Chapter 160 (1/2)

Chapter 160: Chapter 160

It was an unexpected proposal. I thought he would make the maximum use of me because I was the surefire card to beat Jiun, but Duke Lars had in mind another card that could put him at risk when things went wrong.

“If you can commit these two things, I will support your decision to be the successor of your family in the name of my name. I’m sorry to the emperor, but if the two opposing factions agree, he has no other choice but to accept it. As you will succeed the great noble family of more than 1,000 years of history, he might not be upset.”

“Are you serious?”

“Sure. How about my proposal? I know your father is so strongly opposed right now. Right now, the two factions are barely keeping a balance of power. There is nothing good if our relationship with the Monique family goes sour, as you know. So, I hope you can accept my proposal.”

“… Thank you, Duke Lars.”

I felt I won an unexpected ally, but at the same time I wondered if I could really trust him.

As he said he promised it under his name, I had to trust him. But I wanted to double check with my father just in case.

By the way, a suitable candidate for the crown prince? In fact, I gave it a thought once, but put it off because I couldn’t let an innocent lady tread on the same path I had walked in order to save my life.

But right now there was no other way than that if I didn’t want to be the crown prince’s wife.

What about this? Isn’t it okay to look for a lady who covets the position of the crown prince’s wife rather than seeking his love like I did? As long as the lady didn’t want his love, she wouldn’t be hurt like I had. As she wouldn’t lose her power easily once she became the crown prince’s wife, she would be a strong ally of the pro-emperor faction.

While I was pondering over the right candidate, an attendant urgently came and said, “Duke Lars, the crown prince said he wanted to meet you as soon as possible. As he issued the order some time ago, you had better hurry up right now.”

“Really? Okay.”

Oh, come to think of it, the crown prince summoned all the nobles with the rank of earl and above with respect to the flooding.

I clicked my tongue in my heart. I should have told him about it as soon as I saw him, but as I was so tense when I saw the duchess, I forgot to tell him.

“You were also summoned to the palace.”

“Me, too? Why?”

“I don’t know why, but I understand that Lady Jena was also summoned.”

“Good. Then let’s go together. ”

As he was about to walk away quickly, he turned to me and said. I headed to the palace with him.

In the meeting room of the palace there were already the emperor, the crown prince and several nobles. There were also a number of government officials with lower ranks who appeared to be responsible for the work.

When I sat down next to my father after showing due manners to the head table, I saw Jiun sitting at the end of the table biting her lip gently.

“Oh, everyone is here. Shall we discuss the measures? ”

“Your Majesty, can I ask you one thing before that?”

“What is it, Duke Jenna?”

“Why did you call my daughter and Lady Monique here?”

“You have argued that your daughter should be given a chance to prove her abilities, right? So, I called them here to get their opinion.”

The emperor spoke in a very tired voice. I was worried about his health when I saw him so tired after he returned from the summer palace only recently. Was he getting worse?

“I heard that both ladies were already briefed about the situation. So, let me ask right now. What do you think? As the crown prince’s bride candidate, give me your idea on how to tackle the flooding of the Lumo River?”

Measures to tackle the river flooding?

While I was trying to figure out what to start with, Jiun opened her mouth with a smile as if it was not a big deal.

“May I speak first?”

“Sure, go ahead.”