I Married the Mad Duke Who Killed My Husband - Chapter 16.2
“After all, the ones who can assist the Emperor most closely in the palace are the princes. For an assassination that could happen at any time, it’s best to warn that guy to be cautious.”
“Oh…”
“And I’ll soon be summoned to the imperial palace to pay my respects. Being a Duke in name, they’ll probably give me a room to stay for a few days.”
“…If it’s to pay respects, I think it would be us, not just you.”
“You just stay put and do nothing. The Second Prince and I will take care of assisting the Emperor.”
As I pointed out information I hadn’t deliberately told him, he glared at me.
“Don’t even think about going outside the room assigned to you by the imperial palace until we return home.”
“Are you planning to confine your wife? It’s suffocating, you know.”
“It’s necessary in the imperial palace.”
This time, even pretending to be pitiful didn’t work. Tch.
“Since the imperial palace basically uses silver tableware, they won’t use poisons that can be detected by silver. I think it might be a poison that shows extreme toxicity when two different foods meet? How about preparing all the antidotes in advance?”
Of course, this isn’t my own idea, but information I vaguely remember from the original story.
In the original story, the Emperor didn’t lose his life, but he became bedridden until the Second Prince inherited the throne.
As a result, Cassion and his group, who had lost the support of the Emperor who had helped the Second Prince by making fair judgments without favoring anyone, struggled even more.
If there’s nothing wrong with the Emperor’s health, it seemed like it would be a bit more helpful for the things to come.
“Right. It would be good to prepare for the case where we can’t prevent the assassination. If it’s as you say, the types of poison are narrowed down, so it won’t be difficult to prepare all the antidotes.”
“Since we don’t know when it will happen, it would be good to prepare quickly.”
“I’ll write a letter to the Second Prince right away. I’ll also look into this incident separately and prepare…”
Knock knock-
‘Your Grace, a letter has arrived.’
“…I guess I won’t need to send a letter.”
The butler’s voice interrupted from outside the door. Usually, letters that arrive during the day are collected and delivered all at once the next morning. For a letter to arrive urgently at such an odd hour means it’s from the imperial palace.
He seemed to realize this too and got up from the bed to approach the door. I subtly raised my body and leaned my upper body against the bed’s headboard. I’m not sleepy, you know.
“As expected. It’s a letter directly from the Emperor. He expresses a desire to meet us as a couple in person.”
He roughly tore off the wax seal and returned while checking the contents. But as soon as he took his eyes off the letter and looked at me, he narrowed his eyes again.
“Asilia…”
“Let me see.”
Cutting off what he was obviously going to say about lying down again, I leaned over his shoulder as he sat next to me and looked at the letter. My hair, which had been messy from lying down, seemed to brush against his face.
“Hmm… There’s nothing special, it just says to come. And it’s tomorrow, no less.”
The fancy letter paper only contained a belated congratulation on our marriage and an invitation to see the much-talked-about couple—meaning us—face-to-face.
“Well, you haven’t seen His Majesty since receiving your Duke title, right? It’s been quite a while since we got married, so you could say this is rather a late letter. I guess they heard the rumors from the invitation meeting.”
I wonder if they’ve been quietly observing Cassion’s movements all this time? They gave him the Duke title, but they’re testing to see if he can maintain and endure the suddenly received title.
For example, in the original story, Cassion left the Duke’s mansion empty as he stayed in the neighborhood where the female lead lived after failing the assault, and he had almost no support base. Naturally, the imperial palace didn’t contact him to meet like this time.
“If we’re going tomorrow, we need to prepare our clothes right away! Let’s coordinate our dress code together.”
“…Sigh. Asilia…”
“I took the medicine. I’ll go to bed early today.”
Sensing an opportunity, I bounced off the bed, and he covered his face with his hands.
“And you can call me Asil as a nickname now, honey.”
Looking at him, who seemed quite displeased, I remembered the nickname he had called out when I fell off the chair and spoke. The sound of my name when he called it wasn’t bad.
“What?”
“We need to look more affectionate in the imperial palace. The Emperor must be suspicious of our relationship too.”
Of course, even if he suspects and finds out that we’re really in a contract marriage, it wouldn’t be much of a topic in the imperial palace where marriages for benefit are common. Still, it’s better to show that we’re close.
“…Ah, that.”
“What do you mean ‘that’? Let’s stay true to our original purpose.”
Cassion, who had looked flustered, suddenly made a sullen face and leaned his upper body back on the bed. Wasn’t it you who wanted to rest, not me?
“Stop rolling around and get up. We have a lot to prepare if we’re going to leave early tomorrow after going to bed early tonight.”
“I don’t think I have much to do.”
“What are you talking about? You have a lot to do too.”
I’m determined to show a look that anyone would see as ‘I’ve brightened up, I’m happy’. The Cassion that the Emperor saw must have been just a raw image of a mercenary obsessed with blood, so we need to show a change. I was burning with enthusiasm.
“We need to show how your complexion has changed after marriage. Tonight, let’s get a face pack together from my maid.”
