Chapter 65
“Hello, Your Highness Prince Leandro, what brings you here at this late hour?”
The person whom Isaac greeted, calling him "Your Highness Prince Leandro," was a young man in his late twenties. He had black hair and brown eyes, and his face bore a slight resemblance to the late emperor.
The man said angrily, expressing his displeasure:
“The Marquis has no time to stay at home, so there is no escaping visiting him at this time.”
Isaac laughed.
“Hahaha! I apologize. When we plan things with comrades, the days fly by.”
Then the man asked sharply.
"What exactly is being prepared for? When will I become emperor?"
Isaac smiled slightly.
“The work we are doing now is precisely for this. The project of finding your place as emperor. There isn’t much left.”
Leandro said, frowning.
“I don’t know how many times I’ve heard this. It’s been 15 years since I came here. I want to become an emperor before I turn 30.”
Isaac answered confidently.
“Of course, this will happen. You will become the emperor.”
The angry expression on Leandro's face softened with Isaac's confident reply.
Then Isaac asked one of the servants who had followed Leandro.
"How has His Highness been doing recently?"
“As always, he continues his studies diligently. He consistently achieves high marks in his courses on governance and diplomacy.”
Isaac nodded, smiling.
“He is indeed the future emperor. His Highness will be a wise and prudent ruler, quite different from Demachus Tiberien, who spent most of his time on the battlefield.”
Leandro said proudly.
“Of course. Don’t worry, I will never forget the favor of the Marquis who found me after I lost my parents and raised me.”
Isaac answered modestly.
“I just wish that His Highness the Prince would become a great Emperor.”
“Your humility is admirable, but I don’t forget grudges or favors.”
Isaac answered, lowering his head.
“I am extremely grateful, Your Highness.”
As Leandro looked at Isaac with pride, he apologized for wasting his time and went with his servant to his room.
As Isaac bowed to His Highness Prince Leandro until he left, he raised his face after the doors closed, sporting a sly smile.
"Whispered one of his followers who were accompanying him as they stared at the closed door."
“He wasn’t like this when he was young, but as he grew older he began to resemble the late emperor.”
Isaac answered confidently.
“Of course it must be so. Otherwise, who would believe that he is the son of the late emperor?”
Then Isaac sat down in the comfortable chair by the window and took a cigar. When he lit it, a cloud of white smoke came out, making the atmosphere of the room seem mysterious and eerie.
Isaac said with a sarcastic smile.
“The Duke of Lancaster has done something very foolish. If the Emperor doesn’t like him, he can simply replace him, so why bother with things and go so far as to seek independence?”
The follower who lit his cigar replied.
“But there was no suitable replacement to be the new emperor.”
Isaac said, laughing.
“Yes, that’s the big problem.”
Isaac laughed again, pointing out that the Duke of Lancaster was trying to become king, but Isaac wasn't planning on doing such troublesome things.
It was easier, faster, and more profitable for him to be the one directing the emperor and dominating this vast empire, and to have in his hand a trump card to challenge Demarcus.
This secret was unknown even to the Duke of Berrington and the Duke of Tollen, who were loyal allies of the Winblayer family.
'In the end, the Winblayer family must be the victor, not the three great families.'
A wicked smile appeared on Isaac's lips.
**
From the day after Barbara's meeting with Edel, the Crissis family's servants began to be extremely busy.
They had to move the decorations and paintings that filled the palace to the new wing, and clean the large palace which looked completely empty.
Cleaning was difficult, especially with the approach of July's heat, but thanks to Edel's attention to the servants' condition and health while working, there were no major complaints.
Edel said after she finished the task:
“Ah, good work. From tomorrow we will have some time to rest. Today, let everyone get a good rest.”
"Wow! Excellent work!"
"Thank you for your efforts!"
The servants, drenched in sweat, took their time to bathe or eat. However, Idyll was not able to rest.
Laszlo and Lenia had already handed over all the authority to arrange the house to Idil, and Idil was putting all her effort into this work.
“Sister, no, you housekeeper. You should rest too.”
Daisy approached Idil carrying a glass of cold water, as if she were going to the kitchen with the other maids.
“Thanks, Daisy. I really needed this.”
Edel smiled gently and drank the cold water, which felt soft on her tongue.
Daisy smiled as she looked at Edel, then said, as she surveyed the house where Marsha had disappeared:
“I didn’t know this house was so big and amazing.”
Idil simply smiled.
The Chrétien Palace was one of the largest palaces on Rue Patrice. It was built twenty years ago, and the late emperor's sister lived there until her death.
After remaining empty for a long time, the current emperor repaired and renovated it, and then gifted it to Laszlo.
'It would have been easy to destroy this beautiful and majestic palace, but that didn't happen.'
The palace was not in such bad shape that people were talking badly about it, but they hung cheap paintings on the walls and filled the empty spaces with artificial flowers.
Artificial flowers! Idil couldn't believe her eyes when she saw that.
Moreover, there were strange statues, useless furniture and chairs, clocks, picture frames, vases, candlesticks, and even an out-of-tuned piano!
'We filled a side annex with all that stuff.'
First, you must finish arranging the main palace, then sort the items in a side annex so that what is useful is kept, while most of the other things are sold or disposed of.
“Crysis Palace will change.”
“With Edel here, things are sure to change. I’m also looking forward to it.”
Linnea suddenly joined the conversation.
Daisy was still embarrassed by Linnea, so she took the glass of water from Idil and ran quickly to the kitchen.
Linnea smiled as she watched Daisy run away, then looked around the hall as Daisy did.
"It wouldn't be bad to leave it as it is."
“I won’t need to make much of a change here. I’ll just put some good statues in a few places.”
“Hmm… so, the things that were here before… mean they weren’t good enough, right?”
It was difficult for Edel to answer this question, because the person who had agreed to buy those old decorations was Linnea herself.
But Linnea wasn't someone who was bothered by such things. On the contrary, she was looking forward to the change that Idyll would bring to the palace.
“If I were to make an excuse, I would have to say that I was only sixteen or seventeen at the time. I was a poor child who knew nothing about how nobles lived.”
“I know. You should have followed Marsha’s advice.”
“Marsha should have shown her knowledge. Her close relative was a maid in the Imperial Palace, and she said she had been through several noble families, so she was supposed to take care of everything.”
Now, thinking about it, she wonders how she could have been deceived by those lies, but the girl who had suddenly become a noblewoman had nowhere else to turn.
“Even me, there were a lot of things Marsha bought that I didn’t like. But she insisted on buying everything…”
“She was trying to buy a lot. Because that meant she could steal more money while she was in the middle.”
Linnea smiled slightly.
“Really, she was very bold. How could she even think of stealing my brother’s money?”
Edel could not recall that this was possible because of Marsha's disregard for both Laszlo and Lenia.
“At first, she probably started with small things. As time went on, she became bolder because she wasn’t caught. Eventually, embezzlement became a habit for her.”
“Ha! How stupid of her! What did she gain from collecting all that money? In the end, my brother will get ownership of the house.”
“Actually, it was the lord who bore the loss. When he bought the house, he had to repay the money he had borrowed from the bank. Of course, that was passed on to Marsha, but I don’t know when she will be able to repay that money…”
The funny thing is that Marsha was crying bitterly when the house was taken from her, even though she had bought it using money stolen from others, as if it was her natural right to the house and it had been forcibly taken from her.
“Anyway, Edel, you also suffered because of Marsha, didn’t you? And Marsha also deceived and upset me, so I have nothing to say.”
Linnea said boredly, while Idel smiled calmly.
Idil had no problem with Linnea at first, but thanks to Linnea's recent feelings of remorse, Idil has warmed up to her.
'I will be able to help Linnea more in the future. I will make her a noble lady who is not to be underestimated anywhere.'
Idil swore that quietly in her heart.
***
The following day, Edel and Linnea visited a renowned showroom. They received a warm welcome at this prestigious venue thanks to a letter of recommendation written personally by Barbara.
'They may not need a speech from Barbara in the future, but this was helpful now.'
Edel smiled as she thought about the checkbook that was so heavy in her bag.
Today, she had come with Linnea to buy paintings to display at home.