Chapter 36
“I didn’t think they would stay idle. Should we investigate the entire House Neuta, as well as other families connected to them?”
“Hmm, rather than that, focus on the families preparing for their social debut this fall, and the neutral parties I connected them with when I married Duke Neuta, you know?”
“Yes.”
“Keep an eye on them. They seem like they’ll make a move soon.”
Since they likely don’t want an all-out war, the battlefield will be the social scene, not the court.
If they plan to strike from behind, they won’t move their close aides or pawns conspicuously.
If they were to choose, it’s highly probable they’d lure neutral families, who have a connection to Agatha and are thought to have grown closer to them, to set a trap.
Lady Iris’s eyes sparkled like a hawk’s.
“Heh heh, that’s my specialty. Leave it to me, Madam. I’ll bring you good news soon.”
“Please do.”
Agatha smiled and called in her other aides one by one.
She ordered Marchioness Vanessa Beatrice to investigate the boutiques, milliners, and jewelry stores frequented by House Neuta.
She ordered Duchess Kate Eblain to trace the financial flows between House Neuta and the merchant guilds. Agatha suddenly paused.
Her gaze, which had been intermittently checking on her husband’s situation, caught sight of a young lady with a peculiar aura.
Pink hair. A back view, dressed in a satin gown mixed with light and deep pinks to match her hair color.
The moment she realized that gaze, filled with strange anticipation and admiration, was directed at Enoch, her instincts sounded an alarm.
She reflexively checked Enoch’s face, but there was no change in his expression.
Well, from this distance, it would be impossible to read his reactions.
“Madam Agatha?”
“……Excuse me. Duchess Kate. Then I’ll entrust the financial flow tracing to you.”
“Yes. Just leave it to me, Madam.”
Agatha casually sent Duchess Kate Eblain away and turned back to Marchioness Iris Domunia.
Lady Iris quickly bowed her head and whispered, “She is Countess Liras. She was once engaged to Marquis Aratus, but when the Marquis’s expedition was decided, Count Liras unilaterally declared the engagement broken off.”
“So she appeared before my husband, is that it?”
Now?
Agatha, fanning herself, her eyes grew cold.
The young lady, who had climbed the stairs, was speaking to Enoch, who was seated near the platform.
He neither offered her his seat nor stood up, but he didn’t ignore her words either.
The moment the woman seated one step below opened her mouth, suppressing her excitement with effort.
Agatha’s fan snapped shut.
“What would happen if I went over there right now?”
“……There might be some room for interpretation, but rumors will spread.”
She could probably afford to accept that much.
Agatha, blinking slowly, rose from her seat.
At first glance, he seemed busy sharing drinks with the Emperor and other high-ranking nobles, but…
Enoch subtly paid attention to Agatha’s surroundings. Naturally, Agatha’s gaze, which occasionally looked at him, fell within his watch.
Violet eyes filled with meticulous concern and pride.
Enoch raised his glass, covering his slightly curved lips.
‘She left without even looking back once.’
As he had often done since the luncheon, when he was held by the Emperor.
Agatha calmly nodded, telling him to stay well there.
As if she already knew that ‘going for a while’ would not be for just a while.
Of course, it wasn’t entirely unexpected, but he felt a strange sense of disappointment.
And yet, after sending him off like that, she was subtly watching him.
Enoch felt his slightly twisted stomach, which had soured with the appearance of Duke Theodore Neuta, begin to soften.
As he was drinking, quietly surveying the entire Asagrat Hall for any potential safety issues, he noticed.
“……”
Enoch, spotting the not-so-unfamiliar pink hair, slowly set down his glass.
Ten years ago, news that his would-be father-in-law, Count Liras, was in a state of panic, unable to even breathe, had spread widely throughout the court.
It was only natural, as the heir of the Marquisate, who was thought to be dead, had returned with a victory parade, even receiving the title of hero.
Moreover, as he was quickly regaining the family’s influence and solidifying his position at court, the Count who had unilaterally insulted him must feel like he’d been struck by lightning.
Even the Emperor favored him.
‘And yet, he sends his daughter as a negotiator.’
At that time, the young Countess Liras, knowing she was blameless, wasn't cast aside, but she wasn't someone who would be welcomed either.
“Excuse me, Marquis.”
Enoch looked up at Countess Liras without a word. The woman, who quickly lowered herself, spoke in a slightly trembling voice.
“Could you spare me a moment? I have something to say.”
“Speak.”
Those who knew the relationship between Enoch and Lucy Liras watched with interest, as did those who didn’t.
Especially Crown Prince Antony Roxiva’s gaze was noteworthy.
Suddenly, Agatha came to mind.
My wife wouldn’t like it if she saw this scene.
Enoch’s gaze, which naturally shifted to where Agatha was, showed a flicker of surprise.
His wife, visible through the layered curtains, had disappeared.
“Um, first, though it’s late, congratulations on your victory, Marquis. I couldn’t dare approach you at the victory parade or banquet, but in my heart, I cheered for your might as much as anyone else.”
Enoch, hearing Lucy Liras’s words with one ear and letting them out the other, quickly scanned the banquet hall. His eyes stopped at one spot in the hall.
Below the Imperial Family’s dais.
Pushing aside the encroaching nobles with just his gaze, Agatha was elegantly walking this way.
Surely not.
Enoch’s gaze moved forward. The woman, who had now fully settled one step below, continued speaking, her cheeks flushed red.
“……So my father wishes to apologize for his past rudeness and asked if you could spare a moment. If you give him a chance, he said he would do whatever you wish, Marquis.”
Enoch’s expression became subtle. The moment Countess Liras finished speaking, his wife, who had arrived beside him, had eyes filled with a radiant light.
“Enoch.”
Agatha could easily discern the faint surprise and bewilderment on Enoch’s face.
So you can see my emotional changes without me observing you closely?
Countess Liras, who had only shown her back until now, finally turned around.
Pink eyes, matching her hair. A face that was still young.
“Marchioness Aratus?”
The woman, who seemed just past adulthood, looked up at Agatha with wide eyes.
Agatha naturally took her seat beside Enoch.
“Enoch.”
“……What brings you here, Madam.”
“You said you were going for a while, but there was no news, so I came myself.”
Agatha looked down at the young lady seated one step below her.
“And who might this be? I don’t think I’ve met her before.”
“Ah, please excuse me.”
The woman, blushing charmingly, introduced herself.
“I am Lucy Liras, daughter of Count Liras, Marchioness Aratus. I have a past connection with the Marquis, so I came to greet him briefly.”
“I’m curious about what kind of connection that might be.”
“Ah, that is……”
As Lucy hesitated, Enoch answered.
“We were engaged to be married 10 years ago. After my parents passed away and I went to war, Count Liras unilaterally broke off the engagement.”
“Marquis……”
“It is a past connection now. We have no relationship.”
Countess Liras’s trembling voice and Enoch’s cold tone intertwined.
Enoch’s gaze was directed at Count Liras, who was watching them from a secluded corner below the stairs.
The flustered Count, fidgeting, hid himself in an even more secluded spot.
The person who had insulted him with a unilateral engagement had returned as a triumphant general.
He seemed anxious and sent his daughter to spy on them.
‘I only just remembered the related rumors.’
Though he acted cold, the very fact that he had walked over here himself was proof that he wasn't perfectly rational.
Of course, even if he had recalled the rumors beforehand, he would have come here.
Snap, Agatha closed her fan, her eyes shining coldly.
“Is that so? It wasn’t a good connection, so why did Countess Liras come here?”
“That is……”
“Perhaps you thought the Marquis would generously overlook House Liras’s rudeness, as he did 10 years ago? His wife, however, might think differently.”
“Marchioness…!”
Since she had stepped forward, shouldn’t she return the insult Enoch had suffered in the past?
Agatha, looking at the middle-aged man with pink hair who had been noticeable in the corner below the stairs for a while, raised her voice slightly.
“Go back and be discreet, Countess Liras. It is only right that the head of the family from that time should handle this matter. Of course, whether there will be a next time is for the Marquis to decide.”
“……I am sorry.”
Countess Lucy Liras left as if fleeing. Agatha, feeling the subtly focused gazes, opened her fan and fluttered it.
Then, she smiled at the Emperor seated in the place of honor.
“My apologies for causing a disturbance, Your Majesty.”
“A disturbance? It is the fault of the one who sent their child without handling it themselves. Is that not so?”
Laughter and flattery towards the Emperor erupted from various places.
Agatha, having appropriately managed the situation, quietly took a breath. Only then did she relax her tense shoulders.
