Episode 37. Waves of Disturbance
The garden was shrouded in darkness.
Russell, waiting near the carriage and bowed as Walter stepped out.
“Welcome back, Your Excellency.”
“Have you finished organizing?”
“Yes. We didn’t even bother to clean up.”
Russell said, steaming.
“We took care of some of the first ones, and sent out a chase party for the ones that got away, but as your Excellency…… knows, they’re hard to catch.”
“They’re not just blinded by money.”
Well, it’s obvious who sent them.
Walter clicked his tongue in annoyance and climbed into the carriage.
He had noticed early on that there was a shadow following Odette.
‘Since we entered the ballroom.’
A call came from the shadow that Walter had attached to Odette in advance.
So he ordered Russell in advance to clear the area.
Wasting time by seducing Odette was also an extension of that.
It would be a lie to say it wasn’t selfless, but whatever.
The result was a runaway.
No matter who was in the middle, it was clear who was in charge.
‘They must have been sent by the Second Prince.’
Anyone who could sneak into the palace and do something like this was usually paid a large sum of money for their life.
In other words, they’d be prepared to lose their lives if they failed.
That’s why newbies don’t think twice before taking on a job.
‘Only the bastards with a backbone will run for the hills.’
If someone was going to do dirty tricks like this, it was even less likely that Blake wasn’t involved.
Blake was the kind of guy who would do anything to get his way.
He was also a typical human being who used people as a means to an end.
‘From the looks of it, the only person who could use…… is Regis Xavier.’
Walter remembered Regis’s shocked face.
The work had already been done under the surface.
Regis thought that the people around him left him because of Helen’s commotion, but the reality was a little different.
Because the news about the illegal dumping grounds that he had secretly worked on was spreading.
So far, he’s been making a decent living out of it, but…… If the dumping grounds are sold off soon, Regis’ finances will also improve.
‘There’s no way he can keep up the spending.’
And the nobles who were sensitive to profit quickly noticed this and cut off Regis.
It was natural social behavior.
If Regis hadn’t planned something like this, he might have been able to hold on to the sinking ship a little longer.
The carriage stopped in Ertmann’s garden, and Walter, who went straight up to his office, took out some checks from a drawer and handed them to Russell.
“Russell, contact the debtors. Hasten the sale of the business. Finalize it before the stock market changes.”
“Yes, Sir.”
After leaving Russell’s answer behind, Walter sat down in his chair, frowned, and lowered his eyelids.
“You’re already causing trouble……. Annoying.”
“Indeed. Perhaps he’s trying to keep the Fourth Princess in check, I didn’t think he’d be so quick to act.”
“The reason could be anything.”
And whatever the reason, Walter could not allow interference with his marriage.
Even the pain that was squeezing his heart couldn’t be much of an obstacle in front of Odette.
‘I’ve just returned, and I can’t let this distract me.’
They had only just announced their marriage, and his plans were still in their infancy.
When he closes his eyes, he can still hear the voices from the past.
The day Walter told Odette to use him.
– If I say I want it, not out of pity, not because of Cedric’s will, but because I want you.
– Would you then…… be able to accept me?
Odette didn’t answer that question for long.
Silence was the answer.
However, only after a long time did he hear the answer.
In an unexpected place, in an unexpected situation.
– I’m out of luck, Duke. Perhaps I was born with misfortune.
– ……Why do you think that?
– Because the love I had once in my life was ruined like this.
The object of that love was clear.
Louis Clovis.
So I had no choice but to reject you, Odette said without a smile.
– I want you to be happy, Duke Ertmann.
But for some reason, this time his mouth couldn’t open.
If I could, I would have opened my mouth immediately and said.
My happiness is only with you.
.
.
.
Odette Benoit ‘Clovis’.
Even until the moment of her death, she called Walter ‘Duke Ertmann.’
It was natural.
There was almost no interaction of any kind between Walter, Duke Ertmann, and Odette, Countess Clovis.
At least that was how it seemed on the outside.
On the surface, Walter did not reveal that he had been watching Odette for a long time.
The occasion was completely coincidental.
It was because he overheard a conversation at his victory celebration that was extremely cliché.
“I want to marry you, Louis Clovis. As a kind of contract rather than love.”
“And what do I get out of it?”
“If you want to receive wealth from Madam Clovis, you have to find a wife who will please her.. If you marry me, I will do that for you. Above all, I will not detain you.”
The voice that said that was quiet and desperate.
The first thought he had when he heard that was ridicule.
‘A contract marriage.’
What a ridiculous proposition.
In any case, most marriages between nobles took the form of transactions.
Because most of them were arranged marriages.
However, it was funny that she asked him to marry her with only her own body and three inches of tongue, without any dowry of any kind.
On the other hand, he wondered who the voice speaking like that was.
‘I can’t believe, choosing someone like Louis Clovis.’
Either a person who is extremely desperate, or a person who is incredibly blind.
It would be one of two things.
‘Maybe both.’
Either way, Walter was curious about the main character.
It was the first time in his life that he was curious about someone, but he didn’t recognize it at the time.
Soon enough, he realized who the voice belonged to.
The marriage of the 4th Princess Odette and Louis Clovis was announced.
.
.
.
‘…… If it had been a one-sided relationship, I wouldn’t have suffered this much for so long.’
Odette probably has no idea.
What an impulse Walter feels every time he looks at her.
What his face would look like if he told her that his obsession with her was suffocating him.
‘I’m sure she’d hate me even more than she already does.’
Then there would be no need to delve into Odette’s ‘gap’ like today.
– …… Well, that wasn’t the worst of it.
The blush on her cheeks as she said that was almost too adorable.
The way she blushed as she said it was almost too cute, especially since she seemed to have forgotten that she had once called him ‘the worst’.
If we keep closed the gap like this, one day.
‘…… Someday?’
When his thoughts suddenly reached him, Walter laughed.
‘You’re drunk on a vain dream, Walter Ertmann.’
Even then, Odette’s actions would all be an act, and she would still love Louis Clovis.
It was funny to see him so lost, like a boy whose first love started with just one kiss.
‘For Odette, it would be the same as if it were me, or the Count. A marriage she didn’t want.’
His mood turned sour in an instant.
Walter frowned and roughly raised his body from the backrest.
And that moment.
‘Fwoosh’
A bird’s wings flapped by the window.
“Hmm? Isn’t that the Crown Prince’s bird?”
When he turned his head after hearing Russell’s words, he saw a white bird sitting by the window.
It was the bird Cedric used to deliver urgent messages.
The problem was, Cedric’s letter had just arrived.
“…… What’s going on?”
He opened the letter, leaving Russell’s puzzled voice behind, and there was only one line.
[I’ll be there in a month, and if you announce the wedding before I get there, I’ll kill you, Walter.]
It was sent with such urgency that it was written in a scrawled handwriting that was uncharacteristic of Cedric.
Even the content of the letter was so short that it was hard to believe that it was a letter from Cedric, who was somewhat obsessive about his greetings and closing remarks.
If it weren’t for Cedric’s unique handwriting that doesn’t disappear even when scribbled and the fact that he dares to call Walter by his name, he would have wondered if it was written by someone else.
“…… What kind of bastard.”
An angry voice came out of Walter’s mouth.
Walter crumpled the paper.
“What kind of an asshole already broke the wedding news to Cedric?”
Unable to imagine that his beloved bride-to-be could be the culprit, another letter was soon tossed in his direction.
“Your Excellency, Excuse me for being late! but a messenger has arrived from the Duchy of Ertmann……..”
There was only one person who could send a messenger from the Duchy of Ertmann.
“…… Grandfather?”
Arnold Ertmann.
His letters were also very simple.
If there was anything different from Cedric’s letter, it would be that this one was no different from usual, since he usually just wrote about business briefly.
A low curse flowed from Walter’s mouth as he read the short text written in the letter he had opened.
[See you in the capital].
“…… Fuck you.”
* * *
Without even noticing the wave of interference coming towards Walter.
After the imperial palace banquet, Odette was leading a busy life of her own.
As soon as the sun rose, the Emperor’s secretary, Viscount Havel, came to visit Odette.
Thanks to this, Odette was able to see her father’s face after a very long time.
“So it seems you were quite unhappy with my decision to send you to the border, right? Princess. Doing all these things.”
“……I apologize, Your Majesty.”
“I’m sure I already warned you at the tea party. I wonder if he was being condescending…… Or, I wonder if you really wanted to join hands with Ertmann that much.”
The emperor continued to reprimand Odette, saying that her behavior in causing the scandal was careless and that if she did not like the marriage talks he had promoted, why did she not come and tell her sooner.
But in the end, there was only one conclusion.
“I will approve the Princess’s marriage. I don’t want to talk about this anymore, so please leave.”
Several abacus had already bounced around in the Emperor’s mind.
And in a situation where the scandal between Walter and Odette exploded to the point where it could not be resolved, he must have calculated that it would be better to bring Walter into the imperial family rather than oppose him.
‘As expected.’
Odette was able to leave the throne room with ease.
‘I was right in my judgment that it would be better to make a big deal out of dealing with the Emperor.’
Just doing things in a big way is bound to have side effects.
The side effect appeared in front of Odette, who was returning to her palace.
“You can see everything from here? Odette.”
It was Lizaina.
