Chapter 47
47. That Day Was Boiling, Wasn't It?
Margo had wanted to say these words to Ansen for a long time.
'How dare you.'
"It's difficult to speak of the royal family carelessly. That goes for me as well."
It was true that she had abandoned her duty and crossed the sea, as Noah thought, but it was also she herself who had seized it. She was no less formidable than the King of Herot.
Margo took a step toward him and warned,
"Don't be curious about anything."
"……."
"It has nothing to do with you."
Then she turned and went into the mansion. Following her, the imposing gate, resembling the golden bars of Herot Palace, closed with a heavy resonance.
"Director."
The secretary called to Ansen, who stood blankly, staring at the mansion.
Although the distance between the mansions was quite wide, it was a place where people lived. Curious gazes flickered from everywhere.
"Let's go back."
His insides were as hot as if a furnace were boiling.
He felt even more humiliated than when he had humbly asked for Prince Noah's understanding.
More than anything...
Ansen raised his head and glared at the gleaming golden gate with burning eyes. He didn't yet have the power to tear down this firmly closed gate.
Why wouldn't he?
The opponent was the royal family of Herot. No matter how much money he had, how much authority he had, it was impossible to compete with a country with a long history.
He had thought that a woman with nothing and nothing special would always wander around that shack-like house. He had thought that her salvation would only be himself.
But at some point, she was standing behind golden bars that even he could not approach.
Ansen couldn't accept that at all.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Meanwhile, at that time, in the Herot royal family.
Beatrix was confident that she could bet her crown that Leonard's mood had recently soared higher than the spire of Hamel Cathedral.
Just as the saying goes, "You can know ten fathoms of water, but not one fathom of a man's heart," she also realized on this occasion that there was still much she didn't know about her husband.
There were many words to define her husband, such as cynical, dogmatic, hypocritical, and selfish, but it seemed she would have to add the word immoral to that list.
As the Queen Consort crossed the hallway with a crumpled newspaper in her hand, radiating anger, the servants hurriedly bowed their heads.
Her anger was so hot that, surprisingly, she burst open the door to the office before the servant could even announce her arrival.
"Your Majesty!!"
The Queen Consort, who was always gentle and refined, exuded a fighting spirit no less than any warrior. The officials who were helping the King with his work in the office were startled and stepped back.
Leonard, feeling guilty, quickly sent them out.
As the officials hurriedly left the office, Beatrix asked abruptly.
"What on earth is this?"
Beatrix thrust the front page of the newspaper at Leonard, questioning him. A large photo of Noah's cruise ship was on the front page of the newspaper, and below it, photos of Noah and Olivia were side by side.
[Prince Noah Secretly Heads to Pulder to Meet Olivia Liberty.]
"Ahem, who wrote this? That's something. How did they know? Reporters have good information. Isn't that..."
The King shrank back at the Queen Consort's terrifying glare.
Her light sky-blue eyes felt unusually merciless today, like the eyes of a beast. Having married the lion of Herot, had she also become a lion?
"If Noah fails to propose, what are you going to do about the aftermath?"
"……."
"No, actually, you published this article in advance in preparation for that possibility, didn't you? A prince who loved a commoner girl, the royal family who supported his choice, the protagonist of a sad love story. Something like that melodrama. Or you could use this as an excuse to pressure Olivia later."
Her words were all correct. In fact, the capital was in an uproar over this story.
Newspaper company presidents bowed their heads before the King, carrying bundles of money, saying that they had sold the most copies ever in just a few hours.
Asking, 'What does Your Majesty think about this?'
Beatrix rubbed her head and lamented.
"Noah has always lived as you told him to, as you expected. He may have grumbled and shown that he didn't like it, but tell me if there is even one thing he has neglected his duty in, if there is."
"……."
"This is deception. It's a deception to everyone, and it could be a yoke for Noah and Olivia, who are the parties involved."
"The two of them will definitely get married, Queen Consort."
"You really!! How can you be so sure of that!!"
Beatrix burst out in anger, but Leonard became even calmer.
Beatrix, who was panting so hard that her chest was heaving, felt a chill in her heart at her husband's cold, merciless eyes.
Leonard Astrid was a King.
Like a person who looks several moves ahead on a chessboard and moves the pieces, he orchestrated everything in the world in that way.
In this era, a royal family is likely to collapse if a wise leader does not look several moves ahead and lead the way. Just like Polia did.
Beatrix closed her eyes as if collapsing.
"...Forgive my rudeness."
"Noah has to win that marriage. And that bastard will definitely win it."
"……."
"Instead, I will keep my promise. A promise that I will never again push the media on Noah."
Beatrix slowly nodded.
"Trixie."
"……."
"Look at me."
When Beatrix, who had stubbornly closed her eyes, opened them, Leonard gently took her arm.
"You mustn't waver. Now that the newspaper article has been published, the social circles will be in an uproar. The rumors about Noah and Isabel Seymour will also flare up. If you don't step in, very dirty rumors will circulate."
Beatrix nodded with a heavy heart.
"I know what you mean. I've already called Mrs. Jubern as soon as I saw the article. She'll be here soon."
"Of course! You're my Queen Consort!"
"It was just something within the Polo Club anyway. It's not difficult to silence those people there, so don't worry. Then I'll go."
Beatrix gently pulled her arm away and turned around. But she took one step and then turned her head back to look at her husband.
"Why?"
"How were you so sure that you... Noah and Miss Seymour aren't in a deep relationship?"
Wasn't he the one who believed all the shoddy gossip?
But Leonard smiled leisurely like a lion and crossed his arms.
"Men have something in common."
"……."
"I actually knew that all the rumors he's been involved in so far were all false. Rather, I was worried that all those rumors were false at his age when he was full of energy. I was once worried that he might like men... No."
Leonard hurriedly cut off his words and cleared his throat at the Queen Consort's fierce expression.
"Anyway... well, a slightly different rumor than usual was circulating, so I probed him several times. But Noah... he never boiled over."
"Boiled over, what kind of vague expression is that?"
"That day was boiling, wasn't it?"
"Yes?"
Leonard chuckled and shrugged.
"Didn't you see it that day? When Usher, who had followed Noah, returned and said he was going to Pulder. Remember Noah who burst in at that moment."
Beatrix finally turned her body completely to face her husband.
She was also out of her mind that day. Taking a breath, she calmly recalled her son from that day.
Then, memories with one foot in the unconscious and one foot in the conscious were slowly drawn.
Rough breath as if he had been running, shaking shoulders, wide eyes, and... reddened cheeks.
"Ah……."
"You've never seen that face before, have you?"
Beatrix pulled out even memories from a long time ago.
That night, the night Olivia disappeared.
"Prince Noah escorted me to where the knights were."
Beatrix blinked blankly.
Leonard smiled as he looked at her face.
"So that bastard will come back with Olivia. You go and do your work."
Beatrix nodded with a much firmer expression than before.
"Don't worry."
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Isabel stared intently at the front page of the newspaper.
The front page, with the faces of Noah Astrid and Olivia Liberty side by side, felt like a terrible nightmare.
The Prince, who said he wouldn't consider Isabel's face at all, really acted as he had said.
If he had considered her face even a little, the woman he chose instead of her would not have been Olivia Liberty, who was just a commoner.
"This is a lie."
As Isabel muttered, Mrs. Jubern, who was sitting across from her, raised her eyebrows and sighed.
"What kind of connection have they had so far that the article says he's going to meet his lover? This must be a lie, Madam."
At the stubbornly felt tone, Mrs. Jubern hardened her lips and elegantly folded her hands.
She, the third daughter of an insignificant family, could only marry Viscount Jubeun, who was equally insignificant.
Mrs. Jubern, who would have been at best a etiquette teacher for a humble family, had conquered the social circles solely with her matchmaking skills.
Matchmaking is like a kind of war.
You have to consider the wealth, family traditions, and connections of both families, and you also have to see through the personalities of the parties involved as if they were in the palm of your hand.
If you bring Mrs. Jubern as a chaperone, you will definitely get the marriage you want.
For the past 10 years, this saying has been revered like a proposition.
And today, that proposition was broken.
Due to the love story of Prince Noah on the front page of the newspaper.
