My Sweet Deceiver - Chapter 82

Even at noon, the Marquis did not return.

 

Tehez, who woke up from a shallow sleep, waited impatiently for the news of the Marquis’ arrival. Then a maid came in and told her that the meal was ready.

 

“What about my brothers?”

 

“They are waiting at the restaurant.”

 

Tehez put on a cotton dress and a shawl and went to the restaurant. The weather in Lubern was already in the middle of winter, and she could not survive without thick clothes. It was the same indoors. Fireplaces were lit in every room to maintain the temperature. However, it was not possible to stop the cold from penetrating through the hallway window while moving.

 

As soon as Tehez entered the restaurant, she saw Richard’s face. His face looked rough as if he didn’t sleep properly. On the other hand, Max’s face was no different than usual, perhaps because he slept well last night. When he saw her coming in, Richard looked up and said in a friendly voice.

 

“Tehez. Did you sleep well?”

 

“Yes. Did you sleep well?”

 

“Yes. And you?”

 

“I’m a little…”

 

Max, who examined Tehez’s complexion, said in a grumbling voice.

 

“You’ve been like that since you were a kid. You can’t sleep if you have any worries. You still haven’t fixed that habit?”

 

“…Yes.”

 

“Get some rest. I can’t let you go.”

 

“I will.”

 

Tehez answered Max’s words cheerfully, knowing that those words were also from her anxiety.

 

“Before that, Tehez. I have to go to the palace soon. An order has been issued for everyone to go to the palace.”

 

“Now?”

 

At Richard’s words, Tehez asked back in a surprised voice.

 

It would be dangerous on the way. There may be remnants of the rebels.

 

“Yes. I don’t know what’s going on, but they all contacted me to reach the palace. So I have to go to the palace soon…”

 

Richard said to Tehez with a slight shame.

 

He urged Tehez to leave the palace when something dangerous happened, but it did not make sense for him to return to that dangerous place himself.

 

Then Max said to Thehez.

 

“I also thought it was dangerous, so I asked if he should not go, but they said he had to enter the palace unless even a legendary monster appeared.”

 

There was a hint of absurdity in Max’s words.

 

“…A monster?”

 

“Okay! It’s not like anything will happen if the palace calls you and you don’t go! I don’t know what your life will be like! Tehez, do you think it is appropriate for your brother to go to the palace right now?”

 

Max grabbed the cutlery and stabbed it somewhere. Perhaps it was a rebuke to everyone who worked in the palace. It seemed that Richard’s obsession with entering the palace seemed incomprehensible to him, who had lived his life as he pleased.

 

“What? Oh… no. Because it’s dangerous…”

 

Tehez shook her head unknowingly at Max’s words. In fact, when it comes to obsession with work, she would have been a step ahead of Richard. There was nothing she could do now, so she kept quiet like this, but originally, it didn’t suit her temper.

 

‘Should I go down to the estate, or should I go back to the palace, or should I stay here?’

 

Tehez was troubled.

 

‘Wouldn’t it be better to look at the circumstances of the palace?’

 

At that time, Richard looked at her and said, as if he had even noticed Tehez’s thoughts.

 

“Tehez. Go down to the estate for a while. My father and I are taking care of the capital work.”

 

Tehez raised her head. Max spoke out when she seemed to refuse.

 

“Yes. Listen to your brother. It bothers me when you are here for no reason.”

 

“Then what about Max?”

 

Max looked at Tehez with his eyes wide open.

 

“Me? What did I do? I’m not here tomorrow. I don’t know if the ferry will float, but I’ll go to the port.”

 

As he said so, Max folded his arms. Tehez asked Max with a face full of questions.

 

“…Are you not going down to the estate?”

 

“What am I going to do there? I feel awkward in Lubern’s air now. I want to leave immediately.”

 

Somehow, Tehez pouted a little at Max’s firm words. Richard said to Tehez with a smile.

 

“Don’t worry, Max promised me not to go out until the situation calms down.”

 

“Ah! Why did you say that?”

 

Max shouted at Richard. Richard could only smile.

 

“Tehez. I bought a ticket for the train leaving in three hours. Get on it and get off at the station, and the carriage will be ready. Go straight to the estate. I thought about it last night, but I think it would be best for you to stay away for a while. I will contact you when the capital situation is sorted out.”

 

Tehez thought in her head for a moment.

 

If everyone stays in the capital…

 

“Wouldn’t I rather stay in Lubern, too? I’m sure I know more about the palace than anyone else.”

 

But Richard shook his head at Tehez’s words.

 

“Then what if you get caught by the rebels? They say they’re looking for you with lights in their eyes right now.”

 

“Yes. You don’t have to be stubborn and go down. I have a headache just thinking about the rebels, and I have to worry about you.”

 

“…”

 

Tehez organized her thoughts with her eyes fixed on the teacup for a moment.

 

Richard and Max were right. If she was captured by the rebels, it will not be her problem only.

 

She would be a nuisance to the Prince in the palace and to the family here.

 

Richard and Max waited patiently for Tehez to organize her thoughts.

 

How long has it been like that?

 

Tehez said in a slightly softened voice. She had accepted Richard and Max’s opinions.

 

“All right, brothers. I’ll go down. It would be nice if I could see Father before that…”

 

“I don’t know when Father will be able to leave the palace. If there is anything you would like to ask for, please tell me.”

 

Tehez shook her head. She just wanted to see him because she wanted to know what the situation was like at the palace. Also, she was wondering if the Prince was doing well.

 

Other than that, there was nothing to ask or say to the Marquis. She hadn’t met Marquis Ingeliger since the last meeting in the tea room.

 

Sometimes the Marquis sent her letters asking for reconciliation, asking her to eat together or have tea. But Tehez burned them all. She would have been the first to run to him when the Marquis called her if she knew the situation was to change drastically.

 

When she put down all her expectations and resentments for her father, peace came to her heart. Until now, it was overshadowed by fear.

 

“Then would you like to go up first? Because you’ll have to pack. No. I don’t think you need to pack separately. There will be everything there.”

 

“Yes. I think I just need to change.”

 

“Yes, then. Come down when you’re ready. I have to go to the palace soon, so Max will take you there.”

 

“Okay, brother.”

 

As Tehez rose from her seat to say goodbye, Richard also faced her and gave her a light hug.

 

“Take care and stay healthy.”

 

“Yes. You too, my brother. Don’t get hurt, don’t get sick.”

 

“Sure.”

 

When Tehez went up to her room and looked around her, she didn’t have to dress up as Richard said. She fled the palace with the bare minimum, and there was nothing left to pack in the Marquis’ room where she stayed. In addition, she didn’t have to take anything she needed because she could buy it at any time.

 

It was a four-day train ride from the capital to the estate.

 

It was going to be a long ride, so she would have to prepare herself with thick clothes.

 

Tehez went to the dressing room and examined the remaining clothes. The only clothes hanging in the closet were the dresses she wore as a child, so they were the designs she no longer wore. Tehez hesitated, and the maids came in and showed them some dresses.

 

“It’s old, but it’ll be warm.”

 

“This is…”

 

It was the dress her mother used to wear when she was alive. It seemed that they still kept it without throwing it away. Tehez smoothed the hem of the slightly worn dress.

 

“We’ve been taking care of it, so it won’t be bad to wear.”

 

“I see. Then help me put it on.”

 

When she said so, the maids happily dressed her in her mother’s dress. Tehez felt more and more strange. As soon as she came of age, her mother, who married the Marquis, gave birth to three children at an early age. Tehez’s guess was that in just a few years she would be the same age as her mother when she gave birth to her. Tehez was lost in thought.

 

“It’s done.”

 

Tehez came to her senses at the maid’s words, and when she looked in the mirror, her mother, whom she had seen as a child, was in the mirror. Tehez was stunned. Her memories of her mother were fading. The maids thought the same as her, and each praised her.

 

“Looking at it like this, the Princess man looks like the late Marchioness.”

 

“I know! It’s true that blood can’t be deceived!”

 

Tehez turned away from the mirror, feeling a little choked up. There was no time for sentimentality.

 

“Cover my face with a muffler.”

 

Then the maids covered her whole face with only her eyes out of woollen mufflers to prevent her face from being exposed.

 

“Looking like this, you look like a lady who gets cold a lot.”

 

“No one can guess it’s the Princess!”

 

She really looked that way even in the mirror. No one would think she was the Princess of this country, who wrapped her face in an old dress with a muffler.

 

Tehez looked around the audience. She will go down alone and say goodbye soon, but she wanted to say goodbye in advance. She was used to the faces. They were the users of the Ingeliger mansion she had been with since childhood. The rebels would not hurt the common people, but she didn’t want to leave any regret. No one knew when and what will happen next.

 

Even she hadn’t expected to be separated like this, unable to even say goodbye to Dennis. She didn’t know when she would see him again once she went down to the estate.

 

So, she wanted to make sure that no regrets or lingering feelings were left behind on her.

 

“Everyone stay safe and healthy. I will be waiting for the day we will meet again.”

 

“Princess!”

 

When she said that, the maids were looking at her with moved faces. A teary-eyed woman had already taken out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from her eyes.

 

“We will be praying earnestly for the Princess to be healthy and well!”

 

“Thank you.”

 

At that moment, Max shouted outside the room.

 

“Come out now! Time to depart!”

 

(To be continued in the next episode)

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