My Sweet Deceiver

Chapter 33

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It was an open fact that the King cherished the Second Prince and delayed the Crown Prince’s appointment, and for this reason, Denis and Fabrice were fighting for the throne.

Citizens criticized the morality of the Second Prince and began street protests to punish him severely.

Although there were not many people, it was a big problem in itself that there were negative opinions about the royal family.

Will the situation be resolved quickly, and only Fabrice will suffer, or will the credibility of the entire royal family be harmed?

In the latter case, Denis will also be unable to avoid the storm.

While he was smoking cigars nonstop, he heard a knock outside.

It was Danielle, Tehez’s assistant.

“Danielle, what brings you here…?”

Sylvan greeted her with a bewildered look.

Danielle greeted Denis with courtesy.

Denis only nodded his head and looked up at the ceiling.

Without further ado, Danielle only got to the point.

“Prince Fabrice has been contacted.”

“Where, what did you say?” 

Sylvan asked urgently.

“He’ll be coming to the engagement. There are no injuries anywhere. We have confirmed the letter to the King.”

Danielle said without hiding anything.

It was an attitude that she didn’t need to hide anything when Denis noticed that Tehez was doing the back work.

“Where did the letter come from?” asked Denis.

“We are tracking. It is definitely within the capital.” Danielle said with a bow.

“All right. You may leave.”

“Wait a minute.”

Sylvan hurried out after Danielle.

Daniel was making her way to the Princess’ office at a brisk pace.

“Danielle, why don’t you slow down? I need to talk to you.” 

“Why?”

Danielle frowned and gestured to speak quickly.

“Why are you avoiding me since the last time-”

“Is that important to you at this critical time?”

Danielle looked like she was very bothered by Sylvan.

Danielle ignored him completely, and he felt like he was going crazy.

“No! It’s because you avoid me every day! You are never there in your seat when I come to see you.”

“Who is avoiding you?”

Danielle said in a tone of dismay.

“Then you aren’t?”

“I can’t believe it. Isn’t that baseless confidence? Any reason why I would deliberately avoid you? Go work.”

Danielle glanced at Sylvan, turned her back and left the place.

Sylvan stared blankly at Danielle. 

The next day

Articles that people were protesting on the street went down, and there was a small article saying that Fabric was found somewhere.

It was a poor follow-up article compared to writing provocative articles as headlines every day.

As if someone was deliberately trying to divert people’s attention.

Instead of articles condemning the Second Prince, several articles were published, introducing new products to be unveiled at the World Fair.

And, unexpectedly, the story of the success of a young man, who had become successful after being in a poverty centre for several months, due to Denis’ visit was widely published.

He was able to settle in the capital safely with the help of the royal family, and the main content was that he wanted to repay the favour to the royal family.

***

A loud bang resounded through the room.

The face of the woman standing in front of the huge man was turned sideways, and the slapped cheek swelled in an instant. 

“Straighten up.”

The woman straightened her head.

The man hit the woman on the cheek again without stopping.

It sounded like something was exploding. Blood was flowing from the mouth of the woman, who was hit in the same area in a row.

The woman’s right cheek swelled abnormally.

The man was staring at the woman, huffing and puffing to see if his anger was relieved.

“Who told you to drop the Second Prince, to hurt the royal family?”

The woman’s eyes looked dry without any emotion.

“Answer me!”

The man roared out.

“No, it’s not…”

“Then? Why did you do such a stupid thing? What if the First Prince gets hurt?” 

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t make excuses. Because I don’t want to see you.”

“Okay.”

“Do it right.”

The man gulped down the cognac and slammed the glass on the table.

Even then, the anger did not go away, so he poured the cognac into the glass again and drank it as it was.

“All right.”

“What are you going to do?”

The man asked, raising his head.

The woman said without hesitation, as if she was memorizing a spell.

“To crown the First Prince.”

“Yes, don’t go around doing less. Else I’ll really kill you then.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

The man said, pointing at the woman with his index finger.

“Remember, you’re in my hands. Do not forget.”

“Yes.”

Only then could the woman leave the Marquis’ room when he waved his hands, ordering her to leave.

When she closed the door, she saw her brother waiting nervously in front of her.

“Tehez! Are you okay? Oh, my-”

Richard looked at Tehez’s messed up face and wept.

Richard took Tehez to his room and ordered the maids to bring ice and poultices.

“Oh, my. Your face…”

Richard looked painfully at Tehez’s increasingly swollen cheeks.

“It’s all right…”

When Tehez saw Richard crying, she shed tears without realizing it.

“Don’t cry,” Richard hugged her in his arms. 

She felt something in her chest.

The words ‘Don’t cry’ seemed to signal. 

Like a sign that it’s okay to cry from now on.

Where did the woman who stood resolutely in front of the Marquis of Ingeliger go? 

And at that moment, Tehez seemed only a pitiful and tender lady of her age.

“Brother, please save me… please.”

“Yes, Tehez.”

“Please, please. Please save me.”

Tehez buried her face in Richard’s arms as if she were being childish. Richard was also shedding tears as he wiped her crying face.

“Don’t cry, Tehez. Hmm?”

Richard carefully wiped tears flowing down Tehez’s cheeks.

“You can’t do anything if you cry.”

Then, the maids brought ice and poultices and put them down, and Richard roughly wiped his tearful face and told Tehez.

“Warm up first.”

Richard put the ice bag that the maids brought to her face.

“Brother. How long… How long do I have to live like this?”

“Tehez…”

Richard looked sorry and eventually lost his words. He couldn’t speak.

It was probably because he knew.

That the Marquis was a bond that can never break until he dies.

Tehez spoke to him with a face swollen with tears and bruises, with a towel soaked in ice melted against her cheek.

“Thank you, brother.”

Richard looked at her without saying anything.

The opening ceremony of the World Fair was only four days away, and Fabrice’s engagement was a week away.

***

“What’s happened to your pretty face…?”

Danielle couldn’t keep up with her words and looked at Tehez with a complicated expression on her face. It had been like that ever since she returned from Ingeliger’s mansion.

The opening day of the World Fair

Since the King was giving the opening speech, all members of the royal family had to attend.

Even Julien, who was lying on the sickbed.

“It’s a relief, though. That’s how it ended.”

Tehez responded by reading the newspaper as if she was not impressed by her condition.

It wasn’t once or twice.

She knew that the Marquis would call her after finding out that things went wrong.

To a certain extent, it was expected. 

Richard was no different than ever.

It was only a moment when she cried and clung to Richard.

She didn’t really want him to do anything for her. 

She knew Richard wasn’t in the right place.

While growing up, it was Tehez who was exposed to the Marquis’ direct abuse. The Marquis didn’t touch anyone except for Tehez.

But every time Richard saw Tehez being called by the Marquis, he always grew anxious about whether he would be next. Even though he knew he would never be.

It’s been like that since she was a kid. When she used to return after being hit, he used to cry more than her and take her to his room and treat her bruises.

And that was the end.

It was like a cycle that repeated over and over again.

Even after she got bigger and older, it didn’t change an inch from when she was young.

Tehez gave a self-help laugh.

Because she thought that the same wouldn’t happen again in the future.

The unchanging Marquis, the unchanging brother and her unchanging self.

She cut off the thought of treating herself and glanced at her mirror.

It was more important for her to think about what she could do in the future.

Daily newspapers published interesting articles that raised expectations for the World Fair. 

Like how many countries participated, and what new inventions will be introduced.

Like what celebrities are planning to visit Valloise from other countries.

The street protesters went down all at once. 

The same was true for articles critical of the royal family.

Naturally, the public forgot about the street protests and focused all their attention on the world fair without noticing whether it was the result of artificial control.

It was a great relief for Tehez.

However…

Tehez started thinking a lot about unexpected variables that suddenly appeared.

A street protest against the royal family.

It was a significant event for the first time in history.

Tehez clearly admitted that it was her own misjudgment.

Now, they were not just citizens who trusted and followed the royal family.

They know how to judge right and wrong on their own. It was something she hadn’t thought of before. 

Once the people know that they don’t need the royal family anymore…

Tehez suddenly became afraid.

It was not a question of whether or not Denis could be King, but the position of the King itself may be lost.

Please, she hoped it was her delusion.

It was a shame because she had bought the reporters in advance. Otherwise, she couldn’t have avoided a bigger fire. Before negative publicity about the royal family spread further, she ordered all articles related to Fabrice to be taken down.

Although it was an article that she had paid for on purpose.

Tehez felt sick to her stomach as she tried to hide it. As if it had never been there from the beginning.

However, until Denis ascended to the throne, the throne had to be protected.

Separately, the reason behind the arrest of Fabrice was not yet known, which was a disturbing factor.

She shook her head as to whether the sudden appearance of the variables would do her good or bad. 

Nothing was certain yet.

The investigation to find the force that detained Fabrice was underway by Jacques.

By all means, she hoped that the force that captured Fabrice would help Denis as well.

Wasn’t there a saying that “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”?

Then, Ellie cautiously entered her powder room.

She was about to go to meet Jacques.

“Princess, I have something to tell you.”

Ellie came quietly and whispered in Tehez’s ear.

“We have secured new recruits.”

Tehez nodded her head as if she understood, and Ellie backed away.

Now, it was most important to appear flawless at the opening ceremony.

“It doesn’t look like makeup will cover it all up, Princess.”

There was a black bruise on her swollen cheek.

“Put my hair down to cover my right cheek, and take out that big blue hat. To hide my face in the shade of the hat.”

The maids rummaged through the powder room and brought in big-brimmed hats.

“Since today is the opening ceremony, it is a happy day, so it wouldn’t be strange to decorate the hat. Decorate it more lavishly to make the hat stand out.”

The maids brought peacock feathers, ivy fur, lace, and jewels. Then they began to decorate the hat so that there were no gaps.

It was evident that she was determined not to show any bruises.

“The Prince is coming to escort you soon.”

“…Okay.”

Tehez had been avoiding meeting him since she visited the Marquis.

It was only a few days, but she wanted to meet him after the bruise on her cheek subsided.

She didn’t want to show him this. 

She didn’t even want to buy his sympathy on purpose.

Because she always wanted to show her perfect side in front of him.

‘I hope he doesn’t notice.’

Tehez inwardly offered a prayer to her uncaring God.

(To be continued in the next episode)

***