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Published at 4th of December 2022 08:18:03 PM


Chapter 44

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Chapter 44

Languid eyes were filled with ridicule as he glanced at the Countess. Zachary’s lips curled nicely.

“Did you say that this teatime was organized by aunt in the first place?”

“I… … !”

“It’s done.”

Zachary turned his gaze away, waving his hand to interrupt the Countess’ plea. And he said in an annoyed tone.

“My aunt’s excuses have been so many that I think it’s going to scab over my ears.”

Having said that, Zachary turned around quickly. The Countess’ shoulders trembled with wrath, but Zachary didn’t care.

Zachary was now looking at Iellie. He smiled softly.

“I had the hunters bring the other prey. There are too many.”

“Ah, yes…… ”

“But I wanted to give you this much.”

Having said that, Zachary held out the silver fox to Iellie. The shiny hair shone gracefully.

“…… Silver fox?”

Iellie opened her eyes wide. With an arrow shot right in the eye, its unblemished silver fur glistened crimson in the waning sun.

Zachary opened his mouth with a friendly tone.

“Hmm. You get cold easily. Because silver fox fur is much warmer than other furs…… ”

Iellie reached out her hand and stroked the fox’s fur. The soft touch tickled her fingers.

“…… Thank you so much, Zachary.”

With blushing cheeks, Iellie muttered sincerely. Then Zachary tilted his head.

“Only in words?”

“Then?”

Iellie looked up at Zachary with a questioning look. Then he smiled brightly and spread his arms out.

“Come on.”

“…… Hey, people are watching!”

Iellie, surprised, replied to Zachary. But Zachary only looked at her with a sullen face.

“Why does it matter; I want a reward from my wife!”

“…… ”

“Hug me now, huh?”

In the end, Iellie dyed the back of her ears red and burrowed into Zachary’s arms.

Then, Zachary smiled brightly and hugged Iellie. Maybe it was because he had wandered through the hunting forest for a long time, in his arms there was the smell of snow with a cold touch.

With her head buried wide in Zachary’s arms, Iellie groaned a little.

“I can’t survive, really.”

“But you can’t get a divorce?”

Zachary answered playfully and swept down Iellie’s hair. Everyone gathered there knew it.

The Heir Apparent was very fond of his wife. It was as passionate as a flame.

“…… Damn it.”

And the Crown Prince, arriving late, found Zachary and Iellie hugging each other.

His prey, which the hunters were struggling to pull, seemed even more pitiful. The Prince clenched his jaw.

So the hunting night was over. All festivities will be over with the last event of the coming-of-age ceremony tomorrow morning, the ‘blessing ceremony’. The women went to bed early, and the men gathered in the parlor to socialize and play cards. Taking a seat instead of the Duke, Zachary stretched out on a chair and rubbed his face.

‘This is pretty tiring.’

If so, how much more tired was Iellie, who oversaw this coming-of-age ceremony?

Zachary decided that once the ceremony was over, he would do everything possible so that Iellie could rest.

And right then.

“Heir Apparent.”

“Uncle?”

Zachary leaned back on the chair and raised his gaze at an angle. Count Laurent was standing there.

“I have to say something this time.”

“What do you mean?”

Zachary turned his head. With that wretched expression on his face, and even the way he speaks. He didn’t feel good.

“What you did to my wife earlier at the hunting party was inappropriate.”

Zachary’s eyebrows soared high to the sky without realizing it. The Count continued to chatter in a cold sweat.

“No matter how precious Lady Hessenweitz is, my wife is the Heir Apparent’s aunt.”

At the statement, the lively atmosphere froze.

Zachary slowly lowered his eyes as if to tell him more. And the Count misunderstood that Zachary was sympathizing with him.

“You were overdoing it. Even so, aren’t blood ties more important?”

In the distance, he could see the Crown Prince looking in this direction with an interested expression on his face. Was it to get points from the Crown Prince, or was it sincere? Zachary’s eyes narrowed. Neither option was pleasant.

“To protect Lady Hessenweitz, ignoring blood ties…… ”

“Count Laurent.”

“Yes?”

The moment he heard the cold voice, Count Laurent stiffened.

Moreover, Zachary called him ‘Count Laurent’ rather than ‘Uncle’. That meant Zachary was speaking as the Heir Apparent.

“What do you mean ‘blood ties’, it’s really amusing.”

“…… Heir Apparent!”

The most powerful warrior in the North, and a young man who inherited the blood of the Silver Dragon of Hessenweitz. Zachary’s momentum was incredible. Receiving that momentum head-on, Count Laurent and the nobles around him froze.

From Zachary’s whole body, an energy similar to the cold of winter emanated.

The energy seemed to be gathered in his hand. Forged like a knife, the energy gripped the necks of the surrounding nobles.

A perfect threatening energy that perfectly captured and pressed everyone.

“I want to rip that rude mouth out right now.”

Zachary slowly stood up. The pupil, whose eyes turned glacier blue, stared at the would-be instructor.

Not just the Count, but none of the men gathered there could even open their mouths properly.

After a while, the mouth that had been tightly closed opened. His voice was cold.

“At least the Count was my mother’s brother, so I will bear with it.”

“Cough, cough cough, cough, Heir, Heir Apparent…… !”

The Count’s eyes swelled as if they were about to pop out. The threatening energy poured on Count Laurent without any hesitation.

In fact, Zachary was holding back his anger to the fullest. Blue veins appeared on the back of his hand and forearm as he clenched his fist tightly.

Zachary tilted his head obliquely. He smiled fiercely and sarcastically said.

“If you want to assert that Iellie does not have blood ties with me.”

“I can’t, I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe..!”

“Let’s take a look at it properly. Countess Laurent and I, we don’t share even a drop of blood.”

Count Laurent bit his lip till his blood flowed. His face turned white. He was running out of breath. But, without even thinking about the threatening energy he was pouring out, Zachary continued with a flat tone.

“Countess Laurent is just your wife.”

“Heuk, uhukk, heuk.”

“More than that, Count Laurent. You claim that you are not an outsider, and you want to receive special treatment.”

Zachary bowed his head obliquely. With a genuinely puzzled face, he asked Count Laurent a question.

“Are we that close?”

“Heir, Heir Apparent, can’t breathe…… !”

“Above all, I never once felt that my maternal family valued me so much.”

Pure blue eyes with not a single point of warmth left. Zachary spoke calmly.

“All you’ve done so far has been to treat me like a ‘useful all-rounder’.”

“I’m , I’m dying, please!”

“Forgetting that rudeness completely and trying to meddle in Hessenweitz’s internal affairs by pretending to be an outsider.”

Count Laurent, who was choking, couldn’t even speak properly. Zachary sighed.

“It seems that Count Laurent has big dreams. Isn’t it?”

Saying that, Zachary smiled. His emotions were controlled, and a cold smile appeared. He concluded.

“Besides, I don’t think my mother was ever happy even with County Laurent.”

That was true. County Laurent was not a family that ever had a strong influence even in the North. Looking at their status, they were knocked over by Baron Tulane who was far below them. The reason that County Laurent got the position they currently enjoyed was because they married off their beautiful daughter as if selling her to Hessenweitz.

‘My mother never once wanted to marry this family.’

Nevertheless, County Laurent broke her previous engagement to her fiance and sent Adelaide to the Duke.

As a result, Adelaide slowly fell into despair, believing she gave birth to a monster. The results after that…….

‘My mother is dead. Isn’t mother’s death a collaboration between father and County Laurent?’

After a brief smirk, Zachary raised his head upright. When he withdrew his energy, the Count gasped for his breath. Then he looked like he was going to fall on his knees. He began to beg and scream.

“Sa, save me! Sav..…!”

Zachary looked down at Count Laurent, whose face was dirty with saliva and tears on the soft carpet.

“I never said I was going to kill you.”

Zachary took a step back, as if to avoid the filth, and then continued.

“But you should know, it was my wife who was insulted. Not Countess Laurent.”

“I, I… … !”

“By the way, I’ve heard Countess Laurent make rude remarks to my mother-in-law.”

Dark blue eyes looked down at Count Laurent. The Count could not even raise his head and trembled.

“I hope you never again insult my wife and my wife’s family.”

“Heir, Heir Apparent…… !”

The Count shrugged his shoulders and lowered his head. Zachary nailed the Count in a calm tone.

“Especially, the insult to Iellie is like an insult to me. Do you understand?”

“…… ”

He narrowed his brow. The surroundings were silent, only the Count’s panting was heard. Zachary said softly.

“Answer.”

“I, I understand !”

Hearing this, the Count shouted in a fit of breath. Hearing the answer, Zachary straightened his back and looked around.

The surrounding atmosphere was chilly, as if cold water had been poured on it. The Prince also bit his mouth.

“I know that everyone gathered here is a noble of the North.”

At Zachary’s announcement, the nobles swallowed hard. The Crown Prince had a displeased look, but the current situation was close to a disaster due to Count Laurent’s excessive desire for recognition.

If he intervened, it would just become strange.

“Sometimes just who holds the monarch of the north…… seems to have been completely forgotten.” Zachary rolled his eyes and turned to Count Laurent. Obviously, it was a means to take Count Laurent as an example.

“It would be good to be clear about your conduct.”

It was a warning. In the place of the Crown Prince, he was clearly saying that the monarch of the north was Hessenweitz.

The Prince composed his face. However, there were no words that the Crown Prince could raise.

‘Hessenweitz’s Heir Apparent…… He must have deliberately uttered those words.’

The Prince’s eyes narrowed. All Zachary said was, “The monarch of the North is Hessenweitz.”

That said, there is no room for accusations about the honor of the Imperial family. Zachary smiled brightly.

“Then I’m a little tired, so I’ll go in first.”

“Pl, please.”

“Have a good night, Heir Apparent.”

People greeted Zachary in terrified voices.

Looking at the Count with contempt, Zachary gave a final glance toward the Crown Prince.

Suddenly, the door to the parlor closed.

As he was about to head to his room, he impulsively looked for Iellie’s room. He strangely missed Iellie. But she was not there. Mary, who was cleaning her room instead, pointed out where she was.

“The Miss is in her parents’ room.”

“Oh really?”

Zachary nodded his head and started straight to the guest room of the annex. He knew the location of the guest room where the Viscounty couple stayed. It was the best guest room of the same class as the room given to the royal family.

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