“Episode 74”
[Elena, you have to speak clearly. This time, you must explain properly! Under no circumstances should you accept that proposal. Even if our family is far removed from the capital’s influence, we still have our pride. If you marry that illegitimate child despised by the Empire, we’ll fall even further!]
Her father’s anxious voice and sudden angry gestures were still vivid. Elena sank into her seat.
Her head was spinning. The man she had had a crush on since the Academy had come to see her. She had imagined this scene a thousand times, but it didn’t match the current situation at all.
‘But…’
Elena, who was nervously biting her lip, clenched her hands tightly.
Her father was right. She wasn’t someone who could inherit the family head position, and it was the first time she had heard such an outlandish idea of a prince becoming a son-in-law to a noble family.
‘He shouldn’t marry someone like me.’
Even as she spoke the words to herself, Elena couldn’t suppress her sadness. She buried her face between her knees in the shabby room.
‘If I like him… I shouldn’t.’
Though it was just her inner thoughts, it hurt as if a knife had slashed her heart.
* * *
As the banquet began, artificial snowflakes fell from the magically created black sky on the ceiling of the hall.
However, unlike usual, it wasn’t accompanied by a fierce snowstorm that seemed ready to devour people. The snowflakes created by the Walter family’s magicians gently settled like a magical crown above the heads of the people in the largest hall of the mansion, then disappeared without a trace.
The old and scratched hall was decorated with winter flowers. Unless the snow was particularly harsh, the flaws among the brilliantly silver flowers wouldn’t be noticeable. Even Yuliana, who had come all the way to the northern lands to witness Lucian’s downfall, had to admit the beauty.
Annoyed by the northern nobles flocking to them, Yuliana deliberately clung tightly to Evan’s arm.
“By the way, where is Lucian? We need to see him getting rejected by Elena. Unlike ‘that person,’ Elena has no memories from before the regression. So, it’s going to be interesting. I wonder where he went.”
“Didn’t the Empress like him?”
“That was in the past. Even if she still likes him now, the current Elena won’t be able to go against her family’s wishes. The Walter family isn’t stupid enough to accept an illegitimate prince who brings no benefit to their house. The fact that the royal family proposed such a thing by poking at the barbarians is a greater insult to them.”
However, what no one knows is that these actions by the Walter family will accumulate and lead to a bigger war a year later.
Yuliana muttered to herself.
‘I don’t care if Lucian goes out as a scout and dies first, but it’s too unfair that Evan has to go to that war!’
Although her husband said it was more efficient to quickly and decisively organize the army and strike first, such statements didn’t calm Yuliana. Instead, the mere fact that Evan would be away from her for even a few months was a greater shock.
Half of her wished Lucian would comfort Elena and settle as a son-in-law, making her the head of the Walter family, but half of her didn’t want that.
Looking up at her husband with a complicated expression, Yuliana asked.
“Hmm? Why are you looking at me?”
Evan, looking at his beautiful wife who smiled brightly, said.
“Because I can’t tell what you’re thinking.”
“Oh, come on. What could I be thinking?”
With twinkling eyes, Yuliana grinned and whispered.
“I’m just confused because ‘that person’ getting what they want might guarantee your safety.”
“And you still don’t want to help ‘that person’?”
“Of course not.”
“Then we think alike.”
They clapped their hands lightly, and then sat in a spot with a good view of the center of the hall.
One way or another, Elena Walter would soon appear with her family.
* * *
The party, which was expected to proceed smoothly, took an unexpected turn.
Elena Walter did not show up at the party. People gossiped that the royal bastard had been blatantly rejected.
Elena’s father and half-brother were busy making excuses, saying that Elena, who had a naturally weak disposition, was ill. They added that she couldn’t attend the party and asked everyone to wait until she recovered.
Yuliana alternated her gaze between Elena’s elderly father and her pale, stuttering half-brother.
“Evan, do you think they’re telling the truth?”
Lucian listened to the Walter family’s excuses with a stern face.
Yuliana sipped her wine and watched the scene. In contrast, Evan, with a relaxed expression, finished his wine and replied.
“Was the Empress really that weak?”
“Elena might be weak in spirit, but she’s strong enough to wield a giant spear while riding a galloping horse. No matter how scared she might be, it smells fishy to say she’s bedridden.”
“What kind of smell?”
With a detective-like glint in her eyes, Yuliana looked around.
The party was winding down, and the northern nobles were waddling toward the portal.
Among the commotion, only Yuliana and Evan remained in the hall. Pretending to follow the crowd, Yuliana clung to her husband’s arm and whispered.
“You know I’m well-versed in complicated family matters. I suspect that half-brother of hers is up to something.”
“Your sister, Iris?”
“I don’t want to talk about what’s become of Iris right now.”
Yuliana smiled brightly.
Even without her saying it, Evan knew what had happened to Iris Cavanaugh before the regression.
Recently, Iris Cavanaugh had been embroiled in a lawsuit. Her continuous attempts to contact Yuliana, despite having no connection to the Marquis of Auburn, were considered a threat to the heir of the Auburn Marquisate.
Issues between heirs of noble families could escalate into major problems. Rumors that Iris Cavanaugh coveted Yuliana’s position had spread throughout social circles.
As a result, Iris Cavanaugh was stuck in her rural estate. Remembering this pleasant fact, Yuliana chuckled to herself and then noticed her husband’s gaze.
“Hmm? Why?”
