My Sweet Deceiver - Chapter 64

Late at night, Tehez brought out the wine. Due to the advice of the royal physician, she had kept away from it for a while.

 

But she couldn’t stand it today, so she pulled out one of the wines lined up side by side.

 

It was a rich wine she took out whenever she wanted to be deeply immersed.

 

She poured the wine slowly.

 

She then held the wine glass up to the light.

 

The wine in the glass slithered, obscuring her vision.

 

The opaque liquid did not allow the landscape on the other side to be projected.

 

She put the brick-coloured wine in her mouth.

 

A few days ago, Tehez had not been able to sleep through her since she went to the Marquis.

 

She slowly set her glass down, recalling the days before the unforgettable visit to the Marquis’ mansion.

 

Tehez hoped that Marquis, who had come to her senses, might apologize.

 

And when that moment would come, she had been thinking about what to do for months.

 

However, when she met Marquis, those expectations and worries disappeared at once.

 

Maybe it was wrong to expect that the Marquis might have changed due to the raid.

 

It was because the Marquis hadn’t changed to the point where she didn’t even have to worry.

 

The Marquis was no different from before he was attacked and lost his mind.

 

Rather, he became more aggressive. With an eye patch over one of his eyes, he sat upright on the bed.

 

He had been bedridden for several months, lost weight and looked years old, but his strength had not diminished.

 

The Marquis said before she could greet him.

 

“Do you know, Tehez? Who is the man behind this?”

 

“…No, I do not know.”

 

The end of Tehez’s words trembled a little. She felt like he would find out that her answer was a lie. It seemed that the Marquis would be able to detect her lies.

 

But the Marquis screamed at her impatiently when she answered. He reprimanded her with a hoarse voice.

 

“You don’t know?! Stupid! Did I teach you that? Shouldn’t you find out who it is and get revenge?”

 

Tehez apologized to him without even raising her head properly.

 

“I’m really sorry.”

 

“I have to punish the person! How dare he scar my face? What the hell have you been doing for months? A stupid girl that can’t even help.”

 

The Marquis spat out words that disparaged Tehez without hesitation.

 

“…”

 

She quietly shut her mouth. Because she knew that further words were useless.

 

The Marquis swore to himself with a huff.

 

Tehez did not tell the Marquis even though she knew the culprit.

 

She was also to blame Gisele Lemac for having settled the case so that there was no evidence left of her, and it was not the right time for her to bring it up again and imprison Fabrice.

 

This was because several months had already passed since the incident.

 

Although the Second Prince was involved, it was impossible for the Marquis to re-publicize what had already been buried.

 

On the contrary, the possibility of falling out in the eyes of the King, who cared for Fabrice, seemed high.

 

Didn’t the King, who was once rumoured to be away from Fabrice, hug Fabrice as soon as he returned to the palace?

 

It was a part that clearly showed that the King still had affection for the Second Prince.

 

Tehez thought it would have a greater ripple effect than putting the Second Prince on the other side of the plan she was preparing.

 

A series of thought processes led her to conclude that she would not tell the culprit to Marquis.

 

If she mentioned who the culprit was, the Marquis would order her to take revenge, and Tehez would have no confidence to disobey his order.

 

“I’m sorry. We failed to find the culprit because no trace was left.”

 

To Tehez, who lowered her head and recited calmly, the Marquis answered sharply as if a knife had been planted at the tip of his tongue.

 

“Pitiful and pathetic. A child like you can’t live up to this father’s expectations.”

 

“I’m sorry… this won’t happen in future.”

 

“How does the future matter? You haven’t succeeded in anything, yet I’m supposed to see and believe in you?”

 

The Marquis sighed.

 

The Marquis looked at Tehez with that kind of gaze, which he genuinely disapproved of.

 

Tehez replied in her calm voice.

 

“To be able to believe-”

 

“Don’t talk back.”

 

At the Marquis’ words, Tehez shut her mouth.

 

The Marquis did not like it when she talked back.

 

Only with his permission could Tehez speak and move.

 

The Marquis, who had a high fever, jumped up and tried to slap Tehez, but he fell horribly, perhaps because he lost all his leg muscles.

 

“Marquis, are you okay?”

 

“Stop making noise and lift me up.”

 

With a grunt, he returned to his original state.

 

It seemed that he was beyond his strength as he continued to scream and even fall, the Marquis looking visibly tired.

 

“If you have nothing more to say, I’ll leave.”

 

Tehez closed the door, stepped out and let out a big sigh.

 

Her heart was beating fast.

 

It was all the first time.

 

The fact that she voluntarily left the Marquis’ room before he ordered her to leave.

 

She even lied to the Marquis, saying she didn’t know who the culprit was.

 

After that day, she sensed that, apart from the unchanging demeanour of the Marquis, there had been some change in her mindset.

 

Let’s not obsess anymore.

 

About bloodlines, about her father and family.

 

Ask for forgiveness, and throw away the illusion that you can be forgiven.

 

Uninvited memories popped up and haunted her.

 

Then an uninvited guest visited her…

 

The door opened slowly.

 

Dennis was standing.

 

Tehez was very glad that he had come at this moment. She couldn’t remember the last time she was hurt by him.

 

Tehez strode toward him.

 

“What are you doing-”

 

He hugged Tehez.

 

His arms were warm.

 

Yes, she had this man. This man was enough to be her family.

 

“Because the lights were on. And it looks like it would be a lonely night to sleep alone.”

 

“…”

 

Tears welled up, and she buried her face in his chest.

 

She had the illusion that Dennis knew all about her sadness that she couldn’t tell.

 

“Are you saying that the Prince was feeling lonely?”

 

Hearing Tehez’s words, he smiled and patted her head.

 

“Yes.”

 

* * *

 

Elliot touched his eyebrows and habitually touched the whiskey glass.

 

A young and pretty woman gently caressed his shoulders and back.

 

But his frown didn’t seem to straighten.

 

He was in a bad mood because his plan to rest until spring in the warm south had gone awry.

 

Besides, his return to the palace was not a good thing but a bad thing.

 

There was no way his mood could easily be relieved by anything.

 

The person sitting in front of him and having a private conversation was Philippe, the capital’s defence commander, Elliot’s old friend.

 

Philippe was one of the few people with whom Elliot was comfortable speaking.

 

After calling the guest and not saying anything, Philippe asked the courtier for hot tea.

 

He could not drink like Elliot because he had a day job.

 

Just sipping tea like that for tens of minutes. In the end, Philippe raised the white flag first.

 

“Can I just leave, Your Majesty?”

 

“Where? Is it not your duty to protect me?”

 

“Yes. Of course, but my job is not to sit down and have tea with Your Majesty.”

 

“…I asking you to listen to me.”

 

Elliot was whining.

 

“Tell me.”

 

“Why are they protesting? Why?”

 

That was it, after all.

 

Elliot even felt betrayed by the protesters.

 

In the end, he thought, he would be relieved if he caught the protesters, cut them to pieces, and killed them.

 

He considered that he had done a great job as a king.

 

No, wasn’t he pretty remarkable?

 

Elliot, feverish, made a big fuss.

 

“There was no tyranny, war, or great famine during my reign, right? But why are they talking nonsense about dissolving the royal family and establishing a republic?”

 

Of course, that evaluation was a fairly generous one of his egotism.

 

Philippe scratched his forehead as if troubled by Elliot’s words.

 

“Calm down, Your Majesty.”

 

After Philippe stopped him, Elliot drank in continuously and sighed. Then he passed by Philippe and said.

 

“I’m planning to announce that I will appoint Fabrice as the Crown Prince next week or so.”

 

“Are you talking about the Second Prince?”

 

“Yes, I took too long.”

 

“Then, what do you plan to do with the power of the First Prince?”

 

Elliott said indifferently.

 

“What do you mean? I have no choice but to push it. I didn’t want to do this either.”

 

Elliot opened his mouth as if to add something, then closed his mouth again.

 

Philippe asked cautiously.

 

“Why do you not like the First Prince to be the King?”

 

“Do I hate him?”

 

“I am curious.”

 

Philippe looked at Elliot with genuine curiosity.

 

Elliot then glanced at the woman standing behind him, which meant leaving her seat.

 

There were only Elliot and Philippe in the tea room.

 

Elliot stared into the air and pulled out his feelings hidden deep inside.

 

“That guy looks exactly like Charlize. His appearance, personality, and even his habits. Half of his blood is mine, but he seems to have been hers alone. That fact is so disgusting that I hate breathing in the same room as him. What’s more, those eyes that resembled Charlize’s are vividly green. Whenever that eye looks straight at me, it always seems to ask me. “You’ve committed a big crime, haven’t you?” When I look at the eyes, I really want to dig them out. “

 

“…”

 

“I am not guilty of anything. Don’t you think so?”

 

At Elliot’s request for consent, Philippe just swallowed. It was a matter that could not be easily agreed upon.

 

“That woman, she must have been engaged with a man other than me.”

 

Elliot said in a confident voice.

 

Philippe asked Elliot again in a bewildered voice when he heard it for the first time.

 

“Your Highness… Have you ever seen it?”

 

But Elliott proudly hit the table and shouted.

 

“Never seen it. But isn’t there such a thing as resemblance? Or how am I supposed to accept the fact that he doesn’t look like me, Philippe?”

 

“…”

 

Philippe knew that Elliot’s claims were nonsense.

 

Wasn’t Elliot the one who fell in love at first sight with Queen Charlize, who was serving in the temple, planted seeds in her and made her sit as Queen?

 

Philippe also remembered clearly how long the process had been.

 

No other arrogant person in this country other than the King could treat a saint so carelessly.

 

After that, the fact that her life as a saint was cut off was also an achievement of Elliot.

 

Elliot passed the glass and continued.

 

“Furthermore… It was because I was unnecessarily smart and took over the throne. I was born fifth and earned this position. I hate b**t**ds who act like the throne is their right just because they were born first.”

 

Philippe was surprised inwardly by Elliot’s cold words, which he could not think of as his own child.

 

However, Philippe sipped the cooled teacup in order not to show his surprised expression.

 

“Is being born first a reason for him to sit on the throne? Why should he? Huh? Philippe, do you think he should be the King? Besides, that b**t**d is not the kind of person I would thank for taking the throne after me. I’d rather slit his throat and ascend the throne alone.”

 

It was a terrible hate that Philippe couldn’t believe Elliot was describing his own child.

 

“…Is that why you want to avoid him?”

 

“It is not avoiding. I just hate him. Also, isn’t it natural for a father to pay more attention to a child who looks like me and wants to give him anything he asks for?”

 

Elliott said, arguing against Philippe as if it were a matter of course.

 

Philippe also had several children, but he did not favour one. To Philippe, they were all precious children.

 

So he couldn’t understand Elliot’s feeling that he favoured only children who resembled him.

 

“Fabrice, that guy is salty too. Poor kid. After losing her mother at a young age and wandering around, did he not also lose his maternal grandfather, to whom he had attached his heart? It’s because he’s overshadowed by his older brother. He’s not an idiot. He’s definitely a kid who can easily do it if given a chance. I think that opportunities should be given equally to both players.”

 

“…”

 

Philippe didn’t know what to say.

 

He had expected it to be so, but it was because it was the first time he had heard of Elliot’s feelings in detail.

 

Although it seems like a valid argument at first glance…

 

Like Fabrice, Dennis is his soon, too.

 

Elliot’s words were difficult for Philippe to understand.

 

While Philippe was listening to Elliot’s chatter, the chief entered and spoke urgently.

 

“Your Highness, the leader of the protest has been arrested.”

 

(To be continued in the next episode)