Episode 72. The Truth (2)
The Fourth Princess, Odette Benoit Celestine.
No, now it would be more correct to call her Countess Clovis or Odette Celestine Clovis.
Anyway, news of her death had reached them two months ago.
Died after falling from the balcony of the Clovis Mansion.
They said it was a height one could survive if lucky, but her luck had clearly run out.
It was unfortunate that she fell on top of a sharply raised fence.
‘No, I should say she was lucky.’
Falling by her own choice, it would be more accurate to say that her luck was good.
In that sense, Odette’s suicide was successful.
If someone had told Odette this story, she would probably have laughed, saying that she had put all her remaining luck into that act.
So far, the story was somewhat surprising to those around and slightly satisfying for the deceased herself.
‘From what I heard, they didn’t have any deep relationship.’
The only thing that stuck in his mind was the Belfort Academy expressing more regret than necessary.
Even for that, Belfort Academy was receiving research help from Odette, and when everyone heard that someone they were close to was a research student, all they could do was nod their heads.
If there had been that level of interaction, it would not have been difficult to understand Belfort’s regret.
Russell felt exactly the same way.
As there was a relationship between Walter and Odette, he also became quite acquainted with Odette over the years.
‘She seems like a nice person, except for the dryness.’
In Russell’s memory, Odette was like a bare tree left in a place where a forest fire had swept away.
A person who seems to crumble into ashes if you hit her.
She was so lifeless, so vulnerable.
Some people might find that kind of appearance attractive, but Russell preferred people who were lively and energetic.
So when he saw Odette withering away, he clicked his tongue in pity.
– Tsk, tsk, people need to be strong.
You have to be strong in body and mind to survive and live well.
I’ve never seen anyone looking for a sickly partner live well.
Russell clicked his tongue.
The problem was, his insight was too good to be true, and Odette was dead.
After Cedric’s death, Walter has been chasing his killer.
Whatever it was, Cedric was not a person who would die lightly.
His swordsmanship and self-defense skills were all top-notch, and he was always surrounded by bodyguards.
He died in a sudden attack?
– No one knows how he died, and no one seems to be investigating. I can only assume that the Empress had something to do with it.
Walter said and began investigating Cedric’s death.
The most likely mastermind was the illegal bootlegging business that Cedric was investigating right before his death.
It had reached a point where it could no longer be ignored that the nobles involved in illegal bootlegging began to surface.
‘And if several nobles are involved in bootlegging……. it’s likely that they’re trying to retaliate against His Highness Cedric, who was chasing after them.’
That’s how Walter managed to get close to a man who was deeply involved in the bootlegging business and who seemed to have a lot to do with Cedric’s death.
Louis Clovis.
It was difficult to become friends with him because he was a person with high alertness, but he finally succeeded in getting invited to the mansion.
That was the day Walter visited the Clovis mansion.
Odette jumped from the balcony.
‘And from that day on, His Excellency became strange.’
Is it because of the guilt of not being able to prevent Odette’s suicide even though they were in the same place?
Or because he failed to properly protect Odette as Cedric had asked him to do?
But as far as he knows…….
‘……His Highness Cedric has never specifically asked His Excellency for the 4th Princess.’
It’s natural. That’s something only someone who senses their own death would do, and Cedric never expected his own death in the slightest.
Of course, Russell doesn’t know the entire conversation between the two, so it’s possible that the request was made from somewhere unknown to him, but as far as he knew, it was.
Above all, Walter was not the kind of person to lose his composure due to guilt over the death of a friend’s sister he was asked to protect.
‘Did he really have feelings for the 4th Princess?’
If only he knew what had happened at Clovis Manor that day, he wouldn’t feel so frustrated.
Russell sighed and said.
“Your Excellency. Do you really want to live like this and change your fate? If you know that there is no need to be this wasteful, why are you doing this?”
“I’m fine, mind your own business.”
“I am not a knight-errant who has never seen you on the battlefield before, so you don’t think I can recognize your condition.”
Walter was covered in blood from head to toe.
Most of it wasn’t his, of course, but even Russell, who was familiar with the battlefield, could clearly see that every part of Walter’s body was stained with his blood.
“This isn’t the first time you’ve done something like this. Just a few days ago, you returned as if you were about to die. No matter how great you are, if you keep doing this, you will die!”
The place where they were was a skirmish area on the northern border.
It is a relatively barren place and the imperial power is also weak, so it is a place where rebels naturally gather and fight.
Although they were a ragtag group compared to a professionally trained army, subduing them was difficult because the army, accustomed to the warm climate of the capital, was more than half useless once they arrived here.
The rebels command took advantage of the rugged snowy terrain, the desolate climate, and the local sympathy from the northern regions to wage guerrilla warfare.
They are often subjected to night raids and fall into traps, and the people of the Empire are also busy hiding the rebels, causing the military camp to become even more chaotic.
‘Besides, they are originally citizens of the Empire, so it would be difficult to oppress them strongly.’
In the end, this resistance was no different from a protest due to difficulties for survival.
Crushing everything by force from the imperial side would only lead to alienating the entire north. The prevailing opinion within the imperial court was to break the rebel headquarters, the current focal point of the rebellion, and moderately punish the rest.
After all, a ragtag group like this would quickly disintegrate once their focal point was lost.
Walter was well aware of this obvious principle.
He had already come here many years ago and suppressed a rebellion.
However, it seems as if he has completely forgotten about that and goes out on his own to clear out the rebels bases.
It was true that the rebels, who had lost several bases in a matter of seconds, had lost their strength and become weak, but this was too much.
“Even if Your Excellency doesn’t do this, there won’t be any night raids for a while. We’ve dried up the seeds around here! Do you realize that if we go any further, we’ll get lost, and if we get lost here, we’ll just die.”
In this place, the sun is short and the surrounding area is icy.
If you were to go out on foot and get ambushed and fall in the snow, you will freeze to death before you bleed excessively.
“If you’re going to leave, at least let me accompany you……. No, where are you going!”
“I see there’s another one nearby, I’m going to clean that one out too.”
“Then I’ll go!”
“You’ll die if you come.”
“No, even if you say that, it’s just those rebel bastards with swords-“
“My sword.”
Russell remained silent.
Walter was a man who would say things that seemed crazy, but would never say anything unreasonable.
Saying such things would undoubtedly lead to death. In the heat of battle, men often lost their cool and indiscriminately swung their swords at both friend and foe.
However…….
‘…… He fights to a point where it’s hard to distinguish between allies and enemies.’
Walter was like the incarnation of the word reason.
The fact that he lost his temper and started fighting is something that cannot be assumed in the first place.
Rather than that…….
‘Maybe… he has no intention of distinguishing.’
Even though there was clearly enough rationality remaining to distinguish between allies and enemies, he couldn’t feel the need to make that distinction and wield his sword.
If he could say such things to Russell, who was closest to him, others would likely feel like insignificant ants.
Russell wondered where to start to point this out, and eventually closed his mouth.
“…….”
There was nothing Russell could point out.
Russell knew how Walter lived before he came to the battlefield.
– He’s in that condition again today. No matter how many times I tell him he shouldn’t mix his sleeping pills with his medication…….
– There’s a footman who was hit on the head by a paperweight thrown by His Excellency while trying to forcefully stop His Excellency. He said he’d kill him if he touched it again…… We can’t stop him anymore, Sir Russell.
Walter was truly a wreck.
He sat and drank all day and all night, ignoring the rising of the sun.
As if he were someone who didn’t know what to do other than that.
In fact, Walter was not a controllable person to begin with.
It’s just that it wasn’t evident because Walter wasn’t a person who needed control.
In his first out-of-control situation, Russell took extraordinary measures.
He immediately called Arnold.
Arnold was furious at the behavior of his grandson, whom he had not seen for the first time in a while.
– I can’t see you acting like you’re crazy anymore! Just go to the battlefield to cool off. Don’t even think about coming back until you feel like living it properly!
Walter listened intently no matter what he said, but for whatever reason, he obediently followed this time.
So, Russell also felt relieved and followed him to the battlefield.
‘This is the result.’
Still, it seemed like an improvement compared to the times when he was locked away in the mansion constantly seeking alcohol.
‘Perhaps His Excellency needs to move his body.’
Russell tried to think positively, wondering if things would eventually get better.
“Well then, I’m going to clean up the mess. Make sure you’re back before nightfall.”
“I understand.”
“Really? You have to! I won’t leave until Your Excellency returns! I will freeze to death here, blaming you!”
“…… The guy who brought everything for camping is threatening me with something like that.”
It was the perfect answer.
However, it had been a very long time since Walter had accepted a joke like this, so Russell burst his mouth wide and laughed.
At first glance, he thought he saw Walter laughing.
‘Yeah, Your Excellency is getting better.’
Don’t worry too much.
With that, Russell left him alone.
And Walter never came down from that mountain again.
