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Duke Spelman might even be waiting for it.
"There's nothing that can't be solved with money! I'll have Spelman take care of it. Wouldn't that solve it?"
The Emperor sniffled.
"Don't be like that, and come play with me. If you forget everything, it becomes nothing."
The Emperor grabbed Cerden's wrist tightly. The woman who had been pushed away clung to him again.
Even breathing was an ordeal.
"There are so many fun things in the world! Heung."
Cerden stared at the Emperor with eyes full of disgust. He was cursed just for being born with that bloodline.
"...Are you saying to let Spelman handle it?"
"Of course, of course. A father should take care of his son's problems! Isn't Augustine still a child?"
Are all the children dead?
Cerden swallowed a sneer.
"Yes, then I will take it as permission and do so."
Cerden pushed the woman away once more. Then he escaped from that filthy den and slammed the door shut.
The chief attendant, who had followed him out with a flustered expression, tilted his head.
"Did you hear that just now?"
"Yes, yes! I am deeply grateful, I am sorry, I deserve to die, Your Highness!"
"You heard the Emperor's will, so you are my witness. He told me to hold Spelman accountable for this crime."
"Yes, this servant heard it as well."
The chief attendant bowed deeply.
Cerden gestured to Mortega. It wasn't that he hadn't anticipated a situation like this. He had prepared the documents in advance.
"Get the Emperor's seal on this, skillfully. You can do this much, right?"
"Yes, Your Highness. I will do so!"
The chief attendant replied in a trembling voice. Cerden left the Emperor's palace. The shadow of the imperial palace seemed to weigh him down.
He was going back and forth between heaven and hell several times a day.
He'd rather be on the battlefield.
But he still had Augustine left.
Damn it, really...
Cerden ran a hand over his face, full of emotion. His face was red.
Cerden gave Mortega an order.
"You stay here and bring the documents."
"Yes, Your Highness."
He wanted to see Evelyn.
He didn't know how many times he had repeated that thought all day.
Whenever he felt suffocated, like now... whenever the world felt so overwhelming that he impiously thought it would be better to die, he thought of Evelyn.
Ridiculously so.
* * *
Augustine sat on the windowsill with a cold face.
'It's high.'
Crown Prince's knights were guarding the door. The guards of this castle were all in Spelman's hands, so they were probably the ones who had rolled around in the war.
'Tsk.'
Cerden was constantly doing useless things. As long as Duke Spelman was acting as the Emperor's pimp, Augustine was in no danger.
He's getting out of here today.
Wasn't the reason he dealt with the director in the first place for his father's sake?
"Ah, why does that idiot keep doing annoying things?"
Augustine frowned.
He was dumbfounded when he found out that Evelyn had been captured in Veronica's place.
He wondered how stupid she had to be to do that. Augustine licked his lips with his tongue.
But this proved something. That Duke Spelman didn't have that many great cards up his sleeve.
"You were so loud."
Augustine smiled bitterly.
As he was dangling his feet, the door opened without a word. Augustine stared at the two people entering.
Cerden and Duke Spelman.
"Father."
Augustine made eye contact and lightly bowed to Cerden.
"I greet Your Highness, the Crown Prince."
Augustine got off the windowsill and leisurely went to sit on a chair. His unique swaggering gait and arrogance were still the same.
There was no sign that he had been imprisoned.
"Please, sit down, both of you."
Augustine smiled brightly.
Cerden and Duke Spelman ignored Augustine and started talking.
"Is it true that someone saw my son pushing the director?"
"That's right, Duke. There are two witnesses, and there's also a victim, so you can't escape the crime."
Until then, Augustine was smiling. He was full of confidence that nothing would happen no matter how much Cerden babbled.
Duke Spelman was here, and no one could harm him. Augustine hummed a tune while dangling his feet.
"Is that really true?"
"How could that be? Why would I hurt the director? I was just holding the director, who was drunk and about to fall. It seems people misunderstood."
"They testified that they saw you pushing him exactly. The descriptions of the actions towards the young master matched between the two people."
"Oh dear."
Duke Spelman sighed softly. Duke Spelman looked back and forth between Cerden and Augustine.
Cerden wouldn't back down.
He would try to latch onto anything. He heard that Cerden's knights were closing and searching the museum.
"Your Highness, the Crown Prince, I wonder if you are being swayed too much by the words of lowly people. Someone might be lying."
It meant to give up one thing. Either finish the investigation of the Natural History Museum, or release Augustine.
"I think that's probably the case. The director of the Natural History Museum is in that state, and all the criminals who would investigate the truth of the case are dead."
It meant that he would withdraw people from the Natural History Museum.
He had already obtained everything he could. Cerden was thinking of giving up the museum and getting Augustine.
And Duke Spelman understood that meaning as well.
Duke Spelman looked back at his foolish son. His son, who had been caught being stupid.
He shouldn't have been caught touching the director. He would claim that he did it for Spelman, but he knew it was just a way to vent his anger.
If he had to give something up, it was this.
Before what was buried in the basement of the museum was discovered.
Duke Spelman had finished all the calculations.
"Augustine is still young because he is not yet married. If he gets married, he will be able to do his part as a proper head of the family, but there is no suitable marriage partner."
Cerden's eyes narrowed at Duke Spelman's words.
"Since ancient times, the marriage arranged by the imperial family has been considered the best."
At those words, Cerden realized the Duke's intention.
This was the condition of the deal. Duke Spelman handed over Augustine's marriage, his future, to Cerden. With this, Augustine would be excluded from central politics.
The influence of the Duke Spelman family would be reduced.
"As a father, my wish is that it be a good family. It would be even better if it were the eldest daughter of a family that has built up a reputation for a long time in a distant province."
"It is everyone's wish to bring good people into the family."
"How about a honeymoon at the villa at the far end of the west, Your Highness? Of course, I will follow the will of the imperial family on this as well."
"I understand your intentions."
"I think it would be good to proceed quickly. How about a week?"
It meant that he wanted to take over the museum within that time.
Cerden confirmed that intention and nodded.
Augustine straightened his back at the two people's conversation.
The second daughter of Marquis Raymond was too different in background.
"Father, what is that...!"
"It will be a good opportunity for Augustine to clear his head."
In short, it was to break one of Augustine's political wings.
"Father!!!"
Augustine shouted in a shrill voice.
"We can't keep the groom-to-be tied up forever. And there needs to be compensation for this."
But no one was still listening to his story.
"Don't worry, Your Highness."
Cerden smiled coldly.
"It seems the servants were mistaken. I'll be on my way. Duke, take your son and go back. You need to hurry with the wedding preparations."
"Yes, Your Highness. I'll be waiting for your call."
Cerden left without looking back at Augustine.
"Father, what on earth are you talking about! Marquis Raymond and...!"
"Be quiet, Augustine. That's why I told you to be careful."
Duke Spelman said coldly. The moment he made eye contact with him, Augustine realized.
That it was a game he couldn't turn back.
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