Chapter 192. So, you should help me
It was the afternoon of the very next day that an emissary came from the Royal Court.
It was around the time well past noon when the sun was gradually slanting.
Guided by the butler, the emissary who entered the study placed a letter he had brought down on the desk where Raymond was sitting.
The seal vividly engraved on top of the red wax belonged to the Royal Family.
To be precise, it was the personal seal of Marcel, the King of Ruvake.
Seeing that it was sent stamped with a personal seal rather than the official seal of the Royal Family, there was a high possibility that the contents of the letter contained a private message rather than an official one.
The expectation hit the mark.
The passage written down in a characteristically forceful handwriting was demanding that he come to the Royal Castle immediately upon seeing the letter.
Though a detailed reason was not added, there was a point that was guessed in his own way.
Cheister and Constant.
He must be concerned that the discord between the two families, which began due to the broken engagement, might spread into a conflict between nobles.
That is why he must be calling him in like this to mediate.
Rather, it was to the extent that it felt a bit late, so there was nothing particularly surprising about it.
When Raymond conveyed that he understood, only then did the emissary quietly exit the study as if he had finished his duty.
Of all times, at a time like this—
That was the very first thought Raymond, left alone, had.
At a time like this when his mind was continuously uncomfortable after pouring out all kinds of harsh words he didn’t even mean, of all times.
If he could, he felt like postponing it until later, but even so, he could not do so when the King himself had personally sent an emissary.
And in this current situation, Raymond himself also knew very well that an amicable resolution with Constant was most urgent above all else.
Because leaving a troublesome matter behind meant he wouldn’t be able to take even a single step forward.
Whatever that might be, and no matter what kind of thing it was.
Finishing his brief deliberation, Raymond stood up from his seat.
Yes, it would be better to handle the complicated matters first.
Thinking so, Raymond strode across the study and went out.
***
“To the Royal Castle……?”
In the early morning, Charlotte, who came to pick up the child, conveyed such news.
The news that the Duke received the King’s letter and urgently left for the Royal Castle this morning.
It was the point when full two days had passed since the day that commotion took place.
At Deborah’s words asking back as if surprised, Charlotte quietly nodded her head.
“An emissary came from the Royal Castle late yesterday afternoon. That is why he left urgently this morning.”
“…….”
“Well…… it won’t take that long. So wouldn’t that be why he set out without saying much?”
At Deborah’s complexion that immediately darkened, Charlotte added that single phrase further.
In fact, after the event of two days ago took place, Charlotte was in a state of having quite a headache.
Not to mention that the atmosphere of the mansion was unsettled due to the Duke who had left after dropping a sudden bomb-like remark, above all, it was because the Grand Lady’s mood was extremely uncomfortable.
Why wouldn’t she be?
A son who had already been avoiding answers and showing a lukewarm attitude had suddenly said something significant and left.
It was only natural to be anxious.
As to whether he might be having strange thoughts.
The curious thing was that even in the midst of that, she instructed to bring the child punctually every hour.
Normally, at that degree, one would say they wouldn’t even want to see the child.
Thanks to that, only Charlotte felt like she was dying.
Though it was also because she was on edge wondering if another situation like two days ago would occur if this reached the Duke’s ears as well, the biggest reason was that Deborah’s face, which she faced every time she came to pick up the child, was truly pitiful to look at.
Her face that had been haggard in the meantime, and beneath her eyes that were red and bloodshot as if she had cried all night long.
Indeed…… in a situation where she might be separated from her child, where on earth would there be a mother who could live with an easy mind?
Charlotte let out a faint sigh so as not to be heard.
However, even so, it was not a matter where she dared to criticize this or that regarding what the Grand Lady was doing.
Charlotte glanced back at the clock and soon opened her mouth reluctantly.
“The child…… give him to me here.”
At the words cautiously handed over, her thin body immediately flinched and trembled.
Strength was tightly applied to her hands that looked down blankly at the child embraced in her arms, but that too was only for a moment—
Deborah soon handed the child over to Charlotte with an unwilling face.
“……Then, rest deeply until I come back again.”
Even so, where could she really rest peacefully, but at the words that she would come again, her dark complexion still seemed to lighten up a bit.
Like that, Charlotte took the child and stepped out of the bedroom.
***
The one who personally greeted Raymond upon his arrival at the Royal Castle was Crown Prince Philip.
Normally, a case where the Crown Prince personally came out to greet was a very exceptional situation, but since the relationship between the two was so particularly close, no one regarded it as particularly strange.
Originally, it was the order to wait in the guest reception room before having an audience with the King, but while waiting, Raymond headed to the Crown Prince’s private drawing room together with Philip.
Tea cups containing warm Earl Grey entered, and Philip dismissed everyone around.
“I didn’t know we would see each other again this quickly.”
It was an expression of being glad to see him, but he was not ignorant of the other meaning contained within it.
To that, Raymond burst out a chuckle, “Pfft,” and tilted his tea cup.
“How do you feel, from what I heard, they say he resembles you completely.”
Where on earth did a frantically busy person hear such a thing again; it wasn’t a matter of a day or two, but that ghost-like information network was just amazing anew.
“Well—.”
At Raymond’s behavior of merely spitting out that single phrase without any particular words, Philip laughed out loud, saying he knew he would do that.
“I thought I would see a child first among the three of us. If not me, then Ed or someone.”
At the words handed over with a laugh, Raymond lightly nodded his head once, asking if that was so.
“Yes, saying what kind of woman would like an ice-cold and unfunny man like you, I delightfully badmouthed you with Ed, but.”
While knowing that a marriage between nobles was not simply accomplished by affection between a man and a woman, it was a joke-like statement thrown around in a casual relationship.
“To think you proudly fathered a child, and a son at that.”
Even at the words subtly giving a reproach, saying he had great skill, Raymond merely let out a chuckle, “Pfft.”
“I heard it was that woman from back then—.”
This time, a slightly altered tone.
Raymond silently looked at Philip’s face, from which even the laughter had disappeared, and then nodded his head.
“Yes, that is correct.”
An appearance of answering meekly without a single hesitation.
Above the space between Philip’s brows looking at him, a subtle fine crease instantly formed.
“How about letting me know slowly now, what thoughts you are having. Only then will I decide whether to help you or not.”
Not a statement saying he would unconditionally help, but a statement saying he would listen first and then make a decision.
Though he was a person who usually looked excessively relaxed, seeing him at times like this, he was again unmistakably the image of the Crown Prince.
As if drawing a line that a peerlessly close relationship was one thing, and the relationship between the Crown Prince and the Duke of Cheister was another, the corners of Raymond’s mouth slightly curved upward.
Well, since the reason he walked all the way here was because of that anyway, there was nothing he couldn’t say.
As a result, the person who would lend him the most strength within the Royal Family would be Crown Prince Philip right in front of his eyes.
“The child—.”
Bringing those words out, Raymond stopped his words for a moment.
It was by no means because a hesitating or wavering heart entered.
He merely paused for a moment because it was a decision he had made alone at the end of deliberating all night.
However, he had no intention of reversing a decision once made again.
“I intend to make him the next Duke of Cheister.”
Words falling neatly without a single inch of disarray.
A moment of subtle silence flowed inside the drawing room.
Philip, who was silent for a while with a serious expression, opened his mouth again after a moment.
“It won’t be easy.”
He had never thought it would be easy.
It was just that other than that, no other thoughts came to mind.
Though it was a child he had not even properly held in his arms yet, nor given a name to, it was his child.
Whose grueling birth he had watched right in front of him.
And a child that woman…… had protected alone and lonely.
So he could not place the yoke of being a bastard upon his child.
The child would inherit the name of the shining Cheister family, and would live a happy and comfortable life until the moment he closed his eyes, receiving everyone’s love for the rest of his life.
He would definitely protect him so that it would become so.
However, for that to happen, there was something that must be gone through.
According to the law of the Kingdom of Ruvake, it was in fact close to an almost impossible task for a child born to a woman who was not a lawful wife to become a legal successor of a noble family.
Depending on how much the father cherished him, he might inherit a certain portion of the inheritance, but that was merely all.
A bastard, as a rule, not only could not inherit the family’s surname, but also could not be recognized legally for inheritance or noble status, being nothing more than an existence thoroughly excluded from noble society.
Therefore, there was only one way.
No, looking into it, it was a matter that was meant to become like this from the beginning.
Though it was decided like that from the beginning, going round and round, it had barely returned to the starting point just now.
Raymond looked at Philip with an expression that had changed from before.
“So, you should help me. Philip.”
“…….”
At the voice that echoed softly, Philip’s eyes opened widely in an instant.
Words that came out from the mouth of the counterpart who had always shown courtesy even in private settings, except for when they were very young.
Feeling as if he had met a childhood friend, after a moment, an aimless smile hung on the corners of Philip’s mouth.
