Chapter 48
Episode 48. More Like Business Partners Than a Couple Getting Married
Was aiming for a royal marriage too greedy? Mrs. Jubern swallowed a bitter sigh of failure and opened her mouth.
"Whether this is true or false doesn't matter, Miss Isabel."
"......"
"What matters is that the Royal Family is tolerating this article."
At that, Isabel's eyes widened and trembled.
"The article that His Highness the Prince went to Pulder to meet a commoner woman? They're tolerating that? Does that make sense?!"
Mrs. Jubern shook her head, finding Isabel's reaction somewhat pathetic.
"Miss Isabel, don't concern yourself with His Highness the Prince any longer."
"......"
"You tried to hide it from me, but the story of that day reached my ears. Mrs. Seymour silenced everyone, so there won't be any more gossip, though."
At Mrs. Jubern's remark, Isabel's complexion turned rapidly pale. Mrs. Jubern elegantly sipped her tea and cleared her mouth.
I told her to give up on romance, she thought.
She was dumbfounded when she heard that Isabel had gone to the Prince's mansion in the middle of the night. She thought Isabel was smart, but it seemed she was wrong.
Mrs. Jubern couldn't give any more advice to Seymour's precious daughter, so she ended the conversation there.
Just then, the door burst open and Mrs. Seymour entered the room.
Isabel jumped up and approached her as soon as she returned from her secret visit to the Royal Palace at the Queen Consort's summons.
Mrs. Seymour ignored her daughter and smiled kindly at Mrs. Jubern.
"Mrs. Jubern, I have something to discuss with Isabel alone, so I'm sorry, but could you excuse us?"
"I was just about to leave anyway."
As soon as Mrs. Jubern put on her gloves, picked up her bag, and left, Isabel clung to her mother's arm.
"Mother! What did Her Majesty the Queen Consort say? She didn't say that His Highness the Prince went to Pulder to meet a commoner woman, did she? The article is wrong, isn't it?"
Seeing her daughter's state, Mrs. Seymour suppressed her anger and touched her forehead.
"Isabel."
"Yes, Mother."
Mrs. Seymour looked coldly at her daughter's desperate expression.
"Behave yourself. Unless you want to spend the rest of your life in a convent."
Isabel's face turned white at her mother's cold words, whom she had trusted. Mrs. Seymour grabbed her daughter's arm tightly and warned her.
"You must not say anything about Prince Noah from now on, and you must be careful with your behavior."
Isabel's eyes trembled slightly.
"What did you hear that made you say that?"
"Isabel!"
"What did you hear from Her Majesty the Queen Consort that makes you act like this?! Her Majesty said she asked Prince Noah about his relationship with me! That means she considered me as a daughter-in-law at least once! I thought that if it was someone to replace me, it would be a princess from another country at the very least!"
"Watch your mouth!"
As her daughter's voice grew louder, Mrs. Seymour covered her mouth with her hand and looked behind her. Mrs. Seymour glared at her daughter.
"Someone might hear!"
"Mother and Father were secretly expecting it too, weren't they?"
At her words, Mrs. Seymour sat down on a chair, holding her head.
"Why wouldn't we expect it? Which aristocrat in the capital hasn't had that expectation at least once?"
She never imagined that her daughter would go to the Prince in the middle of the night and propose to him out of the blue.
She didn't know how much effort it took to clean up after that incident.
Mrs. Seymour rubbed her face repeatedly with her dry hands, then took a deep breath. Then, she stared at her daughter with determination.
"Her Majesty the Queen Consort warned that she would not tolerate any rumors related to Prince Noah. She told me to be careful even about casual conversations that took place in private. The fact that she's so concerned about rumors means..."
"......"
"It means the Prince will be getting married soon. At the very least, it's proof that today's article isn't false."
Isabel's eyes turned red in an instant.
Mrs. Seymour sighed deeply. She was also increasingly annoyed with Mrs. Jubern, whom she had paid a lot of money to be a chaperone.
None of the young ladies who debuted with Isabel had remained unmarried until now. She never dreamed that her daughter would end up like a dog chasing a chicken.
Recently, the relationship between her and her husband, which had already been not very good due to her daughter's problem, had deteriorated even further.
"The Royal Family does not allow anyone to dare to interfere in the marriage of royalty. Your father is looking into suitable talents among the nobles in the provinces, so don't act rashly."
"Who among the nobles in the provinces?!"
"I'm trying to stop your father. I've told him several times how can I marry you off to a provincial noble. So you be careful with your behavior. Do you understand?!"
After cleaning up the incident with the Prince, Count Seymour threatened to send her to a convent immediately if something like this happened again, marriage or no marriage.
Mrs. Seymour dragged her tired body out of Isabel's room.
Isabel buried her face in her hands and burst into tears.
Seymour's precious daughter, who could have anything she wanted, shuddered at the sense of loss she was feeling for the first time. How long had she been like that?
Suddenly, she remembered that strange object that Noah had thrown away like trash.
"Olivia Liberty......"
For some reason, she had a feeling that the object was related to her.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Margo was amazed by Noah's speed in handling things.
She realized anew how he could run Norfolk Investment Company, even though he seemed to find everything in the world annoying.
In fact, Olivia didn't have the capacity to prepare what the bride's side should prepare.
It was natural since she didn't have parents or personal assets, and Noah didn't expect anything either.
Noah personally liquidated Olivia's life in Pulder.
He investigated her financial situation to see if she had any debts. Fortunately, she had no debts.
And he signed a contract with a caretaker to manage her old house. He also contacted the person in charge and had the paperwork for renouncing her Pulder citizenship, which was said to take at least ten days, approved in just one day.
It seemed like Noah Astrid had come to Herot determined to bring Olivia there by any means.
If Margo was nodding her head, how much more so would Olivia be?
In just a few days, she returned home and packed things to take to Herot. The Prince's guards unfolded a large bag that could fit a person.
"There are plenty of bags, so please pack as much as you need."
"Yes, thank you."
"Then we'll be outside, so please call us if you need anything."
Olivia packed a blue dress that the Queen Consort had given her in the past and gifts she had received from Princess Lucy.
Then, she went to her grandmother's bedroom and study and looked up at the family picture hanging on the wall.
What would her grandmother say if she knew about this?
Would she say it was a good thing, or would she be greatly worried?
Olivia carefully took the picture out of the frame, thinking such thoughts. She added paper between the picture to prevent it from being damaged, then carefully inserted it into a thick book.
Then, she went to the bookshelf and looked at the books that were densely packed.
On the wall next to the bookshelf, there were numerous awards she had received. Her grandmother had tried to gain comfort by placing the awards in front of the family picture.
Olivia turned her gaze away from the awards.
For some reason, she felt bitter because her current choice seemed to directly violate her grandmother's comfort.
Olivia took out her major book and slowly turned the pages. It was a book she carried around without knowing it was heavy. It was a book that made her endlessly excited and, at the same time, desperate.
Olivia sat in her grandmother's old wing chair with the book in her hand.
She lowered her black eyes and gently stroked the worn edges of the book with her fingertips. The young girl who carried this book with romanticism and dreams, gritting her teeth, pricked at a corner of her heart.
Olivia, who had been looking down at the book with a firm mouth, soon raised her head.
She had already made her choice. There was no way to undo it now, and there was no reason to undo it.
"Grandmother, don't worry. I'll do my best as I always have."
Olivia got up from her seat and packed her major book and drafting set into her bag. And she packed all the contract documents with Ansen.
After doing that, there was nothing else to pack.
Olivia slowly looked around every corner of the house, but no matter how many times she looked, there was nothing else.
"Is this really all?"
The guards looked at the simple luggage that didn't even fill half of the bags they had provided and asked again, but Olivia just smiled.
"This is enough."
That's how Olivia left the house that had occupied her entire life.
Looking back from the carriage that was kicking up dust, the small house was quickly moving away.
Olivia, who had been looking at the house for a long time, said goodbye in her heart.
Soon, her eyes, which were facing forward, looked as dark and hard as mahogany that had endured the storms of many years.
The price of marrying a Prince and rising in status overnight could come like a storm, or it could be subtle like a swamp that slowly sucks you in from your ankles.
In exchange for enduring all those prices, she would gain necessity and comfort.
So, she would do her best in the life that would result from this choice.
As she always had.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
When Olivia said she would leave five days after accepting the proposal, Methone cursed the Prince inwardly.
Geez, what's the rush? How anxious must the bride-to-be be?
But five days was nothing. All the preparations were completed in just three days.
Olivia was no match for the Prince's insane speed in handling things.
"They're not a couple getting married... they're like business partners."
Methone put words into his mouth that the Prince would have given him all sorts of curse-filled looks if he had heard, and hurriedly covered his mouth.
But what could he do if that's how it felt?
For the past three days, the Prince hadn't stepped outside the hotel, like someone who believed it was dangerous outside. He spent all day eating, sleeping, resting, and ordering people around.
What about Olivia, who would become his bride?
Even Margo was appalled by the Prince's behavior of not showing his face even once after proposing, but Olivia was indifferent to it.
She smiled like a doll, as if she didn't even think of the word "disappointed," and thanked them for their hard work.
And so, on the morning of the fourth day.
Prince Noah left the hotel for the first time in five days and headed to Marguerite's mansion.
"Your Highness, there are quite a few reporters secretly following us."
"Leave them alone."
Noah glanced out the window at the guard's words and shrugged his shoulders as he replied.
He looked at the houses of Pulder passing by with a leisurely gaze, like a well-fed lion. When he passed a huge mansion built of ivory-colored marble, his eyes turned fierce for a moment.
When he heard that Ansen Wilhelm had gone to Princess Marguerite's mansion and boldly looked for Olivia, he just laughed.
But the more he thought about it, the more unpleasant it was.
"What a funny bastard."
