Chapter 39: 39

Chapter 39 – What He Wants

“It seems Grand Duke Reinen is coming here a lot these days.”
“Is it only the Grand Duke? The same goes for Young Master Meyer. Didn’t he come two days ago too?”
“The day when Young Lady Bianca and Young Master Meyer will be reunited will come soon.”

As the servants said, the Krambitz Villa has been busy with guests for several days. The place that was quiet enough to be called the ‘Duke Meyer’s Tomb’ became crowded with people.
Caitlyn summoned a cook and chief servant from Nowak’s home for the guests. Gorgeous tableware was placed on the table, and the fire pit was filled with the smell of the grilling meat.

Every evening, the three of them enjoyed a dinner and were busy discussing their new plan, the ‘scandal’. The words were mainly spoken by Hannes. Caitlyn either nodded or smiled, and Hadius only listened in silence.

“Now then, shall we move to another place? I have prepared a new cigarette for the Grand Duke.”
“Alright.”

The two smiled and left the dining room. As for Hadius, Caitlyn prepared to say goodbye as he only had dinner together and left the villa afterwards. However, her son wanted to attend the meeting for some reason.
Caitlyn was taken aback for a moment, knowing how much Hadius hated cigarettes. Then, she smiled softly.

“Alright, Hady. Let’s go together.”

The three headed to the study. The night reached its peak with tea, cigarettes and business talk. Hannes couldn’t hide his joy at the fact that he was spending time with his son-in-law for the first time in a while. But Caitlyn was different. She was starting to feel weird.

It’s completely dark outside, so why is he still here? Why isn’t he going back to Nowak?

“Do you perhaps have anything to say to me, Hadius?”

The son, who was resting his chin on his hand with his elbow on one of the armrests, straightens his posture.

“Yes, there is something I really want to discuss with Mother.”

Caitlyn nodded her head, as if telling him to continue. But Hadius did not readily open his mouth. His gaze was directed towards Hannes. He indicated that it would be awkward if he was there.
A little startled, Caitlyn looked at the two men alternately, and then opened her mouth towards Hannes.

“Would you mind leaving us for a moment?”
“Hm?”

Hannes opened his eyes wide and then nodded his head without hesitation.

“Ah, it’s already this late. Then, I’ll just take my leave.”

He gave a friendly farewell to Caitlyn and turned to Hadius just before he left.

“Did you know that my Bianca is coming? Shouldn’t you meet her soon?”
“I plan to visit soon. It’s been 5 years, so I’m a little nervous about how she will see me. Please give her my regards.”
“You will be surprised. Don’t forget that my Bianca was even offered the position of Empress of Birmingham.”

Hannes tapped Hadius on the shoulder.

As soon as he disappeared, Caitlyn chuckled.

“He becomes such an idiot when he talks about his daughter. Well, he is not wrong. You don’t know how many compliments Bianca is receiving from people around her. She is not inferior to a queen or an empress. She is so greedy that I wish she were my daughter.”

A strange longing flashed in Caitlyn’s amber eyes. For the eldest daughter of a fallen noble family, the fantasy of a princess or a queen lies deep in her subconscious.

“By the way, what is it that you ‘really want to discuss’? I hope it’s something important. The Grand Duke just didn’t show it, but he must have been offended. You are the one who will be his son-in-law and continue the alliance. But now that we’ve left him out, he must be grumbling on the inside. You should visit him soon and apolog…”
“I’m tired of hearing this over and over, Mother.”

The warm atmosphere froze in an instant.

“Aren’t you trusting that man and Hannes too blindly? Sometimes they look like dogs. Loyal dogs that only look at their owner’s face and turn the boat over when an opportunity arises.”

The shock pierces Caitlyn from the top of her head to her toes at once.

“Aren’t you aware? Of the fact that they keep taking your leadership.”
“What on earth does that mean, Hadius?”
“I don’t know if you are aware that Sir Richards is making excessive promises to attract investors. The joint business belongs to Meyer, in every aspect. Richards is only an investor, not a business partner. And yet, he is pushing ahead with everything as he pleases. I don’t understand why Mother would let him keep crawling up.”

Hearing her pounding heartbeat, Caitlyn looked up at Hadius, blankly.
It was hard to breathe because of the guy who dared to treat her like a foolish dog. But it is also true that he hit the bull’s eye.

That’s right, she is shocked, now that she thinks about it. She let him crawl up while throwing sarcastic remarks at her. She was in a hurry to cling onto someone and rely on them.

“Sir Reinen is the same. You showed your feelings too much in front of him earlier.”

What did she say?

The conversation they had been having until a moment ago flashed through Caitlyn’s head. They talked about Meyer&Reinen Steel. She said they could discuss how to divide the shares…

“I don’t know if you are aware of the fact that the Reinen family is forming a negotiating team to secure their shares.”

What?

“What… Do you mean? Hannes already has a negotiating team?”

“There are rumors going around some clubhouses. They say that Hannes has been working behind our backs for a long time to take the lead in the merger. They even say that he’s been visiting investors one by one and persuading them. What were we doing while Sir Reinen was doing that behind our backs?”
“Ha!”

The hand clenching the armrest trembled, revealing her white joints. The heat rose up to her ears, suffocating her.

“Honestly, I don’t trust Mother. You were so concerned about the breakup that you lost the leadership in the important things after the breakup.”
“…!”
“I am different from Mother. The reason I filled the Basilion House with my own people is to be wary of the two of them. Keep in mind that an alliance is an alliance, not a blood pledge.”
“…”
“I am definitely breaking up the engagement. But don’t forget. If you don’t trust me and get caught up in a scandal by them, or if you just hang on to whatever strange things they do, you will just end up cleaning up after Reinen.”

Caitlyn leaned against the backrest as if she were collapsing. She couldn’t deny a single word. If she were Hadius, she would have thought the same thing.

“… So… What do you want to say?”
“I want to set up a negotiating team on our side by my own hands. Mother couldn’t take the lead and overpower them, so leave the negotiations to me.”

A deep wrinkle crept across Caitlyn’s forehead.

“Who got the mines? It was me. Don’t forget.”
“… Speak properly. Hadius. You embarrassed me, but I am a person who puts family and business above anything else. What are you going to do?”
“Give me Meyer Steel. Right now. All the preparations have been made in the meantime, so all you have to do is make a decision.”
“You are still young. It’s not over just because I’m handing you the position as the representative. Meyer Steel is driven by numerous investors and working people. Do you know if they will recognize and accept you as their representative so easily like that?”
“I will take care of that matter.”

Caitlyn looked at her son in surprise.

“I would like to engage in negotiations as the representative of Meyer Steel. Even during the Trunia negotiations, I had to keep hearing about how I was just a successor. So, I wasted two weeks just negotiating a trivial matter. Back then, I could have shortened the negotiation time and rushed to meet with Josef. I missed the right time and was swept away by a strange public opinion. Because of my Mother, who is strangely obsessed with my fiancée.”

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Her son dared to look down on her. It looked like he was dealing with an infinitely stupid person.
Caitlyn couldn’t even breathe, let alone answer.

“Now that you have obtained the Trunia mine, hand over Meyer Steel to me. It was Mother who always emphasized the fact that even between mother and son, a transaction is a transaction.”

Blinking, Caitlyn looked at Hadius, who had strangely changed.

 

***

 

A mistress.

Emilia hadn’t been able to shake off those words for several days.

In her mind, a mistress is someone with whom a man goes out with, crosses arms, and dances together, even though he has a spouse.
Most noble men regard having a ‘mistress’ as something natural. There are also some ladies who have male mistresses… She doesn’t really understand why they have a lover after getting married, but, in any case, it definitely happens.

Forget it. It’s a completely different story from a completely different world.

Emilia hammered a nail, trying to shake off the strange word. But the door got fixed too fast.
Putting down the hammer, she looked around with empty eyes. Unlike her head, which had been troubled over the past few days, her hands and feet were more diligent than ever. Today, she pulled out all the weeds in the garden in an instant, and also cleaned the stable.
What else is there to do? No matter how much she looked around, the house was very clean.

“Ahh…”

Emilia pressed her temples with both hands. The word ‘mistress’ kept stabbing her in the head, like a woodpecker.

She had no choice but to head to the beach again. Beppy, who was in the stable, noticed that Emilia was going for a walk and untied the dog’s leash.

“Here, take Brave with you.”

The dog jumped, excited about going for a walk. Emilia headed to the forest trail with Brave.

Just before arriving at the beach, she accidentally made eye contact with the ‘suspicious farm worker’ Mitch had been talking about, but she gave it no importance. Her head was so confused that she couldn’t afford to worry about that.

Does he really want her to be his mistress?

Had it not been for the kiss, she would have never thought so. However, everything Hadius said and did until now can be easily explained with just one word, ‘mistress’.

Emilia had never even dreamed of marrying him.
And the same should be true of Hadius. Their relationship has gone through many twists and turns, but neither of them ever dreamed of the possibility of ‘marriage’.

But a mistress?

It’s realistic enough. As Mitch said, a common woman could become a mistress.
In fact, not long ago, she heard that Reina, the daughter of the owner of the herbal medicine store, Mr. Schlemann, had become the mistress of a man. It is said that Mr. Schlemann, who owed a lot of debt through gambling, sold his daughter to an aristocratic man. Emilia was worried that Reina would fall into despair and commit suicide. She has read stories of mistresses committing suicide in newspapers and books.

But Reina did not commit suicide. She lives happily in a small house on Dill Street, with servants at her beck and call. Haley said that she even had a party with her local friends.

Does she want that too?
For a moment, she gave strength to the hand holding the leash. No, absolutely not.

To Emilia, marriage is something sacred.

Her late father always missed her dead mother, and he also cherished her stepmother Kallia dearly. It didn’t feel like there was love between the two, but it was a solid relationship that was bound by faith and trust. Her father was a wonderful man who put his family first.

The only mistake her father made was that he dared to make Emilia the Duchess of Meyer.

People criticized her father, but Emilia could not hate him. Who in the world is perfect?
Her father was only blinded by greed for a moment.
Totally different from the herbal medicine store owner from Cologne, who let his daughter become a mistress!

Emilia suddenly stopped. The leash was pulled, so she looked back as if Brave was acting strange.

Her head was getting dizzy with random thoughts, but there was only one conclusion.
She must figure out what Hadius wants. If he ever shows any sign that he wants her to be his mistress, she should definitely reject it…

Emilia suddenly turned in the opposite direction from the threshold of the beach. Then, she went back to Beppy.

“Mister, please take me to the Basilion House now. I need to meet the Young Master.”

A smile appeared on Beppy’s face as he was chopping firewood.

“Let’s go. Let’s go now.”

Beppy quickly put down the ax and headed for the stable. While he was preparing the carriage, Emilia was getting ready to go out.

If it looks like he wants a mistress, she shouldn’t see him again. Whether it is Mrs. Lüen’s ball or the graduation ceremony, she won’t go.

Emilia made up her mind and went to her room. She pulled something out of the depths of the drawer. It was a small box. She never even thought of opening it.

Her trembling hand opened the lid, revealing a small ring. Even though it is seeing the light for the first time in several years, it is still shining brightly.

Was it this small? It was loose back then, spinning around her finger. She had to clench her fist for fear that she might drop it…

Somehow, her eyes got hot.

The truth is, she was thrilled. Her heart was pounding terribly. Hadius held her hand in the lonesome and terrifying palace, which was full of strangers.
The hands of her sixteen-year-old fiancé were unbelievably warm. She thought he would be as cold as ice, but he was so warm that it felt like her heart would burst.

Emilia, who grabbed the ring, placed her hand on her chest and couldn’t say anything for a while.

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