Chapter 197
"Greetings your Majesty. I"m Gillard Brown, the householder of the Brown family."
At last, Emperor Jovanes" eyes narrowed as he looked at Gillard Brown standing in front of him.
And the laughter that was full of everything disappeared.
"Hmm."
The Lord of Brown"s face hardened at a sound with a long tail, whose meaning was unknown.
He didn"t think the Emperor would greet the Browns" return with both hands, but he didn"t even know he would be so indifferent.
The responsibility for what happened to the Brown family is also in the Royal Family, so he expected him to look somewhat agitated.
"Yeah, I think I remember your face."
That was the response of Emperor Jovanes.
Embarra.s.sed, Gillard Brown cringed habitually.
But at that moment, he remembered what Florentia said.
"Always raise your head. Straighten your shoulders. And now you"re a householder worthy of the name of the Brown family name."
The words of the Brown family"s name, make the head of the Lord of Brown raised again.
It wasn"t until then it was seen.
Behind the indifferent Emperor"s face, Empress Rabini turned pale.
"What the h.e.l.l is this..."
A voice that seemed to have been strangling someone came from Empress Rabini.
It was ten years ago that she missed the track of Gillard Brown, son of the predecessor Brown family"s householder.
But the last time she pursued them, Gillard Brown was dying from a long chronic illness, and he had no sons and only daughters.
So she thought it wouldn"t be a big threat, and she didn"t chase them anymore.
"Has he been hiding in Lombardy until now?"
Empress Rabini"s fierce eyes reached Lulak Lombardy with a relaxed face.
She can"t stand being beaten.
She had to do anything to prevent this situation.
Empress Rabini chose to attack.
"Are you sure this Lord Brown, Your Majesty?"
"Well, it was a long time ago."
"Just looking alike doesn"t prove anything."
There is nothing left of the Brown family at present.
It was because Angenas burned everything.
The idea was that there could be nothing identifiable to the Brown family, who were attacked in the middle of the night, and everything burned down.
"Let him show you that, Lord of Brown."
Then Lulak said to Gillard Brown as if he had waited.
"Look at this, Your Majesty."
Lord of Brown pulled something wrapped in a soft cloth from his arms and handed it to Emperor Jovanes.
"This is..."
"This is the ring that my father received from His Majesty the Emperor during his lifetime."
A thick golden ring was carved with a vivid Imperial design.
Inside the ring, the name of the predecessor Lord of Brown was also engraved.
"When he had been serving as the commander of Imperial Knight for 10 years, he was told that it was an object given by His Majesty the Emperor."The faces of several Imperial Knights who were escorting Emperor Jovanes became visibly gloomy.
It was because there were no Imperial Knights who did not know the story of the Lord of Brown, who has devoted his whole life to the Imperial Family but was eventually betrayed by the Emperor.
"Have you cleared up your doubts now, Empress?"
Lulak Lombardy gently asked Rabini.
The Empress was forced to nod, but she did not take her eyes off the ring that Jovanes was holding.
It was a face that clearly showed the desire to take it away and get rid of it.
Then, the Lord of Brown slowly knelt before the Emperor.
He was followed by a dozen or so members of the Brown family.
"Our Brown family has been chased by unidentified men, Your Majesty. We eventually split up to survive, changing our names, hiding our tracks."
Gillard Brown said in a nonchalant voice.
"But with the help of Lord Lombardy, I decided to venture out. And now that I"m able to kneel before His Majesty as the Lord of Brown, there is no room for regrets."
At the desperate words, the n.o.bles shook their heads and covered their mouths.
The Imperial Knights also had a gloomy faces.
"Although my right hand was stolen, I kept my loyalty intact."
It was the moment when the n.o.bles also saw the empty right-handed sleeves of the men of the Brown family.
"Gasp!"
"Oh, my G.o.d..."
"It"s also cruel..."
Several reactions have erupted simultaneously.
And they were all looking sideways at the Empress.
Everyone knows that Angenas is the only one who would do such a terrible thing to the Brown family.
"The Brown family and the Lombardy family have a long relationship."
Lulak Lombardy said, loosening the tense atmosphere a little.
"These are the people who have gone through a lot. Now, your Majesty will end their suffering. So that they no longer have to be chased by fear."
"How am I supposed to end this?"
Emperor Jovanes frowned and asked.
He looked very annoying.
"Wouldn"t it be nice if you help put the name of the Brown family back on the n.o.ble list? It"s just that the family has disappeared due to an "incident of injustice", and their descendants are continuing their lives like this. I think it is fair to help them that way."
However, a strong response came from Empress Rabini.
"No way, Your Majesty!"
Grabbing the hem of the dress, Empress Rabini strode up and looked down at the Lord of Brown.
"For whatever reason, it is a family that once disappeared from the aristocratic register. In other words, they"re just commoners now."
There was contempt in Rabini"s eyes for Gillard Brown looking up at her.
"How easy should it be to be a n.o.bleman again? It"s against equity, it"s also a matter of trust in the aristocracy."
"Trust?"
Lulak smiled in vain.
"Did you just say trust, Empress?"
Even the honorifics, which were given as a courtesy at the official ceremony, had long since disappeared.
"Yes, the Lord of Lombardy."
"Oh, my G.o.d! I can"t believe you"re talking about trust. I"m sure the Empress doesn"t know exactly what happened to her predecessor or how the Browns got to this point!"
If she had known, she wouldn"t have mentioned "trust" so easily.
Empress Rabini"s body winces greatly.
Still, she couldn"t argue.
Because Lulak was right.
Rabini only knows that Angenas has taken everything from the Brown family and liquidated the survivors.
She didn"t know exactly how it happened.
It was because, in order to leave no evidence, all relevant records were destroyed.
Even if it is the record of Angenas.
"But I know."
Lulak said with a significant smile.
"It"s very useful to be old at times like this. The memories that I saw and heard with my own eyes remain clear."
Unlike his expression, he had cold eyes with no laughter.
Originally, Lulak had no intention of stepping up to the plate.
As much as he entrusted everything to his granddaughter Tia, he thought to step back and watch her.
But a few days ago, he heard that a.s.sa.s.sins sent by the Empress almost harmed Tia in Lombardy"s territory.
And everything has changed.
Lulak looked at Emperor Jovanes and said.
"I, Lulak Lombardy, will guarantee the ident.i.ty of Lord of Brown and the Brown family."
It wasn"t an easy word to pa.s.s.
It was as if Lulak announced that Lombardy was behind the Browns.
It meant that he would also take responsibility for what the Brown family did.
It was also said that if the Browns were touched, they would have touched Lombardy too.
"How dare you touch my granddaughter?"
Lulak stared at Rabini Angenas.1
He himself seemed to have endured the irritation of Angenas for a long time.
If it"s annoying, just remove it from his eyes, it"s simple.
He"ll make the Empress regret for messing with Tia.
Lulak smiled cruelly at Empress Rabini.1
* * *
The eve banquet became noisier.
Everyone was busy commenting on what happened a little while ago about the Browns and the Angenas families.
The Empress eventually left the banquet.
The word that Empress Rabini stumbled on the way up to a room prepared for her in the villa quickly became rumors and entered my ears as well.
"Gosh, d.a.m.n it!"
Astana returned to his original seat where he was sitting and drinking.
"Bring me more liquor, Belsach!"
He was angry with a loud voice to Belsach who was standing next to him.
If the Empress weren"t here, he would have stopped him.
"Your Highness, that"s enough..."
"Noisy! Get me the liquor!"
The Imperial Knights, who were guarding him, pretended to stop him a few times, but Astana, who was drunk, was stubborn.
It"s time for him to cool down.
"Follow me, Lady Brown."
I approached Astana with Ramona, standing in the way of the servant who was about to take Caloga wine.
"Now stop, Your Highness the First Prince."
"What?"
"I won"t give you any more drinks."
How would he react if I refused to give alcohol to a drunk dog?
"How dare you disobey my orders now!"
Of course, it barks.
As if he"d bite me right now.
"You don"t want to waste your money on Caloga liquor? It"s pathetic that Lombardy"s guest service is only this much!"
I spoke in a calm voice to Astana, who was clamoring for more alcohol.
"If it is money, there is more than enough to leave the world, but it is for Your Highness. You have to think of the Empress."
Yeah, you see the Empress, don"t you?
Astana"s eyes turned ugly all at once, contrary to my expectations.
"What?"
"The Empress must be very worried about what happened a while ago. It must be very hurtful if the First Prince is drunk and shows his bad side to the n.o.bles."
"You"re drunk" is the most disliked word for drunken people.
Sure enough.
Astana shouted like a fit.
"I"m not drunk! And how do you know my mother"s heart!"
My head went blank for a moment.
Although he was deliberately drinking and scratching my nerves.
Hey, you"re amazing.
It"s just a slip of tongue.
"Why did you suddenly become silent? It seems like you missed your lowly mother in another world, right?"1
I don"t need to respond anymore, Astana just crossed the line.
This can be seen by looking at the Imperial Knights and Lombardy Knights who couldn"t say anything with their eyes wide open.
But the difference between the two is that the Lombardy knights have their hands on their waist-deep swords.
"Whoo..."
I quietly took off the gloves I had on my hands, suppressing the urge to grab Astana"s barking hair.
And threw it right on Astana"s face.1
Slap!
There was a pretty loud sound.
Everyone knew what it meant to throw gloves at the opponent.
"L, Lady Lombardy!"
One of the startled Imperial Knights called me as if to stop me.
But I didn"t care and stared at Astana and said.
"I ask the Prince for a duel."
Astana was seen struggling to understand the situation with his drunken, blurred eyes.
"Duel...?"
"Yes, but you"re drunk, and I"m not a sword-holder, so let"s set up our own representatives to settle it."
And I said, pointing straight at the Imperial Knights who are still dumbfounded.
"My escort and Imperial Knight would be perfect."