My Childhood Friend is Like a Stone - Chapter 26

The Imperial family was by far the most noble bloodline in the Empire, but if they lined up those next in line, great noble families would be named one after the other.

There was only one family left after the families who did not have enough time to marry and Marquis Dalbré, who had already been married once.

It was Cassinel. A family whose name alone brought many memories of glory, albeit they were ones that were slowly disappearing.

So, in terms of legitimacy alone, the name that was second to none in the Empire quickly rose to the surface.

Adrienne de Cassinel Bluea.

The name of Cyril’s childhood friend.

“Now do you understand? How it got to this point?”

The Duchess lowered her head with a sad expression in response to the Duke’s sarcastic words.

Cyril’s attention was drawn to his father’s trembling hand. In his wrinkled, tendon-stretched hands, he could sense a deep pain.

Nevertheless— Cyril clenched his fists.

No matter how bad their family situation was, they couldn’t pull others into the abyss together.

It was unfortunate that his father’s long-held dream was ruined, but even just being a Great General was a great achievement. He was greedy, but he had to learn how to give up the things he couldn’t have.

Furthermore, hadn’t Adrienne been in love with the Prince for years?

Cyril wouldn’t have been bothered if he didn’t know.  But he knew everything clearly and could not force her to be next to him.

“—First.”

“Cassinel has already been in a state of crisis for almost a decade. How long can a Count survive if he does not please the Emperor?”

But the Duke, who had already figured out the way out, stopped him.

“A tree that is not bent or shaken will eventually break. There is no use in producing good fruit if the tree’s pillars are broken.”

For the past ten years, Cyril had been familiar with Cassinel’s hardships as an enemy of the Emperor.

If Cassinel collapsed after a severe storm—

“Think about it.”

Adrienne would fall together with it.

And Cyril couldn’t afford to let Adrienne do so.

“—Yes.”

The answer was already decided.

*****

Reid left the Palace a little later than he originally promised.

Adrienne asked while watching her twin climb into the carriage.

“Isn’t working at the Finance Department easier, easier than even the Budget Office?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“It’s obvious that you’re still holding on like that.”

“Sorry for making you wait.”

Reid, Cassinel’s successor and secretary of the Finance Department, closed his eyes awkwardly.

“Why are you sorry? That’s such a bad habit.”

“That’s, I’m sor—”

“Again.”

Adrienne closed her mouth and narrowed her eyes. Reid, who laughed, nodded, signalling he knew what she meant.

Reid was naturally gentle and nice, but he grew timid as a result of his father, Count Cassinel’s, influence.

The Count was quite strict with his successor, Reid, and Reid felt a heavy pressure to be the strong successor he desired.

‘He had spent his entire life apologizing, so he couldn’t help but keep repeating sorry—’

It was heartbreaking to hear that. Adrienne, who sighed quietly, changed the subject.

“How’s the situation?”

“—Not good. As we approach the second quarter, the budget for frontier defense will be reduced even further.”

“All of them? Or just us?”

“The amount of support in the southern region has increased. If we simply count the decrease, we are the most—”

Ried couldn’t help but be bitter. Adrienne was as well.

Until just a few years ago, the borders of the southern provinces were managed by Count Toules.

However, now that the Count of Toules was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and was in the capital, the former Count was subject to the Emperor’s authority.

Lands beyond the Emperor’s reach would inevitably lose support. He made it plain that he would not help until he handed up the land that had been passed down through his ancestors.

“Ah, rumors have been circulating about Thesar. They say that the Duke of Thesar may be appointed as Great General.”

“Great General?”

“Cyril has also earned his reputation as a soldier, and the Duke of Thesar himself also has merits like that. So it must have been used as a compliment—”

Even as he said that, Reid had a somewhat gloomy face. Reid tilted his head as Adrienne stared at Reid as if trying to say something.

“There was a lot of talk that the Duke of Thesar would become the Great Commander of the Military this time around. It had been quite noisy for a while.”

“Then, why did the topic of the Great General suddenly come out? It came out recently, right?”

“Yeah. I heard about it after I entered the Department of Finance.”

Adrienne was lost in thought. A sudden proposal from the Duke of Thesar and a rumor that came out of nowhere—

‘The engagement rumors circulating about the Princess and Cyril also only recently appeared.’

It felt like everything was somehow connected. Everything was so sudden that it could not be explained otherwise.

“Adrianna.”

“Hm?”

Reid, who was quietly watching her expression, called her name. Her eyes trembled as she turned to Reid, unable to stay in one place.

“Do you still like Cyril?”

“—What?”

Adrienne asked, surprised, but Reid did not repeat his words. He just looked at her with a calm expression on his face.

Reid’s eyes were strangely firm no matter where he placed his timid and narrowly smiling face.

Adrienne, who had been looking into those eyes for some time, gently shook her head.

“Are you talking about that time, Reid? It’s just when I was young, just for a moment.”

That ‘moment’ was all of her childhood, but Adrienne decided not to explain it that far.

Either way, it was a thing of the past.

“Yeah—”

Reid sighed briefly as a light response. He seemed to be relieved, and he also seemed to be upset.

Reid nodded as if shaking off his emotions and said.

“I wanted to tell you that you don’t have to overdo it.”

“Reid.”

“Cassinel will move forward. Just like what we have done so far.”

“What I said isn’t especially reliable, is it?” Reid, who quietly added those words, turned his eyes to the window shyly.

“You’re reliable.”

“—Really?”

“Yeah. I’ll think about it.”

The twins, who have changed quite a bit now, but still looked alike, looked at each other and laughed.

The carriage filled with laughter headed towards Cassinel.

******

“Do whatever you want.”

Count Cassinel expressed his intention in just one sentence. The deep consideration he had for them was fully displayed in just that one sentence. His desire to not let them worry about the situation of the family or the conflict between them showed.

The old castle had stone debris everywhere because it couldn’t afford to be repaired, and the weapon warehouse, which had been empty for a long time ever since the new weapons arrived, showed Cassinel’s poor condition.

It was impossible for the Count not to realize that Cassinel would benefit by a lot through marriage with Thesar. Nonetheless, he still responded, ‘Do whatever you want.’

Adrienne could barely hold back her tears because she was so touched. She realized that Reid and her father really looked alike.

Perhaps her father was concerned about Reid’s resemblance to her.

It was because the position of successor was not easy for him to be raised as. Only for him to grow up as kind and gentle.

“Lena, I need to send a reply. Can you bring me something to use?”

Adrienne, who had been agonizing over the entire trip from the capital to Cassinel, finally came to a conclusion.

Just as her family respected her, she also respected her family, so it was a decision she could make.

“Are you rejecting the proposal, Lady?”

Lena, who had come with a letter and a pen, looked at her and asked. Adrienne asked playfully as she sat down at her desk.

“You’re not going to cry at the wedding, are you?”

“Really? Are you going to marry Cyril?”

Lena responded in a different tone of voice. People would assume there was a hole in the sky since it sounded so vain.

“I thought you would take this opportunity to enter the imperial palace. I was looking forward to it because you danced with His Highness the Prince.”

“Lena, there are some things you can’t say.”

“Why does Emma always do this to me! Speaking of which, I hate Sir Cyril. How much heartache did my Lady—”

“Lena!”

Lena closed her mouth at the shout. Emma looked at Lena with her red eyes as if she wanted to say one more thing.

“Don’t hate Cyril too much. It’s not a sin not to like me.”

“It’s a sin for me. When he leaves without a word, and he suddenly proposes to the Lady now? How many times did Lady cry that day—”

“Come here, Lena. You don’t want to come?”

Lena, who ran away from Emma to the corner, was soon caught.

There couldn’t be a fight between Lena, the youngest of the maids, and Emma, the eldest.

Eventually, Lena left the room as if she was being kicked out.

‘Entering the Imperial Palace. I didn’t know you had such vain expectations.’ 

The maid was like her sibling with cute smiles, but Emma opened her mouth carefully.

“Don’t mind what Lena said, Lady.”

“No. I laughed because of Lena.”

“I really didn’t know this would happen.”

“I know.”

Adrienne, who put down her pen, handed over the letter to Emma.

Everything would be different once that letter reached Thesar.

‘Adrienne de Thesar—’

She never imagined that she would one day get the name she so longed for. At the moment when she thought she really didn’t know about the world, Reid’s question suddenly crossed Adrienne’s mind.

‘Do you still like Cyril?’