Chapter 11
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Odelia neither affirmed nor denied.
She simply stared up at him with a searching gaze.
Ludville found that utterly displeasing.
"So, if it means gaining power, you're willing to sit beside a madman who seeks out a different woman every day. Quite the ambition."
Ludville openly mocked her proposal, muttering in a low voice.
And at the end of it, what he spat out was…
"Indeed, you are from that House."
…An undisguised loathing and anger towards the House of Kardel.
Odelia looked at him with a puzzled expression for a moment.
It was clear it had started the moment he heard her family name.
From then on, his expression had turned icy, and his tone began to carry undisguised animosity.
He didn't seem to care about hiding it.
'Could he possibly remember something more?'
If he had lost all memories related to Odelia, he shouldn't know the reality of the House of Kardel either.
But where did this antipathy come from?
Odelia quietly asked.
"Do you dislike that I am a Kardel?"
Perhaps it was too direct a question.
"Ha."
He seemed momentarily speechless, then let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded.
"If so?"
"May I ask why?"
"……."
Ludville's brow furrowed slightly.
Why he disliked the House of Kardel.
Did he really need to hear it in words to understand?
The House of Kardel.
Noble blood, descendants of heroes, the empire's blessing…
A sanctuary that had continued for centuries, untouchable by anyone.
Since when was it?
He couldn't recall the exact trigger or point in time.
It was just that, at some point, everything they said began to sound like lies, like hypocrisy.
A deeply rooted loathing.
Just looking at them made his stomach twist and churn.
They were filth living in stench, parasites that should not exist on this earth.
He wanted to cut off their breath, every single one of them.
He wanted to trample them like garbage and wipe them out so they could not continue their line.
The reason was, surely…
"Ugh."
Ludville pressed his temples as if a headache was coming on.
As if just looking at her was making his head throb.
"Are you alright?"
Startled, Odelia reached out to 'Purify' his pain as she had done before.
"You don't have to force yourself to remember if it's difficult."
"……."
"There are things you dislike for no reason. Isn't that how people's hearts are?"
A calm tone, a worried gaze.
The kindness that flowed out without her even realizing it struck Ludville's nerves head-on.
A fiery rage sparked in his violet eyes.
And the next moment, Ludville roughly grabbed Odelia's chin.
"The Princess who was missing for three months suddenly appears in the northern lands, proposes to a man she's never met, says it's okay to insult her House…"
He spoke in a low, cracked voice, growling with a tight grip on her chin.
"Stop playing the hypocrite. It's more fun when you show your true colors."
Fragments of uncontrolled emotion flickered in his empty violet eyes.
He parted his lips.
"That tone, that expression…"
But he couldn't finish the sentence.
As if he himself didn't know what would come next.
His silence was tinged with confusion.
Odelia quickly spoke, afraid that he might grasp a clue about his memories of her.
"That's right."
"That's right…?"
"Yes, since you've hit the nail on the head, I won't bother hiding it."
"What…"
"I have ambition."
What she needed to stay by his side was a 'plausible reason.'
Because saying she wanted to protect him would only be seen as hypocrisy.
"I want to use Grand Duke Ludville to seize the power I desire."
Odelia had no intention of saying that she had been exploited by her House her entire life.
He would surely think she was manipulating him with ridiculous lies to win his favor.
Besides…
The image of the 'Blue-Eyed Woman' that Ludville was chasing came to mind.
Fragile, delicate, with an unhappy past, a being who seemed as if she would break at any moment…
'…It can't be helped.'
To Ludville, she was a being who died no matter how many thousands of times it was repeated.
Now that he had lost his memories, all that remained for him was a precarious and pitiful impression.
'Then I just need to show him the exact opposite.'
So that Ludville would never associate her with the Blue-Eyed Woman.
She would maintain a psychological distance with a seemingly calculating attitude on the outside, while secretly guiding him to the right path on the inside.
Thoroughly, without getting caught.
From a closer distance than anyone else.
"At the very least, I need to become the Grand Duchess to achieve what I truly desire, wouldn't you agree?"
"……."
It wasn't exactly wrong.
What she truly wanted was Ludville's happiness and well-being.
Odelia coldly said, hiding her true feelings.
"That's why I said 'deal.' I'm proposing a contract marriage to Your Highness."
The moment she said those words, a memory from the past flashed through her mind.
In her previous life, the words of proposal Ludville had abruptly given her as soon as he saw her.
They were strangely similar to the words she was uttering now.
'Was he feeling like this back then?'
While outwardly expressing a contract with a completely expressionless face.
Was he desperately trying to save me on the inside…?
"The term is five years. You can terminate the contract at any time if you decide I'm useless within that time."
Odelia did not avert her gaze.
Instead, she met his eyes head-on and continued.
"The various internal problems Grand Duke Ludville is currently facing, the unnecessary attention from the outside, even your position within aristocratic society… There are areas where I can help. Quite a few."
Ah, of course.
She tapped her head as she added that.
"Even Your Highness's headaches."
"……."
Ludville listened for a long time as if he was dumbfounded…
Then suddenly burst out laughing.
It wasn't a pleasant laugh, but rather one mixed with twisted amusement.
Odelia could only stare blankly at him.
It was the first time she had seen Ludville laugh out loud.
She had seen it indirectly through memories, but seeing it in person felt quite…
"…Okay, now it's getting a little interesting."
He raised his hand and lightly picked up a strand of her silver hair.
He slowly twisted it around his finger, which reached down to her waist, and smiled leisurely.
The movement was infused with mockery, exploration, and ominous anticipation.
"I'll give you fifteen days."
"……."
"If you can capture my interest within those fifteen days…"
His violet eyes narrowed slightly.
His eyes held a deep darkness and madness that seemed to hold long years within them, even though he had lost his memories.
He lingered on the end of his words for a moment, then whispered in her ear.
"Then, I will grant you the marriage you desire."
* * *
Ludville did not chase Odelia away.
But he hadn't completely accepted her either.
"I will not inform anyone that the Princess is here for fifteen days. Including the House of Kardel."
He twisted the corner of his lips and smiled as if that would be more interesting.
Soon after, he declared the banquet over, and the gates of the Ducal Palace were tightly closed.
No more women with blue eyes entered.
Fifteen days.
It was only a short reprieve, but…
'…At least, I've captured his interest, haven't I?'
Odelia was guided to the most luxurious room in the castle.
A bedroom more lavish and extravagant than any noble's room, one that even a princess would envy.
Odelia immediately realized that this was the room where the women who had temporarily captured Ludville's interest had stayed.
"The Princess will be staying here for the time being."
The head butler, Theodore.
He, who had guided Odelia here, bowed politely and added.
"After that, His Highness will decide on the Princess's disposition."
He had expressed it euphemistically as 'disposition,' but what he really meant was 'disposal.'
'I'm being treated the same as the others.'
His thoroughly businesslike attitude seemed to confirm that she would not be staying here for long.
