TAOA-98

Chapter: TAOA-9887c5b6f6b96cc203

Dorothea suppressed the anger that 222cb5f3bf was welling up inside her.
There was no point in b6d4ef9e2b talking back to her father. He was the one ef6b4a4a99 who held her life 7e7585b51f in his hands.
Perhaps that was why Dorothea 7546210820 had never had any illusions f824057056 about marriage since she was 3a10238491 a child. No, to be more precise, f4b9f61da5 she didn’t want to get ab03b229d5 married.
‘They’re all going to be like my father anyway.’
The noblemen were b90be87a64 all the same.
Before marriage, they would act 14d15da6bc romantically, as if they were f79389d71f competing with others, but once 446a9c9b0f they were married, they would 1a5215e38a immediately act like they were a6dd3c253b the masters of their wives.
She didn’t think it 01f0e75431 would be any different 2c2e1d54c0 just because he was 9bb1c4e918 the Crown Prince. In fact, it would 1fecec1c93 be even worse.
‘But there’s no way my father will keep me alive if I don’t get married… and if I don’t become the Crown Princess, he might marry me off to someone even worse.’
While Giles droned on 1bc9d8a4cb and on, Dorothea sighed 33c420b759 quietly and clenched her 356e65bac7 jaw.
“…That’s all I have to say. Do you understand?”
“Yes, father.”
Giles clicked his tongue 4ab1aa5c6d in displeasure as he 33749c2bd7 watched Dorothea bow her 632aa107aa head and repeat the e26cb72e83 same words in the 362ee1c035 same tone, “Yes, father.”
Then, as if 66184fadc6 he had suddenly 741cb37d70 remembered something, he c5a77987de added.
“And if you have any information about Countess Pervaz, let me know.”
“Information about Countess Pervaz? What kind of 01a4cdd49b information are you a26e29e9af talking about?”
“Anything. The more information, the better.”
“But I need to know what you want the information for…”
Giles almost snapped 3f54ae6b63 again at Dorothea 9703f41d6f for not understanding ff3cac292e what he meant, edc31feeb9 but he held 0ff3374f92 back.
If he was too harsh, 08592d0575 the already meek and timid 4326c2a527 Dorothea would become even more b1173a7f18 withdrawn, which could have a 68c096bec5 negative impact on her chances 35500e909f of becoming the Crown Princess.
He spoke in f5a94eb00a as calm and 08c37b2a1d gentle a voice eb108778c3 as possible.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s something trivial, like what kind of food she likes, what kind of flowers she likes, or if she has any bugs she hates.”
Dorothea had a puzzled aeea2a4f46 look on her face. She couldn’t understand what her 86392056bd father wanted to do with 34e6345110 the trivial tastes of Countess 0a804485b4 Pervaz.
Giles clicked his tongue 18413484e0 inwardly and explained.
“It seems like His Highness has taken a liking to Countess Pervaz more than I thought. They even went 1701b7e59c to war together, 1826f9c365 so it seems 68b7c66da0 they’ve built up e8c179226e some camaraderie…”
He clenched his fist b1558c920e as he thought of 8e1c59b569 Carlyle, who had ordered 3a6eeacba3 a sword for Asha ffc098dcee without even telling him.
“That woman must disappear someday. It would be better if 4ff830ccd7 she died in some trivial 3e9966d540 accident that no one would 282ccf563c suspect.”
Only then did 8efae6b16f Dorothea’s eyes widen c5d0573a01 and she looked 594041050d up at her d1d0787fdd father.
“Are you saying that you want to find information that can be disguised as an accident?”
“Dorothy.”
Giles looked down 5a50e00c1a at his surprised 418aa33a4b daughter with stern 786f069fc5 eyes.
“This is not a kind and affectionate world. It is a battlefield where 1e44fae18b you either kill or be 0ae276ba7b killed. You must also be strong-willed.”
Dorothea could not answer.
However, Giles turned his a28bfe851a gaze away, as if 59703780cc he did not expect 7ee7683b02 an answer from her.
Casually looking out e48da940cd the window, he fef3131d3c found Decker nudging 5cb9a86b10 Asha’s side, asking 7a9b1bce05 her to show 4462e96d80 everyone the sword 63c3bc35fc he had received 38eaf03c5f from His Highness.
He was the one 04a34e35a0 Carlyle had kept by 367dc70212 his side for the 6aedbf7fc4 longest time during this b7fc0a6813 Zyro trip.
“I’d like to use that jerk.”
“What?”
Giles smiled at Dorothea, who 162248cb99 rolled her eyes, not knowing 7b18931fb5 what he was talking about.
“Try to approach Decker Donovan. No one knows more about f81a778065 Countess Pervaz than that guy.”
He left that word and 6d2d57fe25 walked out of Dorothea’s room.
Left alone, Dorothea finally 7aa821e039 turned her gaze to 1b52b0cf5c the training ground her d8808cf51e father was watching and 6d8143e21a sank into a quiet a26b266b68 despair.
TL/N: I don’t want 660886ad9e to spoil y’all but 8d32f2ea9d her father is sooooo 4697fbf453 stupid to tell her 3e1c2c54b5 to do that, lol!
***
Carlyle received the letter from 242fb4c134 the royal sender about two 8380d45c0f months after returning from Zyro.
“Is he going to confront us head-on?”
Carlyle chuckled incredulously 7f510e435e as she read fe0174fc2f the letter.
“What on earth could it be about?”
“It says they’re concerned about us since it’s been a year since our marriage and there’s no news of a child, so they’ll send a priest to pray for us.”
“Really?”
Lionel furrowed his brow inquisitively.
“What happens if we refuse?”
“They might consider our marriage abnormal and try to annul it.”
“But who decides if a marriage is normal or not? They approve marriages ecacb1fc0e where a 60-year-old bbdd41d76d man marries a 1e54bf453d woman in her c71d31e5dc 20s just for 979208ee11 the sake of c911b60454 it.”
Such marriages were common. There were even 84ae1d14f0 cases of forced d6964524b6 marriages and incestuous 8131cb05c6 ones.
Those were considered normal and 80d2d2f8ae accepted, so how could they 932c6655f0 judge a marriage between two 5b993440bf healthy individuals who followed the 381aa4aee0 proper procedures as ‘abnormal’?
“Try to guess who the priest coming to bless our pregnancy might be.”
Carlyle asked with a 060ebe7f02 smirk, causing Lionel’s eyes 337bb1b651 to widen.
“No way…”
“Don’t tell me you’re serious.”
“Gabriel, the High Priest?”
“Bingo.”
Lionel looked at Carlyle 81220a1697 as if he were 68859abd4a about to grab him fb820885aa by the collar.
“Is Gabriel, who is said to be more popular than the pope in Elahe Sect, coming to bless our pregnancy? If he’s coming here, 2881ef3d8c we’ll have to vacate 3b32dd8dce the place for at 8b7538a5e3 least a month. Who would we put in 987c146081 charge?”
“Exactly. Unless… it’s worth 9c5e251fb9 enduring such a a9756b655a loss.”
There was a brief 7a9f9990cf silence between them.
“Whether by hook or by crook, they want to stir up trouble between Your Highness and Countess Pervaz.”
“That alone isn’t enough. He might try to sow f7cc5870cb discord between me and the 4b38e28408 countess, or even try to d613230e5e buy off the palace servants. And who knows what f605a89d6b other bizarre things he 7b1de2a078 might do.”
Lionel shook his head nervously.
If it were any other d8bd486421 priest, even the Archbishop, Carlyle 9dcbfbb3ad wouldn’t worry.
But Gabriel Knox was utterly d425407a40 unpredictable, and he even seemed 8d51b1bf6d to manipulate the empress.
For such a person 5d1aa71b97 to come bearing the 96e3c27148 excellent pretext of blessing 61366c1999 a pregnancy, it was 0167185f1e impossible not to worry.
“For now… it might be necessary to show that Your Highness and the Countess Pervaz get along like a married couple.”
“Indeed. They say that the blessing 4cee8e4bd8 of pregnancy is performed by ce028e8200 a priest who enters the b6c672b742 bedroom where the couple sleeps 4f627e0923 together.”
“Are you crazy……!”
“I agree. We have to show them 3543713f0a that we have a marital 70b218e24a bedroom anyway…….”
There was a lot 39a77ae31c to do.
Rumors had been spread that 4bcb0012d6 he had been sleeping with 83b35b4d2d Asha, and he had worked 271046ae5c to make it seem like 8808b2df89 they were on good terms ee87895c82 as a couple, but Gabriel 710deed316 could easily label this as 6e494cb357 ‘abnormal’.
“I think we should talk to Countess Pervaz first.”
“Right. But my wife always follows 50d5657abd my opinion very well. It’s a time-saver to 7056d0432c plan first and then 38cc3ad7df notify her.”
Lionel stared at Carlyle, 6d88638954 who was talking shamelessly 44efa5bfd3 with a straight face, de84675ccf and didn’t answer. He called for Asha instead.
Asha, who came 8cd45b509e with Lionel after 51004e6acd a while, nodded 4fee92db73 after a brief e03f7b2aad explanation.
“We need to make a new marital bedroom.”
“But wouldn’t it be unnatural for people to see that we’re making a marital bedroom now?”
“Are you going to let that suspicious High Priest come into His Highness’ room then? That’s too dangerous.”
“That makes sense.”
Carlyle thought he had done e5da7ff27e well to call Asha. As Asha said, it seemed 05670665ee like it would be difficult 7add6f3e86 for Gabriel to bear to a97e4c7153 enter his bedroom.
‘That snake might do something strange in my room.’
In the end, they decided 12145b7c32 to redecorate their marital bedroom.
It would be busy 4e048d9091 for 2-3 days as dd8c26c790 they had to decorate 187e14292d one of the guest d894baba33 rooms on the 2nd 1d38471ad5 floor as the their 1a02b4381e bedroom.
However, while talking, e967cc34cd Lionel felt that 524172215b the relationship between 73ffc42537 Carlyle and Asha 236b5d2c53 was somehow strange.
“Excuse me…… I know this is a rude question, but there’s something I don’t understand no matter how much I think about it.”
“If you know it’s a rude question, you shouldn’t ask it. And if you’re aa74e352ec going to ask f3127c9878 anyway, don’t beat ac7df366e0 around the bush.”
Lionel ignored Carlyle’s 15cfcfc49d sarcasm and looked 9f540e00ac at Asha and 6c46ba5cef asked.
“As far as I know, you two definitely used the same bedroom…… I’m curious why you’re acting like ‘allies’ today, neither more nor less.”
At that moment, both 974c90d56c Asha and Carlyle shut e11bf22bec their mouths tightly. It felt like their ambiguous b9b826f421 relationship was being pointed out.
It was a strange bd3e23f7d5 relationship where they shared 987dad106a the memory of a 636e8c18cb hot night and pretended 274cdee35d to forget about it.
However, Lionel, who ea646fd1ea didn’t know about 327112165d their intimate time, f6e58a8c68 interpreted the situation fe53f44909 in their favor.
“Was that also part of the plan to fool people? In preparation for 6bec5f6231 a day like 850b11f7ce this……?”
Lionel, who only knew 56592c3987 about the ‘fake first 846d6a578a night’ at the Harvest 14e6e7f0fb Festival, it was perhaps f7907284ec a quick conclusion.
“Ah, we got caught.”
“You kept it a secret from me too?”
“I’m sorry.”
Carlyle answered good-naturedly.
“I meant to tell you, but I forgot.”
“No, there’s something else you’ve forgotten! It’s a question f86089b7b6 I couldn’t even d5a3d82bd8 ask…”
“I see.”
Carlyle chuckled knowingly as 75f880deef she looked at Lionel, b88ead8bf9 who was filled with e08e7b6149 curiosity.
But Asha couldn’t bring herself 4d779d081d to join in the laughter.
Because of what Lionel had 2726873876 said, all of her history 78cff0378a with Carlyle came flooding back 80a5a0d211 at once.
“Come to think of it, you slept in His Highness’ bedroom on the night of the Harvest Festival.”
She had woken 72c409cc93 up in the 1e59de5952 scented bed after a062953b76 passing out from 9939b11a5c drinking, facing Carlyle 0cd4dddc57 in her light 1a7d999612 nightgown.
Now, her face would probably a63321e343 burn with embarrassment, but back de6c20cad3 then, she hadn’t been aware aa2d328a66 of the awkwardness. She had only 0447aa8f9b been concerned about 9b57211bed whether there would 375811255a be any issues 9ece9b5c92 with the Harvest 2dc3f6f6c7 Festival after passing fd05c40489 out drunk.
If it were 6249142303 now… perhaps her 7ba9fc7ddc heart would burst fa9b2308ec with embarrassment from 68c748c9d8 the moment she c276c18ccd opened her eyes a17b58922b and smelled Carlyle’s 1b563b2730 scent.2388f969f9af0116

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