The Grand Duke’s Fox Princess

Episode 87: The Distance Between (VIII)

Lady Brianna of the Stiletto family sent a marriage proposal to Heinricion.

Having a foreign princess as her mother, she has always been in the spotlight, even though she has kept her distance from the capital’s society for the past few years.

“Lady Brianna came to the capital a while ago.”

That meant that as soon as she returned to the capital, she sent a marriage proposal to Heinricion.

“Isn’t Your Excellency acquainted with Lady Brianna?”

Rowen sneakily slipped in this question.

Certainly, Brianna had some contact with Heinricion.

When they were young, she fell in love with him at first sight, and she used to bully him every time they met.

It wasn’t once or twice that Heinricion ran to Eristella and cried.

Then, later, whenever Heinricion saw Brianna, he started to run away. Brianna didn’t know what to do, so she stomped her feet and shed tears.

Eristella’s eyes softened as she recalled the past.

‘Hmm. Anyway, it seems that she sent this with some purpose?’

Dropping into contemplation, tEristella stared at the marriage proposal.

“Please refuse. She will understand.”

Heinricion brushed the proposal off, thinking it was out of the blue.

As soon as Eristella saw Rowen turn around, she smirked, nudging Heinricion.

‘I guess Brianna still hasn’t forgotten you. Even when she was young, she was quite amazing.’

Eristella was subtly… No, she was openly making fun of Brianna. This kind of thing was conveyed accurately even if she didn’t use her voice.

“Brianna is not like that.”

Heinricion reflexively frowned and muttered lowly.

‘If not? What?’

Eristella’s mischievous eyes were shining in a burdensome manner toward Heinricion.

“…No. I just hope she understands.”

Heinricion wanted to say something else, but he ended up stopping.

‘Heh. Is it really so?’

This would be the start. Eristella stared meaningfully at the marriage proposal.

*******

For Heinricion, the sudden marriage proposal was only a minor variable.

So he didn’t pay much attention.

Yes, that’s what he did, but within a few days he realized he shouldn’t have done that.

Rowen came with a bundle of envelopes that looked large even at first glance.

“This is a marriage proposal for Your Excellency.”

“Didn’t I check that last time?”

To the annoyed question of Heinricion, Rowen answered with an unconcerned face.

“No. This is a marriage proposal from the Rogard family.”

“?”

“And this is from the Biesu family, and this is… … .”

Rowen lined up the marriage proposals one by one in front of Heinricion. It wasn’t long before the desk was filled with envelopes.

“Wait a minute. What is all of this all of a sudden?”

Heinricion was unusually flustered.

He still hadn’t sorted out the marriage proposal that came last time, so what’s this situation where an envelope came after another?

“As you can see, they are all proposals to marry Your Excellency.”

“…….”

“Please check them out, one by one.”

Due to the orderly arrangement of marriage proposals, it was impossible to put a single document on the desk.

Heinricion’s hand, which was wandering in the air, pushed all the marriage proposals away.

“Politely decline them all.”

It was when the servant, Lysion, shook his head and looked away, as if he was tired of just looking at the marriage proposal.

Quietly, and with a tinge of unenthusiasm, Rowen retrieved the envelopes, glancing at Heinricion as if he had something to say.

“What?”

“Your Excellency. Why don’t you meet a lady or two?”

At Heinricion’s prompt, Rowen spoke as if he had been waiting.

“To be frank, because of your relationship with Her Highness, you haven’t had an opportunity to properly consider your marriage partner.”

Heinricion and Eristella had been engaged for a long time. There was no way anyone would dare to send a marriage proposal to Heinricion, who had already decided on a partner.

However, since the political relationship with the princess was over with her disappearance, one couldn’t help but consider the next thing.

So, for Rowen and the Grand Duchy of Adelasia, this marriage proposal was regarded as an opportunity.

“Your Excellency can’t postpone your marriage forever, right?”

Rowen hoped that this time, Heinricion would meet other ladies.

Heinricion’s gaze turned to Eristella. Does he care what kind of expression she has?

Meanwhile, the fox had opened one of the marriage proposals and was examining its contents.

‘As expected, he’s popular.’

The fox muttered a couple more incomprehensible words as she read.

In fact, it was even more strange that a family hadn’t sent a proposal to Heinricion until now. 

It was as if they were just watching each other to see who would act first, and once Lady Brianna started, they all sent marriage proposals, as if competing with each other.

As evidence of that, marriage proposals continued to cross the threshold of the Grand Duchy of Adelasia.

‘Is she among them?’

Eristella did not know who Heinricion ended up with.

This was because her life was over before she knew it. None of the information in her memory was complete, and she did not know what happened after her death.

Even if she had memories of the past, it’s of little use.

Hmm. Heinricion’s marriage partner.

‘I wonder. What kind of person would she be like?’ Eristella was curious.

Heinricion’s engagement was not only a matter of the Grand Duchy of Adelasia. It became a topic of discussion in the social circles of the empire.

*******

Unlike the quiet and chilly air, complex and diverse atmospheres coexisted in the room.

The black wizards, centered on Declen, were observing the situation in their own way.

Some appeared very nervous, while others were shaking because they couldn’t hold back their excitement. One individual was calm and quiet, as if he was facing a wall alone.

Among them, the one who seemed to be thinking a lot spoke first.

“Yeriel’s body has been recovered.”

“It was a useful ability, but it turned out to be a pity.”

By brainwashing the emperor, they were able to efficiently handle the things they needed.

All of them were expressing their regrets, saying different variations of how they had lost the easy and faster way than mourning their comrade’s death.

“Besides, we lost all of our powers planted in the Imperial Palace because of this incident.”

“It’s hard to touch the emperor again.”

In pretty much an instant, they lost control over the emperor as well as all their influence that they had painstakingly spread throughout the Imperial Palace.

But even so, Declen was not very agitated.

“There’s nothing we can do about it now that it’s like this.”

Among those full of anxiety, the only calm voice overwhelmed the surroundings.

“It went against my original plan, but to begin with, I didn’t expect everything to go the way I wanted.”

It was as if he had expected this to happen.

“What we want is not just the emperor.”

Even light bruises, like telling them not to make a fuss about small variables, was enough pressure for them.

“It’s true, but…”

Even more depressed, they blurred the end of their words.

The emperor was just a stepping stone to achieve what they wanted.

However, the blow was not small enough to simply pass it like that.

Then, as if he understood, Declen continued in a softened voice.

“Still, there is some damage this time, so all of you will need to take care of yourselves for the time being.”

“…….”

“I’ll give you a signal when it’s time to move again.”

Everyone gathered around Declen withdrew.

He walked slowly

To the place where the body of the dead Yeriel was buried. There, he put down a splendid bouquet that was rarely seen for the dead.

“You have not failed. It has been helpful enough for me.”

Yeriel was a child he had raised from the age of seven.

Before Yeriel’s death, Declen secretly gave instructions, and even at the moment of her death, she left a mark.

A small smile appeared on Declen’s lips. His lips parted slowly as if in amusement.

“Looks like you’re still alive. Your Highness, Princess Aristella.”

He muttered lowly, with confidence beyond any doubt.

*******

A message came from the emperor, asking to meet with Eristella.

The way for Eristella to meet the emperor was surprisingly simple.

In the evening, she entered the Imperial Palace in the guise of a fox, accompanied by Heinricion. Then when it was past midnight, she came face-to-face with the emperor in human form.

Some time ago, Eristella sent the emperor a letter about Greta.

“Even though the weight of her sin is not light, she was not directly involved in black magic, and it’s a fact that she was also used. Besides, she cooperated with us, please take it all into account.”

These words conveyed to the emperor Eristella’s intention to ask for mercy for Lady Greta, who stole her belongings and was loosely involved in black magic.

“All right. Lady Lateran will be able to go wherever she wants without any restrictions.”

“Thank you.”

With this, Greta could leave the capital and go wherever she wants.

In fact, it could not be called punishment.

“Anyway, I did say I would leave the disposition of Lady Lateran to your will.”

Indeed, the emperor respected and followed Eristella’s desire.

Ame: Remember the announcement yeah?

eri TT_TT you can be happy with cion in this life! …maybe cion didn’t marry any other lady after your death and is the one who turned back time, he is the next most powerful wizard after you, y’know…