Episode 30. Do you love me?
In conclusion.
“Anne Sophie, I’m getting married.”
“What?! Married? Is he handsome? Tall?”
“Yes, he’s tall and handsome, famous……..”
“Wha- who is he, a nobleman?”
“Duke Ertmann.”
“What!”
Odette accepted Walter’s offer.
Across the table from her, Anne Sophie was so startled that she spit out half of the tea she was drinking.
“Oh my God! Are you okay? you spilled a lot…….”
“Cough, Cough! I’m fine, I do this all the time, Khuk, more than that, Duke Ertmann, what the hell is going on?!”
As her eyes widened and she shouted, Anne Sophie wiped her face covered in tea.
Odette, who didn’t expect such a strong reaction, was a little embarrassed.
“Anne, you know the Duke Ertmann? Didn’t you say you don’t know anything about nobles.”
“Well, yes, but I do know Duke Ertmann, he’s in the newspaper all the time! Do you remember? When we attended the Academy, he was a very famous person like His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!”
“Ah, yes, they were.”
“I remember it clearly. I ran into him once by chance. He picked up the quill I dropped, and oh my…….”
“Really? How?”
“Oh? I ran away, of course.”
“…… Hmm?”
“A face like that can encourage heart disease! I tend to drink stimulant drinks often, so I have to be careful about things like this. Please be careful too. I’m sure I won’t live until now if I stay close to someone with a face like that!”
“…….”
Anne Sophie’s face was clearly innocent as she nodded, her eyes shining as if she was convinced of her theory.
Except for the fact that those words…… weren’t exactly the right words to say to Odette, who would be living with someone with a face like that.
“……Anne. You do understand that I’m going to marry that Duke Ertmann, right?”
“Of course I do, and that’s why I’m telling you, for your health’s sake, that just because you’re getting married doesn’t mean you have to stay together, right? Just in the stay next door, there was a nobleman and a noblewoman who separated as soon as they got married.”
However, if Your Highness liked Duke Ertmann, Anne Sophie did not hesitate to make a rather eccentric remark, saying that she would research a potion that was good for the heart.
Of course, she also congratulated them on their marriage.
In any case, she had a point.
Except for the part about how Walter’s face could encourage heart disease.
‘Getting married doesn’t mean you have to live together.’
This is true if the relationship is an arranged marriage or, in the case of Odette, a contract marriage.
So it would have been right for Odette to live like a stranger after her marriage to Walter, but…….
‘……It’s ruined.’
Odette recalled the conversation at Duke Ertmann’s residence last night.
.
.
.
“The terms are the same as I said the first time. Give me all of you, Your Highness.”
“…… As you said the first time.”
Walther raised his index finger and gave Odette a quick glance.
“From head to toe of the Princess. I’m asking for it all as mine.”
So that no one can dare to cross, or touch.
The sound of Walter’s voice was exhilarating.
Of course, it wasn’t from Odette’s point of view.
“…… I don’t understand, isn’t this supposed to be a contract marriage?”
“That’s right, and that’s why I just told you the terms.”
“That should be enough to get you married.”
“It’s not enough, not even a little bit. How am I supposed to know where you’ll go after we’re married?”
All of it.
Odette’s mouth dropped open in disbelief at his choice of words.
“I don’t think so!”
“I don’t believe it. Your Highness still loves Louis Clovis.”
“I…….”
Odette paused as she tried to spit out that she didn’t love Louis Clovis.
She remembered the lie she had once told Walter.
-Yes, I love Louis Clovis.
And the moment he uttered those words, Walter’s hand suddenly tightened.
Like someone who has come to admit a truth they didn’t want to know.
From the very beginning, Walter had believed that Odette was in love with Louis.
‘No matter how much I think about it, there’s only one reason why Duke Ertmann has such a misunderstanding.’
At the victory celebration, Odette kept looking at Louis Clovis.
It was to catch a glimpse of the opportunity to pass the note to him, but from Walter’s point of view, it might have felt differently.
‘If I don’t do it now, I’ll never get a chance to clear up that misunderstanding.’
So, if it had been any other time, I would have corrected it, but is it because of the ridiculous condition of asking me about this.
Or maybe that’s why Walter’s face seemed oddly distorted as he heard that misunderstanding.
“……That’s right, I love him.”
Odette spoke a lie, a very rare thing.
And I was also surprised to hear it.
The lie came out as if someone had pushed her back.
Then this time, Walter’s brow was visibly distorted.
No, he laughed as if it was distorted.
“Haha.”
A cold, crude Walter looked dryly at Odette’s, with a hand that seemed to be one bigger joint than Odette’s.
“Is this why you say I’m not good enough, that the Princess would have an affair even after marriage?”
Odette’s mouth dropped again at Walter’s words.
“Wha- what did you say? An affair?”
“If a woman with a husband has another man in her heart, if that’s not an affair then what?”
No, of course it isn’t.
I can’t believe anyone would call an affair over a contract marriage.
Unlike Odette, who was shocked, Walter was calm.
“Unfortunately, I’m not a very greedy person. When I see my wife having feelings for someone else…….”
Walter looks away to the side, then back to Odette.
“It makes me want to give her that guy’s head as an anniversary present.”
His face said otherwise.
The more we talked, the more astonished I became.
I’d always known him to be rude and selfish, but this?
“…… You’re out of your mind.”
“I suppose I am. How does it feel to have a madman as your husband?”
“I haven’t accepted your proposal yet.”
“You’ll choose me anyway, I know. We don’t have much time now.”
Walter was right.
The public opinion created by Walter has now begun to die down.
Especially now that they were busy talking about Regis, the Emperor will probably try to push her again for marriage with the Count again.
“I may not have time, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a choice, I do have an option to marry Count Clovis.”
“Ah, the one who abandoned you in the ballroom.”
Odette frowned at Walter’s sarcasm. He had touched a sore spot.
“…… Don’t talk like that.”
“I know it’s unpleasant to hear a sarcastic remark about someone you love, but in the end, the reasons are clear.”
That Louis had abandoned Odette, and Walter had protected her.
“Count Clovis had his reasons, too.”
“I don’t want to know about that.”
And Walter finally frowned and rubbed his brow roughly.
As if a bad memory came to mind.
“If I had any intention, I would have killed all the people involved in that incident on the spot. Whether it’s Regis Xavier or that damn Louis Clovis. After what happened, why should I care about the other excuses?”
“……Duke.”
“So I beg you. Don’t defend Louis Clovis in front of me.”
Odette held her words for a moment.
After a few moments of silence, she nodded in understanding.
“Although, I suppose you should be upset that your plans could have been ruined.”
“…….”
Walter’s gaze shifted to Odette a little puzzled.
He looked like he wanted to ask her if he really thought he was doing this for nothing, but Odette didn’t see it because she was looking down.
“But it’s not like I didn’t have any faith, and in the end it wasn’t a big problem, so don’t be too angry. Next time, I will be more careful not to cause trouble.”
“……You really are.”
“What did you say?”
“Nevermind. I just realized that intelligence and taste can be two different things.”
Walter shook his hands in dismissal, then returned to the topic.
“So, my terms of engagement are one. Give me all of you.”
Again, it sounded ridiculous.
“…… Are there any other conditions? You can’t do what you want with my heart. But it would be better if we set different conditions.”
“Is it so difficult for you to love me, Your Highness?”
“Of course, because I know nothing about you Duke, and-“
“Then when you do know me, will you love me then?”
Odette’s mouth closed at the unexpected question.
But before Odette could open his mouth again, Walter continued.
“Of course not, because you love Louis Clovis, I know.”
Walter mutters coldly.
As if he were laughing at himself.
“If it’s so hard for you to love me.”
Walter’s voice trailed off. Like spitting out a very heavy and painful words.
“Then…… at least try to make me believe that.”
That you are terribly in love with me.
So that I can live drunk on a vain dream.
As he spoke, Walter stared into Odette’s eyes.
His eyes had sunk deep into the night.
Like a stormy sea.
Odette wonder if she’s the only one who feels a strange sense of déjà vu from that sight.
Odette asked, wondering.
“……Duke are you sure we haven’t met before?”
A faint glimmer of anticipation crossed Walter’s face at the sudden question.
“Do you remember anything?”
“No, but you make me feel like we have kinda great relationship.”
His expectations were instantly extinguished.
Walter clenched and unclenched his empty hand.
“……I understand that you might feel that way. That it would feel like a lie to say I want you.”
“It does feel like a lie.”
What in the world makes him want my love when no one else wants it?
Odette pondered, and then came up with the most absurd hypothesis.
“Do you love me, Duke Ertmann?”
And there was no answer.
No, she didn’t need to hear it.
Walter’s face crumpled as soon as he heard the question.
