Chapter 44: Malicious Rumors

 The Grand Duke felt like he was burning inside.

 He had received news that Lloyd had escaped from his confinement room while he was briefly away.

 He tried to pinpoint where everything had gone wrong.

 His son had been nothing but cute and kind when he was young.

 But suddenly he started to go astray, and now he was rebelling well past the age for such behavior.

 ‘The boy who should inherit the family business and be loyal to the Empire is only thinking strange thoughts.’

 Looking down at his wrinkled hands, the Grand Duke felt a sense of crisis.

 He too would someday have to let go of everything.

 Now that his bright youth had passed.

 Knowing he couldn’t lead with willpower alone forever, the Grand Duke sighed.

 “Darling, I’ll talk to him.”

 “That would be good. I would only scold him, and any conversation would surely turn into an argument.”

 “It’s probably because both of you still find it difficult to open your hearts to each other.”

 The Grand Duchess gently wrapped her hands around the Grand Duke’s.

 Her hands, too, showed signs of aging just like the Grand Duke’s.

 They say most women don’t get many wrinkles even as they age.

 The Grand Duke felt sorry seeing the wrinkles on his wife’s face.

 “I’ve made you suffer.”

 “I married into a busy household, so it couldn’t be helped, could it?”

 She rose from her seat, telling the Grand Duke in a gentle voice not to blame himself too much.

 The Grand Duke tried to follow as his wife stood up, but the Grand Duchess said Lloyd would only be on guard if he came along, and headed to the confinement room alone.

 “Lloyd, have you eaten well?”

 “Mother.”

 When she opened the firmly closed door and entered, the room was completely dark.

 The Grand Duchess first went inside, drew back the curtains, and greeted her son who was curled up on the bed.

 Lloyd felt relieved that the person entering was none other than his mother.

 If the Grand Duke had appeared, he would have immediately gotten up and engaged in a battle of wills.

 “I ate enough.”

 “That’s good then. You shouldn’t skip meals.”

 “I’m not a child anymore. I’m over twenty years old.”

 “But in my eyes, you still look like a child.”

 Lloyd frowned slightly, seemingly displeased with the Grand Duchess’s words.

 Receiving that look, the Grand Duchess slowly composed her emotions despite having reason to be angry at her still immature son.

 She believed that no matter how angry she felt, she should never express it if she wanted to confirm her son’s true feelings.

 She was currently trying her best to reach out to him.

 “May I ask where you went yesterday?”

 “You’ve probably already heard from the coachman, even without asking me.”

 “I want to hear it directly from you, not from the coachman.”

 “Why?”

 “Because the coachman is a stranger, but you are my child.”

 Lloyd felt a lump in his throat at her words.

 Ever since Edmund’s visit to the mansion, Lloyd had been receiving cold stares from both his parents, which made him feel hurt.

 He even resented how his parents seemed to defend Edmund and Clea, his former fiancée, more than him.

 He didn’t like how his heart melted just because she was now showing some interest in him.

 Lloyd knew this was his parents’ first gesture of reconciliation.

 And he knew that if he didn’t speak up here, they would obviously hear it from the coachman.

 He thought it would be better to just tell her directly.

 “I went to the Hersher mansion.”

 “You went to see Aria.”

 “Yes.”

 “Then why is your expression so dark?”

 The Grand Duchess had a rough idea.

 Knowing well what political stance the Hersher ducal family maintained, she could easily imagine what words had come from there.

 “She told me not to come back again.”

 It was as she had predicted.

 The Hersher ducal family valued their relationship with the imperial family more than with the grand ducal family, so it was understandable.

 But from Lloyd’s perspective, it wasn’t a good situation at all.

 ‘But is there no other way?’

 As the lady of the grand ducal household, she didn’t want relations with the Hersher family to completely deteriorate.

 For her, who had to worry about the future of the grand ducal family, ending things this way seemed better than becoming enemies.

 So she carefully suggested,

 “How about forgetting that girl and finding someone else?”

 “Mother!”

 Lloyd called out to the Grand Duchess with an expression that seemed to ask how she could say such a thing to him.

 The Grand Duchess was startled by her son’s sudden raised voice, but she maintained her composure and calmly suggested again.

 “For both your sakes, it’s better to distance yourselves for now.”

 “I can’t do that!”

 “Lloyd.”

 “I need Aria and no one else!”

 She continued trying to persuade Lloyd.

 She explained the differences in position between the families, Lloyd’s current ambiguous status, and what might happen in the future.

 But Lloyd stubbornly insisted with single-minded determination.

 The Grand Duchess felt her patience crumbling as she watched Lloyd refuse to yield until the end, but it was Lloyd who broke down first.

 “How can even you say such things to me, Mother!”

 “Lloyd!”

 “If you’re going to say that, just leave!”

 Lloyd grabbed the Grand Duchess’s wrist.

 The Grand Duchess was momentarily flustered and tried to remove Lloyd’s hand, but before she could, he forcefully pushed her out the door.

 The staff waiting outside the door watched this scene with wide eyes, surprised by the sudden situation.

 Fortunately, the Grand Duke hadn’t seen it, so the Grand Duchess ordered the staff to keep quiet.

 However, somehow the Grand Duke learned of this and went to Lloyd’s confinement room with his sword drawn.

 They barely managed to stop the Grand Duke, but the atmosphere in the grand ducal household was truly at its worst.

 * * *

 “So that’s what you received that night.”

 “Yes, that’s right.”

 “Hmm, is it a lack of taste?”

 “What did you just say?”

 Unlike the hostile atmosphere in the grand ducal household, the imperial family gathered for a meal together after a long time.

 Despite being forcibly summoned by Odin and Elina, the atmosphere wasn’t bad.

 With delicious food in the middle, the topic of their conversation was the rings on Clea and Edmund’s fingers.

 “He must really be your son.”

 “It hurts my feelings when you say it like that.”

 “What’s there to feel hurt about? Your taste is exactly the same. So, does our daughter-in-law like the ring? If you don’t like it, I can personally replace it with another one.”

 Edmund frowned at Elina.

 It seemed like she was overstepping boundaries, even for his mother.

 But Elina paid no attention to her son’s gaze.

 Edmund considered speaking up to stop her, but first checked Clea’s reaction.

 ‘If she really doesn’t like it, I’ll have to change it.’

 The most important thing was Clea’s opinion.

 If she didn’t like it, Edmund thought it would be right to agree and follow her wishes to change it.

 Clea, aware of Edmund’s gaze, raised the corner of her mouth and said,

 “When you say that, am I mistaken in thinking that you’re wearing the same ring as Father on your finger, Mother?”

 At Clea’s words, the other two looked at the ring on Elina’s finger.

 On her finger was a ring with an emerald stone, the same as the one on Odin’s finger.

 “While something pretty would have its own meaning, this has a different meaning, so I don’t particularly want to change it.”

 Edmund’s expression brightened at her words.

 Meanwhile, Odin and Elina watching Edmund had meaningful expressions.

 The two were finding it new that their son’s mood could change so drastically because of just one ring.

 Edmund, who never showed any emotions, had been expressing his feelings quite frequently lately.

 They knew without having to think about what was causing this.

 “When will you get married?”

 “I’ll do it when the time is right.”

 “How can we leave the Crown Prince’s marriage to be handled on his own?”

 “Don’t you know there’s nothing more unsightly than interfering in the marriage of a grown child?”

“I know that well, but for this new child, I’m willing to be unsightly just this once.”

 “Hah.”

 They continued their meal while watching the harmonious conversation between father and son.

 Having exchanged rings, they thought the only thing left was the wedding and appeared quite relaxed.

 Nothing remained to interfere with Edmund and Clea’s relationship.

 Of course, there were still troublemakers, but Edmund was confident.

 He believed he could completely escape all interference and spend happy days with her.

 As he smiled at these happy thoughts, suddenly there was a commotion outside.

 “Your Majesty, I apologize for interrupting your intimate time, but there is something urgent you need to hear.”

 “If it’s not absolutely necessary to hear it now, perhaps we could postpone it?”

 “I’m sorry, but it concerns Lady Clea.”

 In the midst of the commotion, Odin’s aide appeared and informed him that there was something he needed to tell him.

 Odin wanted to postpone it, but the aide drew the line, saying it couldn’t wait, but reluctantly agreed to listen, putting aside his displeasure.

 Since it concerned Clea, he couldn’t simply dismiss it.

 He quietly listened, hoping it wouldn’t be nonsense.

 And what came from the aide’s mouth was:

 “Someone is spreading malicious rumors about Lady Clea.”

 It was enough to break the mood.