grass.

Seeing the white earlobes that I had not been able to cover turning red, I felt like I was picturing the face of a woman with a perplexed expression on the other side of the book.

The man’s eyes narrowed like those of a wild beast, and his smile was faint. He continued what he had said and quietly stood up.

“I just can’t concentrate.”

Before she knew it, a man came to the back of the sofa where she was sitting, grabbed her armrests with both hands and lowered her head.

“Tell me, Eidel.”

As the man’s breath touched the nape of her neck, as if being hugged from behind, the woman’s highly sensitive hair stood up.

“Could it be that you came to spy on me?”

“… … “It can’t be.”

“Then why did you come here?”

“I told you about it earlier. After work, I have something to discuss with you… … .”

Eidel, whose white neck was now stained red, answered in a slightly trembling voice. Then Caeron whispered in her ear with a slow smile.

“I told you too. “I can’t concentrate if you look at me like that.”

I decided to wait until he finished his work, but as I continued to think about how to bring up the story, my gaze involuntarily turned to him. It seemed like her gaze ultimately interfered with his work.

“So, tell me first. “What do you want to discuss with me?”

“that is… … .”

Idel turned her head back and looked up at Caeron. After hesitating for a moment, she finally cautiously opened her mouth.

“Can I go on a trip?”

“travel?”

“Yes, suddenly… … “I want to go on a graduation trip.”

Eidel slowly lowered her eyes. Although he expressed that it suddenly occurred to him, it was in fact fully intentional under the advice of a secret society.

– Come on, Eidel. Listen carefully. First of all, the most important thing is to spend time alone. Go to a place where you can be alone without anyone disturbing you to create an atmosphere.

Gregory agreed with Ophelia’s words.

– you’re right. You remember, Her Majesty, that she went on her honeymoon when she was Grand Duchess, right? Even then, she said, His Majesty the Emperor himself had chosen Meriel Island as his honeymoon destination.

Idel’s face turned red as she remembered her honeymoon. The time I spent with him on Meriel Island flashed through my mind.

– Since Her Majesty the Empress graduated, how about using the graduation trip as an opportunity? If you go on a trip, the time between you two will increase a lot.

When Marlene suggested a graduation trip, everyone nodded in agreement.

– Will the imperial family’s work be okay if I go on a trip? Same goes for my work… … Your Majesty’s job must not be easy.

When Idel expressed concern, Shade quickly responded by grabbing Gregory’s shoulder.

– Don’t worry about that. We will handle the work to the best of our ability. yes? Chamberlain?

– … … yes. That’s how it should be. Her Majesty the Empress can go back without worrying.

The thought of filling the empty seats of the Emperor and Empress made her eyes turn dark for a moment, but Gregory tried to smile and reassure Eidel.

Eidel, who came to Caeron’s office as suggested by the secret society, waited for him to finish his work and kept an eye on him the whole time.

“Graduation trip… … “Can I go?”

Eidel carefully asked his doctor again. Then Caeron chuckled and cupped her cheek.

“Is that why you were hesitating to say that?”

He answered, making eye contact with her eyes shaking with anticipation and tension.

“There is no way I would refuse your request.”

Idel’s face lit up at his positive answer.

“So, are we going on a trip?”

“okay. “Do as you wish.”

Eidel finally received Caeron’s approval and hugged him with a face full of joy.
　

* * *

It was finally the day when the Emperor and Empress set off on their trip.

“Idel! Come back safely!”

Ophelia, who had been waiting for this day to come, smiled brightly and saw him off.

“Don’t worry about work and go home.”

Gregory’s expression was full of worry as he said these words, but he vigorously waved his hand toward the departing emperor and his wife.

“Your Royal Highness, you don’t have to worry. Is that right, Your Majesty?”

Vienne asked Lillian, who was in her arms, and the child nodded her head and waved her hand after Gregory.

“Dad mom! Have a nice trip!”

Even when Idel went out for college classes or outside activities for about half a day, Lillian always looked sad. She might be sad to see her parents leaving her behind on a trip, but there was a reason for Lillian’s particularly cheerful attitude today.

– Your Majesty, I am now going to see off Your Majesty the Emperor and the Empress.

– sendoff? Where are you two going?

Her brilliant deep blue eyes quickly became cloudy as she noticed her parents’ absence. Then Vienne quickly answered Lillian.

– Your Majesty wanted a younger brother, right?

– huh!

– When His Majesty the Emperor and Empress go on a trip this time, they might bring their younger brother!

– really?

Lillian’s eyes began to sparkle with anticipation, as if tears had already filled her eyes when she heard that he was her younger brother. Now all Lillian had on her mind was the hope that her parents would bring her little brother home soon.

“Hmm, Your Majesty the Empress. for a moment… … .”

Marlene approached her child Del and spoke in a low voice that only she could hear.

‘Starting today.’

Managing the Empress’s life cycle was also the job of her chief maid. Marlene planned this trip by keeping a close eye on the days when her Empress was most likely to become pregnant.

When Marlene told her not to miss her chance starting tonight, Idel couldn’t hide her embarrassment and nodded her head slightly. She said that after Marlene, the person who approached Idelle was Pierre.

“Your Majesty, have you taken the advice I gave you?”

“ah! That… … . Yes, I got it.”

“Well done. That will be the final key.”

Pierre assured and smiled kindly.

As Idel was seeing her off, Shade approached Caeron’s side.

“I heard you rented out an entire resort in Lapland,” she said. “It’s just like you.”

The destination for the emperor and his wife was Lapland, famous for its hot springs. Caeron booked the entire high-end resort there. The reason was simple.

“Because I don’t want to disturb your rest.”

“Oh, of course. Don’t be disturbed. Well done! haha!”

As Shade gave her thumbs up and laughed out loud, Caeron frowned slightly at the corners of her eyes. It was suspicious that Shade, who was prone to groaning and groaning due to her heavy workload when he was away even for a moment, welcomed the vacation for some reason.

“Come on, let’s leave quickly!”

Shade, who was quick to notice, quickly allayed Caeron’s suspicions and urged him to get on her carriage.

“Please come back. Your Majesty the Emperor. “Your Majesty the Empress.”

Receiving a strangely enthusiastic send-off from everyone, the carriage carrying the emperor and his wife departed for the train station bound for Lapland.

* * *

The resort in Lapland was famous for its hot springs that preserved the natural scenery.

“It is a great honor to serve your two majesties. “Please come this way.”

Following the guidance of the manager who politely greeted them, the emperor and his wife walked into the resort.

“This is the forest hot spring that our resort is proud of. “This is a place where only your Majesty two people are present, so you can use it with peace of mind.”

The trees of the dense forest towering high in the sky surrounded the round hot spring bath like a deep blue curtain. The scenery surrounded by water mist rising from the hot springs was mysterious and dreamy.

After completing the tour, the manager and attendants all left, leaving only Caeron and Eidel. There was a moment of silence, and the first person to speak was… … .

“Shall we go straight to the hot springs?”

Surprisingly, it was Idel.

“I must have been exhausted… … “It would be a good idea to relieve fatigue by taking a hot spring bath.”

At the same time, she began to take off her clothes except for her negligee. Caeron seemed at a loss for words at the sight of Del’s bold appearance for the first time.

Caeron’s neck fluttered loudly at the sight of his woman’s captivating silhouette, blurred through the hazy vapor.

“hurry… … “Come in.”

His frozen body moved spontaneously at the sweet whispers of the fairy who seduced humans. As her water-soaked body came closer and was gently hugged by him, her whole body felt as hot as the temperature in the water.

But her mind-bending actions did not end there. Because it started now.

* * *

In fact, Caeron had noticed.

She pushes him and Idel to the point of excessiveness, and the sight of them wanting to go on a trip alone is definitely suspicious.

It was his son who provided the decisive clue. While saying goodbye for the last time before getting on the carriage, Lillian, who was hugging him, whispered this in his ear:

– Dad, please bring your younger brother.

I could see what everyone except him was wishing for. The same would be true of the fairy who was constantly testing his patience right now on his bed.

Caeron roughly brushed up his bangs, gritted his teeth, and opened his mouth in a low voice.

“Idel… … .”

Despite Caeron’s difficult calls, her soft lips did not stop moving from his cheek to the nape of his neck and down to her collarbone.

“… … Are you going to drive me crazy?”

Her movements stopped for a moment at his words, but soon her tickling breath glided down between his pectorals, as if in affirmation to the question.

“Who on earth learned this from… … ! under… … .”

Unable to finish her words, she pressed her lips against his and let out a deep sigh. Who can you blame? When he realized who these actions she was doing to him came from, he started to blame himself for falling into his own trap.

As her lips, which were resting on her tight, sculpted abs, seemed ready to go further down, Caeron eventually grabbed her shoulders and lifted her up.

“stop. “No more.”

Her innocent eyes, as if asking why, were unbearably lovely, but Caeron gritted his teeth again.

“I know what you want.”

“… … !”

“I said it last time, but… … “For me, Eidel and Lillian are enough.”

Idel bit her swollen lip at his obvious rejection. She had come this far and she couldn’t give up like this.

– That will be the final key.

Eidel took out the last key that Pierre had asked her to take with her from her arms. Hoping desperately that this would open his tightly shut heart.

“this… … Would you like to see it?”

“What is this?”

What Eidel gave him was a small pendant. When I opened the pendant that showed traces of time, Caeron’s blue pupils widened and shook incessantly.

“This… … .”

“It’s a pendant that my biological mother kept.”

His eyes were fixed on the portrait inside the pendant.

“This is me when I was about 100 days old.”

The baby girl in the portrait was so pretty that I couldn’t take my eyes off her, with her wheat-colored hair that looked like melted honey and her light green eyes that seemed to capture fresh greenery.

“Don’t you want to see this for yourself?”

Idel smiled softly at the corner of his mouth as she looked at his darkly colored eyes.

“I heard that somewhere. “It has been said since ancient times that where beans are planted, beans will grow, and where red beans are planted, red beans will grow.”

It was the truth of Pierre, an old butler with years of experience.

“I think my daughter will look just like me.”

Eventually, all the bars in Caeron’s heart collapsed as he heard Eidel’s whispering voice of affection.

“… … okay. “Do as you wish.”

In the end, Idel, who received Caeron’s consent again, rolled her eyes and hugged him in her arms. Hugging the warm body of the woman on top of him, Caeron also closed her eyes along with her slow smile.
　

– side story completed –