Chapter 112
#112. The Last Chance for Someone (1)
"Oh my god..."
The process of the bruise fading wasn't pretty. Bethany, seeing Olivia's purple wrist, couldn't continue her sentence. Olivia quickly waved her hand, seeing Bethany's eyes welling up with tears.
"It's just a bruise, it doesn't hurt at all. I think I heard before that I just bruise easily."
Bethany raised her head and looked at Olivia. Anger rose above her eyes, bloodshot to the point where their light blue color was barely visible.
"Has this... happened before?"
Olivia closed her mouth at the trembling question.
She misspoke. As she tried to make another excuse, Bethany carefully touched Olivia's wrist with trembling hands.
"Oh my god... That awful bastard, a scoundrel with no manners or chivalry."
No one in the world could call the Crown Prince that. The level of insults, which initially started as a choked whisper, gradually increased.
Dian, who was next to her, coughed. At the same time, Olivia smiled a little.
"It's really okay, Bethany. By the way, how did you get here?"
"Look at my mind. I just heard that you... no, that's not the urgent thing."
Bethany, finally regaining her senses, quickly wiped her eyes. And she grabbed Olivia's wrist very carefully, as if handling a porcelain doll.
A strange energy seeped into the skin of Olivia's wrist. Warmth spread over the strange sensation. It was a familiar feeling, as if she had felt it somewhere before.
"It's only been a little while."
At the sound of a sniffle, Olivia looked at her wrist again and blinked. The bruise, which she thought would last quite a while, had disappeared without a trace.
"How...?"
"It's healing magic. Even if my magic power has decreased, I can still do this much."
Could this unfamiliar yet familiar sensation be magic? Olivia stroked her wrist for a moment.
Meanwhile, Bethany looked at her lady carefully. Neatly combed silver hair, a small and pretty face, and mysterious green eyes looking at her with clarity.
"...You finally look like our lady when she went to the capital. And why have you lost so much weight? Sobel, I told that guy so many times. If I really find the secret of the mine, I'm going to go up to the capital and not let him get away with it."
Those tearful words were exactly the same as when they parted in Vikander to go to the capital. Olivia smiled brightly and hugged Bethany.
* * *
Dian pretended to look away, glancing at the hill.
Under the lush trees where the sparkling greenery was turning brown, the conversation between Bethany and the lady was almost audible.
Not only the upper-level Knights, but even the trainee Knights were all listening to their conversation.
"This is a disaster. I thought it would be okay until we returned to the Territory of Vikander."
"Did you see it earlier? I thought flames were shooting out of Bethany's eyes."
"Well, we have no choice but to pray. Let's hope it ends with Sir Szelin."
"But didn't you hear it earlier?"
Bethany's voice seemed to be heard above the shivering trainee Knight.
"You guys, I'll see you when we get back."
Bethany looked at everyone with eyes that made people's hearts sink. That look was enough to make Dian flinch.
Why hadn't he seen the lady's wrist in the Imperial Palace? As he lowered his head in depression, someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Cheer up."
"..."
"I can't go to hell with you, but I'll give you a hearty farewell in front of it."
"Hey, you!"
* * *
"Bethany, how did you really get here?"
"How else would I get here? I came by carriage. As soon as I received the telegram that you were coming, I left in a hurry, but if I had known this would happen, I would have come sooner."
"I don't mean that, I heard that Bethany was at the mine right now."
She's so busy researching the secret that she can't even go into the castle.
At those words, Bethany quietly looked at Olivia and asked carefully.
"...Aren't you surprised?"
It was a question that summarized everything. Her anxious heart was revealed as if she was watching her reaction, so Olivia deliberately smiled lightly.
"If I said I wasn't surprised, I'd be lying. Because."
"..."
"I learned about the late Grand Duchess, and I learned about Lowell, not through Edwin, but through His Highness the Crown Prince."
As soon as the Crown Prince was mentioned, Bethany's gaze went back to her wrist. Olivia nodded playfully.
"Bethany is right. He's a very bad person who doesn't show me any respect. I almost wavered for a moment because of the malicious words of such a person, but the conclusion is that I didn't waver."
"No, malicious? What did the Crown Prince say to you!"
She was going to skip it because it wasn't a good thing to say. Bethany asked again with angry eyes.
How should she get through this? Olivia fiddled with the Magic stone necklace and smiled brightly.
"Oh, um. This. It's too precious a treasure to give to someone who replaces the owner."
"Lady, what are you talking about...!"
"Oh, really. I should have shown this off to His Highness the Crown Prince. I regret hiding it just in case."
Bethany belatedly jumped up at the word substitute. Bethany's face turned red, as if she had realized what the Crown Prince's malicious words were.
"Really, if I go up to the capital, I'll scold the Crown Prince before Sobel. How could he say such, such a thing!"
Next to Bethany, who was trembling, Olivia quietly recalled her first meeting with Bethany.
"Oh my, I'm staring like this without knowing it's rude. I'm sorry, Lady. You're so beautiful."
The affectionate look she gave her when she first saw her,
"Nice to meet you, Lady. You must have had a hard time coming such a long way. I'm Bethany, the butler of Vikander."
Her voice was softly soaked.
Only after hearing the story of the late Grand Duchess did Olivia understand Bethany's face on the day she first saw her. She could now understand her feelings when she burst into tears looking at the White Crystal Mine documents.
At the same time.
"Thank you."
Bethany, who had been furious, stopped abruptly at Olivia's sincere words.
Olivia smiled and hugged Bethany's arm.
Before or after bringing the White Crystal Mine, Bethany's heart to treat her preciously was infinitely deep.
Fixing her bedding, making her cozy and pretty pajamas, and quietly coming in every morning to put pretty flowers in a vase.
Being taken care of was a very sweet and lovely thing. The heart at the base of that sincerity was directed at Olivia, and no one else, so it was so obvious that there was no room for doubt.
"Oh, Lady... You're welcome."
Bethany's eyes became moist as if her anger had subsided. Olivia smiled and grabbed her arm, shaking it lightly.
"Now that we're back, I want to help Bethany find out the secret. So please tell me a lot about Lowell while we're going."
"Of course. I'll tell you everything I know. You'll probably be surprised. All the stories about Lowell are veiled. What you're most curious about is probably your pretty green eyes, right?"
Her heart was pounding. Olivia nodded slowly. Even with her nose red, Bethany smiled and added.
"But, before we leave."
"Yes?"
"Eat the sandwich Anthony packed for you first. Lady. Look at how much weight you've lost."
Bethany said with a fuss. Olivia blinked. She had clearly finished eating a little while ago.
Bethany turned her gaze away at her look of protest. And she smiled, looking at that distant place.
"At the same time, it might be a good idea to show the lady the letter that came for her while she's eating."
.
.
.
Bethany was right. The Knight who came running from the capital was a Knight of Vikander. The letter he handed over was from Edwin.
- How do you feel about meeting Bethany after a long time? I can't replace me, but I hoped you wouldn't be lonely on the way back.
But there was something else that caught her eye more than the friendly content. The signature at the end of the elegant handwriting was Edwin R. Vikander.
A familiar handwriting.
Olivia blinked. At the same time, it felt like lightning was striking in her head.
Olivia had definitely seen this handwriting before.
It wasn't the day after the banquet when she first received a letter from Edwin, nor was it the day she signed the reservation magic document for the White Crystal Mine. It was much earlier...
For example...
Olivia's eyes sparkled coldly as she gathered her thoughts.
* * *
The Crown Prince's Palace bedroom.
"Your Highness. You really need to wash up and go out in a little while... I'll come back later."
Count Hagis, who had been trying to persuade him for a long time, eventually shook his head. And he left the bedroom, cutting through the thick cigarette smoke.
The bedroom, which had curtains drawn even though it was midday, seemed indistinguishable from a pitch-black night. In the room alone, Leopold lay still and exhaled smoke.
Looking at the smoke scattering into the air, the words he had heard over the past few days were mixed up in a mess.
"You have to bring the Princess Consort back to the position of Crown Princess Consort no matter what. That's what you have to do as the Crown Prince of this Franz Empire. Her eyes were green... Yes, they were green."
Was this yesterday?
"Seeing that His Highness the beloved Crown Prince has nothing to say as the negotiations are coming to an end, I assume you are happy with these negotiations?"
No, was this yesterday? Come to think of it, how did the negotiations go? If Bertin is coming again, does that mean it's not over? Whatever happens, Duke Madeleine will take care of it.
Leopold's laughter, which had been giggling, stopped abruptly. His cloudy, sea-colored eyes slowly closed.
In the hazy cigarette smoke and the aura of strong liquor, Leopold continued to repeat the same thoughts.
At first it was absurd, later it was satisfying, and now he desperately wanted to see her.
About Olivia Madelaine.
Silver hair that seemed to have taken the cold moonlight, a pretty face, and green eyes that looked at him. Ah, how did those eyes look at him?
Just thinking about it made it hard to breathe, so Leopold inhaled cigarette smoke once again. As he exhaled the smoke filling his lungs, laughter naturally came out.
He thought he could turn it back. No, he had to turn it back even now.
The world that had always been easy, and everything that had looked up at him from under his feet, became a huge wall and blocked him.
He couldn't tell whether the surging emotions were annoyance, longing, or affection. Leopold let out a sigh-like laugh.
The cold sneer that decorated his lips was directed at none other than himself.
"...I should have caught her. I should have caught her at that time."
Leopold muttered to himself. A voice covered in desire slowly spread over the bedroom.
"What should I do now?"
He couldn't remember how many days he had been drunk on strong liquor, it felt like it had been so long.
At the same time as the lament-like words came out, the sound of the door opening and a sharp voice burst in.
"Leopold! Let go, I haven't seen Leopold for days. Who do you think you are to dare!"
"You can't do this. Young Lady!"
Maria, who finally opened the door despite the servants' dissuasion, coughed repeatedly.
Her throat was stinging. The dark room, so dark that she couldn't see properly, was filled with smoke.
"What, is this..."
With a trembling voice, Maria staggered towards the bed.
She hadn't seen Leopold for days.
A few days ago, the nanny, who had given money to a servant and briefly saw her face, said with a dying face.
"Oh my, Lady. To be trapped like this. The Marquess is also only at the mansion. Oh my."
The strong family that had protected her in any situation was no longer playing the role of backing.
Only Leopold was her salvation. Even if his gaze was cold. Maria Etel had to grab even a vain hope.
It was hard to stay in the Crown Prince's Palace as if she was imprisoned. After the practical treatment as Crown Princess Consort ended, the maids' actions towards her were rude, and even the Chamberlain did not show his face.
"Leopold, please. Get a grip, cough..."
Strangely, she wasn't feeling well either. She was always languid and her emotions were uncontrollably rampant. It was the same now. The face that she had resented so much was inevitably filled with relief the moment she saw it.
"Ah..."
Leopold frowned at the light coming through the door. In the midst of a decadent atmosphere, perhaps because he had lost weight, his eyes began to focus on Maria.
His lips began to turn up as if he vaguely recognized her, and Maria called Leopold's name without realizing it.
"Leo,"
"Is it because of you?"
"Yes? What does that..."
"Is it because of you that Olivia left? Or is it because of me?"
Thump-. Thump-. Thump-.
As the languid voice continued, Maria took a step back. At the end of the lightly laughing voice, there was the poison of a desert scorpion.
Leopold was resenting her. A lot.
The moment she realized that fact, cold sweat poured down. At the same time as her stomach became cold, her whole body seemed to be tightening. Maria sat down and shouted at the pain she was feeling for the first time.
"Ah, ah, a doctor, someone get a doctor..."
Her pitiful voice echoed outside the bedroom. But the passing servants didn't even look at her with indifferent faces. Leopold was the same.
A miserable position that no one looked back on.
The ground under her feet began to collapse. Maria burst into tears. The tears running down her cheeks were extremely miserable.
