“Your words have been helpful to me! I am infinitely grateful, Your Highness.”
“What help? Anyone who listens may think I’m trying to take responsibility because of your words.”
“Is that so? You asked me what to do. I gave you an answer, that’s all.”
“Even if you didn’t tell me what to do, naturally, I would take responsibility for my own family. I’m not saying your words helped, but that your words and my thoughts were already aligned from the beginning.”
“Regardless. Isn’t it important that the outcome is the same?”
Clovis laughed heartily. His laughter was genuine. He truly felt very happy.
So, Your Highness is getting married! Finally!
Everything was perfect, but if there was a flaw, it was the only flaw of Duke Albrecht, who has kept his affairs at a distance and now was trying to mend even that one flaw with his own hands.
Marriage comes with heirship. With a solid household now established, Karl had truly become a fitting candidate for the next emperor. Clovis felt like applauding out of happiness.
The supreme symbol of the capital, ruined by a scandal involving the profligate and disorderly Marquis.
Whether in the outside world or in the world of books, people seem to fervently embrace rumors and scandals. Today, the newspapers featured articles about me and Valerie.
“Why do you bother reading this, my lord?”
“Even if I try not to look, it’s hard to ignore. I’m curious how people perceive me from the outside.”
“Whatever they say or think, does it really matter? It’s not even true.”
“Even if it’s untrue, when the majority talk about it, it tends to become a truth.”
Hannah fearfully collected and cleared the newspapers on the table, as if to shield my eyes from them. But what’s the point? I’ve already seen everything. I let out a deep sigh.
Since Valerie and I appeared at the train station together, I had a sense that something like this would happen, but I never expected the impact to be this significant.
“But why exaggerate it to this extent? Saying our family will ruin, or that I’m disorderly and profligate… It’s just absurd.”
I, a paragon of pure innocence who had never held hands with a man, suddenly transformed into a frivolous and disorderly noblewoman who indulges in a chaotic private life. Such accusations were baseless.
“Gossip articles are always like that. They need to be as sensational as possible to sell well.”
“It’s the same everywhere you go. People just care about making profits by spreading any news, whether it brings misery or joy to others.”
“What?”
“No. I think there’s a real problem with completely destroying someone just because they wanted to sell their newspapers.”
“That’s right. They are completely despicable people. But what can we do? They are the type who would bring down even the royal family without a second thought.”
“What? They insult the royal family? And still continue publishing newspapers as if nothing happened?”
“Well, not exactly continue as if nothing happened… There was a time way back, very long ago, when an article spreading rumors about the beloved princess of the previous Emperor was published, and some action was taken back then.”
“Goodness, they dared to involve the princess? Wow, these people have some nerve.”
“But then as the controversy escalated, suddenly there were concerns that even His Majesty leading the army was problematic, and public opinion started turning against them.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“In neighboring countries, the imperial and military powers are separate. But in our empire, it’s not the case, so there have been age-old concerns about giving the Emperor too much power. When they tried to pressure the newspaper even, there were protests about the expanding imperial power, even in the press.”
“…Is that not a bit of a stretch? Like a dad staying silent when his daughter is insulted.”
“Exactly. I feel the same way. But anyway, the backlash was so significant that the palace officially announced they would not intervene with the media in the future.”
“That’s hopeless. Tried to protest at least.”
Despite being angry about the spread of false information, what felt more unfair was having to just sit back and watch rumors spread without being able to do anything about it.
“But there’s been no contact from the palace.”
Hannah murmured after throwing the newspaper far away, a point I also found puzzling.
One moment she was about to burst into the madness of confirming the blood ties with Valerie, and the next, several days passed without a sign of anything from Karl.
“I thought His Excellency would take some action now that he’s confirmed Valerie’s royal bloodline.”
That was also my thought. Was it all just out of curiosity, rushing to confirm their blood relation now that they decided to take some action?
“Just curious, then?”
“Oh, come on! Miss Valerie is now undeniably part of the royal family. Grand Duke surely understands the significance of her inheriting the imperial bloodline. Just poking around? That’s absurd, Lord Viscount.”
“Then why no word? I can’t figure out Karl’s thoughts at all.”
“That’s something I… Well, perhaps, is His Excellency preparing to formally welcome Miss Valerie as part of the family?”
“Preparing for days on end?”
“Of course it will take a few days! You’re a bachelor who doesn’t usually transmit information. If you suddenly have to bring in a new blood relative, there will likely be many procedures to go through.”
Indeed. It was frustrating that they had brought someone from the capital in a hurry and then seemed indifferent. If that was the case, why did they rush to remove me from Urentum?
“By the way, can I go out today?”
“No, sir!”
“Why? Why can’t I even go outside? I’m going crazy with frustration.”
They had said that there would soon be a summons investigation regarding the death of Duke Schwaben, but even that had been postponed. At this point, I was so frustrated that I wanted to undergo any investigation or something.
Why was I frustrated? It was because of the scandal in society. The highest officer, Duke Louisette, who was said to have disappeared from the capital, suddenly appeared with a child, causing me to be prohibited from going out.
If I went out now, it would be like offering myself as prey to be torn apart by people. Hannah and Kendrick, as well as Leev and Cecilia, all stared at me, blocking my path.
The four of them stood in front of me like a single entity, insisting that I should not go out. What could I do? I simply watched carefully and gazed out the window for the past few days.
“You’re not the type to just sit back and watch people whisper.”
“Me?”
Hannah nodded vigorously.
“If someone provokes you, you remember their face and name, waiting to retaliate.”
“Me? Really?”
“Even if you can’t remember anything, you shouldn’t be so indifferent, sir. Would you want to be called Sniper Duke behind your name?”
“Sniper Duke? What’s that?”
“It’s a nickname for you. Because once Duke Louisette marks someone, they’ll be retaliated against until the end, hence Sniper Duke.”
“Oh, I see….”
I had forgotten about that. Celeste was called the greatest villainess in the world. She had said that she couldn’t stand any harm done to her. But still, the Sniper Duke.
“Wouldn’t I act differently now?”
Because I’m not like Celeste. Besides, I’m just a mere commoner and couldn’t possibly seek revenge on anyone openly.
“Even if you’ve lost your memories, human nature doesn’t disappear. You wouldn’t do that.”
“What kind of life did I live before, Hannah…?”
“I guess you were so cold even to me in those days, right?”
“I wasn’t even gentle with Hannah, was I?”
“I may not be as unfriendly as I am now to myself and my family, but I’ve been relatively friendly. The coldness was too much for other people, though.”
“The Ice Beauty, was it something like that? Do thorns grow on roses, is that it? The more I heard about Celeste’s past, the more I felt a sense of pity.”
“Still, chatting with Hannah like this made time seem to flow a bit faster.”
“What about Valerie?”
“She’s taking a nap right now.”
Since coming here, Valerie has hardly held my hand. Back in Wrenton, the baby used to be glued to me all day, but here at the Marquisate, there were more than ten hands reaching out to see the child.
“My turn came last. Nobles don’t usually take care of their children themselves. Sometimes it felt good not having to carry her all the time, but other times, being away from the child and her mother felt desolate.”
