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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Confrontations and Revelations
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Reshuan swallowed hard and called out to him.
“…Grandfather.”
“Reshuan, what are you doing up?”
He tried his best to maintain his usual demeanor. But the sense of betrayal in his granddaughter's eyes was all the more vivid in the room's dim light.
*She heard.*
…The fear that his granddaughter, like his daughter, might leave him spread like poison.
If she really did leave, there was no telling where or how she might die.
Marquis Epekel cried out urgently.
“This is all for you!”
Reshuan shook her head.
“If it's for me, then please, stop what you're doing.”
Marquis Epekel groaned.
“I can't. We're almost there. This is just a necessary step so you can live your whole life without worrying about your health….”
“But you're the one making me worry right now, Grandfather.”
“You don't have to worry.”
“…You said you would be a grandfather I could be proud of. Please, listen to me.”
Reshuan pleaded. Marquis Epekel, gazing at her with pity, pulled her into a tight embrace. Sobbing in his arms, Reshuan spoke.
“Grandfather….”
“No.”
But the Marquis was firm. Reshuan pushed him away.
She didn't want to live by tearing someone else down. Especially not if that person was Marso, whom she had already hurt.
She felt a profound disappointment in her grandfather. All the more so because he was someone she thought would always walk the right path. It was because she loved him that she so desperately wanted him to stop.
“If you won't stop, Grandfather, then I'll tell Lady Marso everything I heard today.”
“…You can't.”
Marquis Epekel looked at Reshuan with eyes full of affection, but he would not yield to her words.
“…Grandfather. You're not the kind of person to do something like this without a reason. Please, tell me why you decided to do this.”
Reshuan tried desperately to understand him. There had to be a reason she didn't know. She was desperate.
Marquis Epekel squeezed his eyes shut. Reshuan seemed to expect him to confess everything to her.
“For the time being, just rest in the mansion.”
But that was all Marquis Epekel said.
And the next day, Reshuan was confined to her room.
***
Darcy couldn't answer my feelings right away. I didn't press him for a response, either.
*Tell me when you're ready.*
This time, the waiting was different. I was certain he felt the same way I did.
Darcy just needed time to accept his own feelings.
But just confirming our mutual feelings was enough to make me more confident.
The day right after the tea party, a letter arrived from Princess Werna.
The letter, addressed to me, was filled to the brim with her career accomplishments, her life story, and the wealth she could offer as a princess.
It was less a letter and more a dissertation.
*...Well, at least I can turn her down now.*
Recalling my conversation with Darcy, my heart felt much lighter.
It felt like I was dispatching a rival.
I immediately wrote a reply.
*It's probably best to talk in person.*
Since Princess Werna had been direct about her feelings, this seemed like the better approach.
I sent the letter, received a reply within half a day, and our meeting was set for the following day.
“Oh, Lady Etoile.”
She greeted me warmly. Despite knowing my intentions, which I had hinted at in the letter, her cheerful demeanor was unchanged.
I decided to tell her the truth before she got her hopes up any further.
“I'm sorry, Princess Werna, but I don't think a match between you and Prince Darcy will be possible. I believe I mentioned….”
“Ah, I see.”
I was surprised by how quickly she gave up.
What? After she so openly asked if I liked him?
If anything, it made me uneasy, as if she were hiding something.
As if sensing this, Princess Werna explained.
“No, it's just that aside from my question that day, you two seemed quite close. I was just testing the waters.”
It was a choice truly befitting of her.
“I wish you both the best of luck.”
I felt a strange emotion watching her wish us well.
What in the world is she like, this Princess Werna...? Of all the people I've met, she's the most inscrutable.
But it was true that my impression of her had improved in an instant.
Someone who supported Darcy and me. A good person.
Feeling inexplicably shy, I scratched my head and mumbled.
“…We're not even an official couple yet.”
“But unofficially, you're quite intricately entangled, aren't you?”
“...”
“You're not even denying it. In any case, thank you for telling me in person.”
Princess Werna rose cleanly from her seat. It seemed she was about to leave.
“Are you leaving already?”
It was a sense of disappointment I hadn't felt when dealing with Ryan. I knew now that I probably wouldn't have a conversation like this with her again.
“Yes, our business is concluded. It's a shame to have missed out on the long-haired beauty.”
“…Why do you like long hair so much?”
I threw out the question, hoping to prolong our conversation somehow.
I was genuinely curious, too. Long hair wasn't particularly common here, and it was rare to find someone who so openly expressed their preference for it.
Princess Werna, who had seemed ready to leave without a second thought, paused.
“That's the first time I've been asked that.”
Princess Werna quietly lowered her gaze. Lost in thought, she looked like a scholar burning with academic passion, or perhaps a philosopher contemplating the meaning of life.
“My first love had long hair.”
“...”
“A first love I never saw again.”
My eyes widened at the unexpected reason.
“I've never told anyone that before. It feels rather cathartic to say it out loud. Thank you for listening.”
Her smile carried the bittersweet scent of autumn. It seemed things hadn't ended well with her first love.
Seeing this human side of her made me want to get closer.
…Even though she had no interest in me, she was the first person I'd been able to talk to about the subject of love.
“Princess Werna.”
“What is it?”
“Are you really not going to be active in society anymore?”
Werna grinned at me.
“Sometimes. Let's have a meal together once in a while. I enjoyed our little verbal spar more than I expected.”
“...”
“There really aren't many people who are willing to argue with me.”
We might not be close, but it felt like I'd made a friend I could greet occasionally. It seemed she had enjoyed our conversation as much as I had.
I saw her off.
*That's it for today's guests.*
Maybe I should go finish packing.
After the successful tea party, interest in me had grown even more.
Pitol's play also continued to be a hit, constantly mentioning me and building anticipation.
Of course, that was something I had asked Pitol to do.
Anyway, my preparations to leave were almost complete. I would be leaving the mansion within two days.
I had told Marquis Etoile that I was going to our estate to rest.
As I was about to get up from the drawing-room, I tilted my head, seeing a servant approaching quickly. Did they have another message for me?
“Lady Marso, you have a visitor.”
“Their name?”
Ever since unintentionally welcoming Ryan, I had made it a habit to confirm the names of all my visitors.
It was to avoid letting any strange people into the mansion again.
“She asked to be announced as Letty.”
“Letty?”
The Letty I know? But what reason would she have to come all the way here to see me?
“…Yes, it's the same Letty who used to work at our mansion. She said she desperately wished to see you, Lady Marso.”
Rumor had it that Letty was fired because I disliked her.
Perhaps because of that, the servant was fidgety as he spoke. The way he kept glancing at me nervously was almost pitiful.
*She didn't even send someone else.*
There must be a good reason for her to come here in person. Considering she's one of Ryan's people, it could be a trap, but…
*It's pointless to guess on my own.*
I'm not Letty, so I have no way of knowing what she's going to say.
Even if I ended up sending her away, it was right to at least hear her out first.
“Let her in.”
However, I summoned her to a room that was not at all prepared to receive a guest. Separate from the act of letting her into the mansion, the messy drawing-room was a signal that she was uninvited.
“Have you been well, Lady Marso?”
She stood before me.
Leticia, the owner of the back-alley merchant guild, had completely shed the persona I'd last seen and returned to being my maid, Letty.
*...What is she playing at?*
Looking at her gentle face, it was as if the person I'd last seen didn't exist.
I couldn't hide my bewilderment.
“The servant is gone, so there's no need to keep up that act... Why are you really here?”
“I have something to tell you.”
The moment she realized we were the only two in the room, her gaze shifted again. The way she changed her expression, like flipping a page, was that of a born actress.
*Shouldn't she have joined a theater troupe?*
I marveled inwardly at the sight.
“Is this a message from Ryan… the Prince?”
“No. This is a message from me to you, Lady Marso.”
“…From you?”
Did she have something to tell me herself?
“In one month, a rumor will spread throughout the capital.”
“A rumor?”
“A rumor that House Etoile has long looked down on the imperial family, monopolized the magic stones, found a new mine, and used it to line their own pockets.”
That's absurd.
Why would they do that? The claims she just made could be proven false immediately by checking the records of the magic stone mines, the amount of magic stones our Etoile family possesses, and our delivery logs to the imperial family.
If it were possible to find new mines, every noble family would have one by now and be living in splendor.
There's a reason the imperial family, House Etoile, and House Epekel monopolize the magic stones.
“Yes, normally, no one would believe it.”