Chapter 63
Chapter 63: The Same Bastard
"I won't ask Your Highness to acknowledge me as the creator of the Magic Dome. I haven't even considered it."
Olivia slowly averted her gaze from him, looking out at the distant sea.
The sunset, cloaked in darkness, embraced the sea with a dazzling beauty.
"The day I ended my relationship with Wilhelm, I also ended my relationship with the name Oliver."
She had no choice but to use a pseudonym as the patent holder. However, using a pseudonym as the patent holder was essentially the same as giving up all rights. She was so caught up in the blueprints that she realized it too late.
Desperate to rectify the situation, she inquired with the patent office several times, but the answer was always the same.
"There are no precedents for recognizing women's patent rights, so please consult the court."
When she inquired with the court, the answer was the same.
Was there anything more she could have done? Would this have happened if she hadn't been Olivia, a commoner?
The unanswered questions kept burning her, turning her heart black with ash and soot. So, Olivia decided to stop asking futile questions.
It would be a lie to say she had no regrets, but her remaining life was too long to be consumed by regret and clinging to the past.
The Magic Dome and engineering.
Once, it had felt like her whole life, but it wasn't everything. Losing it didn't mean her life would collapse.
No, it didn't collapse.
"A life as an engineer… once, I desperately wanted it… but it wasn't my whole life."
Her deeply sunken eyes sparkled red, reflecting the brilliant sunlight.
Olivia turned to Noah and smiled brightly.
"So, don't worry, Your Highness."
"……."
"And thank you."
"For what?"
"For recognizing that I am Oliver."
At those words, Noah let out a disbelieving laugh. He avoided Olivia's gaze, looking at the horizon and speaking cynically.
"I said I can't help you get recognized as Oliver, and you can't live as an engineer by my side. Didn't you understand?"
"I understood."
At her clear answer, Noah furrowed his brow and turned his head sharply to meet her dark eyes.
"Then what are you thanking me for?"
"You assumed I created the Magic Dome, and you asked me about it without hiding it."
"Is that something to be thankful for? I just pieced together clues and made an inference."
"Still, there's recognition hidden beneath that. …When I was at Herollington University, I presented the initial draft of the Magic Dome in class. The Professor who heard it told me to stop the presentation because it wasn't an imagination contest."
"There's such an idiot at Herollington University?"
His expression was very scathing, but for some reason, Olivia felt like laughing. As laughter filled her dark eyes, he crossed his arms and looked down at her askance.
"No matter how I listen, I don't understand the reason for your gratitude."
Olivia touched her lips with her hand, then looked out at the railing as if to change the subject.
"How much longer until Herot?"
"Two days. It'll be chaotic when we arrive."
"Yes."
As Olivia nodded, Noah, who had been leaning against the railing, gazed steadily in the direction the ship was heading.
The dark blue curtain of night, adorned with stars, finally pushed the sunset beneath the sea. As the world darkened, the wind that crept into her embrace felt even more desolate.
Noah straightened up from the railing and bid her farewell.
"I should go rest now. You should rest too."
While Olivia hurriedly returned the greeting, he leisurely disappeared into his cabin.
Back in his cabin, Noah slumped onto the sofa.
His mood sank endlessly, as if he were stuck in the mud.
After asking if she wanted to live as an engineer, he felt uncharacteristically nauseous. It was ridiculous, considering he had been prepared to give her up cleanly if she had answered that she wanted to live as an engineer.
However, when he saw her face, smiling so brightly and clearly as she told him not to worry, he also felt twisted inside.
Noah pressed his furrowed brow with his hand and muttered.
"Ansen Wilhelm and I are both the same bastard."
Both of them were trying to take advantage of that small woman.
Noah calmed his heaving chest and slowly regulated his breathing. Then, he revisited the thought he had while looking at the sea.
He couldn't let her live as an engineer, but he could at least ensure she didn't experience the same hardships as before.
Just then, Methone appeared from his room, sensing his presence.
"Methone."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"When we arrive in Herot, summon the Ambros Atelier. No matter how much it costs, make sure Olivia can buy as many of the items she wants as possible. And in the future, except for my office and bedroom, Olivia will decorate the mansion as she wishes, so look for an interior design company."
"Understood."
"And since she likes to learn, subtly ask her if there's anything else she wants to learn."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Noah vowed to do so willingly.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Beatrix read the morning newspaper and let out a long sigh.
Meanwhile, Head Maid Paulsmann brought the Queen Consort tea with sugar cubes, and the Queen Consort elegantly lifted the teacup offered by the Head Maid, pushing the newspaper aside.
"It seems the people of Herot are only curious about news of Noah and Olivia these days."
"Wouldn't that be the case until the two of them have their wedding ceremony?"
"I thought so too."
The Queen Consort glanced at the newspaper and clicked her tongue.
"Seeing that excessive attention makes me a little uneasy these days."
"……."
"Moreover, His Majesty… seems likely to put Olivia in front of the media instead of Noah in the future."
Even the Head Maid's expression subtly hardened at the Queen Consort's words.
"…His Royal Highness the Prince won't accept that."
"Who doesn't know that? It's not like we didn't know that and put Noah in front of the media until now."
"…Yes."
"Haa……."
Beatrix sighed deeply again and turned her gaze to the documents.
Leonard wanted to extract every possible benefit the royal family could gain from Noah's marriage.
He ordered the entire square in front of Hamel Cathedral to be emptied so that crowds could enter. Not to mention the Golden Lion Statue Square.
The reason for doing so, despite the very high security costs, was solely to increase goodwill towards the royal family by allowing many people to watch Prince Noah's wedding.
"When did they say they'd arrive?"
"They are scheduled to arrive at 11 a.m. tomorrow."
"And the wedding is exactly one week later, at 11 a.m."
"Yes."
"Isn't it absurd? To say the wedding is in a week."
Even that one week was something Beatrix had secured by nagging incessantly.
Currently, dignitaries who had received invitations to the wedding in Herollington, which even the parties involved had never seen, were arriving one after another, ahead of the parties themselves.
The Head Maid tactfully said nothing, and Beatrix rubbed her brow and muttered.
"I hope they like it, at least."
Beatrix signed the documents and handed them to the Head Maid. The Head Maid elegantly gathered the documents and neatly placed them on top of the high stack of documents.
With this, Beatrix's work was all done.
All that remained was for the bride and groom, the main players in the wedding, to arrive in Herot.
And the next day.
Hearing the news that the ship carrying Prince Noah was arriving, a large crowd gathered around Herollington Port.
Prince Noah, who had seemed so cold, had actually gone all the way to Pulder to bring back his bride!
From third-rate tabloid newspapers to major mainstream newspapers, reporters were stationed in front of the port, and even ordinary citizens holding their children's hands craned their necks and waited for the Prince and Olivia.
As a huge carriage escorted by the Royal Guard entered the port, the people let out a thunderous roar.
The roar reached its peak when the flower of the royal family, Noah Astrid, came down from the ship holding Olivia's hand. Only some reporters who had been granted permission to enter the interior could see the two of them with their own eyes, but somehow, the crowds outside the port kept cheering.
Olivia's fingers, which had been holding Noah's arm, tightened a little at the loud noise that echoed through the port.
Noah glanced down at Olivia.
She was wearing a white blouse and a full flared skirt again today.
The dress Olivia had originally intended to wear on the day of her arrival in Herot was a green dress purchased from Pulder Royal Boutique, but it had been ruined in the chaos and could not be worn.
There was a dress that the Queen Consort had given her in the past, but it was too flashy as it was a dress for banquets, and above all, the Prince was against it.
"That's out of fashion and tacky."
Winifred, who was listening nearby, tilted her head.
"It's still an excellent design……."
However, she trailed off at the Prince's fierce glare.
In any case, first impressions were important, so Olivia wore what she always wore today. Winifred neatly combed her hair into a single braid and put on the green ribbon headband that Olivia had said she would wear.
Noah gently tapped Olivia's hand, which was holding his arm. As if conscious of the cameras pointed at them, he added a meltingly soft smile.
"Relax."
"It feels like the cheers will collapse the port, Your Highness."
"It won't collapse."
"I just mean the sound is very loud."
Winifred, who was standing one step behind Olivia, twitched her lips and looked back and forth between the two of them.
In particular, her gaze towards the Prince had become very soft, because her assessment of 'that guy who I would have slapped on the back if he were my son' had changed to 'a reliable person who will protect his wife no matter what' after the Magical Creature attack.
In addition, the magnificent carriage waiting for the Prince and Olivia also made the lady feel warm. She gazed silently at Olivia's back with a warm gaze.
It had been a short meeting of two weeks, but Winifred truly hoped that she would live well. Olivia was a warm and cheerful person, and at the same time, a person struggling to survive.
Because she herself had struggled to survive, she quickly noticed Olivia's silent struggle and ended up cheering her on.
When the door of the huge carriage escorted by dignified warhorses opened, Olivia took Noah's hand and got into the carriage. When the Prince followed into the carriage, the door of the carriage slowly closed.
"Madam, come this way."
While the Royal Guard guided her to another carriage, Winifred's gaze was fixed on Olivia the whole time.
Winifred swelled her chest and inhaled the cold, damp air of Herot. She had never thought that she liked the coldness that crept desolately into her lungs, but somehow it felt very sweet today.
