I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess – Chapter 214

When Albrecht entered the Imperial Palace, the two people had already finished their conversation and scattered to their respective places.

However, he couldn’t just stand still, so he immediately sought out Bartheus.

Sitting alone in the audience chamber, Bartheus welcomed Albrecht with an unprecedented smile as he arrived.

“Your Majesty, I hear you were just with the Empress.”

“Indeed. Is there something wrong?”

Of course, nothing was wrong.

Albrecht had never really cared about the two meeting.

It was just that Bartheus had distanced himself from his family out of guilt; he hadn’t been acting on Albrecht’s instructions.

Thus, Bartheus’s reaction was, in a way, to be expected.

But that did not diminish Albrecht’s suspicions.

“No, I just thought it was strange. I wondered what could possibly have gotten a man who keeps his distance from the Empress so close.”

“Thanks to whom I’ve kept my distance from my wife for so long… but today, I simply couldn’t ignore how particularly sad she seemed.”

Albrecht’s eyes sharpened at Bartheus’s flippant excuse.

What a foolish response. If that were the case, then surely he should have been compelled to approach her at least once in the last twenty years due to the guilt reflected in her eyes. Why was today any different?

‘What a pathetic excuse, it barely raises any suspicion.’

Yet, there was something so unlike him in that excuse that Albrecht felt an odd sense of dissonance.

Bartheus was quite the smooth talker. Surely, he could have crafted a more plausible reason.

No, at the very least, if he were truly sincere about proving his innocence to Albrecht, that’s what he should have done.

But he didn’t.

That meant what he said might very well be the plain truth.

Or perhaps he was so flustered that he couldn’t think of a proper excuse. Yet, that didn’t seem like Bartheus Helbenior at all.

“…So, did you provide her with adequate comfort?”

“I did just enough. Now, what brings you all the way to the Imperial Palace today?”

Even though he surely knew Albrecht’s intent, Bartheus plainly inquired.

Feeling cheeky, Albrecht decided to reveal the purpose of his visit.

“I heard some unusual news while I was trying to reach you.”

“I see. Are you suspecting that I had a secret meeting with my wife?”

“Indeed. After all, she’s the only one who can truly understand your situation.”

Albrecht didn’t suspect Beatria for her powers or authority.

He simply saw her blind trust and dedication to Bartheus as greater than anyone else’s.

If she were to catch wind of this situation, surely she would try to lend a hand in some form.

“I surrender to your paranoia completely. Should I promise not to meet with my wife henceforth?”

“That promise would be meaningless. If you’ve already made arrangements with the Empress, it would be ineffective.”

He merely let the words slip as a last test, but Bartheus’s reaction was quite apathetic.

When Albrecht insisted that if he was truly suspicious, he would dig through his memories to prove his innocence, Albrecht was the one who became flustered and frowned.

‘Could it truly be innocent?’

No matter how resistant the royal bloodline was to magic, Albrecht’s skills surpassed that.

Given the right conditions, rummaging through memories would be easy, no matter how great Bartheus was.

Yet, if he displayed such strong confidence, it couldn’t be entirely dismissed that he might really be innocent.

“Anyway, since you said it’s nothing, I’ll be taking my leave now. Please refrain from doing anything that might provoke my ire in the future.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. I won’t stray far.”

“Yes.”

Albrecht waved exaggeratedly like an actor in a play as he exited the audience chamber.

“Shepard.”

“Yes, Master.”

Then he took a few more steps and met with Shepard, who was standing by a pillar in the hallway, giving one command.

“Tell the men to keep an eye on the Empress. If anything suspicious occurs, inform me immediately.”

“Then you have no intention of punishing the current Emperor at all?”

“That’d just be asking for trouble. He wasn’t the type to succumb to pain anyway. Ideally, I’d like to kill one of them and spill the truth afterward, but a cornered rat bites the cat.”

Bartheus was unable to go against him simply due to the presence of hostages.

If even one of them were lost, Albrecht would be prepared to risk everything and confront him head-on.

That would be the worst-case scenario for Albrecht.

“Are you heading straight back to the castle?”

“No, I’ll take a moment to look around the palace. After all, I told them I was here to pay my respects to the Empress, so I ought to at least see her.”

It would be best if he could gauge her true intentions while he was at it.

With the high heels clacking on the floor, he headed straight to find Beatria.

Completely unaware of the meaning behind the red banners he’d seen while entering the palace.

* * * * * * *

That night, a letter arrived at the Robeheim Family.

Neither knowing where it came from nor who sent it, Yulken could vaguely guess the source of the letter.

“Honey, could this be…?”

“Well, we should go inside and check it out.”

As Helene, who was nearby, carefully asked while recalling what she had heard from Edgar earlier, Yulken wrapped his arms around her shoulder and led her to the room.

If this was indeed from the person they thought, it mustn’t be revealed to anyone.

Click.

Yulken immediately fiddled with the music box decoration on the table.

With that, a sound indicating something was operating echoed as a sky-blue wave spread outwards, filling the room.

It was a simple magical device capable of activating soundproofing magic.

“Could it really be as that child said?”

“We have no choice but to trust it.”

Recalling what Edgar had hinted at before heading to Hildak, the couple nodded at each other.

Then, they gently tore open the entrance to the tightly sealed letter.

In their haste, they didn’t even bother to find a knife or scissors.

Screech.

The letter envelope let out a soft wail as its contents revealed themselves.

There weren’t many words written on the pure white paper.

But what stood out more than the content was the fluid handwriting.

“Ah…”

Although he hadn’t seen it in a while, Yulken recognized that handwriting quite well.

Naturally, as he had occasionally taken out letters penned by his two friends when their faces came to mind.

“Why do you look like that, dear?”

“It seems it’s from Beatria.”

“Really?”

Helene’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected reply while she tried to find some mark to identify the sender.

Perhaps this letter was deliberately sent to avoid revealing the sender when caught.

It might have just been a hope that an old friend would remember the handwriting.

“She still wraps things up rather clumsily. She always had that kind of personality.”

But if she sent it with that kind of thinking, she would have had to hide the handwriting as well.

In a way, this was a testament to Beatria’s somewhat rough-and-tumble character showing through.

As Yulken let out a light chuckle and shook his head, Helene poked him in the side.

“Come on, if I were you, I might be a bit jealous if I thought you knew another woman well in front of me.”

“My apologies. Speaking of which, you were just as jealous as Ariel.”

Though they had improved a bit since their marriage, Helene had once been quite intolerant of Yulken’s wandering eyes.

Ariel’s excessive possessiveness over Edgar might have reflected her personality too.

“I’m not that jealous…”

Despite her protests, it seemed she couldn’t quite convince herself.

In truth, she was aware of it but felt somewhat embarrassed to admit it in front of her husband.

Even if she had long crossed forty, women always want to appear composed and mature in front of their loved ones.

“Ah, ahem. In any case, let’s read the letter. There’s no time for jokes right now!”

“Always shuffling the topic away… Ugh!?”

This time, a sudden shock to his thigh made Yulken swallow his words.

Only Helene could pinch his solid thigh, honed on the battlefield, in such a spicy manner.

“If you do that again, I won’t let it slide!”

“I’ll, I’ll remember!”

With a cat-like glare, Helene issued her final warning, and Yulken had no choice but to back down.

Though he had just passed the title to his daughter, he was once a figure feared as the ruler of the North.

Perhaps in any family, if the master is a tender man, the true power eventually shifts to the mistress.

Still, what mattered now wasn’t whether she had changed; it was the content contained in the letter.

Thus, returning to the essence of the matter, the two people sitting side by side on the bed began to read the text penned on the letter.

Word by word, they did so with utmost caution, hoping not to miss a single detail.

『It’s been a while since I wrote. Thank you for the gift you sent recently. It was surprising, but mostly, it brought me joy. Because of you, I was able to converse with my husband after a long time. He was very pleased as well. Thank you for your thoughtfulness. – From Beatria -』

Reading just the content, it seemed like a letter of gratitude for the gift Yulken had sent.

However, unlike before, Yulken realized he hadn’t sent Beatria a gift recently.

That meant this letter carried a different significance.

“…It seems that friend successfully persuaded Bartheus. It appears her feelings have reached Beatria too.”

“Indeed. We won’t know the details until Edgar returns, but…”

“Before that, we need to finish what we have to do. We must go meet Minette and Kelrag.”

It was quite late at night, but that only meant they needed to resolve things sooner.

Yulken advised Helene that she must be tired and to rest first, yet she was not the type who could easily sleep in such situations.

“I’ll go too. The children are trying their best; I can’t just sit comfortably in a corner.”

“I expected you would. Make sure to put on some clothes; it might be cold.”

Yulken draped a thin coat he had on a chair over her shoulders, even fastening the buttons for her.

As Helene felt a subtle tremble in his touch, she smiled softly.

“Hehe, so even the great Yulken Robeheim has moments of nervousness?”

“It’s not that kind of tremble. It’s just a tremble filled with joy.”

“Joy, is it?”

“How could I not be joyful? I have the opportunity to eradicate the evildoers plaguing this nation and save my friend.”

Indeed. It was a fitting response.

Helene gently held his hand that was fastening the buttons, encouraging him that they would surely succeed.

She sincerely hoped that everything would resolve smoothly. That one day soon, her beloved husband would again share laughter and wine with his friends.