Chapter 157
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Lysia suddenly woke up around midnight that night. She had a terrible nightmare, which she couldn’t rember exactly.
However, as her chest burned, Lawrence’s face ca to mind.
Lysia sat up.
Seeing Lawrence in her dream was probably because during the day Amalie and Artizea talked about him.
But that wasn’t the only reason. She didn’t tell anyone, but Lysia thought of Lawrence in the West as well.
She knew Artizea was worried, so she tried to pretend she didn’t, but she woke up several tis from Lawrence’s dream like a fever.
It wasn’t that she wasn’t conscious of him at all when they returned. It’s just that Artizea doesn’t want it, so she’s just trying to pretend she doesn’t know.
Lysia got out of bed. Then she changed her clothes and went out quietly.
Grand Duke Evron’s residence was engulfed in silence.
Lysia ca out with a lamp.
The guards let her go without much concern at the words that she was going out for a walk.
It was because they knew that although Lysia was not a battlefield knight, she had enough skill to defend herself.
Lysia got on her horse and headed for Sabelin Street.
She made an impulsive decision.
When Lawrence told her that his house is on Sabelin Street, she had no intention of visiting him.
But now she wanted to. She couldn’t explain exactly why.
She stopped her horse where she could see the front door of Lawrence’s mansion.
Even after she left, Lysia was worried. Will she go in or not? She didn’t really know what to say to him just because she t him.
It was a ti of agony.
Then when she started to move, Lawrence’s carriage ca running back. Lysia quickly moved out of the way.
She thought it was rather good. Because it felt as if the carriage had swung past her like she was a ghost.
But the carriage stopped before Lysia swallowed the bitter water rising from her stomach.
Before the servant could open the door, Lawrence opened and exited the carriage himself.
Lysia flinched her body.
Lawrence ca over to her and held out his hand. His hands were white, his fingers were smooth, and his palm was soft. No man in Evron would have had such a hand.
Lysia couldn’t tell if it was the right thing for her to hold his hand or not.
Objectively, she deserved to be escorted from a high-ranking man.
But can she really hold this hand? Is it a betrayal?
With manners and emotions jumbled, Lysia placed her hand on Lawrence’s hand.
Then Lawrence pulled her to him and pulled her off the horse.
“You’re here.”
Lawrence had an expressionless face. However, his cheeks were hot, as if a porcelain doll was breathed to life.
“I didn’t co with that in mind.”
“Then?”
Lysia took in her breath. She couldn’t co up with a word.
“Lysia.”
Did she ever give him her na? She can’t rember it well.
Lawrence’s hand clasped Lycia’s hair lightly. Pulling and approaching happened at the sa ti, and his breath ca close enough to touch.
It was a feeling very familiar to Lysia. She was ecstatic enough to lose her soul, but scared enough to chill her spine.
Lysia took a step away from him before their lips touched.
She then clasped her hands together in front of her chest. Not knowing what’s on her mind, she felt like praying.
“Would you like to go to the West with ?”
“The West?”
Lawrence asked. And it soon turned into a face of absurdity.
“Yes. To the west……. No, it doesn’t matter if it’s East or South.”
Lysia shook her hand.
“Leave everything and co with . Then I will give up everything and be with you for the rest of my life.”
They only t a few tis, and this conversation was not sothing to say to the person he t twice.
Lysia knew it too.
But it was the answer to the problem she was looking for. What Lysia was about to answer, she couldn’t answer with certainty.
In fact, she didn’t even know exactly what the problem was.
But it feels like everything will go in the right direction. It was so clear that it felt like her eyes were wide open.
The saint must have felt this way a long ti ago when they saw directly in the direction God was pointing.
Lawrence grinned. He laughed as if it were ridiculous.
“Everything? What are you talking about when you don’t have anything anyway?”
“Sir Lawrence.”
“Don’t do that, instead co to .”
He pulled Lysia and wrapped around her waist.
Lysia saw the shadow from by the lamp cast red over Lawrence’s white cheeks. His long eyelashes were gleaming, making it look golden.
“I will let you enjoy all the wealth and the greatest pleasures in the world that you could not have imagined in Evron or anywhere else.”
“I don’t need that.”
“Then, present you with a crown under the starry night?”
It was a term referring to the Empress’ seat.
Lawrence lowered his head. Lysia turned her face away again this ti to avoid him kissing her.
“Let go.”
“Don’t think about it. You just need to co to . I will make you the happiest woman.”
Then he whispered that he would do everything for her, and he pulled Lysia closer to him, trying to embrace her deeply.
But before he could kiss her, a short arrowhead ca out of Lysia’s sleeve. Lawrence let her go as he was startled and backed off.
“I don’t an to hurt you. sorry.”
“…… Lysia.”
“I have to go back to Her Grace.”
Turning around, Lawrence spit it out in a cold voice against Lysia’s back.
“Is your heart just that much?”
“You don’t even love .”
Lysia stopped her steps and said.
Lawrence exhaled.
“Does anything change when I say I love you? Is the love you are talking about can only be achieved by being a poor person?”
“It’s not like that!”
“Then, are you doing this for Evron Grand Duchy?”
Lysia looked at Lawrence with a painful mood.
Leaving doesn’t an that Lawrence loses everything.
All he has to do is leave behind the fact that he is the son of the Emperor. Yet, he still holds the title and is a wealthy aristocrat.
He doesn’t have to be more greedy. Lawrence is tornting himself with that greed and dissatisfaction.
If he gives up his greed and leaves with her, they can try to love each other and live a simple and cute life.
Then he can live without bothering anyone. He himself could probably try to forgive himself with all his might.
But Lawrence refused. There was nothing more Lysia could say otherwise.
Lysia turned around. She did not look back this ti.
“Lysia!”
Lawrence shouted again.
Still, Lysia did not look back.
What Lawrence knows about love is only to give his partner sothing bigger and better.
She wasn’t saying to throw it away.
If soone had to give up sothing and let it go, he deserved to be by Lysia’s side. If only he really had pushed his hand out to her.
Lawrence twisted his lips and smiled.
＊＊＊
For so ti thereafter, the Empire was ostensibly very quiet.
The governnt has been busier than ever before.
Chancellor Lin said Cedric’s promises would not be anything more than short-term asures at best.
But even that alone puts an unusually heavy burden on the officials.
Lawrence’s preparations for the southern conquest were much more complicated and serious than that.
The subjugation of pirates in the South has been a problem that has been regularly called for for a long ti.
Even the Emperor always had in his mind the seriousness of it.
He didn’t just give Lawrence an achievent, he had to get the most out of it at once if he was going to move the army as the center of the operation.
On the other hand, there was clearly a reason for why he had been neglecting it until now. So, Gayan and his military officers wrapped their heads every day.
Such things beca the main topic of discussion in social circles, salons and coffeehouses.
On the other hand, there was no place for scandals and conspiracies to intervene.
Artizea would wait until the ti ca. She told Amalie the sa thing.
[“Well, even if I say this, it must be true that Da is hesitant.”]
[“I’m sorry.”]
[“I do not intend to form a conquest and compete with His Majesty for power. I don’t even think it will be of any benefit.”]
[“Your Grace.”]
[“Rather, I think it is right to win the favor of His Majesty. So don’t worry and wait.”]
Amalie looked at Artizea with a face that wondered if that would be possible. It was because it felt like a contradiction to seek the Emperor’s favor from the position of pushing Lawrence away.
Artizea said the Emperor’s heart would not last long, and Amalie even admitted that her words were plausible.
But she has not yet fully agreed and was not convinced.
Knowing this, Artizea was also saying this.
[“If you follow His Majesty’s will and wait, Da will co out knowing that I was right.”]
Artizea didn’t expect loyalty from them right now. Even if she forcibly puts the pressure, it will only solidify a transactional relationship.
And true loyalty did not co from a faction united for profit.
Cedric’s reign should not have started like that.
So her job is to change the situation. Not forcing them to make a decision.
Amalie again apologized, but she nodded her head at Artizea’s words.
Gayan, who had heard the story from Amalie, also agreed. He sighed.
His heart was complicated, but he could not disobey the Emperor’s orders. If the ‘ti’ Artizea spoke of did not co, he would eventually have no choice but to remain loyal to the Emperor.
[“It’s not as comfortable as it is, ntally. If His Grace Grand Duke Evron becos the next emperor, wouldn’t his position be that he noticed the trend late?”]
In essence, the person who was with you in difficult tis is the best. No one welcos a person who joined after it is clear they will be advantageous after looking at both sides.
Even Amalie understood Gayan’s feelings a hundred tis. She herself had such anxiety.
Nevertheless, Amalie had no choice but to say this.
[“But the other person is Grand Duke Evron. After all, the vassals of Evron Grand Duchy will be the best when it cos to those who have been with him in difficult tis, and His Grace will decide whether or not to use such a person for that reason.”]
[“Is that so?”]
[“Faith does not only co from sharing in hardships or opening your heart, but also from whether you can do it with certainty when you are entrusted with it.”]
[“I think it would be more comfortable that way. These days.”]
Gayan said so in a tired voice.
Then he assembled an army for Lawrence and set out for the South.
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