“Do you like this perfume?”
"… Yes."
Therese had no choice but to agree.
"Oh, great!
So, do you want me to gift wrap it for you, ma'am?"
“Yes, please.”
The seller skillfully placed the bottle's perfume inside a paper box and tied it with a ribbon.
Therese paid and held the wrapped box in her hands.
I gave in to an inner urge and bought it.
As if his sweet, fragrant scent still lingered on her.
“Let's stop by my office for a moment to talk before you go.”
“No, I think I should leave now.”
In front of people, if you addressed Delphine disrespectfully, they would discover her true identity, so Thérèse adhered to her politeness.
“I will come back now and see you another time.”
Therese gets into a carriage that takes her to the palace while Delphine bids her farewell.
Therese stared sharply at the small box in her hands.
Can you give it to him?
Rather, will he even like it?
Therese laughed to herself as she thought these thoughts.
Although every passing day was like walking on thin ice due to the issue of the succession to the throne, here she went to wander into a merchandise store and buy a gift for him!
Even with her being influenced by a dolphin, this was something her usual personality format wouldn't do.
Why?
It seemed that what prompted her was the thought that she had never given him a decent gift until now.
Conversely, she thought, he had never given her a personal gift either.
Except for sending jewelry at her annual birthday parties.
Therese couldn't even imagine what he looked like choosing a gift.
What a ridiculous possibility.
They are not lovers.
While she was thinking about this, the phrase “they are not lovers” penetrated her and struck the truth.
Their relationship is based solely on duty and responsibility.
It cannot be described as an emotional relationship.
Therese squeezed the innocent paper box tightly.
As long as she is by his side.
You'll never see him contemplating what might make a good gift, or handing over a gift while watching the recipient's reaction.
This is correct.
He is an honest man.
That's what it is.
He was never the type to whisper lies.
As long as Therese, his wife, is by his side, he will not turn to another woman, nor will he give her his affection either.
He was the man who said he couldn't love her.
Therese remembered the words Denis had heard on their wedding night.
Those words were like an arrow that pierced her and turned into a wound that would never heal.
However...I...
Therese put down what she had in her hands and looked out the window.
This small, insignificant gift made her feelings uneasy.
Maybe it's best not to give him this gift.
She would remain forever locked in her drawer until the day she left his side.
At that moment
The priest who had been talking to Delphine in a good mood before, was now frowning.
The situation was completely opposite to the previous situation.
The priest was looking silently, without saying a word, at the man sitting in front of him as he emptied his cup of tea.
The man sitting across from him, Dennis, skipped introductions and got straight to the point:
“I know that there is an inheritance that my mother left me.
I hope she returns it to me.”
“…I handed it over to you in full when you came of age, Prince.”
The priest answered, avoiding his gaze.
“Can you really say in front of the governor that there is nothing?”
“...Didn’t I tell you that I handed it all over?”
The bishop seemed to become angry when Dennis mentioned the name 'the governor'.
“You seem determined to see what I brought today.”
Dennis showed the bishop the edge of an old letter envelope he carried in his pocket.
The temple seal was clearly visible on the letter.
The bishop furrowed his brow.
It was a seal that only the Pope himself used.
“If you refuse your lordship, I will resort to His Holiness.”
After a long silence, the bishop opened his mouth, as if he did not like the situation, then asked Dennis to wait a little.
The bishop called a priest and ordered him to bring the records.
After a while, the priest returned and placed a thin notebook in front of Dennis.
At first glance it looked like an old, thin book, but Dennis realized that it recorded hidden possessions that the temple had not yet handed over to him.
Dennis began flipping through the pages of the old register and reading its items one by one.
“Two palaces in the capital, four buildings, five hundred gold coins… The condition was that they be handed over to me when I reached the age of majority, but you did not hand them over when I reached the age of majority, you only handed me three hundred queen deposits in my mother’s name.”
“And deposits in false names worth fifty million louis?
Even these would have returned to the temple after thirty years if I had not claimed them?”
Dennis raised a long finger and pointed to each item.
“Ah!
Bearer bonds worth three billion louis are due next year!
What a pity if they were bearer bonds, they would have been the temple’s if I had not claimed them.”
Dennis pretended to be sorry, his voice not holding an ounce of regret.
The bishop drank his tea in one go without saying anything.
He seemed to be burning from the inside.
“Then two paintings by Lange, and five paintings by Pissarro.
Since they are paintings, it is difficult to trace the money, and there will be a queue of potential buyers for works by Lange and Pissarro... a suitable choice, but unfortunately it did not work out, really unfortunate.”
The bishop also realized that Dennis was making fun of him.
But he remained silent because his theft was discovered.
“This much is enough.”
“Okay, I'll stop.”
Dennis simply agreed with the bishop and put the record aside.
“It is difficult for the treasury keeper to covet what his owner has deposited with him.”
He said that and raised the corner of his mouth smiling.
“I have returned it to you.
Please leave now.
Prince, it will cause me inconvenience if you visit me often.”
“What bothers you so much?”
“You are hindering my meditation.”
“Oh.”
Dennis said, pretending to be sorry.
“I will disturb you a lot in the future, so please accept my apologies in advance, and since I am planning to build an academy, please donate to it.
I will use the money for charity.”
Dennis's facial expression was the brightest, an expression he had not seen for a while.
Dennis took the thin register and went out and handed it to Silbang who was waiting for him nearby.
Since Silbang knew from Dennis the contents of that book, he received it with caution.
“I got a promise to donate too.”
“Well done, sir.”
“Um.”
Dennis seemed to be in a good mood, so Silbang responded with a smile and got into the carriage.
“Monsieur Olivier is due to come in the afternoon.”
Silbang told him his schedule again.
"Yes."
He's back.
Dennis leaned his chin on his hand as he looked at the scenes passing by the window.
Restoring his mother's lost wealth was in itself a major achievement for the day.
He believed that there was no inheritance left to him by his mother.
Because Queen Charles did not care about wealth and glory all her life.
After losing his mother, he didn't even think about arranging her belongings.
Because the loss was very sudden.
Moreover, he was only nine years old, and Queen Charles was an orphan with no family.
The Queen's funeral was held, which everyone was watching as a solemn state funeral.
But after all the funeral ceremonies were over, Dennis's job was to tidy up the queen's palace, which had become a ruin that no one cared about.
It was irresponsible adult negligence.
He was careless.
He gathered all of his mother's belongings into a small room in his princely palace and locked it.
This is how losing someone feels, as if you are locking a lock on a room in your heart.
If Queen Charles had left him a will, would anything have changed a bit?
Or if she had given him some evidence before her death, he would not have searched for his mother's inheritance so late.
Because the first thing he did to start over was to organize his mother's belongings, he was able to open the long-locked door and discover the old letters.
The items the temple sent with her when she was sent to the palace, and the items placed in her name to launder money when Queen Charles' mental state was unstable.
If he had discovered it earlier, he would not have been fighting for the throne now, but might have been living in a quiet and secluded place.
He knew the assumptions of the past were meaningless, but he couldn't stop thinking about them.
These thoughts gnawed at him day after day.
He wished that time, sadness and pain would pass like this and disappear.
They erase everything without leaving any meaning.
This woman made him want to take control of his time repeatedly.
It made him want to become something.
It made him want to search.
About meaning, about answer...
Dennis stared out the window in amazement.
People passed quickly.
He looked carefully at the faces of passers-by.
Knowing that she was not among them.
“Sir, sir.”
Dennis woke up from his daze when Silbang called him.
“Sir, how have you been doing all this time?”
As soon as the tall man entered Dennis's office, he put down his bag and hugged him happily.
Dennis also casually patted the man on the shoulder.
“How long has it been?”
The man sat on the sofa without waiting for Dennis to invite him, as he took off his coat.
“I think about six years.”
Dennis said as he sat across from him.
“That's right.
You left for Herzan right after your engagement, Prince.”
“Let these compliments simply call me.”
“How could an ordinary count’s son call out the prince’s name so rashly?”
When the man said that exaggeratedly, Dennis smiled faintly.
The man, who was feigning decorum, also loosened his tie and crossed his legs, looking here and there in Dennis's office.
The man was Olivier, the eldest son of the Count of Chavreau.
He was the same age as Dennis and they graduated from the academy in the same year.
He was one of the few people close to Dennis in his academy days.
Olivier was normally expected to inherit his family's estate after graduating from the academy, but he unusually went to study in Herzan.
Claiming that he wanted to study music.
Since it was a shocking incident of the police heir refusing to inherit his title, many newspapers published his story when Olivier traveled to study.
“It seems that things have not changed much during my absence.
Is His Majesty still the same?”
Denis understood what Olivier meant by that.
He meant: Is the king still balancing between him and Fabrice?
Dennis simply replied:
“He's definitely still healthy, still in shape.”
Olivier's face tightened.
His face looked so sad, that it seemed as if he had heard the news of the death of a loved one.
While Dennis's face in question seemed brighter than his.
“So I need you.”
Denis said, looking at Olivier.
“If there is something I can help you with, I will.”
“Accept the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of the academy I will build.”
“Sir, this is…”
Olivier seemed surprised by the words, so he stopped talking.
“I can't think of anyone I trust to entrust this matter to.
I need someone right on my side, Olivier.”
Olivier seemed lost in thought, his brow furrowed tightly.
“Give me some time to think, sir.”
“I can't wait long.
I would appreciate it if you made your decision as soon as possible.”
At Denis's last words, Olivier fell into deep thought.