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I awkwardly fiddled with my teacup.
Of course, I knew Idris was a good person.
But...
'We're nothing.'
So, I never even considered marriage in the first place.
I just thought that when the time came, we would have to part ways.
And decisively.
'There's someone else who will be the Grand Duchess!'
I hoped that this uncomfortable tea time would end soon, and I thought of the 'culprit' of this situation, who would be in the Imperial Palace right now.
"So..."
Azef looked at his younger brother standing in front of him and the document on his desk with astonishment.
"The reason you wanted to see me first was just because of this."
The document that Idris suddenly burst into the Emperor's office with was none other than Leticia's divorce request.
Then, instead of answering Azef's question with a confirmation, he smiled vaguely.
"I can't just visit His Majesty, who is very busy, without a reason."
"...It's not like you only look for me when you need something?"
"I'm disappointed that you would denigrate my sincerity towards His Majesty like that."
Anyway, his words were fluent.
Azef sighed softly and said.
"There is a procedure for everything. Divorce is also a matter of two people who formed a family being divided back into two, so we must be careful, so it will inevitably take a long time."
"That's why I came to see Your Majesty like this. To expedite the procedure."
"Do you know that it's an abuse of power?"
"Please consider it a small gift for your beloved younger brother."
"Ha."
"Now that Duke Farnese's affair has been revealed, there's no reason to drag it out, is there? Unless you're thinking of keeping your beloved younger brother as your lover."
Azef glared at his brother, who used his unique glibness and didn't give an inch.
Then, as if he had thought of something, he frowned and started talking.
"Actually, I have something to say in connection with that matter."
Instead of asking what it was, Idris looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"All the receipts proving Miss Fran's criminal activities have disappeared."
"What do you mean..."
"It seems that there is a rat hiding in the Imperial Palace."
Idris's eyes instantly turned cold at the unwelcome news.
At the same time, possible people passed through Idris's mind in turn.
'First of all, it's not Peytan Farnese.'
He was the one who acted the victim of a scam faster than anyone else when Elise's incident broke out.
There's no way such a person would take the risk and get Elise out.
'It's not Baron Fran either.'
He is Elise's uncle, the one who took over the barony after Elise's father died.
He would have been happy if Elise had become a criminal, he would never have helped her.
In the first place, the barony didn't have enough power to plant a mole in the Imperial Palace.
'If there's anyone who could have planted his own people in the Imperial Palace, Deon is the most likely, but...'
Deon had no reason to save Elise.
What would he use a broken-down young lady of a barony who posed no threat?
'Then who on earth?'
But what was more important than who covered up Elise's crime was something else.
"Anyway, since there is no evidence, she was released due to insufficient evidence."
"Then, what about the divorce request?"
If Elise's crime disappears, Leticia's position, who was able to request a divorce thanks to it, becomes difficult.
His plan to relieve Leticia's worries by getting the divorce approved as soon as possible was useless.
"But just because there's no evidence doesn't mean there's no suspicion."
"You mean..."
"Many people have already witnessed Elise Fran's crime, and public opinion has completely turned, so there will be no backlash even if you get a divorce. So."
Azef stamped the Emperor's seal on the divorce request that Idris had brought and handed it over.
"Take it."
Idris approached Azef, who was fluttering the paper with a fed-up expression.
Idris, who had received what he wanted, smiled as if he had never hardened his expression.
"Thank you for your brotherly love. I'll look into the rat hiding in the Imperial Palace on my side as well."
Azef looked at Idris, who was putting the divorce request in his inside pocket, and asked.
"Then are you going to marry Miss Chloe now?"
His face was filled with concern and affection for his brother as he asked that.
He had seriously worried about the aide's words, 'Could he be gay?' because he hadn't brought a woman even at his age.
It was quite cute to see Idris coming to pester him about a woman's problem, but the problem was...
'The problem is that the woman happens to be Leticia Chloe.'
Idris, of course, and Ludian and Vanessa seemed to like Leticia very much.
Azef still didn't like Leticia very much.
Of course, Leticia was a decent person from an objective point of view.
She has the ability to grow and manage a business, and she is righteous enough to risk her life to save Ludian.
If someone else had said they were thinking of marrying her, he would have gladly blessed them, saying that she was a good person and would live well.
But that was only the case when that 'someone' was not Idris.
'Am I helpless too?'
He had acquiesced to their relationship because he didn't think Idris would bring another woman anymore, but he still didn't feel comfortable.
But Idris gave an unexpected answer.
"Well... I think I need more time for that."
He thought he was going to get married right away since the guy who never visited suddenly came and asked him to approve the divorce.
'Is Miss Chloe reluctant to marry?'
He didn't like the idea of his brother marrying a divorcee, but for some reason he felt unpleasant when he thought he was being rejected.
Azef looked at Idris with sleepy eyes.
However, Idris only smiled his usual inscrutable smile and did not answer the unspoken question.
On the way out of the Empress's Palace after successfully finishing tea time.
"Haaa..."
As soon as I was left alone, I sighed involuntarily as the tension was released.
'It was a relief that I thought of another topic to change the subject.'
The topic that I managed to come up with was the charity bazaar story that I had talked about at the tea party.
Thanks to that, I was able to divert the Empress's attention, who seemed to subtly want Idris and me to get married.
'Of course, I'm grateful that you think highly of me, but...'
Suddenly, I remembered drinking with Idris a while ago and playing the truth game.
"Idris. You have someone you like, right?"
"..."
"You're waiting to marry that person, right? Who is that person?"
I wasn't clear on my memory because I was drunk, but I clearly remembered his face as he drank instead of answering with a troubled expression.
Until now, I had only speculated that he had someone he liked, but couldn't get married for some reason.
It became clear with the truth game that day.
Idris had a lover who he had promised the future to.
'Since there's someone else who will be the Grand Duchess, it would be better not to give the Empress any false hopes.'
And I, too, once the divorce with Peytan is successfully concluded, I won't need to continue this contract relationship any longer.
'Then I should start preparing to end the contract around this time.'
But maybe it's because I've grown fond of him.
I felt somehow bittersweet when I thought that this contractual relationship would end.
As I was thinking about this and that and coming out of the Empress's Palace, a familiar voice suddenly came from the side.
"Why are you sighing like that?"
"Oh, you scared me."
It was Idris, who had come to the Imperial Palace with me.
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