Chapter 68
Lottie’s pacing came to a sudden halt. The scene she had dismissed as a mere delusion began to take concrete shape, sending a chill down her spine. It was terrifying, yet she couldn’t stop the train of thought. It was as if someone were whispering the breakthrough directly into her ear.
If she announced a competition to choose a husband from a flood of suitors, even the Queen wouldn’t be able to force a marriage alliance with the royal family. Doing so would arouse the suspicion of her political enemies—the very thing the Queen feared most.
‘On the contrary, she’ll be forced to keep a close eye on the selection process. It might buy me some time.’
Preparing the hurdles for the competition wouldn’t be difficult either. The brilliant engineers of Elga would come running the moment they heard of a stage where they could showcase their achievements.
To promote Dempis’s technological prowess to as many people as possible, it was necessary to scale up the event.
‘It may start as a simple matter of marriage, but I’ll turn it into a festival that shakes the entirety of Matila.’
Thus, the blueprint for the husband selection competition was laid out. It was a worthy endeavor. She could avoid the marriage without anyone getting hurt, while simultaneously aiming for economic gain.
Indulging in doubts about whether she could pull it off was a luxury she didn’t have. Time was running out. All that remained was execution.
How could she spread the rumor—that a reasonably attractive prospect named Charlotte Evanshire was anxious because she couldn’t find a suitable match—across Matila as quickly and convincingly as possible?
“……!”
After deep deliberation, Lottie’s expression suddenly brightened as she climbed down from her bed.
She paced the room rapidly, muttering to herself in a quick cadence, before sitting down at the table with a face full of resolve.
If the plan worked out, she could protect Dempis from the Redbreeze conspiracy and prevent the tragedy that was fast approaching.
Lottie’s face was now filled with nothing but conviction.
Opening a drawer, she pulled out high-quality stationery. After pressing the ink a few times on the blotting paper, she began to write in her characteristically neat and brisk handwriting.
By the time she finished writing to more than ten different destinations, the sunset was already bleeding through the glass doors.
* * *
Early the next morning, an envoy carrying a message from the Queen visited House Count Ix without prior notice.
Robert Evanshire, who had only managed to change his clothes in haste before entering the main drawing room, was greatly surprised upon confirming the envoy’s identity. Someone he had never expected was waiting for him.
“Look at this, Assemblyman Evanshire.”
Homer Frostis, the Queen’s aide, lifted his right foot and spoke to Robert. His shoes were caked in mud.
“I quite forgot that Dempis doesn’t have as many paved roads as the capital.”
Robert watched as Frostis made light of the situation, his eyes tracing the trail of mud spots the man had left behind. Footprints ground in by muddy feet stretched all the way across the drawing room to the entrance hall.
Despite having dirtied someone else’s home—a mansion that had undergone a deep cleaning only a fortnight ago—Frostis showed not a hint of embarrassment.
“…….”
Robert took a deep breath in and out. The man before him was the Queen’s closest representative. To insult him was to insult the Queen herself.
“If you inform me of your next visit’s schedule, I shall send someone to guide you so that you do not face such inconveniences again.”
Robert ended the topic with a calm response and took a seat. Frostis’s charcoal-like eyebrows twitched. It seemed it wasn’t the reaction he had been hoping for.
‘I suppose he thinks he’s untouchable, carrying the Queen’s message on his back.’
Watching Frostis look at him with a dissatisfied face, Robert swallowed a bitter smile.
After clearing his throat, Frostis brought forth the Queen’s message.
Though he blurred the listener’s focus with long and rambling speech, it boiled down to three points: Had the instructed task been handled? Where was Tom Philson? And finally, how would the matter of his daughter’s marriage be settled?
“Her Majesty is most curious. Will you finally prove your loyalty and accept Her Majesty’s proposal to protect your daughter, who is at risk of being accused of colluding with treacherous forces…?”
The moment of reckoning had arrived.
Robert stared into the air, falling silent for a moment. To buy time, he signaled a maid to bring tea.
A moment later, teacups with gold rims on a blue surface were placed before the two men. A tea fragrance rarely smelled even in Ronvernon filled the wide drawing room.
Frostis’s eyes sparkled with interest. Thanks to that, Robert was able to buy a little more time to make his decision.
Tom Philson, whom Her Majesty wanted him to hand over, had vanished without a trace. There was no longer any way to avoid the suspicion that he had indirectly aided the man’s escape.
—Before you decide that I was merely being used by him, Father, what was the string you couldn’t let go of until the very end?
—Was it perhaps the possibility that there might be a hidden truth behind the assassination of the Crown Prince?
Lottie’s steady voice mingled with the deep scent of the tea, echoing in Robert’s ears.
It was from that moment that the Queen’s proposal, which had seemed merciful at the time, began to feel increasingly strange.
If Her Majesty truly wanted to set things right, she shouldn’t have proposed a marriage between his daughter and the Crown Prince; she should have demanded he hand over the deposed prince.
But Her Majesty had not done so. Claiming she didn’t want the problem to grow, she had only ordered him to hand over Tom Philson and quietly ‘dispose’ of the deposed prince.
—It was the Crown Prince himself who orchestrated the incident, and I was merely caught up in it by chance.
The moment Calyx’s calm voice also came to mind, a new possibility reared its head within Robert.
‘The assassination of the Crown Prince was… a self-staged drama by the Crown Prince to keep the deposed prince in check.’
If so, then Tom Philson was an accomplice used in the Crown Prince’s play, and the deposed prince, Calyx Valdea, had been framed and exiled.
From the perspective of Her Majesty and the Crown Prince, those two had to remain silent forever. To bury the ugly truth of the royal family for good.
“Did Her Majesty happen to say anything else?”
“Such as?”
Frostis, who had briefly relaxed his nerves at the sweet scent of tea, countered with a short question.
“In the event that the royal family and our house are joined by a marriage contract… regarding matters of inheritance or dowries.”
“See here, Assemblyman Evanshire.”
Frostis replied irritably, setting down his teacup.
“Her Majesty is currently bestowing a great grace upon you to rescue your frivolous daughter. Instead of gratitude, you wish to play with numbers? Has the temperament you had before becoming the head of the house resurfaced already?”
The latter part was pure mockery. However, Robert had obtained all the answers he needed.
The standard conditions discussed when marriage talks occur between houses were absent from the Queen’s proposal.
That meant there was a high probability that a marriage contract extremely disadvantageous to one side would be drawn up.
“…….”
During his days as a lawyer, Robert had seen more than enough of those who tried to finalize contracts through deception and threats by exploiting their superior positions.
He couldn’t be certain if the candy the royal family was eyeing was truly related to Dempis’s madness, but as a man well-versed in contracts, Robert could bet everything he owned on what the outcome of this suspicious proposal would be.
“I must hurry if I am to return to the capital and deliver your answer to Her Majesty. As you know, Her Majesty is quite busy with state affairs….”
Frostis, pulling out a silver watch to check the time, urged him bluntly. Instead of giving an answer, Robert recalled the rumors surrounding House Frostis. It was whispered that the ambitious Frostis had pushed his illegitimate child in as Princess Sylvia’s lady-in-waiting in order to snatch the position of the Crown Prince’s consort.
“If it weren’t for the grace bestowed by Her Majesty and the Crown Prince, would your daughter even be able to marry into a proper household?”
“……!”
“I heard she caused quite a few major scandals while she was in the capital. Men do not make friends with men who have no honor. What about a woman who knows no honor? It goes without saying.”
Frostis’s mouth ran wild without knowing any bounds. Even if he were the Queen’s representative, this was crossing the line.
When Robert glared at him with piercing eyes, Frostis’s mouth fortunately stopped. He continued to grumble, but it was a complaint related to time, not his daughter.
Robert sensed he could no longer delay his answer.
He could not accept the Queen’s proposal to hand over Tom Philson and marry Lottie to the Crown Prince. Then what should he do? Should he simply refuse? Or.
Should he use the sword hilt they had offered to strike back at the very heart of their weakness?
‘What is… best for that child?’
With very little time left until his reply, Robert agonized until the very end.
“I consider my daughter’s safety above all else.”
“Have you finally reached a conclusion?”
Frostis replied with a short sigh. He did not lose his sarcastic attitude until the end.
The best for Charlotte. Robert repeated only that sentence to himself as he slowly opened his dry lips.
“My answer is….”
At that moment, a frantic knock interrupted Robert. Frostis’s face contorted into a scowl.
“Do the servants of House Evanshire not know when to intervene and when not to?”
Robert gave a slight nod to ask for understanding, then told the person to come in. It was the butler, Coleman.
From the uncharacteristically urgent expression, Robert guessed that an incident as grave as the disappearance of the deposed prince had occurred.
“Master. For a moment… I think you should come outside.”
“I am in the middle of receiving an important guest. If a visitor has arrived, explain the situation and tell them next time….”
“There is no next time! I won’t move a single step from here until I see her face!”
At the sound of a man’s voice coming from somewhere, Robert and Frostis looked at each other with blank expressions. It was an exclamation so perfectly timed, it was as if it had been a response to Robert’s words.
Only then did Robert turn his attention to the outside. Because he had been so focused on his daughter’s marriage, he hadn’t realized that it had been excessively noisy outside the mansion for some time.
“Is something happening outside?”
“Well, that is….”
Coleman, finally able to bring up the main point, spoke with an ambiguous expression. It was a bizarre face that made it impossible to tell if he was happy or sad.
“About twenty young men have come to the front of the mansion….”
“And?”
“……They all say they have come to see the young lady.”
Robert stared at Coleman without even blinking. It was because he wasn’t sure if the words he had just heard were indeed what he thought they were.
As if he himself couldn’t believe the reality of what he had to say, Coleman’s words fell heavily.
“Furthermore, they all say they will not move a single step until the young lady agrees to meet them….”
