Chapter 7: 7

Marquis Kafrenn O’Ellin was known as a reputable nobleman.

At the same time, he was also known as the strictest and most fastidious person in the Senate.

He was such a man who valued manners and customs.

Most importantly, he was a centrist who belonged to neither the left wing nor the right wing.

Currently, the domestic affairs of the Zeronium Kingdom was on a precarious scale.

No, rather than being precarious right now, it had been that way, but it was gradually finding stability once more.

It was four years ago when the king’s health began to decline. From then on, he could hardly get up from bed.

The problem lay with how the crown prince, who had been nominated to be the next monarch, had also belatedly contracted a rare disease.

Fortunately, the king had four more children apart from the crown prince.

Two of them hadn’t even reached the age of ten years old yet, while the other two were already well over the age of adulthood, but they didn’t get along well.

Freesia, the second princess. And Cynoa, the third prince.

The two of them were at the forefront of the nation’s unstable domestic affairs.

Lucas was on the side of the crown prince.

And the crown prince was in favor of the princess, Freesia.

But the problem was that this country had a straightforward and narrow-minded history of never having crowned a royal daughter as the kingdom’s ruler.

No matter how cruel and violent Cynoa was, the conservative nobles kept holding onto their antiquated values, saying that they would not choose a female king.

Even if it’s known that Second Princess Freesia had outstanding diplomatic ties to foreign countries, it was no use.

The old nobles did not want to be deprived of the gendered advantages that they’d been holding onto for too long, so they were resisting fiercely.

Between Second Princess Freesia and Third Prince Cynoa, the fight for the crown continued to grow more radical day by day.

It was commonplace for them to send assassins to each other, and they wouldn’t even bat an eyelid whenever recommending some poisoned tea to the other.

 

‘Just three years. Please protect me within that time period.’

 

Bowing her head, Princess Freesia asked this favor to Lucas.

She asked him to be her spear and shield for just three years.

She said that it was her wish to change this country.

Lucas stared at the top of the princess’ head, where a crown would be.

She was the type of person who would not bow to anyone, but she did not hesitate to show him the back of her neck.

At this, Lucas did not refuse.

Because with the level of grit that she was showing, just as she said, this backwards country might really change a little.

 

‘I knew it, Sir Lucas. We share the same secret, don’t we?’

 

Instead of saying thank you, the sly royal princess winked and nudged his side.

She casually wiggled at him her pinky finger, which had been cut by an assassin before.

This was how he became allied with Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Freesia.

“Hmm.”

That’s why the person he was to enter a relationship with should be someone who’s on the side of the royals that he’s allied with.

It would have been even better if it’s someone who had nothing to do with any of this.

That is, if he didn’t want things to get complicated later.

‘…I still have to observe the Marquis.’

Marquis Kafrenn O’Ellin was also a man who had little presence until a few years ago.

Then, about six or seven years ago, he took up a low-ranked seat in the parliament and quietly built himself up from there.

‘Is he really a centrist?’

As Lucas pictured the marquis’ greedy eyes, he had to wonder.

And the way that he yelled at Grace a while ago was the complete opposite to how the rumors had painted him out to be.

According to the rumors, he was a gentle, wise and kind man.

‘But now that I think of it, the Marquis and Grace don’t look alike.’

Lucas recalled Grace once more.

As soon as he thought of her, the unpleasant feeling bubbling up inside him dissipated in an instant.

Not seeing the scenery passing by the carriage window, he remembered how Grace ran out of the mansion in her white nightgown.

The more he thought about it, the more he was flabbergasted.

How did she know that he was coming to their residence, and why did she run like that?

Raising one hand, he rubbed his mouth and chin, then he chuckled languidly.

“She doesn’t look it, but she’s actually quite the go-getter.”

She didn’t have to apologize, but she ran after him anyhow. He recalled her pale face as she did that.

 

‘To tell you the truth… I am still quite nervous whenever I see you, Your Excellency.’

 

She was so bold that she openly confessed that she felt nervous whenever she faced him.

“…Kuh-hm.”

He let out a cough and cleared his throat, which had constantly been dry since before.

The image of her purple eyes flashed in his mind. Those purple eyes, sparkling with moisture as she looked up at him to say that they would never meet again.

For a moment, Lucas thought that it looked like he could see something like the universe within her eyes. Like devilish eyes.

Soon enough, Lucas came to his senses as if someone hit his head with a sledgehammer.

As he was staring into her eyes, what dominated his mind was this singular thought—that he might regret it if he won’t make a move.

He immediately took off his coat and gave it to Grace.

In fact, he tried to give her his coat even before Marquis O’Ellin came out of his office earlier, but before he could even undo his waist belt, the marquis showed up.

He felt that taking off his coat was a great choice.

If, as she said, this was truly the last time they’d meet, Lucas felt like Grace would remain in one corner of his mind like a stationary stone.

“…Anyway, I wonder if it would be best to prepare a mountain goat dish? I think Cote once said that he’s good at bison dishes. Hmm.”

He was reminded of the slender waist in his embrace earlier as he caught her before she fell.

Her thin waist, which seemed like it could break if he applied even the slightest force, made him fearful.

He suddenly thought that, if he were to hold her tighter, even a little, then she might break on the spot.

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‘…No, wait. What am I imagining right now?’

“Crazy. Do I even have any reason to hold her so tightly that I might break her?”

Feeling stuffy, Lucas rammed the palm of his hand to his forehead.

Even with things that never happened before, he’s been imagining all sorts of things.

Her purple eyes seemed to have taken away any ability he had to think straight.

‘Get a grip, get a grip, get a grip.’

He rebuked himself a few more times, instead thinking about the hearty dishes that he could serve to her.

He spent the rest of the ride—all the way back to his townhouse—hitting his forehead while thinking of many various dishes.

It truly was uncharacteristic of him.

 

* * *

 

“I didn’t know that you were already so close to Duke Blacke.”

Today was exactly one week after Lucas Blacke had visited the O’Ellin family’s residence.

As it was, Marquis O’Ellin had been set to go on a work outing, but he shortened the trip to just one week and quickly returned home now.

 

‘Do not act in such a vulgar manner. I warned you before.’

 

That day, right when he was about to leave the house then, the marquis had glared at Grace so coldly.

Yet now, after he returned home once more, he was looking at Grace with the smile of a benevolent father.

“Right. Two people who are betrothed should start being close to each other as soon as possible.”

‘Betrothed?’

Grace hadn’t even taken her first bite of her meal yet.

As soon as she sat in front of the table, Lucas Blacke’s name was brought up.

Along with the crystal-clear mention of ‘betrothed’ after that.

This meant that her father had already settled upon the decision that Lucas Blacke and Grace were to be wed.

Grace looked up at the marquis with a gaze so obviously filled with tension.

Filled with the onion soup, the spoon in her hand was already halfway up, but it went straight back into the soup bowl.

On the other hand, the marquis continued to eat his lukewarm soup gracefully as the temperature was easier to ingest now. Then, he continued.

“But when did you get so close to him? It doesn’t seem like a normal relationship.”

Marquis O’Ellin said this without looking at Grace.

Before Grace could even open her lips to say anything, someone else hastily intervened. It was Norman O’Ellin, who had been listening to the conversation with an apathetic expression before he went on an outburst.

“Not a normal relationship? So, Father, you’re saying that Grace and Lucas Blacke are already in that kind of relationship?”

Norman O’Ellin was Grace’s half-brother.

He was older than Grace by three years, and he was Kafrenn’s firstborn with his first wife.

She safely gave birth to Norman, however, she passed away soon after because of the effects of childbirth on her body.

 

‘Your body is this weak?’

 

Marquis Kafrenn O’Ellin did not even blink as he watched his wife die.

Rather, he even criticized her for dying because she, supposedly, did not take care of her condition properly.

Then, the second wife he brought into the household was Eleanor, Grace’s mother.

Eleanor hailed from an aristocratic family from a small foreign country, which was a short distance away from Zeronium.

Perhaps because her Zeronium blood was from a distant ancestor, but Eleanor was a woman who boasted of an exotic and unfamiliar beauty.

Marquis O’Ellin chased after Eleanor for more than half a year to court her, and then married eventually.

However, she also fell ill and perished. This was when Grace was around seven years old.

After Marquis Kafrenn lost his wives to illnesses, one after another, he no longer remarried.

It’s not because he was saddened by the loss of his previous wives, nor was it because of the lingering sentiment of love.

The dowry he had to prepare for each marriage was too costly, and compared to what he paid, the benefits he gained from each marriage was too shabby.

After two failed marriages, Marquis O’Ellin concentrated his efforts into establishing himself as a nobleman.

Money and honor. Those two things were the absolute paths that he pursued.

He was heartless and he wasn’t particularly clever, but he was very good at waiting.

He never rushed anything. He also avoided taking any drastic measures and risks.

He also knew that he wasn’t very good at public speaking, so he did not speak all that much.

Grace knew her father’s propensities, yet he raised his voice like that in front of Lucas.

And now, again, his attitude suddenly changed.

Concealing her bewilderment, Grace replied in a calm manner.

“We aren’t close at all. It was my fault entirely that the incident back then happened as you saw it, Father. There was something that I needed to tell you in a hurry, and I almost fell while I was running. His Excellency only caught me.”

“Is that so? I wonder what reason exactly is there that you had to hurry and run out in your undergarments.”

At his retort, Grace quickly tried to correct this, but even this was blocked.

“I wasn’t wearing undergarments, it was a nightgo—”

“Whatever. Don’t you dare talk back. How much more shame must this father of yours face because of your rash actions? It’s your fault entirely that Duke Blacke stormed out in anger that day.”

Listening thus far, Norman intervened.

“So Grace appeared in front of Duke Blacke in her undergarments? And because of that, he got angry and left?”

“Don’t even say anything more, Norman. Just thinking about it is making my forehead burn with such heat.”

Grace was baffled.

It wasn’t because of her that Lucas Blacke got angry, yet her father blamed the entire incident on her nonetheless.

Still, even if she were to start protesting here, she knew that no one would listen to her.

There was a time in the past that she had been locked up in a solitary cell for more than fifteen days. She was told that it’s to fix her habit of talking back.

After that day, Grace gave up on the idea of trying to reason with the father and son in front of her.

That would just be the most useless waste of one’s time and energy. Rather, it would just be better to get out of here and use that time and energy to make a plan.

After the uncomfortable meal, Grace quickly went up to her room.

She didn’t even eat much in the first place, but she could still feel the symptoms of indigestion.

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