Contract Marriage Interrupted

Episode 29. I’ve come so far.

 

Odette’s eyes widened, and then thinned again.

She’d been expecting the proposal to come up.

‘Yeah, I knew it would come up.’

Actually, come to think of it, that’s all he’d been saying all along.

Let’s get married.

And until now, Odette had consistently rejected it……….

“……What do you get if I accept your proposal?”

Now she was willing to listen a little bit.

First of all, she was curious about why Walter was doing this, and she was also afraid of a debt of 500,000 dirhams.

“I don’t have any faction within the Imperial palace, so the purpose isn’t really to increase your power through me. So, is this also related to the Empress? If you want to keep someone in check, Brother Cedric would be more helpful than me…….”

“I don’t know what Your Highness is talking about. Isn’t it obvious what I’ll get from marrying your highness?”

Walther’s index finger straightened.

Towards Odette.

“…… Me, do you mean?”

“Is there anything else?”

“…….”

Odette had no answer.

 

She’d just said herself that she has no faction, and that she wasn’t much use as a check on any particular faction.

But that didn’t stop her from feeling a little nervous this time.

“…… Are you really thinking of marrying me?”

Odette’s question slipped out, and this time Walter’s brow furrowed.

“Then, is your Highness not going to accept my proposal and marry someone else?”

“No, it’s not like that! Rather…… Lizaina, I mean, you didn’t like the Third Princess?”

Lizaina used to be talking about dating like that!

But Walter didn’t change his expression.

“I don’t have the kind of feelings you’re thinking about towards the Third Princesses.”

“But you’ve always meeting the Third Princess all this time!”

“I asked the Empress to let me meet the Fourth Princess, bu she introduced me to your sister. It’s not my fault, is it?”

“Wha-…… What did you say?”

Walter wasn’t willing to meet Lizaina?

Odette’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.

Walter just rolled the pen in his hand in a somewhat indifferent manner.

“I would have thought that after traveling so far, she would have allowed me to meet you at least once, but the Empress is a bit of a prude after all. I had to wait until the victory celebration.”

“T- that’s what was…….”

The grumbling was somehow natural.

Odette unconsciously nodded along, but suddenly came to her senses when she realized that she had been caught up in Walter’s pace.

 

‘Don’t be fooled by this!’

There is further evidence that Walter has set his heart for Lizaina.

“But at the tea party, you stuck close to the Third Princess, so surely the nuance you dropped was that you had your heart set on her.”

“Yes. And I walked out carrying you, Princess. Do you remember?”

“……!”

“They say that sometimes an action is worth a hundred words.”

Odette was shocked to hear Walter’s voice as he casually ruffled her hair.

Of course she thought he wanted Lizaina, but that wasn’t the case.

However, Walter complained that he did not understand to the surprised Odette.

“I’ve said the same thing from the beginning. I want to marry you.”

“…… Who would believe that? Of course I thought you were playing me…….”

“Oh, of course it’s true that I was joking around at the tea party.”

Are you kidding me?

Just as Odette’s eyes were about to sharpen, Walter continued.

“That’s the way to get the King to accept Ertmann’s, and no one will argue with you becoming the Duchess of Ertmann.”

Suddenly Odette realized what Walter was trying to say.

Walter’s bombshell at the tea party.

– Would Your Majesty not allow the Princess to do what she wishes?

– Tastes of a person’s preference usually runs in family, my grandfather said. With that short bold statement, Walter immediately backed the emperor into a corner.

The emperor, who said he would not tolerate the scandal with Ertmann, suddenly found himself in a position where he had no choice but to accept the Princess’s marriage to Ertmann if she wanted it.

And public opinion quickly reversed itself.

Because Walter did not reveal which of the two Princesses he wanted, a confrontation was created between the Third and Fourth Princesses.

It just so happened that Lizaina was in the place of a heated argument with Walter.

Thanks to this, no one will be surprised if Walter marries one of the princesses as I said.

“……Was this your plan all along?”

“Of course.”

Walter nodded without a trace of embarrassment.

“If I had openly courted you, or even told the Emperor first that I wanted to marry you, he would have taken advantage of it.”

Of course, the Emperor may reject Ertmann because he dislikes them, but if he can control a family as big as Ertmann by giving up an illegitimate Princess, this is a profitable business.

“I don’t mind being used…… because they keep trying to send me to war.”

“You’ve barely been back, and they’re sending you away again?”

“It’s natural, there are regions in the Empire that have not been properly digested yet. There is always a conflict to go to, and Ertmann has always been hated.”

So, isn’t it obvious what choice the Emperor will make?

“Isn’t it possible for His Majesty to go into a vengeance as soon as we get married?”

…… I’ve come so far.

 

She could hear Walter muttering to himself.

And the sight was quite impressive.

For some reason, he sounded a little tired and bitter.

‘He must really hate the battlefield.’

She had heard so many times about Walter that he was the Iron-Blooded Duke, but she had never actually thought about his own identity.

But when you think about it, who likes a battlefield?

Feeling a little sorry for him, Odette quickly changed the subject.

“So that’s why you used Lizaina, I see. I was wondering why you were making such a fuss about it.”

“Of course, I could have gone a little easier on you if you had accepted my proposal.”

“…….”

“The fact that no one believed me, made things even more complicated.”

Pity canceled.

Odette glanced at Walter, who looked impassive, then coughed and changed the topic.

Ignoring the fact that her face was a bit flushed.

“Hmm, hmm. So, you’re not in a relationship with Lady Ellodie-…….?”

“Of course not.”

And this time the answer came right before she could finish her sentence.

Odette was taken aback by the firm response.

“Then why did you let her stay here?”

“Since things are getting more complicated, wouldn’t you need a cover for that?.”

It can be said that Ellodie was a smokescreen.

 

A smokescreen in Lizaina case, who was paying close attention to Odette and Walter, did harm to Odette.

And she wasn’t going to tell Odette.

‘It’s also a smokescreen to cover the gap between Louis Clovis and Odette.’

Of course, Walter knew from the beginning that Ellodie would dream in vain.

All he had done was to encourage it a little.

If he treat her a little too gently, she’ll get all excited and claim to have some sort of relationship with Walter.

Then of course, the blades of the Third Princess would be pointed at Ellodie.

“I was worried about what would happen if Ellodie Montoire had a good grasp of the subject, but fortunately there was no need for that.”

Walter concluded with a shrug of his eyebrows.

It was a refreshing, few words, but Odette could fully understand the meaning of it.

And the fact that Walter is more dangerous than she think.

‘All this for the sake of marriage?’

No matter how you look at it, this was not the attitude of a person trying to get married, but rather the attitude of a person leading their prey into a trap.

It’s a sign that he’s serious about this marriage.

And the prey.

‘…… Me.’

In that case, the trap is marriage.

Suddenly, Odette remembered what she had heard when she first met Walter.

– Would you like to marry me by contract, Your Highness?

 

It was so absurd that she forgot about it, but Walter apparently applied for a ‘contract’ marriage to Odette.

As Walter said, if he had nothing to gain from this marriage, he wouldn’t have put that word in front of marriage.

‘There’s something to be gained.’

But on the other hand…… if they could fulfill that, they might be a good contract couple.

The solution to all of Odette’s reasons for not marrying Walter was provided by Walter.

Public opinion, the Emperor’s disapproval, even Lizaina.

That might have been the case before, but now, from Odette’s point of view, she has no reason to reject Walter.

‘Besides, I owe him half a million dirhams…….’

Odette hesitated before speaking.

“Duke. There is one thing I would like to ask you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Does Ertmann intend to be enemies with brother Cedric?”

This was Odette’s first political statement.

It was a secret that no one knew that she was on Cedric’s side.

Naturally, there was nothing to talk about.

‘But if I were to marry Walter, I would have to reveal this.’

Of course, since Walter may be thinking of taking the Empress side, he could have approached it a little more cautiously, but this conversation is premised on sincerity.

‘Duke Ertmann told me things that didn’t need to be explained.’

 

The same goes for the tea party and Ellodie.

So it might as well reveal that she was on  Cedric’s side.

He’ll be surprised, of course…….

“Don’t worry about that. I know your Highness is the one who’s telling news from the Imperial palace to Cedric.”

Odette opened her mouth without realizing it.

“……Y-you knew, about it? Uh- how?”

“Because I have better information than you think.”

Walter added jokingly, then chuckled when he saw Odette’s serious face.

“Relax your expression. I heard it from Cedric.”

“……!”

Suddenly, Odette’s stiff face softened a bit.

No, it became serious.

“You should have said that from the beginning. I was shocked because I thought it had leaked somewhere. If I get caught, it will be a big problem.”

“I’ll do that next time.”

“Good.”

Odette nodded in satisfaction.

The last obstacle about Cedric, had been confirmed.

“Now that I think I’ve fully explained everything, I’ll ask you again, Your Highness.”

Will you accept my proposal?