Episode 48. The first taste of jealousy
Of course, Walter knew that the current Imperial family was not such a stable family relationship.
In fact, it would be more accurate to say that none among the high-ranking nobles who doesn’t know.
But how could Cedric be so happy while saying he was going to see his little sister?
Walter tried to think of someone Cedric might call his little sister.
“Didn’t the Third Princess doesn’t go to the Academy?”
“Further down than that.”
“Ah, there was one more.”
Walter had forgotten about the existence of the Fourth Princess. Since she was not appearing at an official event and there was no outlet for news of her to be heard.
“I haven’t heard anything about her attending the academy.”
“Keeping a low profile, she hates to be seen.”
As Cedric finished speaking, they were about halfway down the path.
At the back of the school building, a girl reading a book under the shade of a tree.
Despite claiming hates to be seen, it was indeed a place where people rarely passed by.
Her silvery hair swayed in the breeze around her waist, and her lips were slightly pursed, perhaps due to her concentration on the book.
She didn’t have a strikingly beautiful face, but it left enough of an impression to be considered quite attractive.
‘They don’t look much alike.’
To say the least, Cedric could be considered a noticeable attractive.
Despite not having thick features, his angles were well-defined, and his distinct facial features gave a fresh and clean impression.
Moreover, perhaps due to differences in personality, the auras that Cedric and Odette gave off were completely different, so unless they were placed side by side and told that they were siblings, they didn’t appear to be related at all.
At least until the girl, who sensed his presence, looked away from the bookshelf.
Like a wary rabbit, she quickly raised her head, and upon spotting Cedric, she smiled warmly.
A genuine smile mixed with surprise, joy, and goodwill toward Cedric.
“Brother, what brings you here?”
“I have a quick message for you.”
Walter stood at a distance that wouldn’t disturb their meeting and watched Cedric talking with Odette.
To put it more straightforwardly, he’s watching Odette.
Cedric and his fake friendliness as he had on other occasions, so it wasn’t something new.
There’s a somewhat memorable sight from the girl, who seemed genuinely delighted after a few words of conversation with Cedric.
‘I don’t even know what expression I have’
Like a wagging puppy, a face that appeared to be pleasantly welcoming towards Cedric.
Whatever Cedric did, he had certainly entwined her firmly.
Walter didn’t bother to conceal this suspicion.
“Cedric, what did you do to make your sister like you so much? Did you give her money?”
“No, she has a strong sense of pride. She doesn’t like it when I do things for her. Setting boundaries actually makes her more interested.”
“But she likes you that much? Why?”
“Well, I don’t know.”
In Walter’s eyes, Cedric was quite mysterious as well.
A quick-talking, heartless person who only interacts with others to take advantage of them.
If there were any human figures worthy of love, they were a group of figures that must have stood exactly on the other side.
People who can win the favor of others by making up appearances, but will never receive unconditional affection or favor from anyone.
This occasionally led to feelings of emptiness for them, but it was something Walter was already familiar with.
He had already given up expecting anything in that regard ever since his parents abandoned him.
‘I wasn’t good enough for them, so they threw me away.’
How could someone who was even abandoned by their parents hope for the affection of others?
The fact that there was someone like Cedric in a similar situation around him was a particularly comforting reality.
‘If there’s someone like Cedric.’
He knew he wasn’t alone in the familiar feeling of emptiness and void that comes with forgetfulness.
Cedric is also an unlovable human being.
Thinking in this way, somehow made him feel better. It was a peculiar psychology.
But then Odette appeared in front of Walter.
She unconditionally showed kindness to Cedric, a human figure who cannot be loved, without any particular reason.
‘…… What’s so special about him?’
According to Cedric, he never gave anything special to his sister.
They weren’t particularly close either.
At that time, it was before Odette decided to become Cedric’s confidant, so there was even less contact between the siblings.
“I don’t know why, I suppose you consider me close enough to my family.”
“You two aren’t the only siblings, are you?”
“Well…… the others are a little wild.”
Cedric shrugged, probably because he had no one else to bond with but himself.
He hadn’t given much thought to why, since he was already in Odette’s good graces.
But to Walter, who stood a foot away, it was clear that Cedric was full of shit.
‘A person who would have that much affection for blood relations, which are no different from strangers, would have had affection for other things as well.’
Odette’s favor toward Cedric was not simply because he was related by blood.
It was just that Odette was that kind of person.
A person who can love someone like Cedric or herself enough, even if she is not someone worth loving.
‘…… Can’t I take that away?’
It was the first time he felt jealous.
I wanted to take that favor away from Cedric.
It was a desire that couldn’t be filled by anyone else. They only sought to love worthy individuals.
However, Odette also loved Cedric, who was not a person worthy of loving.
If she could love someone who wasn’t worthy of love, someone like Cedric.
And she could shower affection on someone like him as well.
‘Then…….’
Can’t you love me too?
Of course, he had never considered it possible, a desire he had never entertained suddenly struck him in the throat.
The potential that appeared for the first time was irresistibly tempting.
Walter unconsciously planned a series of steps to avoid Cedric’s gaze, approach Odette, and plan a series of actions to win her affection.
However, before reaching a conclusion, reason swiftly struck him on the head.
‘I must be out of my mind. What am I trying to snatch back?’
It was a thoroughly absurd thought.
It was an unquestionable fact that just because Odette showed favor to Cedric, it didn’t mean she would extend the same to him. The idea of snatching something away was inherently nonsensical.
Even though he knew this, the fact that he entertained such thoughts was hard to believe.
‘Stupid bastard.’
Even as he cursed himself, the image of Odette, who had joyfully looked at her brother, refused to leave his mind.
No, it became even clearer in his imagination. Now, she was smiling at him.
The silver hair swaying at her waist, the fingertips flipping through the pages of a book, the golden eyes catching the late afternoon sun and the red lips forming a thin arc……..
‘Damn.’
Walter was having a hard time sleeping that night.
Fortunately, he was able to quickly put thoughts of Odette out of his mind.
Keeping his distance from Cedric helped.
But even if he hadn’t been thinking about Odette all the time, it wouldn’t have made a difference.
This was because Cedric was so diligent in cleaning up the area around Odette.
“My sister? How is she. Why do you ask? Are you going to approach her? Oh, come to think of it, I think I said last time that we should spar with a real sword. Shall we do it now, Walter?”
“……No. I’ve changed my mind.”
“Even though I’m already enduring the desire to swat away some annoying fly buzzing around Odette, Xavier or something and I want to kill it. It’d be better not to provoke me for no reason. Got it?”
Thanks to Regis, the fly that appeared at the right time, Cedric’s guard was tightened, and Walter completely forgot about Odette without even thinking about trying.
It was easy to forget because it wasn’t a very strong memory to begin with.
Although the thought crossed his mind that if Odette and Cedric’s relationship continued smoothly, they might meet again someday in a banquet hall or something like that.
‘The Fourth Princess doesn’t engage in external activities much.’
That won’t happen.
That’s what he had thought.
At the victory celebration he attended upon returning to the capital, he witnessed Odette proposing a contract marriage to Louis.
.
.
.
Walter pushed away the unpleasant thoughts from his mind.
What good would it do to dwell on the fact that his desire for her had long faded away.
‘Odette hates me anyway.’
In the past and in the present, she had always been directed towards Louis.
The fact tormented Walter.
When he had told Arnold that the cage looked fine, he was sincere without any embellishment.
If he could bind Odette with something visible like a cage rather than the flimsy institution of marriage, this vile sentiment might find some relief.
‘Grandfather’s nonsense is bothering me for no reason.’
The Arnold that Walter knew was a very persistent person.
Even though he had told Arnoldt that he would marry her whether he stops him or not, but what if Arnold succeeds in stopping Odette?
‘Besides, there’s that guy Cedric.’
There was no guarantee that Cedric wouldn’t have said something similar to Odette after he wrote that letter to him.
Moreover, Odette was very fond of her brother, so Cedric’s objections would likely have a much more significant impact than Arnold’s words.
‘Interference from all sides.’
Walter frowned and roughly stroked his hair.
‘I hope Odette won’t insist on breaking off the marriage.’
Of course, he had no intention of backing down. I’ve come this far, and I’m not going to give it up for anyone.
So no matter what anyone says, nothing’s gonna change.
It would only make himself become a bit more miserable.
Walter frowned, clutching at his throbbing heart.
‘……Yeah. Nothing gonna change.’
After all, Odette had never wanted this marriage or had any feelings for Walter.
* * *
The nightmare came faster than expected.
The day of the wedding announcement.
“I met your Grandfather again. He came to see me in person. He asked me to reconsider the marriage with you.”
Damn it.
Walter swallowed his curses, and Odette continued speaking.
“And my brother sent a letter, saying the same thing.”
He should have killed Cedric.
Walter gritted his teeth and opened his mouth.
“……So, are you trying to tell me that you’ve decided you don’t want to marry me?”
“Of course not, we just need to get the ceremony done. I was just going to say that I understand why you wanted me to marry you.”
Walter frowned at those words.
He couldn’t believe his grandfather had gone and said something so stupid…….
“You chose me because you have no one else to marry, didn’t you?”
……No, that wasn’t it.
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