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Chapter 273
“We should inform the Archduke.”
Iona finally spoke after much deliberation.
He was the one who had trusted her words wholeheartedly, even without any concrete proof. Naturally, she felt it was only right to tell him about the existence of this letter before anyone else.
The Archduke Ernst would surely recognize Teresa’s handwriting, and through that, they could obtain a form of verification.
Just imagining the Archduke’s joy upon learning that Iona was truly his niece brought a smile to her face.
Leroy agreed softly.
“He’ll be delighted, no doubt.”
“And… I think he might even shed some tears before that.”
“Like you?”
Leroy teased, brushing beneath Iona’s eyes with his finger.
Originally, Iona had planned to compose herself, to leave without showing any signs of tears. But things had not gone as she hoped.
When she didn’t return for quite a while, Leroy, feeling something was wrong, had barged into the toilet chamber.
As a result, he had seen her in her most vulnerable state, sniffling like a goldfish with swollen eyes.
Ashamed, Iona turned her head to avoid his touch.
In a small voice, she murmured,
“Don’t look at me so closely.”
“Why not?”
“Because… it’s embarrassing.”
Leroy tilted his head, as if he didn’t quite understand.
“Embarrassing?”
Iona gave the smallest nod.
It wasn’t the first time she had cried in front of him, but this time felt different. Without even looking in a mirror, she knew her face was terribly swollen.
It was not the kind of face she ever wanted her husband to see.
But Leroy didn’t seem to mind at all.
“If I were to discover a letter left behind by my deceased parents, I think I would’ve cried even harder. I probably wouldn’t have been able to speak at all.”
“……Don’t exaggerate.”
“I’m saying it’s something worth crying over.”
With those words, Leroy pulled her closer, letting her lean against his chest.
Her hot eyelids pressed against his chest, and though the warmth of his body didn’t cool the heat stinging her eyes, the steady comfort that radiated through his skin gave her solace.
In his own way, Leroy was respecting her wish not to show him her face.
Looking down at the letter left by Teresa, he said,
“With this as evidence, you could be officially recognized as a member of the Imperial family. A handwriting analysis would prove the letter’s authenticity.”
Iona silently shifted her gaze to the letter.
It seemed as if Teresa wanted her daughter to reclaim her inheritance and leave the Imperial Palace as quickly as possible.
But that was far from what Iona herself wanted. She was content with the inheritance her mother had left behind and had no intention of abandoning this land. For that reason, she had to carefully consider how this evidence would be used.
After a long silence, Iona slowly opened and closed her eyes before speaking.
“No.”
“……”
“There will come a time to reclaim that seat, but it doesn’t have to be now.”
It wasn’t the right moment to play such a decisive card.
Yes, it might disrupt the messy current situation, but there would be no real benefit gained from it.
The only outcome this letter might bring was to hasten the Empress’ assassination attempt.
Considering what lay ahead, Iona knew she needed to wait, watch the unfolding events, and strike when the time was right.
After all, she was someone who knew the future.
Among the changes, some had come about due to Iona’s intervention, but others had not.
Natural phenomena—things beyond the power of any individual—fell into the latter category.
“Perhaps before long……”
Before Iona could even finish her thought, a sudden commotion erupted outside.
She stopped speaking at once and quickly rose to her feet.
Had her earlier encounter with the laundress somehow been exposed?
Hastily, Iona folded the letter and tucked it away where it would not be noticed.
The uninvited guest stormed in immediately after.
Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—the unwelcome visitor had not come to reprimand Iona for her nighttime outing.
That much was clear from the fact that the messenger had formally announced his arrival through the servants, and that upon seeing Iona and Leroy, he bowed deeply without delay.
After paying proper respects to the Duke and Duchess, the attendant wasted no time delivering his message.
“Her Majesty the Empress bids that both the Duke and the Duchess come to the Imperial Palace at once.”
“Is something happening there?”
Iona asked in a calm voice.
Though curiosity gnawed at her regarding the Empress’s true intent in sending such an urgent summons, she dared not reveal her unease outwardly.
Luckily, her question didn’t seem out of place to the attendant.
In truth, the man appeared too weighed down by the gravity of the news he carried to focus on anything else.
Cold sweat rolled down past his ear as he spoke in a trembling, broken voice.
“His Majesty the Emperor has passed away.”
****
The atmosphere of the Imperial Palace, which Iona was visiting for the first time in a long while, was utterly heavy.
Perhaps because of their master’s death, a deep shadow darkened the faces of everyone they passed.
Following the attendant through the corridors, Iona and Leroy carefully observed the scene around them.
At last, after a long silence, Leroy spoke.
“This is sudden.”
Perhaps mindful of the nearby guide, he voiced only a simple impression.
But Iona could clearly guess what suspicion lay behind his words.
Had she not already known the details, she would have thought the same.
That the Emperor’s death was undoubtedly murder.
“Rather, it should be seen as something inevitable. His Majesty the Emperor has long been unable to move of his own accord.”
Saying this, Iona fell into brief contemplation.
The Emperor’s frailty was the very reason the Empress’s influence had grown so strong. Naturally, she would not have orchestrated this.
If there was anyone to suspect, it would be the Crown Prince Richard…
But if Richard had been the one behind it, there was no way she would have remained unaware.
Reaching the same conclusion as before, Iona firmly shook her head.
Even in her previous life, the Emperor had died around this same time.
And remembering the peaceful atmosphere back then, it was clear he had passed away naturally, without anyone’s interference.
Though circumstances now left her without much choice, this reaffirmed that her decision to withhold the letter’s disclosure had been correct.
Had she revealed it needlessly, the mourning of the Emperor’s death and the succession process afterward would only have buried her issue beneath them.
“This way, please.”
The attendant stopped before a massive door and gestured toward the inside.
Iona gave a slight nod and stepped across the threshold.
The scene that unfolded before her eyes was already one she remembered.
The Empress, speaking with the physician.
The Crown Prince Richard, seated at the Emperor’s bedside.
And the Emperor, lying cold and lifeless.
The only difference was that this time, Iona had been summoned not as the Crown Prince’s guard, but as a member of the family.
Proof of this was how the Empress, instead of ignoring her presence as she once had, approached her directly.
“I worried the message might reach you late because of the hour, but you arrived sooner than I expected. That is a relief.”
As she said this, the Empress clasped Iona’s hand.
Instinctively, Iona flinched.
It felt strangely awkward to sense warmth from that hand. Logically, it was natural—she was human, after all. But still…
“Had I known this would happen, I would have brought you here sooner. Though His Majesty could no longer open his eyes, at least he could have heard your voice….”
“How did His Majesty…?”
“They say he suffered a sudden seizure during the night. His body was too frail to withstand it in the end.”
As she spoke, the Empress turned her gaze back toward the Emperor lying in bed.
After staring silently at her late husband for some time, the Empress said in a voice that betrayed no inner thoughts,
“It seems that neither His Majesty nor I can count on fortune to favor us as it once did.”
---The End Of The Chapter---
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