Princess, Please Fall in Love with Me-Chapter 40 : Chapter 40

Chapter 40 : Curtain, Darkness Hidden in Shadows
"Yiwen, in my presence, are you willing to accept the request of your grandfather, Grand Duke Ados Caesar of Saito’s, to become a member of the Caesar Family?"
Returning to the family should have been a simple matter of a single sentence, but the Grand Duke of Saito stubbornly insisted on this somewhat special request.
Whether out of guilt for his eldest daughter or out of love and pity for his granddaughter, the Grand Duke of Saito’s resolved to let Yiwen make her own choice.
No matter what, they would be her strongest support.
"I am willing."
Yiwen nodded, releasing Loka's hand and calmly grasping the slightly nervous hand extended by the Grand Duke.
Though her eyes still held a trace of resistance, she did acknowledge this grandfather.
"Thank you, child."
"I haven’t forgiven you. I just don’t want my mother to leave me alone."
Though her mother’s tragic fate over the years was inseparable from them, to be fair, their love for her mother and her mother’s longing for her family—the bond of blood could never be fully severed.
But my other filthy bloodline… Yiwen glanced at Emperor Miles, the witness, smiling broadly nearby.
One day, I would personally deal with this beastly, hypocritical man, make him repent before my mother’s grave until this shameful bloodline was cleansed.
"Haha, since both sides have sincerely responded to each other’s wishes, let us raise our glasses to celebrate the reunion of this grandfather and granddaughter!"
As the witness, Emperor Miles clearly enjoyed the feeling of being the great benefactor.
He raised his glass triumphantly, and the crowd followed suit, loudly toasting the two.
"Henceforth, Yiwen is a child protected by the Kelake Royal Family and the Caesar Family, a bridge symbolizing peace between our two nations!"
With the Emperor’s announcement, the banquet reached another climax.
Yiwen became the focal point of the entire hall, but she merely passed through the crowd nonchalantly, coming to my side—having slipped away unnoticed earlier.
I felt a sharp poke at my waist, then saw Yiwen staring at me with a resentful expression.
I could only console her while handing her a glass of juice.
"Your Highness isn’t dirty. Some people are filthy themselves, but that won’t taint the purity and nobility of our blood. Your Highness is the noblest."
Like Yiwen, I loathed the Alva Family blood in my veins, but through meeting her and fighting those people, I gradually came to terms with it.
Why care about the filthy blood in my veins?
If I erased all those filthy people, wouldn’t my bloodline be pure and noble?
Thinking this, I couldn’t help but glance at the Duke nearby.
He was casually toasting with the head of the Clover Family, but suddenly felt a chill down his spine, nearly spilling his wine again.
Suddenly, my wine glass was snatched away.
Yiwen looked suspiciously at the reddish liquid in my hand compared to her mango juice.
"Why can you drink wine while I get juice?"
Actually, considering my two lifetimes, I was nearly thirty.
A little wine was nothing.
Yiwen stared at the reddish liquid, then boldly gulped it down with fearless bravado.
Her eyes suddenly lit up—it wasn’t as bad as she’d imagined, even sweet.
"Pomegranate juice. What did you think I was drinking?"
Though I had acted all confident earlier, at eleven or twelve, my tongue still rejected the taste of wine. Sweet juice suited me better now.
"Your Highness, don’t drink it all. I haven’t had much yet."
"You drink mine. This one’s mine now."
Watching us bicker, Knight Kyle nearby smiled and clinked glasses with old Kafu.
They had long blended into the banquet with the guests, and the expected sudden attack never came, so they celebrated instead.
On the other side, the Empress, barely containing her rage, excused herself from the banquet.
She returned alone to her palace, furiously snapping another fan in her hand.
"What matter requires my service now, dear Your Majesty the Empress?"
A masked figure emerged from the shadows, eyeing the Empress’s volatile expression with amusement but feigning concern.
"Tell those people to proceed with our plan. We can’t delay any longer."
"Empress, why have you become so reckless? This move is like dancing on a cliff’s edge. If it causes our ultimate plan to fail… you know the consequences."
The masked figure’s eyes carried a warning.
He didn’t intend to stop the Empress but didn’t want it to happen either.
Yet she seemed consumed by her agitation.
"I can’t wait any longer. The situation is getting worse. We must act now. The Sixth Princess is completely out of my control. This is an order!"
Seeing the Empress’s near-mad frenzy, the masked figure flashed a look of disdain and contempt, but ultimately nodded and vanished into the shadows again.
The banquet neared its end, and some guests had already left.
As the sun set and night fell, the palace’s banquet hall returned to silence in the darkness.
A night crow with glowing scarlet eyes quietly flew from the palace, landing at the Duke’s mansion.
It flew through a window, gently perching on the shoulder of a mysterious man.
In the flickering candlelight, a tall, trembling figure knelt shakily.
As the light grew clearer, the once lofty Duke knelt respectfully before the man, head bowed, not daring to speak.
"They’ve agreed to the plan?"
"Yes, they can’t wait any longer and want to act early."
The man gestured for the Duke to raise his head.
That usually cold, expressionless face was now twisted and panicked with fear.
With a slight cough from the man, the Duke frantically kowtowed in apology.
"Didn’t I tell you not to make such disgusting expressions with that face? Fine, since this is your last use, I’ll let you have a few days of freedom."
"Master, please spare my life once more!"
The man impatiently kicked away the groveling Duke, his eyes flashing with a deadly gaze, silently staring at the irritating fool beneath him.
"I trained you for decades, perfecting your speech, behavior, and expressions to be flawless.
But just because of one insignificant child, you exposed your cowardice?"
A sudden gust of wind burst through the window, blowing the candlelight toward the man in the darkness.
When his face was illuminated, it was identical to the Duke kneeling on the ground.
"As a stand-in, you have only one last bit of value."
The man’s eyes brimmed with an innate conspiratorial aura, his venomous gaze capable of killing.
"We’ll meet soon, Loka, my dear son…"