Chapter 48
#048. Do What You Want. Whatever It Is.
Last year, during the spring famine, the Princess frequented underground auctions to purchase the Necklace of Le Calle. Informant Jurgen confirmed seeing Princess's nanny, Baroness Luhan.
Attached to the end of the hastily written telegram was an article from a prominent newspaper in the Imperial Capital. It detailed how the Princess had extended benevolent relief to restore the Retail Territory, which had fallen into famine last year.
Edwin smirked cynically, gazing at the portrait of the Princess smiling like a Saintess.
"If the Princess didn't do it... who cleaned up the mess so neatly and then gave her the credit?"
Howard vaguely recalled the events that had transpired at the Grand Duke's Residence in the Imperial Capital upon hearing those words.
"A letter came from the Imperial Palace, right? Is it the Emperor again?"
How tiresome. Howard shuddered with an indifferent expression. However, Sobel, who usually agreed with him, shrugged.
"The Emperor, the Crown Prince, and even the Princess. A total of three letters have arrived, all summoning you to the Imperial Palace."
"While it's plausible for the Crown Prince to send a letter to Olivia, even the Princess? Surely, they're not ordering you to enter the Imperial Palace, Your Highness. Are they sending it to Olivia?"
"Indeed. It's as if the Imperial Family has banded together."
Sobel shook his head, and their conversation ended there.
He thought the Princess was being particularly fussy, but that was all. It seemed Howard wasn't the only one who recalled the letter from that day, which he hadn't considered particularly important.
As Howard reflexively glanced at the Grand Duke,
Edwin was already looking at Olivia. Noticing his gaze, Olivia smiled brightly and waved.
* * *
"...Is something wrong with Lord Calter?"
Quite some time had passed since they boarded the carriage. At Olivia's cautious question, Edwin widened his eyes and shook his head.
"Of course not. I heard that things were wrapped up well in the Imperial Capital, and he'll be returning soon."
A lie. He had seen the expression on Edwin's face when he looked at him earlier.
It was different from the expression one would have upon hearing ordinary news like a return. His face was stifled, as if he had heard something complicated and suffocating.
Above all, if it were news of his return, Howard would have told him as well.
Edwin lied without changing his expression. Well, Edwin's talent for acting was evident from their very first meeting.
A war hero had even shed tears after being surrounded by mere petty thugs.
There must be a reason he was hiding it from her. She herself hadn't mentioned visiting the Abandoned Mine at the Princess's command, nor had she mentioned stopping by the Territory of Vikander.
Naturally, Edwin, as the Grand Duke, would have even more secrets and things to hide than she did. Olivia, comforting herself, pressed her lips tightly together.
Nevertheless.
She felt strangely hurt and disappointed.
Perhaps sensing her obvious gaze, Edwin curved his eyes playfully.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Are you finally planning to adore me?"
Edwin expected Olivia to blush and retort that she wasn't, as she usually did.
However, Olivia pressed her lips tightly together, turned her head, and looked out the window. A hint of disappointment flickered across her fair face.
"Olivia?"
Sensing an unusual atmosphere, Edwin cautiously called out to Olivia. But she didn't want to answer.
Olivia deliberately ignored Edwin and looked outside. If she looked at Edwin now, she felt like this prickly feeling would make her question him.
"...I'm just sad that the first territorial inspection is over. Can we take our time returning through the territory?"
"Of course."
At Olivia's words, Edwin quickly gave instructions to the coachman. The rapidly moving carriage began to slow down. At the same time, the carriage heading towards the Ducal Palace changed direction towards the outskirts.
Villages that had not yet been organized passed by outside the window.
Unlike the barren and desolate image of the North, the houses in the villages were colorful and unique.
"...Besides being sad, you're not upset with me, are you?"
He's quick to notice, as always.
She could hear an anxious voice from behind, but Olivia pretended not to notice.
"What reason would I have to be upset with you, Edwin?"
Oops. Even as she spoke, her disappointment was palpable. She could feel Edwin's gaze on her, but Olivia didn't meet it. Instead, she spoke to herself.
How pathetic, Olivia.
It's not like Edwin has to share everything with her, so why is she so upset?
Thinking about it, it was a ridiculous thing.
She had never shown such sulkiness to her family, who had never looked back at her, or to her former fiancé.
When had she become so reliant on Edwin? And when had she come to trust him so much?
The sharp disappointment melted away like ice. Just as a tickling feeling grew in volume over the embarrassed and ashamed feelings,
"...Just a moment, Edwin."
Olivia said urgently. Just as she was about to turn back to Edwin, something she encountered beyond the window caught Olivia's eye.
"Can you stop the carriage for a moment?"
A child who was startled and quickly pressed a Robe deeply over their head as their eyes met.
The child's eyes were a similar green to hers.
.
.
.
Bethany was right. This dress was easy to move in.
Olivia, who got out of the carriage, widened her eyes as she looked around. She hadn't even realized that the scenery outside the window had changed because she was thinking about Edwin.
A place where shacks with roughly patched-up planks were closely packed together. A place where strangely smelly alleys stretched out in all directions.
Yeniv Street, it resembled the street of vagrants where she had lived, Turningbell.
At the sudden feeling of stuffiness, Olivia pressed her lips tightly together. She heard Edwin's voice from behind.
"This is Yeniv. It's a street of drifters and vagrants in the Territory of Vikander."
How could even the explanation be so similar to Turningbell? At the same time, the green eyes she had seen earlier, which had been startled, vividly came to mind.
Olivia's heart grew restless.
It had been a very long time since she had seen green eyes other than her mother's.
In this Franz Empire, green eyes were called the eyes of lowly wandering dancers.
They were called shameful green eyes, but for Olivia, these green eyes were the only trace she had inherited from her mother.
She was the only one with green eyes in high society, and she had never seen them even in the vast Imperial Capital.
Sometimes Olivia thought that she might be the only one with green eyes.
But the eyes of the child she had briefly encountered were definitely green as well.
In an instant, a sense of kinship flooded Olivia's heart. She stood at the entrance of the street and looked around, but the child who had quickly disappeared was nowhere to be seen.
No, she couldn't even sense anyone's presence.
It was then.
"...Um. Miss."
It was Dian. Dian, who always frowned whenever his eyes met hers, called out to her first for some reason. But rather than feeling glad, she was more concerned about the child with green eyes.
"Why are you suddenly here?"
Dian's voice sounded somewhat uneasy, but Olivia didn't even notice it and just poured out her words.
"I think I saw someone. But they've disappeared in the meantime. Will you help me find them?"
"Is that Dian hyung?"
A youthful voice suddenly interjected. Where she looked down, wondering if it could be, green eyes were looking up at Dian.
Dian let out a low sigh as if he were in trouble.
* * *
Wow-.
The children's shrill voices filled the street. Dian, who was curt with her, was faithfully playing the role of leader among the children.
Olivia watched the children running around.
Thirteen of them. Dirty clothes and disheveled hair.
The eyes of the young children, reminiscent of her own childhood, were mostly green.
The children with green eyes, who were not seen in the Imperial Capital, were here.
Olivia took each one into her eyes. Then, when she saw a very old, yellowish bruise under the loose shirt of one of the running children, Olivia involuntarily gasped.
It must have hurt quite a bit. But there was no shadow on the children's faces. Rather, they were smiling brightly and familiarly roaming this street.
"Are you surprised?"
"Yes. At one time, I thought I was the only one in the world with green eyes."
At Olivia's bewildered voice, Edwin chuckled softly.
"How do you feel about seeing so many green eyes?"
"...It's strange."
It really was a strange thing. Besides her mother and her, there were so many people whose eye color was green.
"How did all these people come to this Territory of Vikander?"
"I don't know how they came, but I know why they settled here."
"Why?"
Edwin raised the corners of his lips as if he were slightly embarrassed for a moment. The moment Edwin spoke, Olivia's ears tingled.
"In Vikander, green eyes are considered beautiful. Like other eyes."
Time seemed to flow slowly. Edwin smiled again and whispered to Olivia as if telling a secret.
"Actually, I think Olivia's green eyes are very especially beautiful."
Each of those syllables caused a ripple deep within Olivia's heart.
Olivia slowly blinked her eyes. Her lips, which had lost control, moved on their own.
"Not, lowly?"
Olivia's voice trembled.
Sometimes Olivia questioned herself.
If she had purple amethyst eyes, would she have been able to fit in well with the Madeleine Dukedom? If she didn't have green eyes, would Leopold have loved her?
If she didn't have green eyes. If she didn't have the eyes of a lowly dancer.
Then, in the end, she would always shake her head. This is the last trace my mother left me. Even I have to love my green eyes.
She covered the wounds cut by the knife-like gazes, asserting a flimsy pride with words she recited like a spell.
When Olivia's eyes became desperate as if she were about to cry, Edwin nodded and met her gaze kindly.
"...Lowly? How can something that shines so beautifully be lowly?"
What was it about that gentle voice mixed with a sigh? Cracks began to form over Olivia's long-held memories.
"Green eyes. To think such lowly blood would be mixed into the noble Madeleine."
"Look at those eyes. They're the shameful green of a wandering dancer."
Words filled with contempt and scorn swirled in her head. And finally, all those gazes began to shatter. The words that had always painfully stabbed her began to melt away without a trace.
How could this person only say the things she wanted to hear?
"Edwin."
"Olivia."
"Don't, cry. So, laugh with me."
It wasn't something to cry about. Rather, she had to laugh happily.
Olivia smiled bravely. It was clear that transparent tears were welling up over her green eyes, but Edwin pretended not to notice and smiled.
"You're as brave as ever, my lady."
.
.
.
"I had plans to reorganize this Yeniv Street, but I haven't been able to put them into practice yet."
Some time had passed. Edwin explained quietly.
As soon as she heard that they couldn't leave a street where so many children lived as a shantytown, Olivia looked at Edwin.
A fiery will sparked in her straight gaze. Edwin looked at Olivia and simply smiled kindly.
"Do you have something to say?"
"What would you think if I wanted to start a big project from now on?"
"......"
"For example, the reorganization of this Yeniv."
Olivia swallowed her tension and looked at Edwin.
No matter how much the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess's assets were shared, she wasn't even officially the Grand Duchess yet. If she were to reorganize this Yeniv, all the costs would have to come from the Grand Duke's Residence.
But she could reorganize this Yeniv properly more than anyone else.
Just as Turningbell was the place she returned to when she had nowhere to go.
She could properly change this place, which was the foundation of these children's lives.
"Olivia."
At Edwin's quiet call, Olivia hesitated for a moment and spoke first.
"...It doesn't require that much of a budget. I know someone who knows about architecture and civil engineering."
"That's not it."
Edwin shook his head and smiled. At the kind smile, the smile that completely trusted her, Olivia blinked.
"...You haven't forgotten what I said about expanding your horizons, have you?"
"...Well, unless Olivia's horizons expand even further."
Edwin's words from the Grand Duke's Residence flashed through her mind. Olivia vaguely predicted how this conversation would end.
As expected, Edwin counted off on his fingers and said kindly.
"Today, you ate well and slept well. Olivia, there's only one thing for you to do."
Olivia's chest swelled as if it would burst. As expected, Edwin smiled languidly and nodded.
"Do what you want. Don't worry about the budget."
Edwin winked.
"You know, thanks to the advice Olivia gave me, the already wealthy Vikander will be able to save on taxes in the future."
* * *
Meanwhile, at the same time. The drawing room of the Imperial Princess Palace.
The maids closed their eyes tightly. The maids all knew that this silence, which had sunk into stillness, was as fierce as the eye of a storm.
"Again."
And the Princess said sweetly, raising the corners of her lips.
"Say it again."
Unlike her elegant voice, the Princess's eyes shone sharply as she looked at Count Yubler, the financial manager. The maids prayed with one heart.
Please. Please let Count Yubler act as he usually does.
But Count Yubler, who usually trembled at the Princess's words, said firmly.
"There is no way to retrieve the White Crystal Mine, which has already been notarized with a magical seal to transfer ownership."
