Episode 153. Don't Hold Me Back, Just Disappear
And a moment later, the Princess consort called for Betty.
“Betty.”
Betty, who had been entering the room, paused at the voice that pierced her ears.
The Princess consort's demeanor, which she had served closely for months, had changed in an instant, as if flipping a palm.
The Princess consort neither cried nor laughed.
She was calm, serene.
But Betty felt overwhelmed by her, as if gazing at a vast ocean or a colossal mountain.
The Princess consort looked her directly in the eye and spoke.
“Help me leave the mansion and go to the Royal Palace.”
It was clearly a plea for help, but Betty felt she could not dare disobey her words. Because she felt an authority from the Princess consort that was different in nature from that of a Prince.
At the same time, she pitied her.
What was the use of the title Princess consort, what was the use of a splendid and cozy paradise?
It was merely a bird in a gilded cage.
The Prince would dismiss Betty anyway. Because he was someone who never let those who crossed the line go unpunished.
Betty, lost in thought for a moment, nodded as if she had made up her mind.
“Understood, Your Highness. Please wait a moment.”
After excusing herself and disappearing, she returned to the Princess consort a short while later. And with a determined gaze, she reported the method she had devised.
“I've noticed that while the guards check the inside of the carriages entering, they don't check the inside of the carriages leaving.”
“So?”
“At dusk, I usually go out myself to buy necessary items for the mansion. It would be best for you to leave with me then.”
Olivia, recalling Betty trembling before Noah, felt a lump in her throat and expressed her gratitude.
“Thank you so much, Madam.”
Betty offered a faint smile and withdrew.
After she withdrew, Olivia first summoned Jonan and told him she was too tired to go to Hamuel today.
Faced with the Princess consort saying she couldn't go because she was tired, Jonan had no choice but to turn away.
As he withdrew, Olivia paced the room, visualizing the moment she would meet the King. She pictured what she would say, how the King would react, and pictured it again and again.
The space and time that enveloped her were rubbed away like a paperweight and vanished.
In a state close to unconsciousness, Olivia had countless conversations with King Leonard. The more she set up scenarios and practiced, the more her gaze hardened.
As the pale winter sunlight turned red and settled deep into the room.
Olivia stopped pacing.
She took off the long dress she was wearing and changed into a blouse and skirt. She put on a coat with a hood herself, then carefully placed the design blueprints and documents into an old leather bag and closed it.
And before leaving the room, she looked at herself one last time in the large mirror.
The clothes were incomparably more luxurious than before, but perhaps because of the old leather bag in her hand, she felt as if she had returned to the past.
Back to the days when she designed the Magic Dome, roaming the grounds of Pulder.
Olivia looked down at the handle of the old bag.
Olivia Liberty
The name her grandmother had passed down and engraved was in her grasp.
Olivia gripped the handle with the engraved name tightly and met her reflection in the mirror.
“Don't back down, set things right.”
As her chest burned with warmth, a dark shadow of fear crept up her neck.
Olivia quickly turned away before the fear could blind her.
And she shouted loudly in her heart, so that he could hear.
Now was the time to be brave for true freedom.
“So, don't hold me back, just disappear.”
Betty guided Olivia to the carriage. She draped a somewhat worn hooded cloak over Olivia to conceal her luxurious coat.
“Please wear it just until we leave.”
Olivia quickly got into the carriage, avoiding people's eyes. Betty calmly closed the door and took a short breath.
“Coachman Mr. Berdic is someone I've known for a long time. He's not someone who would talk carelessly, so don't worry.”
“…I am indebted to Mr. Berdic as well.”
Betty smiled faintly at the Princess consort's words.
Meanwhile, the carriage had already crossed the mansion grounds and reached the main gate. The carriage slowed and stopped for a moment.
Thump, thump.
The sound of military boots approached the carriage.
Olivia's heart pounded in time with the sound. She pulled her hood down further and glanced out the window.
Approaching the carriage was none other than Jonan.
The Jonan who had smiled like a boy in front of her, but here at the mansion's main gate, he looked like the gatekeeper of hell.
Olivia prayed he wouldn't recognize her.
Meanwhile, Betty calmly opened the window and said to Jonan.
“I'm going to buy some necessary items.”
“……”
“Well then, we're off.”
As Betty calmly bid farewell to the outside and was about to close the door, Jonan looked intently at Olivia and asked.
“Don't you usually go alone?”
To his question, Betty replied with a relaxed smile.
“Well, it depends on the situation, doesn't it?”
Her years of experience serving the capricious Prince overwhelmed the young guard.
Jonan glanced at the mysterious figure with her hood pulled down, but eventually took a step back.
“Very well. Have a good trip.”
“Thank you. We'll be back soon.”
The carriage, which had stopped for a moment, began to roll again.
Once the carriage was far from the mansion, Olivia slowly let out a long breath and said to Betty.
“Madam. So that no harm comes to you… no… I have already caused you harm.”
Betty carefully covered Olivia's hand with her wrinkled hand. When Olivia, who had been looking down, raised her eyes, Betty met her gaze warmly. Beyond the stiff mask, Betty's true face was revealed.
“This is repayment for you protecting me from Countess Timberine, who slapped my cheek.”
“…That was only natural.”
“Then consider this natural too.”
As Betty spoke kindly, her expression suddenly hardened, and she quickly embraced Olivia's shoulder.
“Your Highness, don't look out the window, cover your face.”
As soon as Betty finished speaking, the coachman's rough voice was heard.
“Ah, get out of the way, get out of the way! Let the carriage pass!! Don't you know the Prince ordered you not to come here?!”
“Are you the coachman of the Prince's mansion?! What kind of life is the Princess consort living now?!”
“Please give us just one word! What was the Princess consort's relationship with Ansen Wilhelm?”
“Do you still miss him?”
“What is your relationship with the Prince like?”
As Olivia tensed up, Betty pulled her closer. Over Betty's shoulder, Olivia could see the crowd of people gathered.
“Ah, I said get out of the way!!!”
“Your Highness, don't listen.”
Betty whispered in Olivia's ear. She was worried that the Princess consort would be hurt and distressed.
“Everything they are saying is……”
“One moment, Madam.”
“……?”
“I want to hear what they are saying.”
The Princess consort broke free from Betty's embrace, sat up straight, and listened calmly to the various sounds coming from all directions.
She did not get excited, nor did she cry in despair.
Instead, she became silent.
Even as they passed through the crowded street and the Royal Palace began to appear in the distance.
At the same time, she looked different.
It was as if… she had completely shed the thin shell she had been barely wearing.
Betty unconsciously held her breath before her.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
The King's office was in disarray, as if it had been hit by a bomb, for the entire day.
Numerous people had come and gone, and at times, the King's shouts echoed. The faces of the staff entering the office were like those of cattle being led to slaughter.
In the evening, after sunset.
The Crown Prince and the Queen entered the King's office. Both of them had been busy all day. The Queen had been managing the chaotic Royal Palace, and the Crown Prince had been handling external affairs on behalf of the King.
Leonard offered a perfunctory greeting to the two and lowered his gaze to his desk.
Spread on the desk was a map of the sea in front of Herrington.
“It seems the maritime controller has visited.”
As Usher approached and spoke, Leonard nodded.
“Yes. He warned that the Magical Creature outbreak period might be advanced.”
Leonard ran his rough hand down his face and muttered 'Magic Dome' like a groan.
Magic Dome.
That damned thing.
“What about Noah?”
To Beatrix's question, Leonard let out a hollow laugh.
“That kid……”
He was moving all over the place, even doing interviews he hated, to put out the fire that had started with his wife.
With the sole intention of keeping Olivia out of this.
“If he could, he wouldn't even let Olivia set foot on the ground.”
He would be anxious even if she stepped on the earth.
“But the problem is that Ansen Wilhelm, that bastard, is entangled with the Magic Dome.”
Therefore, no matter how much Noah moved around, it would not be easy to completely erase Ansen Wilhelm's name from Herot.
If his name cannot be erased, the fire that was barely put out by stepping on it could reignite at any time.
“There is only one way to remove Ansen Wilhelm from Herot.”
As Usher began to speak, the King and Queen both turned to him. Receiving his parents' gaze, he said firmly.
“To terminate the Magic Dome contract and for Herot to independently build its own Magic Dome.”
“We cannot terminate the Magic Dome contract immediately.”
“I know. That is why we must start preparing from now on.”
Leonard remained silent at Usher's words. He lowered his gaze and stared at the map for a long time.
A moment of silent stillness passed between the three, when a servant broke the silence and entered the office. And announced the visit of a person who would surprise all three of them.
“Your Majesty, Duchess Rosemond requests an audience.”
