Episode 85. The Invitation
There was no need to figure out who had delivered the teacup.
Empress Katarina and Blake have been giving poison to Cedric since he was young.
In fact, they are not doing this because they really expect Cedric to die after taking the poison.
“It’s a warning.”
The purpose is to create psychological pressure.
And then it would be better if he got caught because he messed up.
But Cedric had developed a tolerance to poison after being nearly poisoned as a child, so this wasn’t going to kill him.
The real danger was someone who, despite having no immunity, continued to ingest poison without knowing anything.
For example, Cedric’s father, the Emperor.
‘……It would be nice if this level of peace could be maintained for the time being, at least for Odette’s sake.’
Cedric lifted the chilled goblet and took a sip.
It was hard to gauge whether the bitter taste was the taste of poison or just the taste of cold tea.
Perhaps that was the point.
Not long after drinking the tea, his tongue began to tingle, and he felt a numbing sensation.
If he, with his resistance, felt this much after drinking, then it would certainly be dangerous for someone without immunity.
‘I shouldn’t recommend tea to Odette next time, just in case.’
Even if Cedric personally brewed the tea, there was no telling what trickery might have been added while fetching the tea leaves or the teacup.
Luckily, Odette wasn’t scheduled to come today, so he didn’t have to do much of that……..
‘……Poisonous vessel.’
Cedric thought of Odette, and the men around her.
Walter Ertmann and Louis Clovis.
He knew from the intelligence left in the capital that there was some connection between Louis and Odette.
That they had attended banquets together, or that Louis had knocked on the door of the imperial palace several times to meet Odette.
So Cedric directly asked Odette about this point as well.
– Ah, Count Clovis? It’s nothing special. I originally intended to marry him. It just happened to work out conveniently given the circumstances…….
Odette casually brushed off the topic, saying there was nothing going on between her and Louis.
It wasn’t a maneuver to obscure something, but rather she genuinely believed there was nothing noteworthy.
– I suppose Count Clovis is in a bit of a bind because he has no one else to marry, but I’m married to Walter now, after all, and he has nothing to do with me.
Odette wasn’t good at lying.
To be precise, she couldn’t lie well to someone she wanted to be honest with.
In that sense, Cedric could usually sense when Odette was lying, but there was no hint of it when she said this.
In fact, she sounded nonchalant about it.
So Cedric didn’t bother to mention that Louis had been knocking on the palace’s door repeatedly to see her, that he had tried to approach her right before her marriage.
It seemed that Odette was not aware of these facts.
What mattered was the uncertainty about Louis’s intentions.
‘The same guy who tried to get close to Odette, now he’s going after Blake?’
Is he trying to retaliate for choosing Walter over him?
For whatever reason, to Cedric’s eyes, Louis was no different from a poisoned cup now.
The problem is that choosing Walter isn’t really the better option.
‘Odette said she had no problem with Walter, but…….’
Cedric remembered the question Odette brought up before leaving.
– Oh, by the way, Brother. You used to serve as a knight, didn’t you?
– Strictly speaking, it was more like military service than being a knight, but yes. Why do you ask?
Well, Cedric was knighted once.
But who would dare treat him as a knight when he was the Crown Prince?
Even when the Emperor sends the Crown Prince to the army, he sends him as a commander, not a knight.
So, although it may be different from the life of an ordinary knight, it seemed that what Odette was curious about was not the life of a real knight.
If she had been genuinely curious about that, she wouldn’t have asked such a question.
– Do knights…… write wills before going to the army? Or something like that…….
Cedric could only give a generic “it depends” answer to that question.
If it had been a different situation, he might have probed further to understand why Odette was asking such a question, but there was no need for such effort this time.
The only person who could be considered a knight by Odette’s side was Walter.
‘One man is in the bootlegging business, and the other is writing wills.’
Cedric pondered both options before exhaling heavily and leaning back in his chair.
He felt a similarity between his situation, where he couldn’t avoid the poisoned cup, and Odette’s situation, where she knew it wasn’t the best choice but had to choose the lesser evil.
‘Which of these bastards is the poisoned cup.’
Walter and Louis.
Which one posed the real danger to Odette.
* * *
A few days later.
‘What was to come has come.’
Odette received retribution for impulsively meeting Cedric.
Right away.
“My God, how many are there in total?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t want to know…….”
It’s a social invitation.
.
.
.
To be honest, Odette had been expecting this day to come from the moment she boarded the carriage with Arnold that day.
The story of Cedric sending troops to control the Ertmann Duchy would undoubtedly spread quickly through society, and it was inevitable that rumors would follow about the Duchess of Ertmann leaving the mansion alone.
Moreover, considering that the troops controlling the Ertmann Duchy withdrew shortly afterward, society couldn’t help but be excited about this new gossip.
“Have you heard the rumors? They say that as soon as His Highness the Crown Prince returned to the capital, he sent troops to Ertmann?”
“Weren’t the Duke of Ertmann and His Highness the Crown Prince close when they were at the Belfort Academy? What could have caused them to suddenly turn against each other?”
“Judging by the lack of comment from Ertmann’s side since then, it doesn’t seem like their relationship soured to that extent…….”
“I heard that Duchess Ertmann went to see His Highness the Crown Prince when the manor was under control. Maybe she mediated the situation?”
“But His Highness the Crown Prince and the Duchess of Ertmann weren’t particularly close. Could that have been possible?”
Newly married, the Duke and Duchess of Ertmann were the center of attention.
The attention poured onto the newlyweds alone was overwhelming, and the reason it had been quiet until now was simple.
It was because the rumors about Walter were no small matter.
In fact, it was thanks to Arnold, who had been staying at the Wellington Hotel, who had been bragging about his grandchildren.
“I’m not doing this to boast about my grandson and granddaughter-in-law! It’s just amazing to see how sincerely Walter is devoted to his wife, you know? If Odette says one word, that guy will even put back the knife he drew!”
“That’s why it’s important to get along well with your in-laws! I knew it as soon as I saw them. Our granddaughter-in-law is bringing good luck with her!”
It would be Arnold alone who could speak of Odette with the audacity of calling her as if she were his grandchildren next door, bearing the background of being the Fourth Princess and the title of Duchess Ertmann.
But what if Odette told him to call her as he pleased?
Furthermore, since there was nobody with the courage to confront Arnold to the point of challenging him, rumors about the Ertmann Duke and Duchess’s discord had already spread throughout society without Odette even realizing it.
“They say the Duke of Ertmann trembles at the touch of his wife’s fingertip?”
“Would you believe it? They say he can’t take more than two steps away from her. They’re apparently inseparable every day…….”
Of course, as rumors are just rumors, there were some parts that were exaggerated or unheard of.
People whispered that rumors could be exaggerated or entirely baseless, but no one dared to invite Odette and ask her directly.
The reason was simple.
“Just in case…… if all those rumors were true, it would be troublesome if the Duke of Ertmann got angry.”
“Aside from Duke Ertmann himself, Sir Arnold certainly seems to have treated the Duchess of Ertmann horribly…….”
They are afraid of the repercussions if they messed up.
Cedric’s appearance in the midst of all this scratching had been itching to be scratched.
For one thing, the fact that Odette, who hadn’t been out of the house since shortly after their marriage, was out for the first time meant that she had broken free from her confinement.
Moreover, Odette’s marriage was the only thing they could think of to write in invitation.
However, casually bringing up marriage talk with newlyweds could lead to disaster with Ertmann for even sending an invitation, let alone an invitation.
But now, the situation has changed.
Everyone could write to ask if she was okay, referring to Cedric’s control of the Duchy of Ertmann!
People excitedly wrote invitations, expressing their sincere gratitude to Cedric this time, and servants from each family knocked on Ertmann’s door every day.
So currently.
A mountain of invitations piled up in front of Odette.
.
.
.
Odette had expected things to turn out like this, but why did the feeling of impending sadness never leave her?
As Odette, looking somewhat despairing, sat beside Ellie, who was eagerly opening letters, Ellie grinned.
“Ah, I received an invitation from His Highness as well? I got one too. It felt strange to receive an invitation since I’m not the kind of family to send invitations to.”
“…… Really? They have a sharp mind.”
They had deliberately invited Ellie too, from a slightly less prestigious family, because Odette might not come if they invited Odette alone.
They must have known that Odette would attend the banquet for the sake of her close acquaintance, Ellie.
They used their heads very well.
In that sense, let’s put that one aside for now.
Ellie tossed the invitation aside and gathered the remaining letters on the desk, tapping them lightly.
“There are a total of 54 here. If we exclude the ones that are clearly not worth considering, there are about 20 left.”
“I never imagined I would receive so many invitations in my lifetime…….”
“Well, you’re the Duchess of Ertmann now, so it’s not surprising.”
Emma, who was organizing the envelopes next to her, grinned and spoke up.
But she couldn’t help but notice that Odette’s reaction was grim.
“My lady, if you’re worried about it, why don’t you save the socializing for later?”
