Episode 64. We’re definitely getting married tomorrow.
What on earth is Walter hiding?
Ellie was tempted to dig a little deeper into the truth, but this time she decided to let it go.
‘For now, it’s a fact that I received help from the Duke.’
Above all, what Ellie feared the most was the relationship between Walter and Ellodie.
She was relieved to hear that it was clean.
More than anything.
‘There is no way Her Highness didn’t notice what I noticed.’
Odette was a thoughtful and gentle person.
She had the personality to trust others rather than suspect them, but it was never because she was stupid.
‘If Your Highness decided to keep this suspicion quiet first……. it’s not my place to intervene in issues beyond this.’
Ellie pushed the thought away and brushed it off.
Anyway, isn’t it a good thing that things have turned out well?
Ellie giggled and pulled Odette into a tight hug.
“I don’t know what all the fuss is about the night before the wedding. You must be tired, let’s quickly…… eh?”
And just then, Ellie noticed the blood on Odette’s sleeve and gasped.
“Your Highness, isn’t that blood? Are you hurt?”
“Oh, it’s not my blood, don’t worry. Blake and I had an argument before coming here.”
“With the second prince?”
At the mention of blood, Walter frowned and grabbed Odette’s wrist.
He didn’t let go of her wrist, only after rolling up her blood-stained long sleeves did he finally let go of Odette’s wrist.
That didn’t stop his frowning brow to soothe.
“What the hell happened to you that you’re walking around with something that isn’t even your blood on you?”
“It’s nothing, really. It seems Blake was behind arranging the kidnapping by Ellodie Montoire.”
Odette seemed to have finally remembered what happened and explained what happened with Blake.
From Blake encouraging her to play chess to threatening her with Ellie’s hair.
And Odette even came to the conclusion that it was probably a fake threat.
“Still, I don’t know if Ellie might be in a really dangerous situation, so I ran to you because I thought I should ask for your help right away. This blood came from a small fight with Blake, that’s all.”
Naturally, the explanation did not reveal everything in detail.
.
.
.
“You don’t have Ellie with you.”
After Odette said this.
Blake stiffened for a moment, then burst out laughing.
“You seem to have thought it through, Odette. If you want to believe that, then believe that. Instead, I don’t know what will happen to that woman. I’m sure you’re not going to risk her life just based on my guess, right?”
“Of course not.”
But this time his words didn’t seem to resonate with Odette.
“I’ll find Ellie, and you can forget about it. Just look for her at the wedding venue tomorrow.”
Either he lied, or didn’t.
With that, Odette stormed out of the room.
Blake, realizing that lying might not work anymore.
He reached out to catch her as she ran out the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Let go of me!”
But this time Odette was a step faster.
Because she had been preparing for this moment even before she got up from her seat.
Swish!
With a flash of light, the enchanted pendant instantly changed shape and took the form of a dagger. It was the same pendant she had borrowed from Anne Sophie the day before.
She had given it to her to use for self-defense, just in case, when she had told her about the ‘premonition’.
And without missing that split second, Odette swung her arm as if holding the dagger.
It wasn’t a well-rehearsed move, so it couldn’t have been a fatal blow, but at least enough to slit the arm that was stretched out without warning.
“Ughh!”
Blake grimaced, clutching his cut arm.
“What do you think you can do by leaving now? There’s no one who will listen to you!”
Blake had already predicted that Odette would run away and had sent word to all the stables.
If she came to Walter late at night, he would not give her a horse.
But Odette didn’t need to find a horse.
Her ‘ability’ was enough.
So she set off without a care in the world.
After finding a suitable carriage, she enchanted it.
‘It’s been a while since I tried something this large……. so I don’t know if it’ll work out.’
In a situation like this, there was no room for doubt.
‘I have to do it!’
Odette gritted her teeth and poured out all the magical power in her body.
All magic has something in common in that they all use magical power, but each individual has different abilities.
For example, Anne Sophie had precognition, and the most common abilities were ignition and telekinesis.
In fact, Anne Sophie’s level of ability is quite rare, but Odette’s ability was especially rare.
– This kind of ability…… it’s truly extraordinary. It might appear once in several hundred years.
Even Zantipe was impressed with Odette’s abilities, saying things like this.
If she had wanted to, Odette could have used her abilities to earn a place at Belfort Academy.
Moreover, with Odette’s aristocratic background, she could have increased her value and become a well-known figure.
Zantipe had suggested such a path to Odette, but Odette had refused.
Because what she wanted was the opposite path.
A professor of magic at Belfort, Zantipe asked Odette to study her abilities in exchange for her opinion, which she reluctantly agreed.
Odette’s powers, which even Anne Sophie sometimes described as extraordinary, could be described simply.
[Breathing life into things.]
At first glance, it seems no different from the Healing ability powers, but technically, it was different.
The principle behind healing abilities was to stimulate the inherent regenerative capabilities of living beings or rewind the time of an object, returning it to its original state.
But Odette’s powers were different.
Who else could turn a fountain pen into a winged bird, or a carriage into a horse?
She could make something out of nothing.
Zantipe remarked.
– This is the power of God.
‘Of course, it is not completely free to use.’
For example, the maximum that could be made with a fountain pen was limited to small animals such as rabbits or pigeons.
To create a larger creature, equally large objects were required, and the necessary magical power increased proportionally.
Creating a creature the size of a horse in particular required a great deal of determination.
But maybe this time, the gods would help.
“……!”
When Odette opened her eyes, a white horse stood before her.
The creatures she created seemed to understand her commands and follow her will.
The horse knelt politely in front of her.
And just like that, Odette had succeeded in coming to Ertmann.
.
.
.
‘It was good to see you here, but I used too much magical power.’
Odette’s ability had a long preparation period before it could be activated.
The problem was, she’d already used her powers to go to Belfort Academy to help with research.
She’d created not a small animal but an animal as large as a horse, there is no way that it would not put a strain on her body.
By the time she relaxed, Odette had already reached her limit.
‘I wonder if I’ll be able to make it to the wedding tomorrow.’
As she pondered over the sudden worry, her body swayed uncontrollably.
“Your Highness!”
“Odette.”
But she didn’t collapse. Walter, who had been holding her wrist just a moment ago, immediately hugged her.
He seemed visibly irritated by Odet’s poor condition.
“Enough with the explanations. You need to rest. Philip, go fetch the court physician.”
“My health is fine…….”
“What do you know.”
Walter chewed the words and spat them out with a growl.
“I’m sick of hearing you say you’re fine. I find it annoying.”
Even through her blurred vision, Odette could see that Walter had a grim expression on his face, so Odette could only slowly twitch her eyes.
‘Have I really said that I’m fine so many times……?’
Her mind was racing, and she couldn’t think of anything.
Sure, she’d often used it when she was in trouble, but it hadn’t been anything too serious.
‘I think…… he’s upset because if I collapse, it might disrupt the wedding tomorrow.’
Well, since Walter wanted to hasten the marriage, he might be upset that there might be a setback.
Odette squeezed Walter’s collar.
“Walter…….”
“Speak.”
“I-I’m definitely getting married tomorrow…… don’t worry…….”
Odette gave a small yawn at the end of those words, and then she fell asleep.
Walter stared at his fiancée sleeping in his arms, couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Hah.”
The annoyance he felt just moments ago had become hilarious.
So he chuckled and carried Odette into the bedroom, laid her on the bed, covered her with a blanket, and whispered.
“Of course we’ll marry.”
I’m afraid I’ll miss the chance to get you.
Even though he knew that the sleeping person would not answer, Walter whispered that with a smile on his face.
And he kissed Odette’s forehead while she was sleeping.
When their lips parted, the smile was gone.
Replaced by a deep and inexplicable sorrow and determination.
Walter gazed into the sleeping face of the woman who would be his wife for a long time.
His gaze was static and long, like moonlight seeping into the darkness.
Only when the moon was covered by clouds did he get up from his bed, quietly close the door, and leave.
Russell, who was waiting outside, lowered his head and asked.
“Your Excellency, will you take care of this now? It’s getting late, so I’d prefer to wait until tomorrow or later…….”
“I’ll handle it now.”
His voice was unusually heavy and low, far from his usual demeanor.
Even Russell, who would have done everything in his power to stop Walter, had no choice but to keep his mouth shut this time.
The carriage carrying Walter and Russell passed through the night and stopped somewhere.
A small mansion in the neighborhood.
As they stepped out of the carriage, the men guarding the manor recognized them and bowed.
As they passed through them and went inside, there’s a woman who’s tied to a chair with tears streaming down her face.
Walter watched the scene with unmoved eyes and called out to her.
“Ellodie Montoire.”
Ellie’s guess from earlier had been correct.
Most of what Walter had said was true.
But there was one thing he was hiding.
The reason he had supported Ellodie and stuck up for her all these time.
It wasn’t just about relationships between families.
“You haven’t deviated an inch from my expectations.”
Walter had been planning these scenes from the very beginning.
