Chapter 25
Waldo stormed off, his anger still boiling.
Monica, clearly furious, muttered, “His Highness is too much! Does he even understand what you’re saying?”
Jessica responded coolly, “It’s not that he doesn’t understand, he just feels untouchable.
“So, do you think he’s right in what he said?” Monica asked.
Voin
tinged with frustration.
Monica thought, ‘Now that General Garbisch is infertile and the Yates family has no heirs, is the King really going to take our military power just because we have no successor?‘
“Waldo is heartless, and Prince Leon is terrifying. What do
We
do now?” Monica’s
worry was palpable.
“Things will work out when we get there. Why are you so anxious?” Jessica she was holding.
gave
Monica a light tap on the head before her gaze fell on the wooden box
Monica, still curious, asked, “My lady, what’s in this box? Is it really the wedding
When Prince Leon came, his presence was so overwhelming that Monica didn’t approach, but she overheard something about a “wedding gift.
But she thought, ‘Who would be so stingy as to give only a small item as a wedding gift?‘
The wooden box seemed simple and rustic, not at all luxurious. Whatever was inside couldn’t possibly be anything valuable.
“Did Prince Leon really come to propose?” she asked.
“Don’t you believe me?” Jessica started walking toward the main house.
Monica pouted. “It’s not that I don’t believe it… I just don’t want to believe it. Prince Leon’s face was ruined because of your plan. For him to come now and ask for your hand–how does that make sense?”
“I don’t know his real intentions either.” Jessica sighed, feeling a headache forming at the mention of Leon.
Dealing with Waldo was difficult enough, but now Leon’s arrival made everything even more complicated.
“Go bring my brother to the study. I need to discuss something with him.”
Monica, still full of questions, nodded reluctantly. “Yes, my lady.”
When Garbisch arrived in the study, Monica finally got the chance to see what was inside the wooden box.
The Northern Border’s military token! This was the token of the Northern Border’s army, commanding an entire army of 100,000 soldiers.
Holding something like this felt like holding fire–it was dangerous, powerful, and could be deadly. She wondered, ‘Is Prince Leon really just handing it over to our household so casually?‘
“Could it… could it be fake?” Monica gasped, struggling to speak.
Garbisch, still processing, finally spoke. “Jessica, this military token is real.”
Jessica knew it was real. After accompanying Waldo on countless campaigns, she could tell the difference between a genuine military token and a fake one with a single glance.
It was only because it was real that her face had gone pale when she received it. If Waldo hadn’t arrived when he did, she wasn’t sure how she would have rejected Leon face–to–face.
1/2
Chapter 25
With Prince Leon’s cold, commanding presence, who could have refused him outright?
“So, what do you plan to do? Do you have any idea what he’s really after?” Garbisch asked, his concern growing.
From the battle years ago, he knew that between Prince Leon and Jessica, there was only hatred, not affection. So he wondered, ‘What could be his true reason for the proposal?‘
“Do you think he plans to marry you, then torture you every day as revenge for his disfigurement?” Garbisch couldn’t let Jessica fall into such a situation.
Jéssica shook her head. “With Prince Leon’s power, does he really need to risk ten thousand soldiers just to torment a small noblewoman like me?”
“So what does he want?” Garbisch asked, more confused than ever.
Jessica sighed, feeling equally unsure. “I don’t know either.”
Both Garbisch and Monica were anxious. If even the cleverest Jessica couldn’t figure it out, how could they?
Jessica finally placed the military token back into the box and handed it to Garbisch. “This token can’t stay in the Yates family. If the King finds out abou it, it will bring disaster.”
Just as she finished speaking, their guard, Nolan Knox, hurriedly knocked on the door. “Someone from the palace has arrived!”
Jessica and Garbisch exchanged a look, their hearts sinking, thinking, ‘The news is spreading this fast?‘
