14 - Valentina's Paradise
Of course, Valentina didn't dislike men's ambition. Rather, she thought it was a very attractive element. Ambition keeps people from being tied to the past, makes them fiercely present, and makes the future dazzling.
Above all, Valentina herself was the one who triggered his ambition and dragged it out. Perhaps Edgar was now demanding responsibility from her for sparking that ambition.
But the fact that she hadn't known this side of him until now was a big problem.
"At least my uncle couldn't openly kill me. Because the minor lords of Nebulosa and the Black Rock Knights of Petronia would rise up. But there were quite a few assassination attempts, and I was trying to escape Nebulosa under any excuse."
"Aha."
"Actually, at first, I even tried to enter a monastery and become a scribe, but my clueless subordinates rose up, saying the family line would be cut off, and I failed."
He laughed as if it was funny. But Valentina didn't laugh. She had a fleeting, foolish thought that it would have suited him so well, and wondered if he really wanted to become a scribe.
"So I said I would go to Florida, where Your Highness is, as a squire, and surprisingly, my uncle quickly agreed and even wrote a letter of introduction. I thought, what a windfall, but in fact, my uncle also thought it was a windfall. Let me say again, no one told me a single word about you."
"I see."
"So that's how things turned out. Leaving behind the great lesson that you shouldn't trust men carelessly."
"Aren't you a man too?"
"You didn't trust me from the start anyway, did you?"
"That's true."
After answering, she suddenly felt awkward. Edeled chuckled.
"You did well. Of course, it's a little regrettable that the first thing you thought of was hanging your old fiancé, whom you met for the first time in 10 years, in the torture chamber."
He stretches out and looks up at the sky. The sky outside the shade is still clear, and the sun has set a lot. He looked up at the sky and asked casually.
"Does Dominella really believe that your uncle will dedicate his life to fulfilling your dream?"
Valentina felt his distrust painfully.
"I will trust the person I have chosen. That's how I take responsibility for my choices."
"How do you trust? There's no solid basis."
He openly sows the seeds of distrust. The seeds of doubt are easily sown but have great destructive power. Edeled is openly hammering at the beautiful stained glass she created. It feels like the beautiful world is shattering and pouring down on her.
"Edeled, if you need solid grounds to believe, it's no longer in the realm of trust. People call it collateral. Collateral is not in the realm of belief, but in the realm of calculation."
"No. Collateral is in the realm of power. Originally, collateral is similar to a weight that balances power. But it seems like there is no such weight in your relationship now."
Now Edeled's secret voice sounded like the whisper of the devil.
"Dominella used to have a reason to help your uncle, but now your uncle has no reason to help you. And you have no way to force your uncle. Now you are not the strong one, and your uncle has become the strong one. If you're not careful, you may even delegate the rule of Florida after the marriage and step back. Do you still want to trust your uncle?"
"Gongzi, do you think Edgar has changed?"
"No. I think people don't change, but rather the monster hidden in the fog reveals itself when the opportunity arises. When the other person is careless or weakened, or when they gain power."
Valentina nodded slowly. Thinking about it calmly, his words might be right.
She now realized the monster of greed hidden in Edgar's fog. She still couldn't believe that he coveted even his sister-in-law's territory and tried to execute his sister-in-law and innocent nephew who had helped him. Such unfounded trust might be closer to laziness or recklessness.
Then, was my choice of Edgar… wrong?
Would it have been right to accept marriage to the old emperor who couldn't even move?
Was there another definite solution to avoid that marriage?
"……."
But no matter how much she looked back, she couldn't think of a better solution in that situation.
And regret or reflection is useless in things where there was no choice.
'Then, I will not regret it.'
Valentina, who had come to a conclusion, looked straight at Edeled and answered.
"Edeled, the ruler is the one who chooses, decides, and takes responsibility. I chose him, and I decided to trust him. And I will enjoy everything and endure everything that comes with it."
"...I see."
A cool breeze blew between the two, and soon the conversation stopped. Edeled followed her silently. As they walked around the outer wall of the castle, they reached a place where a wooden fence, not stone, was erected high. A sweet scent was felt in the breeze.
Edeled realized that 'Valentina's Heaven' was beyond the wooden fence. The sight of purple, splendid flowers overflowing was glimpsed through the gaps in the wooden fence, and a thick, fragrant sweetness wafted faintly beyond the wooden fence. The fragrance, which did not appear in the portraits, was indescribably seductive and beautiful, and Edeled was saddened.
"Dominella, I personally think it's a happy thing to be able to trust someone completely...."
"……."
"Isn't trust the most unreliable word? The fate of a wife who deeply loves and trusts her husband but loses in the power struggle can fall really harshly. There is... really no bottom to that fall."
Watching his mother's life, which had been so proud, being destroyed by his father was like a continuous torture. His mother's only fault was that she loved and completely trusted his father. Like the beautiful woman in front of him.
Why was there no one around his mother to warn her not to blindly trust her husband like that? Edeled sighed softly and added.
"Besides, it's hard to say that your uncle is a trustworthy husband."
"What do you mean?"
"Originally, Wandering Knight without money are people who make all sorts of empty promises to women, then sleep with them and run away, right? They're people who say they'll pick the moon, pick the stars, and scoop up all the seawater, so a promise to return as a grand lord would be nothing."
Edeled seemed to have made up his mind to scratch Valentina's insides now.
"But Dominella, the loss in such a relationship is the women's share. It wasn't your uncle who had to remain chaste and wait indefinitely. It wasn't your uncle who wasted his marriage prospects and good conditions, but you, the most expensive bride on the continent."
"Would Valentina of this Florida have done such a thing without being prepared to wait like a nun for the rest of her life? And my choice was successful, and my trust was rewarded."
"Well. Don't you know how your uncle got the title of Duke of Nebulosa from the Imperial Palace? Even I, who was imprisoned, knew that it was the result of Princess Anna Angella's favor for your uncle. Well, your uncle's womanizing wasn't ordinary."
Thanks to his dazzling appearance and reputation as a knight, Edgar received enthusiastic welcomes from women wherever he went. He had known the pleasures of women from an early age, and the rumor that he was excellent at night techniques was a bonus.
Unlike unmarried ladies, a moderate amount of womanizing by unmarried men was not considered a major flaw. It was unfair. But presenting a man's past as a reason for breaking off an engagement was like saying that the two families would fight.
In particular, nobles in central continents such as Regio Florida, Terra Lema, and Terra Gallia often pretended not to know about their spouse's infidelity. Since adultery was not a reason for invalidating the marriage anyway, they considered it a sophisticated act to quietly retaliate and move on, gaining as much as they could. Since the scale of intertwined assets was large, it was not easy to fight or stab each other like serfs grabbing each other's hair.
Valentina said, not hiding her displeasure.
"Do you think that a young knight's womanizing during his unmarried days is accepted as a reason for breaking off an engagement? Aren't you being too naive?"
"Dominella, don't you care about that? I would care a lot. Could it be that I'm narrow-minded and lack understanding?"
No, how could she not care.
Valentina, who had considerable moral fastidiousness, shuddered at such a culture and despised men who boasted about their promiscuity in their lower bodies. Hearing those words from Edeled, who had lived only looking at her, made her feel relieved.
But the duty of chastity can only be demanded after the marriage procedure is completed. She couldn't interfere with his dating issues before he met her.
"Edeled, spreading suspicion and slander behind one's back is something that only vile and vulgar people do. Didn't you know?"
"Vile and vulgar? If I had become a gentle and noble person by saving my suspicion and slander about my uncle, I would be gently going to the afterlife by now. Who would benefit from that?"
He openly snorted. Valentina, who didn't want to drag this conversation out any longer, finally cut off the words with a cold expression.
"Or, it could be proof that you are young. At least someone older and more experienced than you wouldn't have said such naive things."
His laughter stops abruptly. Blood flushed on his face as he glared at her. He was definitely overly sensitive to the words young and naive.
"……."
He twisted his lips as if he would pour out something scathing, but at Valentina's icy expression, he eventually took a step back with a long sigh.
"I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable. I was short-sighted and couldn't filter out vile and vulgar words. Please forgive me."
He apologized in a calm voice. Perhaps he needed time to control his emotions, his deeply bowed head did not rise for a long time. His face was not visible, only his slender nape and earlobes, and the messy black hair scattered over them. But even that seemed to fully convey his heart.
Suddenly, she felt stuffy as if her stomach was boiling. She wanted to cleanly cut off that dark and stuffy hair with a knife and look straight into his hidden eyes, and coolly reveal his sweaty face and neck.
Was it because she was too hot and her patience had run out? This sudden impulse was strange anyway.
