Chapter 54
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If things continued this way, the 'savior representing Cardel' would be that girl.
No, perhaps the Cardel family, boasting a history of hundreds of years, could collapse because of that one person.
'No, not yet.'
No matter how much she demonstrated her Purification ability, it was still limited to the North.
Gawain clenched his fist.
The veins on the back of his hand stood out stiffly.
"...I will finish what I haven't finished. I will go to the wedding."
The Duke stared at him silently, then sighed and said.
"Move with Veloa."
That one word implied that he no longer fully trusted Gawain.
"......Yes."
Gawain gritted his teeth.
It was a subservient answer as if he were prostrating himself, but his insides were seething.
Revenge, inferiority complex, a sense of inadequacy, and even the seeds of madness towards Odelia...
Everything was tangled and boiling within his eyes.
"Can I go kill them now?"
Ludville asked abruptly upon returning from the meeting.
Odelia, who had been sighing in relief at the news that he had returned safely without causing a major incident, froze at those words.
"...Your Highness, the reason I told you to be patient was not to launch a delayed attack."
It would have been one thing if he couldn't stand it from the start.
He endured it well, only to say he would go back and kill them.
"Didn't you mean for me to smile like those hypocrites on the outside and stab them in the back?"
"Of course not."
Why did he suddenly become so combative?
Well, he was always a bit like that, but still.
'Ludville is revealing his emotions this blatantly.'
It was the first time she had seen him like this since her regression.
'Well, seeing Gawain must have done it.'
That man had a knack for drawing out the violence and hatred inherent in others.
Sometimes he meticulously orchestrated such situations, and other times it seemed he was born with such a disposition.
'He provokes the other person until they throw the first punch, and then he sheds tears pretending to be the victim.'
And in the end...
He generously forgives the other person and receives everyone's praise.
He was a man skilled in such tactics.
He was the main culprit who started the mud fight, but the responsibility for splashing the mud always fell on others.
'For a guy like that to cause such a disturbance in someone else's territory and come back without drawing his sword is quite impressive...'
Ludville was already going through a difficult time with his emotional control.
He must have exerted tremendous self-restraint.
Odelia, unsure of what to say to calm him down, rolled her eyes for a moment and said.
"I heard you extorted 7.5 billion. You did a very good job."
"......"
Perhaps praise was the answer after all.
He seemed quiet for a moment.
But then, a beat later, he asked in a low voice.
"...Just words?"
The emotion contained in those words was clear.
It was not mockery, anger, or a joke.
It was expectation.
'What is he expecting?'
What does he want from me...
Odelia blinked and was silent for a moment before slowly speaking.
"...Do you want me to praise you in a way that is not just words?"
Ludville seemed speechless at her words.
He asked back a beat later, with a rare look of embarrassment.
"If so?"
"I can't give you 7.5 billion, but I still have quite a bit of personal assets saved up."
"......"
Ludville was silent for a moment before answering.
"Never mind. I was foolish to expect anything from the Princess."
Was that an insult?
In fact, Odelia had a vague idea of what he was expecting.
She was just pretending to be oblivious and averting her eyes.
'When did he start developing such feelings for me when he doesn't even remember me?'
Since the epidemic?
Or during the few days he nursed me?
Or...
...Had there already been signs of it in that forest where he almost underwent Demonization?
Even though he lost his memories, is his instinct endlessly chasing after her?
Odelia swallowed a sigh that was about to escape her lips.
And she took a deep breath.
So that her heart wouldn't weaken again.
"As you may have already guessed, the Cardel family has been using Purification ability users as expendable resources for a long time. It has quite a deep history. It seems to have been going on for generations."
Odelia returned to the main topic.
Her tone was calm, and her eyes were as cold and emotionless as usual.
"It's been going on?"
Ludville asked, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
His expression was grim.
"Does that mean there have been those with Purification abilities in the family for generations? You're not the first?"
"Yes, in the first place, ancient magic doesn't exist. It was all 'Purification ability'."
He had expected it, no, he was certain of it.
But hearing the truth from Odelia's mouth made Ludville feel like his blood was running in reverse.
So...
The reason the Cardel Princess had been missing for the past three months was not because of running away from home or being kidnapped, but because of 'escape'.
She had desperately run away, risking her life to escape from the family, in order to survive somehow.
The reason she desperately proposed a contract marriage to him.
It wasn't because of a naive young lady's 'ambition' or 'whim', but to get rid of the Cardel name.
Because there was nowhere else to retreat.
She must have heard the news of the Grand Duke's obsession with the Blue-Eyed Woman and thought that marrying him was the only opportunity.
Ludville had unknowingly pushed her further to the edge of the cliff, unaware that she was cornered.
"...Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
And he finally gnashed his teeth and raised his voice.
"Why didn't you tell me from the beginning that you were oppressed by the Cardel family and that you ran away from there! Why did you say such nonsense about having ambition and a contract...!"
But he couldn't finish his sentence.
Would he have believed her even if she had told him?
No, absolutely not.
He knew himself best.
Even if she had honestly told him the situation, he would have certainly mocked and belittled her somehow.
He would have sneered, telling her to bring a more original story.
"......"
Ludville let out a desperate sigh and ran his hand over his face.
Odelia's reaction to Ludville's reaction was...
'I think he's misunderstanding something.'
She was a little embarrassed.
It was true that she had been oppressed by Cardel, but she had not run away because she was afraid of them at all.
It was closer to avoiding dirty poop.
