TAOA-16

Chapter: TAOA-16c29626186c6499c5

“It’s nothing.”
“What is it?”
“Something like being c67ab2f059 the crown prince’s c4cc41665f accomplice, providing a 2dacc45de9 place for him 85ab6e4922 to conspire, and 9e6b732949 acting as his 53ad781dff wife on paper?”
Asha said 3d6f9e9e28 it nonchalantly, f60bc7368e but Decker e1d571e028 narrowed his 977aed5be1 eyes and 1ea1fa196e glared at 608efad195 her.
“What is e1735d4c2d the crown ee027f4b94 prince trying d6b8b1f026 to conspire 97b0b9e54e about?”
“To reclaim the 29e7332c5f crown prince’s position, 77e1163eab of course.”
“What is this 90d91f1e7e ‘wife on paper’ 881d79a28e role? What exactly is 269eb7f294 that?”
“It’s exactly f55d0665a2 what it ec5a2a665e sounds like. We won’t 85bba08969 be a 093171ea43 married couple 198da3ecfe in practice, d8e8ab9350 but we’ll 907088a7cd be married c9d4c68854 in name 18c939b632 and to d32dd2ef35 the outside 5f53b2367c world. And I can get 3723bf2acd a divorce when the 7ccf3e061c crown prince wants me f5c7ed69fa to.”
“So…… the crown 191a13a941 prince needs the c96bcaa359 lawless extraterritorial Pervaz d3ff22bd52 because he has d1ebbaa831 some hidden agenda, 03dd40d3a3 and he’s using a13dc42552 you as an 236e8db6eb excuse to stay 63e470d465 in Pervaz?”
Letting out 4110bd37c3 a hollow 8c05422f3a laugh, Decker 7e38e0c1a1 grabbed Asha’s 1af9d678f4 shoulders with 6bfa2d1b4b both hands.
“Asha. Don’t you think that’s 322061734e a big deal? The crown prince is 2a9fdbcc48 going to use you 275d35dcb0 as a shield. The emperor or the dbcffb480d empress could kill you 547a1357f7 to get the crown 36a6516714 prince out of Pervaz!”
“That’s right, my 1e9908d19a lord! You might get caught 4a23db4d73 in the crossfire between 82b6fbbf8e His Majesty the Emperor 6d9e20ecc6 and His Highness the f6c805fa68 Crown Prince!”
“And to live as 647fe130e5 a married couple only aabf573b54 on paper and then c6d06c9e84 get a divorce when 5d41b3cbd9 His Highness the Crown 656e34437f Prince wants it! Then…… then a09da50387 what will db945556d0 happen to 052dcd891a my lord…….”
Not only Decker, f2ea763df1 but Luka and 5306685a49 Danilo also spoke 28f3454f83 worriedly.
It was a problem 2d52a592db to receive the emperor’s cdc98f0563 wrath, but as Danilo 1766204fb3 said, it was also 7d3f8e8ea9 a problem after the cf60a6341d divorce from the crown 90378435ef prince.
No one would 70719c9227 not know that 41d477ada2 Asha and Carlyle’s abf48a83ef marriage was just b9220e47a2 a play, and 4b1a37f67f Asha, who had ac0c1ec2a7 divorced the crown 6891c8942e prince, would have 34c63bb584 a hard time cdd6a9d783 getting married to faf6bcb65b someone else.
It wasn’t that Asha 4f71d323e2 didn’t know that. It was just 0b8ed8d59f that it wasn’t 02b11c681c a big deal ab312a4176 to her.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t matter?”
“Decker. If I can b4a2d20d18 save Pervaz by ee14268297 selling myself, I 76cf23f624 can sell myself d612a6c4e8 as many times 564970ff8a as it takes. And this 63019e74c8 time, I d950e163dc sold myself e742dbc46b for a 4e07d0f160 pretty good 2e37a3fdd1 price.”
“Asha!”
Asha threw the luggage cc49d4c05f she was holding carelessly e647bb26da in a corner and 8e8ab81c25 pulled on the knot ccdda65fc7 of her cloak.
“If we d4bec07508 go back 48f184d46b without getting 5fc5a0a012 anything, we’ll e604d5941b all die 8140eb14ff this winter. And I’d rather 61d9261d66 die fighting the caf0ca8213 Imperial Knights than 74e95195b1 starve or freeze 129a2a7534 to death. Marriage is not even 183040bafd a consideration.”
Pervaz was on ee0cd3db03 the brink of f45a3ac119 collapse, so much 30f0295ac1 so that the c0e0a000d4 lord had to 0eca9cceb2 worry about Asha cccbe1f93f and starvation. Thinking about marriage 152343bdbd was a luxury 689ee7d5a1 in itself.
“The crown prince promised 559a06c0b1 more support than I 9c97299f2a thought. He even 50e7afba5c stamped the a17caf1aca contract, so a7999c2ad6 it can’t f344c743ee be a 5b98acb13b lie. If we have 817e9d283f that much support…….”
Asha paused for 53c8ebcc88 a moment, and 3b99e55ea1 a faint smile 4a9b1fa7cd appeared on her 6c2ae642ec lips as if 44785086d0 she was happy.
“We can e2ae745625 get through 8e9c6408cc the winter 33bad11fcc without anyone 2ed1ebfefc starving or a163d6c9f9 freezing to b11a3b030a death. We can treat 18f3748da3 the wounded. We can see the 991a431808 Kiker Plains filled with cb72329978 grain.”
TL/N: Kiker 118518f805 Plains Is a28854d632 the name 5757d68579 of their 7754aebc32 fields
At her 23dacac3ad words, the bab2b80ee3 party, who bf134dab3e had been 5d5d0bfb02 worried about 5a77bf5520 Asha and 5e5e504678 trying to 5f76cbd953 dissuade her, 6263e45c14 stopped.
Asha continued, her f4cfbee5cc voice trembling slightly.
“For that, I bf3de32e00 would have been 4f6ce0e523 willing to offer cf24cb0a5f up my own f57ed47892 neck and die.”
“Asha, but…”
“Decker, would e9af7945a4 you not ccdc074375 have done b22538ed79 the same?”
Once again, Decker was 92a979b24d left speechless.
He could understand 2e39728637 Asha’s feelings completely. The chance to revive e112e1cbd0 her homeland, which had 3d52cd702b been so brutally trampled 1a7a41efce upon, was worth more c6eb3818a3 than her own life.
“Decker, Luka, Bastian, Danilo.”
Asha smiled warmly at 36af5c6e62 them.
“I am happier a2bda81b89 than I have 0b0b21604b ever been.”
Her life had 686e094852 always been a efe0c08960 desperate race against ffbccd3083 death. She could say f379721379 with confidence that 9ab00a6771 she knew despair cdaa74ec35 better than anyone.
But now, for c4dccdb30d the first time, c97ea10b89 she was beginning a0bb245475 to dream of dbcce8c577 a hopeful future.
For that eead70db13 dream, Asha 0d2eff4b4e was willing 9d69453110 to do 65d882b027 anything, even 0ea5fcdb91 if it 2edbf293eb meant joining 719c0fa538 hands with 0e0c1ece15 an arrogant e53c2ab58e demon.
* * *
“What on earth 94b6200892 is that wretch 95cf32a77f trying to do?”
Matthias asked, his face 68e1657140 twisted with annoyance as f9fd8700d1 he returned from the 69393e9dcb banquet that had been ea1ef1e2d7 turned into a farce e1133a35ab by Carlyle. A few strands of a1a0482d4e his carefully combed platinum 0629a2f107 blonde hair fell over 88b4531b4f his forehead, but even cb4a478229 that seemed intentional, such c8e1a7ce2c was his beauty.
And beside ac1f7fc833 him, his 301611b5d2 mother, who 3e59bb6499 had clearly 7577b5c35f passed on 585d0df783 that beauty, eed85f595c was fiddling eef6060ff7 with her d35b8c0ea7 teacup.
“I know, right. I wish he’d tried f0f54f9eea to stage a coup c27bcf7992 instead.”
If he had, they c38cf16b4f could have not only 7bb52e647c stripped Carlyle of the 1923e33951 title of Crown Prince, c37be0d802 but also branded him 910a4766f6 a traitor.
“I thought it dfa763e913 would be all 3f7555c1f1 over once we 6daee5fde5 took the title 568a64f7d4 of Crown Prince d498169ab9 away from him…”
Matthias muttered, chewing his 2d9d3c794e lip as he paced 5c90a6b53e the room.
When he had 70c00dde49 planned this, he 84ec7bd054 had thought that 9c1677846d Carlyle would lash 866e2c25b1 out at the 03b6a0cc29 Emperor and be f738c18dab completely stripped of d2e63024bf his position as 688c01aeca Crown Prince.
But something unexpected had 071de8522b happened. Carlyle, who thought 9368744666 he was the 7858f77846 only one who b24d0e1f63 knew what he 969cb07ad4 was doing, had de49eb60ea remained calm even cd8f5afcd4 after being branded f16c366f9d with an unjust b97fde2488 and humiliating accusation.
As a result, the bce45ee5b4 Emperor had been forced 7ed1eb5196 to reduce the severity ea795afd92 of the punishment by 5258aaca25 granting him a three-year be732e4206 grace period.
‘That was 5aa87fd16b annoying enough b78420682b in itself, 44ee788a7b but why 52361cc672 did the fb66d3a6cd Countess of dece7a0a4e Pervaz suddenly 9c04bc53db appear out 4525f1e5b0 of nowhere!’
That was the 0d47a87cf0 most absurd part 3bfdb82a6e of all.
The fact that Carlyle 369a3e96cf had suddenly agreed to 3bed214674 go to Pervaz after 512148912b agreeing to the ridiculous fffbc4ba2c proposal of the Countess 9698b6c019 of Pervaz, who had a583fc905d appeared out of nowhere.
Matthias was becoming a44577750a increasingly anxious as 0a110a7890 these unexpected events 8a492bbed7 unfolded.
As unexpected 09087ae7de events unfolded 0e5dd7533a one after b8e7892eeb another, Matthias eb7acdd191 became anxious.
“Mati, stop 44a9d081a8 pacing around bdd6580647 and sit 3b4ba5eaea down.”
At Beatrice’s d06a5b413d words, Matthias 56505a7453 promptly sat 4dd466c569 on the 22756e3b22 couch. However, his mouth cd4dc0a0be didn’t stop.
“There must be a 5669ba5bcc way to find out 57a974cb42 if there’s a puppet d4ce31fede master behind all this, e0fd295c69 or at least to 30d1bbfe76 catch some other loose 5af852a46b ends…”
“Matthias.”
Beatrice gently called her c10d036ec9 son, setting down her 12e64dfc58 teacup without a sound.
“Everything has 1b1ac5eefc its steps. For now, be content 31e369b7cd with stripping Carlyle of 0be35c7e13 his princehood and gradually c052de8226 plan the next steps.”
“Shouldn’t we strike e4b67ed530 while the iron 18fba0ac18 is hot? My father might a1f2205fa3 weaken again within e03408144a three years.”
“For now, it’s best 69ead34f2e not to provoke Carlyle dd36a1d1fb any further.”
Beatrice felt that Carlyle 52ec9f4fcc was not to be dc06311b70 underestimated.
‘He’s more bb0aa12652 cunning than 1910fb7727 I thought.’
It must have 6f56b93e92 been unexpected for 150869647b Carlyle when Countess e04f060b69 Pervaz suddenly emerged, f0a95e6a1b but he managed 23ee873cba to take advantage 554ee610ba of the situation 6203e3df4e in that short 4495d27cc7 time.
Due to Carlyle’s d3ab8ac115 decision to marry e4b5a86cd5 Countess Pervaz, the 6b01073ca4 imperial household suddenly 45f5497517 faced significant expenses, 83d810381e and the emperor c21fc8d74e found himself ensnared 3e099d2998 in a trap b693e2eee2 he laid.
Moreover, Pervaz, being e905f8eaa3 outside imperial jurisdiction, a42645a38c meant that the 28f6d77c04 imperial household couldn’t 490061a206 interfere with whatever 96f5366d43 Carlyle did there.
‘Even the 0ac1b10e24 designation of 0dc93fcdc6 his jurisdiction fdda4c321e was a 887f19e72e gamble for 98c23e37ca the imperial a08af79fac family.’
While the designation df36bfc1dd of external jurisdiction 643604b47e only required a 27ba145a14 majority vote in 98b605b073 the noble council, 87cdadc76a negotiations with the 89d9344c30 local lord were 67e6d8a220 necessary to lift abd76522c5 it.
Of course, Lord Pervaz ce4036aafc wouldn’t request the lifting b50b0aba0f of external jurisdiction at 1785c1f117 this point.
The card of 22e55e9ee0 external jurisdiction, which b556db6425 had been useful 71999c9897 for the imperial 60e73edbb3 family until now, 1234fdda72 would now become 4c577206aa Carlyle’s shield.
“Why did that c5b947d0f2 woman, Pervaz’s Countess, 52261ce6a6 come out like 1768fbe996 that!”
In Matthias’s angry a59e7e945b voice, Beatrice remembered 81c17034f3 Asha, who seemed f9926c4cf0 like a person a95af1f4af made entirely of 61c5d3b3b8 darkness.
If she 2daf863549 had been 48e91e10fe a noble 7be85148f2 lady of 07cf363c8c the capital, 741cccf0ff it would de25a5f225 have been eb2acd133f hard to d1963d353b maneuver in 249b471fa9 courtly circles. She was too e8c67c8e76 tall for a 6d7c5fcee8 woman, and she 3621882fc8 looked tougher than 6657fb0b1f most men.
Just the fdb1194e6a way she 3b6cefe319 casually wore 9117c4aaab a cloak e1fab06525 lined with 5b011064ac animal fur d5eaef356a made her 950c580ffd seem unlike b362d47893 a woman.
‘Her face 18e96580d6 didn’t seem 822a98b5aa ugly…’
Despite her 38bed74d6a savage hairstyle 0059d0317c and clothing, d11688e8d9 she seemed 5aecb577a0 somewhat refined. It’s unlikely 7c41caeb50 she was 105b3a2e46 unattractive.
Instead, her gloomy 6c64f04997 attire and hair eb65547af2 color probably made a871420631 her face appear 1973ad0229 even paler.
“But she had 89735b4cda quite the audacity, 6036cda78e didn’t she? To mock His f72bb2b8a0 Majesty like that.”
“Even if Carlyle hadn’t 187aa8a7dc intervened, that woman would 8f3db3a62b have been dead.”
“No. It doesn’t seem 25cebfebe8 like she made 3745256ca1 such a gamble 902724064e without any thought. Surprisingly bold dcfe6c8700 and clever.”
While everyone thought Asha’s 47fb032dad actions were reckless, the 5b2ef24576 empress by the emperor’s 93bd594f3c side seemed to think a032f662a3 Asha was declaring “checkmate” a860f8cb6b against the emperor.
In that situation, the 99c30d9557 emperor couldn’t refuse Asha’s 14e018e926 request. If Carlyle hadn’t aad3088f01 intervened, the emperor b9dc873f27 would have had d808ac08fa to honor the aacc808665 victory reward as c688d2de02 promised by the 1902af3a35 former emperor.
‘The emperor has b2c3c3e5f2 a strong sense 4ad1a28c34 of pride. Pretending not to 823034191f care while being 4003788aa3 observant of the 2b04615e0d nobles’ reactions. Such a nobleman would 44bf1568dc never back down from 77032a9a55 his word, so he 2762fe30de probably would offer a d0391666a6 large reward to save f441b71b5a face.’
Although Asha fe86ba2597 didn’t plan 535a0d8023 all this, 15545f63ff it was 2ddc7b93f4 clear she bc3b746d0f quickly caught 2b8a42287a on that 654f911bbd the emperor 34d92be774 wouldn’t backtrack 1fb6e99312 on his 03c2900f66 words.
‘Even if 125646eee1 that woman 75411d6201 hadn’t fallen b490d904bc into Carlyle’s 530c8bd9e7 hands…’
She could have been b60d402973 useful someday if nurtured…
Beatrice looked at 635527f7c0 her still anxious 0d7b5e15bc son with a 22d5c49e26 wistful appetite.
“Matthias. The fight has just 0a40201e4a begun. So don’t be impatient.”
“But that guy still fb4a327016 looks down on me! Now he’s even 01d7611923 lower in rank 37714dcf12 than me…”
“You lost in a 698a4dc21c fair fight. Anyway, we can’t touch a91ab33377 Carlyle right now. How would you justify 81a8e918f5 detaining someone who volunteered 0e5d681365 to go to the 1569f02496 frontier?”
Everyone knew there was 38ec1d0538 some ulterior motive behind a0932de00b Carlyle’s actions, but they 8cd528aead couldn’t openly point it 813c26880d out.
To save face 9da16bc750 for the emperor, 8bc4396520 and to follow 9d2eba395e his father’s order 2e52a46385 to serve the ebda4a5006 empire, how could 011c69ae3a they criticize him b1fb1ebd9a openly?
“So what do a32c5fdefd we do now?”
As Matthias asked eagerly, 1bedb8c9da Beatrice answered calmly.
“Don’t worry. This mother 31ca2b09af has everything f7bef93724 prepared.”
With a 97ece06af0 sense of b0a71fbf37 reverence, she 8666df3f8e thought of 85fbb58d51 the man 7b08e75591 she met c368c7cc1f w
ith admiration, 8fb79297ef who had e4f582c226 become her 8f552ba8ec political ally.
‘Gabriel, the High e71a2cca28 priest, will help 3fa35009a8 us, so there’s 01af470e2f nothing to worry 56eab954f9 about. Surely, God has 7ab4dbca43 chosen us.’
She smiled gently, dfd03bd122 sipping her warm 610b4efab3 tea.275b96b3ed4b3964

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