Contract Marriage Interrupted

Episode 5. The rumor is real?

 

It was about a month ago, when Walter returned to the capital with a victory lap.

Lizaina raised her head alone among those who bloomed the flowers of envy with Walter’s story.

The reason was simple.

‘Walter Ertmann? It’s simple.’

Whether it was an cold-blooded duke or a bloody murderous maniac, she knew she could bring him to his knees in front of her if she set her mind to it.

Lizaina was never missed from the nickname “the flower of society” in the years since her debut.

Beautiful appearance, the gorgeous background of the Princess, and the enormous support from the Duke of Rodel, the father of Queen Katarina.

It would have been rather strange that she could not reign in society.

As a result, by the end of the spring social season, everyone was talking about Lizaina.

“You are so beautiful!”

“How graceful she is!”

The men’s scramble to get Lizana’s dance card, and there were plenty of outliers who considered it as the honor of a lifetime to even could speak to her.

So she thought Duke Ertmann was nothing if she made up her mind.

‘Seeing as there are no rumors about him in social circles, he must be a simpleton who doesn’t know any women.’

Duke Ertmann had been busy roaming the battlefields ever since he came of age at the behest of the Emperor, and he was known for his lack of socializing.

 

He was known for rarely speaking to anyone.

Though there are envious rumors that he is extremely handsome.

“Then what is he doing? He must be a vassal.”

Lizaina even thought such envy was ridiculous. Of course, she’s Lizaina Rodel Celestine!

No matter of the gender, she’s someone everyone needs to kiss her feet in order to relieve her anger and up until she had met Walter, she didn’t stop her attitude and that scornful laugh of hers.

“Mother, do you think Duke Ertmann has ever held a woman’s hand before? I wonder if he’ll fall head over heels for me if I’d shake my skirt. Knights like him are no fun.”

“Don’t be silly, Lizaina. This is a difficult position that I made for you. Make sure you are liked by the Duke of Ertmann!”

“Difficult? Who cares about Ertmann now. Do you really have to do this?”

“You don’t understand! Ertmann’s power won’t disappear just because he’s dead. And now that he’s back as a war hero, he’ll have even more momentum.”

Empress Katarina scolded her immature daughter.

“Walter Ertmann, because he is a swordsman classmate of the Crown Prince, many people believe that Ertmann is on the Crown Prince’s side. So, if we can bring him to our side, it will be easier to recruit other nobles.”

In the end Katarina’s words made Lizaina reluctantly corrected her attitude and went out to see Walter.

‘Well, it’s not a bad thing for me either.’

Walter is currently the center of attention in the capital’s social circles, both in name and reality.

‘More than anything, I quite liked the Duke of Ertmann.’

If I could marry him and be by his side, I would definitely receive envious looks in each glance. 

“To be in the company of the Duke of Ertmann, of all people, Lizaina!”

“You have to be a Highness to be with the Duke, right?”

She said. 

Lizaina was confident she could make this plan a reality.

But today. 

“Y-Your Highness! The Duke of Ertmann admitted to having a secret meeting with your Highness the Fourth Princess!”

Until she heard this outrageous news.

* * *

 

The rumors surrounding Walter, Lizaina, and Odette spread like morning fog.

There was no way Lizaina hadn’t heard the chatter.

However, Lizaina had snorted and tried to deny the rumor.

There must be some mistake.

Odette, the girl who barely leave my palace, and all of sudden have a secret meeting with the Duke of Ertmann?

That’s ridiculous! It must be a false rumor.

However, Walter kindly smashed the mask of denial that Lizana had been trying to wear.

“……Walter Ertmann and Odette had a secret meeting?”

 

Her biological brother, Second Prince Blake, who was sitting across from Rizaina, playing chess by himself, spoke up with a sneer in his voice.

Unlike Lizaina, who closely resembles the Emperor, Blake was a model of the Katarina Empress. 

Wavy dark blue hair and amethyst eyes. At first glance, he appeared to be a handsome nobleman with fine features, but when his lips twisted, his face would turn cold enough to make even his sister Lizaina cringe.

Like right now.

“What the hell is that, Lizzi, or did I hear you wrong?”

“……what?”

“You were so confident that you’re going to woo Duke Ertmann didn’t you? You said you almost got over it, was that a bluff?”

“What are you talking about? What do I gain from lying like that? You saw it, too! The Duke of Ertmann was certainly sweet to me!”

“Anyone can be that sweet, and it’s your job to find out if it’s fake or real.”

“But you know that. Duke Ertmann kept coming to see me. Why would he do that if he didn’t have me in mind?”

Lizaina was wronged.

It wasn’t a lie that Walter treated him special.

Walter, a socially inactive man, has been visiting Katarina for the past month, knocking on her door repeatedly, and each time Katarina called in Lizana to drink tea with Walter, or with the three of them.

What’s the point of him coming to Katarina if he’s not trying to meet her himself?

She thought things were going well between her and Walter.

He was far from friendly, and they rarely made eye contact, but at least he always responded to what she said.

Lizaina had been spreading rumors lately, that things were going well between them.

She said he was being very sweet to her.

Why would he remain silent if he knew that?

Lizaina took his demeanor to mean that he wanted to develop a relationship with her.

No, I wanted to believe that.

‘I’ve never seen a man like that.’

Walter Ertmann.

Lizaina still can’t forget her first meeting with him.

The day she reluctantly went out to meet him on Katarina’s company.

As she entered the conservatory, where the tea table was set, he turned around to face me without taking a seat.

– Ode…….

– Greetings, Duke Ertmann. I’m Lizaina Rodel Celestine.

– ……Your Imperial Highness.

A flicker of disappointment and displeasure flashed across Walter’s face, but Lizaina didn’t mention it.

Instead, what caught her eye was the coolness of a man named Walter.

A man she wondered what a sword would look like if it were made into a man.

A sharpness was felt in his body, which had been strengthened through long military service, and in his words and actions that fell straight as if he had been measured with a ruler.

 

He was different from the talkative men that Lizaina had seen many times.

‘I thought you’d be stupid because you’ve never been in a social circle.’

Walter was a master of all manners, and he had a way with words. He had the added bonus of using his good looks to set the tone.

It was an unexpected surprise to find someone so likable.

Half of the men she’d dated had acted like jerks because of her looks and status, and half had said things to impress her.

For the first time, she wanted to have one.

It didn’t seem like such a hard thing to do. Lizaina was confident that she and Walter were getting closer.

Now, that he had been rumored having a secret meeting with Odette, and he admit it!

Lizaina’s hands trembled with contempt.

Blake, who had been watching, smirked, and then spoke up while moving his chess pieces.

“You know that? How people like to bite people in high places. The rumor got here, so everyone probably knows.”

And he soon said.

“You show off like that, and then you lose your man to an illegitimate child.”

“This time, how can you capture the hearts of all men just because you are the Third Princess?”

 

He said. 

“If that’s the case, won’t this be completely slapped by Odette?”

Blake chuckled, and Lizaina’s face which was already flushed with humiliation, was now even redder.

If Lizaina had heard this story alone, she could have thought more rationally even though she was angry.

But with Blake, it was a different story.

“Why would the Duke of Ertmann match with that lowly thing? I guess that’s why you hit your tail like my mother without knowing the subject. Are you going to stay still, Lizzi?”

“……Odette, that damned bitch……! I’m not going to let you!”

Lizaina’s anger grew uncontrollably with each poke from Blake.

Muttering curses in her rage, Lizaina finally scrambled to her feet and stomped over to Odette.

 

That’s how it is now.

“Do you realize how ridiculous you’ve made me look by flirting with Duke Ertmann without knowing the subject matter? Tell me the truth now! What have you done?”

Odette froze in her tracks at the sight of the rampaging Lizaina.

The reason was simple.

“……The rumors are true, that Duke Ertmann did it?”

She didn’t know the slightest thing about this situation!

Of course she thought Empress Katarina or Lizaina had sent Walter on purpose.

 

They really didn’t?

“The Duke of Ertmann’s visit to me has nothing to do with the Empress or Lizaina?”

She didn’t know it in detail, but it was clear that something was going wrong.

And also that Odette’s response, which seemed to know nothing, stirred Lizana’s anger more clearly.

“Ha, you’re trying to play dumb now that you know everything, you abomination!”

Lizana’s face was distorted with unbearable anger.

It was an anger that might have been mitigated if Odette was honest and told the truth, but Lizaina couldn’t stand the look on Odette’s face that said “What the hell are you talking about…….”.

“You’ve ruined my reputation, and now the social circles are going to be gossiping that I lost a man to you! I’m ashamed to be mentioned side by side with someone like you, and now I have to listen to that!”

“No, I really don’t know–“

“You didn’t know? I bet you didn’t. Why don’t you say you didn’t even know Duke Ertmann was seeing me? Shameless as your mother!”

At the mention of her mother, Odette’s face hardened slightly.

Her mother was a former palace maid.

There was only one thing Odette knew about her mother.

That she was a maid to the Empress Katarina.

“Your dead mother was after my mother’s man, too, wasn’t she? You’re really her daughter. This is why you can’t have lowly things. You lust after other people’s things.”