Chapter 137. Preparation, Part XXII

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

Maribel took a sip of tea and then went on.

"The Eileen Theater is the best place for high-ranking people to have private meetings or secret meetings. When many people don't want to be caught in a meeting with someone, they use the opera as an excuse to have a private meeting with them."

"They are like me of not long ago, right?"

"Yes, they are. It is the Eileen Theater, the birthplace of the information that the Marquis was wondering about. The grand chamberlain who rarely came to the theater, and the Duke of Martin, who just returned from Bertino, had a secret meeting here."

"The fact that the Duke of Martin met Count Crisver as soon as he returned from Bertino... it must have been a discussion about the Crown Prince's position."

Maribel nodded.

"I heard that the Duke of Kiellini went all the way to Bertino and promised to support Prince Killian. But I was wondering if there was anything to the conversation with the Duke of Martin, knowing that Julietta was the reason he went to Bertino."

"You were wondering if the Duke of Martin knew about this."

"Yes. Until then, I had never imagined that there would be a variable like Prince Killian. I think the two made an appointment here to avoid the eyes of Duke Dudley. I overheard a very surprising story that day."

"A very surprising story?"

"It was a secret about Prince Killian's birth," Maribel said in a low voice to the Marquis, who looked at her in fear of what she was talking about.

"Do you remember, sir? Twenty-four years ago, Lady Irene Bertino, the younger sister of Empress Bertino, said she was going to marry her brother-in-law. She was only twelve years old at the time, but I still remember what happened. It was very noisy even in the northern countryside where I lived."

"I remember. No one understood how the Empress allowed it."

"That's right. The second Queen who came to Austern like that became pregnant a month later, along with Her Majesty. Her Majesty the Empress and Her Majesty the Queen would have been a real disaster for the family of Dudley since their seven-year-old first Prince, Francis, was almost considered the Crown Prince."

At that time, there was Francis, the first Prince from the first Queen, and Thean, the fourth Prince from the common woman who was taken as a concubine by the Emperor as a teenager. The second Prince, Aaron, and the third Prince, Bern, who were twins died not long after they were born. To the fourth Prince, the seat of the Crown Prince was hard because his mother's status was poor, and the first Prince was considered more likely to be the Crown Prince.

However, the Empress became pregnant three years after her first miscarriage, and even the second Queen became pregnant, too, so it was natural that the atmosphere between the Duke of Dudley and the first Queen was serious.

"The Empress became pregnant, but she had a stillbirth again, and the shock caused the second Queen to deliver His Highness a month early."

Robert recalled the time when the Imperial Castle was flipped over. Maribel nodded and agreed with him.

"Yes. Everyone expected the birth of the Prince of the main line of descent at that time, but the Empress had a stillbirth, especially since the dead child was a son, and the sorrow of the imperial family could not be measured.

"Fortunately, Her Majesty was brightened by Prince Killian, the son of the second Queen, and I was glad that she had recovered from her sorrow."

The Marquis, who had just debuted in social circles, remembered the appearance of the Empress holding Prince Killian in her arms, and the smile on her face during the Prince's first birthday party.

"I heard that Her Majesty almost raised His Highness because the second Queen was weak after giving birth to him."

"That's right. Everyone said it was fortunate that Her Majesty had quickly overcome the grief of losing her son."

Maribel remained silent for a moment, at the end of the words of the Marquis. Robert looked on suspiciously as she suddenly became quiet.

At last Maribel finished her silence and said, "Yes, that's what has been told externally, and it's what they believed."

"It's what they believed in? Are you saying there's something else?"

"Mr. Marquis, I had to think for a while after I learned about it: 'Do I need to close the Secret Eye of the theater for a while?'"

It is such a big secret that you decided to close the Secret Eye? Robert stared at her. However, Maribel only continued to say what she wanted to say, whether he wanted her to or not.

"I didn't want to know such a life-threatening secret, even if I was bent on collecting information. The only purpose of my gathering of information was to take a more advantageous position when arranging a meeting between the nobles and my actresses."

"Is that true? I can't believe at all."

The woman sitting in front of his eyes was the most ambitious woman ever. She must have been afraid for a while after learning the great secret, but she soon mulled over how to use it.

Maribel burst out laughing loudly at the snort of Marquis Anais. "My God, you think too highly of me. No, sir. No matter how long I've lived my life on the rope, my liver hasn't come out of my stomach enough to challenge the imperial family."

"But didn't you decide to take out your liver in the end?" Recalling the time when he met Prince Killian this time, the Marquis made grimaced.

"I was really trying to get that thing out of my head. But a while later, Prince Killian came to see me. He wanted to ask me about Julietta's whereabouts."

Maribel was surprised and terrified by the unexpected combination of Killian and Julietta that day, and felt great joy as she found a way out of the maze.

Robert was quickly tired of the roundabout conversation without getting to the main subject.

"Yes, let's say so. What the hell is that big secret?"

Maribel thought, 'I will give him a lot of advice from now on. I see the Marquis showing his emotions as they are, not like old aristocrats with political attitudes. It will be the Marquis who will be the windbreaker beside Julietta, who will eventually become the Empress.'

Deep down, she thought Prince Killian would finish off the Duke of Kiellini. There was no predator in the jungle who kept a threat to him alive.

"The secret I learned that day was that Prince Killian was the son of the Empress."

Robert got angry at Maribel's appearance, nonchalantly drinking tea after speaking scary words as if she had never said such a thing.

"What kind of delusion did you have? Don't even talk nonsense."

"Isn't that weird? Though there is no Prince of the main line of descent, there are sons of the first Queen and the second Queen. They are excellent in appearance, even in personality. But don't you think it's strange that His Majesty didn't decide on the Crown Prince until his sons grow up? Why did His Majesty incite the fight for the throne between Francis and Killian? I really didn't understand why he has tolerated the fighting, as the nobles have divided in groups.

"That's why Prince Killian said there was no will to be the next Emperor, so His Majesty has left the seat of the Crown Prince vacant until now. His Majesty's love for Killian is so famous."

"It doesn't make sense that he has left the most important successor's seat vacant until now because of a Prince who doesn't like the seat, even if his favoritism toward his son is great. His Majesty is still in a state of good health, but the absence of a designated successor is as disturbing as a candle in the wind. If this goes wrong with His Majesty, this Empire will be thrown into great chaos."

It was certainly strange. The nobles also talked about not knowing the intentions of the Emperor whenever they got together.

"He might not have appointed the Prince of the hated Dudley's blood as the Crown Prince since he has a Prince of the main line of descent."

Emperor Claudio's love for the Empress was famous. Rumors spread to every corner of the capital that they could not even see the emperor's face after meeting the Empress and falling in love with her, even though he had married Lady Dudley earlier and had a Prince, and had other concubines.