43 Leo goes to the party. (3/3)

(O3O)/ – Here is Ch-43.3!!!

(-.-) – Sorry for the delay guys, I had to rewrite a big chunk of the chapter.

(O-O) – For some reason, that wasn’t good enough for me, so it took a while to fix everything.

(OwO) – Anyway, enjoy the chapter∼♥

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“Before we continue this conversation, I have something to ask you, Leonora… would you mind if my son joined us on this joyous occasion…?” – Asked Balthazar, as he stared at Leo with a serious look on his face.

“Eh…? A-Albert-sama, is going to, join us…?”

The topic of the conversation had finally shifted to dresses, so Leo thought now was the right time to start talking about his new product. However, before he could do that, Balthazar dropped a massive bomb. Now, Leo was in a bind. He obviously didn’t want to see Albert, but he also didn’t want to ruin the the good image that the Empress had of him by saying “no,” so he just shook his head, and said–

“–I don’t, mind… you can, call him….”

Leo hadn’t spoken with Albert ever since the day he went to his room to retrieve the coin. In other words, it had been a week since then, so Leo was afraid that the prince might do something to him when they finally met… but after the Emperor told Albert to enter the room, all of those thoughts vanished.

Like his father, Albert was also wearing an expensive white tunic, decorated in gold and jewels. You could even say that those clothes made him look a lot more handsome than he already was… well, if only his complexion didn’t make him look like a sick person, that is.

(He’s really pale… even more pale than the other day. Did something happen to him…? Is he sick…?)

Albert’s complexion was, indeed, really bad, but that wouldn’t stop him from giving the Harkenbergs a proper greeting, so he held out his right hand to Klaus to give him a handshake… which briefly exposed the golden bracelet that he had on his wrist.

Normally, Leo would feel attracted to anything made out of gold, however, much like that other time, that didn’t seem to be the case for the golden bracelet that Albert was wearing, so he thought he had lost his knack for appraising valuable objects, again. But after taking out his gold coin from under his dress and having a good look at it, Leo breathed out a relieved sigh, after all, to him, his Kar-sama, was still the most valuable object in the world.

However, the prince wasn’t relieved at all.

“…*Whisper*…Why are you doing this, Leonora…?”

Albert became really distressed when when he saw Leonora holding her gold coin out in the open. To him, it was like she didn’t care about the consequences of her actions, and that pained him. But, like always, Leo was oblivious to his feelings. The prince even thought about taking her away from that place, however, as soon as he released Klaus’s hand, the old man spoke.

“Aren’t you being a little bit too harsh with your son, Your Majesty? This sealing bracelet is so strong, that it can even steal the magic power of those who touch it’s wearer, so wouldn’t it be wiser to take that thing off of him, before he dies of magic power exhaustion?” – Said Klaus, as he stared at Balthazar with a frown.

(Huh!? A-Albert’s going to die because of that bracelet!? What do you mean by that!?) – Thought Leo, as he turned to look at Klaus with a surprised look on his face.

Leo was really surprised when he heard that, but since he didn’t know why Albert was being forced to wear that thing, he just kept quiet and listened.

“I’m sorry, Lord Harkenberg, it wasn’t my intention to steal your magic power.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to worry about that, Your Highness. I know you didn’t want to do that. What I’m trying to say, is that your punishment is too heavy. Besides, today is the day of the Spirit Festival, you know? This is supposed to be a happy and joyous day, after all, we’re celebrating the arrival of spring, so I think you should take that thing off of him, Your Majesty.”

Klaus wasn’t just much older than Balthazar, he was also war hero. Lord Harkenberg had so many achievements on the battlefield, that it was a bit hard for the Emperor to openly deny one of his requests. However, instead of going along with him, Balthazar shook his head, and said–

“–Don’t you understand, Klaus? It’s precisely because today is the day of the Spirit Festival, that I’m doing this.”

“What…? So you’re really going to–!”

“–That’s right, what a better day to decide what I’m going to do with* my son, if not today?”

(*Tl/n: That part can also mean to dispose of something, so I used the first meaning.)

Everyone was taken aback by what Balthazar said, including Leo, after all, that was something extremely harsh to say to a family member.

(The Emperor is going to… dispose of his son…?)

To Leo, this situation was akin to a shop owner throwing away expired products. But since they were talking about another person, that could only mean one thing–

(–In other words… he’s going to execute Albert…?)

After piecing together what Klaus said about the bracelet and Balthazar’s declaration, Leo reached that conclusion. However, he still couldn’t understand why the Emperor would do something like that to his own son, so he continued listening.

“This stupid son of mine not only created something that will forever change the power structure of this country, but he also released it to the public without even thinking twice on how his actions will impact the lives of the people of this country. That magic crest may be harmless now, considering that it can only create water, but eventually, things will get out of hand. Well, it will take a while for that magic crest to replace the power of the royal family… however, the same thing can’t be said about the lower nobles. Many of them were diligently serving the crown, but now, it’s like we, the royal family, rewarded their hard work by stabbing them in the back–”

Balthazar then stood up and grabbed his son’s right arm, before lifting it up.

“–Which is why I’m not taking this thing off of him. He’ll continue wearing this until he understands how it feels to lose the only thing that can distinguish us from the common people.”

“!!!!!!!!!”

(No way…! So Albert is being punished because of that magic crest…!?)

Since Leo didn’t know why Albert was being punished, hearing that left a strange sense of guilt on his chest, after all, this only happened because he insisted on getting Carnelian’s blessing–

(–No, wait, maybe that’s why Albert asked me to return the gold coin! He wasn’t there to take back his present, he just wanted me to lend him some money! He knew that he was going to be executed, so he was going to use that money to start a new life as a commoner, after he ran away from his evil father! That conversation had nothing to do with a possible marriage!)

After realizing that, Leo wanted to punch himself for not understanding what Albert meant at the time. The prince liked money as much as he did, so it was obvious that he wanted to use that money as an investment for his new life… however, because Leo kept hiding from him, Albert was now in a pinch, which only made that strange sense of guilt grow even stronger.

Well, to tell the truth, it wasn’t really Leo’s fault that Albert decided to create that magic crest, but since he was saved by the crest during his negotiation with Carnelian, Leo felt like it was only fair to save Albert as well, so he stood up and faced Balthazar.

“You can’t, do that, to him! Albert-sama, didn’t do, anything wrong! It was all, my fault…!”

Leo was really scared of having to face Balthazar. He so scared, in fact, that he even unconsciously squeezed his gold coin. But Leo couldn’t simply let his savior, or rather, Albert, die like that, so he stood his ground and continued facing the Emperor.

“My son already told me everything, Leonora. I know it’s not your fault, so I’m not going to punish you with him… instead, I’ll give you a test.”

“Eh…? You will, give me, a test…?”

Even though the little girl in front of him didn’t understand what was going on, Balthazar couldn’t care less about that. He just turned towards Alexia, and said–

“–My wife, grab the tea pot….”

“!!!!!!!!!”

Alexia was really surprised to hear that, but since she knew what Balthazar was trying to say, her surprised expression quickly turned into a happy one.

“Of course, dear….”

“Please, don’t do this, mother! She didn’t do anything wrong!” – Yelled Albert, with a desperate look on his face, as he tried to stop his mother.

“My, ufufu, aren’t you being a little bit too mean, son? You’re yelling at me like I’m some kind of monster. Relax, I’m not going devour her.” – Said Alexia, as she grabbed the tea pot and poured it’s contents onto a clean tea cup.

After filling the cup, Alexia then looked straight into Leo’s amethyst eyes, and said–

“–Here… would you like to have a cup of tea, Leonora?”

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(O3O)/ – See you all next week!!!

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