Chapter 374 Gant Me


    In the Imperial Pce at the Imperial Capital, a young, blue-eyed, blonde man entered the room alone, where someone was waiting for him. It was an older man who seemed to have resembled one another. "You summoned me, Father?" Just like any typical family, Prince Edward casually asked his father, the emperor of the Empire of Dixon, who was sitting on his seat in the emperor''s office.


    "You idiot! What do you think you are doing?" However, the emperor replied to him with displeasure in his tone. "Why did you suddenly want to annul your engagement with Christine Grise and choose a random noblewoman from the countryside instead?!" It had been an hour since the end of the urgent meeting with the families involved in the most recent incident at the academyst night. After hearing about their sides, the emperor then questioned his son about why he did such things. "Please don''t treat Edith like that, Father." Edward immediately defended Edith. "She is an incredible woman, and she is my salvation from my loneliness. She let me feel what freedom and happiness felt like." "It doesn''t matter who she is, but the fact that you publicly broke off your engagement with Christine and you even humiliated her in front of the whole student body. Doing that exactly means tarnishing the name of the Archduchy of Grise. Have you ever thought about the consequences of your actions?" "I do, Father, and I am not going to regret it," Edward confidently said. "Whatever obstacles we encounter, we will face and ovee them together." "Have you lost your mind, Edward? Your actions could basically spark a conflict between the two families. In the worst-case scenario, aside from losing a major ally, it could incite a war. That would be the worst thing for the empire to face, and I absolutely want to prevent that from happening."


    Ever since the unification of the former nations that made up the empire, a number of wars and revolts had urred, though on a small scale, to fight for their independence. But none of them seeded, except for the Raevender territory, as the two settled the matter in a peaceful and legal manner.


    I also wanted to avoid wars, Father, but it doesn''t stop me from loving and staying with Edith."


    "Even if you lose your right to the throne?" Edward''s eyes gawked as the emperor nonchntly uttered those words. He did not know if his father was serious or not, or whether he should take it seriously. He had expected that toe, but Edward had resolved his decision since then. "Sacrifices are made on the way, and everyone cannot avoid them, including myself. If that is your decision, Father, then I should take it respectfully as long as I can stay with my love."


    "That was quite a response. You really are that determined, huh?" The emperor then let out a sigh. "Even if that was your decision, I still could not just renounce your inheritance to the throne. You are still the crown prince of the Empire of Dixon." "So you are epting our love, then?" "I cannot say that I have fully epted it. Let''s say that it is not the best option at the moment and also in the future." The emperor crossed his arms as he leaned on his chair while staring at the ceiling. "But I do love her, Father, and it will never change no matter what." "If you are really that serious about her, then take responsibility for the possible oues." He then shifted his gaze on the prince. "Not that ites to this, we have to think about ways of how we can maintain our diplomatic rtionship with the Grise Archduchy." "As primarily the cause of this problem, I shall help you out, Father; this is the least of what I can do to reduce the damage as much as possible." "Of course you should! We better need to involve Prime Minister Bruce for his opinions and advice."


    With that, the father and son began brainstorming ideas before consulting them with the other pirs of the empire.


    ◆◇◆◇◆◇


    Clink! Clink! Clink!


    Late afternoon, in a private vi somewhere in the empire, I was in the front yard, shing des with Iris. While staying here, we practically had a lot of free time, so we were having some fun to kill time.


    "Phew. That was fun and tiring, Raphael." Iris breathed raggedly as she wiped her sweaty forehead. "You are doing pretty well, Iris. Let''s take a break." We then proceeded toward a set of tables and chairs sitting under the shade of trees nearby and rested our bodies there. Soon after, Natasha gave us some towels to wipe out our sweats. "Hey, Raphael, do you think Lady Christine would join us for dinner as well?" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I am not sure, but Sister said she might be. I hope she would; we cannot bring her back to the capital, losing some weight after all. We might get screwed by her family." "That makes sense."


    My sister actually convinced Christine to join us for lunch and eat her first meal of the day. I did not know what Big Sis did, but I was d that she was able to persuade Christine, as she was awfully depressed to the point of disregarding her own health. Even if we sessfully made Christine fall for my sister, convincing her family to bless them still had an unknown oue. For that reason, I would send some letters to our parents so that they could get the gist of our ns and take action in advance. So when we came back, they already had the groundwork for swaying the archduchy. "My Lord, the sun is about to set; shall I prepare the bath to refresh your bodies before dinner?" "Yes, please do, Natasha. A bath after the day''s work is the best feeling." "I understand, my lord."


    After taking a deep bow, Natasha graciously walked the yard and went back to the vi. But it was strange for her to ask permission for the tasks she does habitually every time I stay in the dungeon. "By the way, Raphael, what do you think about Miss Natasha?" Iris suddenly asked me a question. "Natasha? She is a hardworking and diligent woman. Why did you ask?" "Well, I think that she just asserted dominance a moment ago. I apologize for asking this in advance, I might be assuming, but she is quite an attractive woman; have you ever thought about making her your...woman?" What was Iris trying to imply here? Did she think I was something of a Casanova or something? Well, she was damn right about it. I guess there was nothing wrong with providing her some facts. "Actually, Iris, if you want to know if I have a thing for Natasha, I have, and she also feels the same way for me. In fact, I am not afraid to say that I already did the deed with her. There is a reason why she is my personal maid after all. That is also the reason why I brought one here."


    "I remembered you saying that you have several personal maids; have you already..."


    "Yes."


    "I see, you have gone that far, huh?"


    "You are not mad or disappointed in me or something?" "I cannot me you, Raphael; there''s nothing wrong with being intimate with someone you love. Moreover, you are already a titled noble, and having mistresses other than your official spouse is preferable to producing an heir." "You are rather an open-minded one. I actually have a fiancee, but she is not of a noble birth, so our child would be somewhat socially and formally eptable to inherit my title, though I have yet to find my official wife."


    "I see."


    Since Sophia did note from an aristocratic family, society simply thought that any of our children were not suitable to be my heirs as they would not be pureblooded. To secure a pure bloodline, some families even did some Spanish Habsburg stuff. In the case of Prince Edward and Edith, they were definitely nobles, but their standings were like heaven and earth, in both the eyes ofmonce and nobility. A crown prince was marrying a baron''s daughter, so many people would not be buying into that. Sophia understood and epted that, and she already decided not to bear my firstborn for the sake of formality. I respected her decision, but we still could have children, so it was not like I would be saddened by it. "I hope you find your wife, Raphael; maybe she is somewhere nearby." "Ohoho, what is this? Are you trying to rmend yourself, Iris?" "Am I? Nah, I''m kidding." Iris then smiled sarcastically. "Ha ha ha." Iughed dryly, and then the air suddenly felt awkward. "Maybe we should get inside already?" "Yes, do."