Chapter 63

63.

The conversation sailed smoothly after that one uncomfortable moment. Viscount Royden essentially had a comfortable personality, and Ercella was able to easily harmonize with his character.

He became talkative when he talked about his youngest grandchild and could not stop praising his cuteness. The words ‘Grandfather before mom and dad’, eventually made Ercella burst into laughter. The music changed as they had a merry time together.

“I must go to my son now. It was an honor talking with Your Grace.”

“Likewise.” Ercella’s long neck bent gracefully to see off Viscount Royden.Fôllôw new stories at novelhall.com

Suddenly, Viscount Royden turned back, “Actually, I was wondering if I should say this or not, but it wouldn’t hurt to know, so I’ll just tell you.”

“...”

“Robert’s children are here.”

Her blue eyes froze for a moment.

“I don’t know why the Lord invited them but...don’t worry too much. They can’t harm you even if you encounter them. Still, if you’re reluctant to meet them, avoid them as much as you can.”

“...”

“You don’t have a good relationship with them, right?”

Ercella stared at her uncle’s back as he went on his way after saying that. Her smile had disappeared. She shook her head immediately, shrugging away the thoughts that were about to resurface.

She spotted Vicente. It wasn’t hard to find him since he was just close by. Vicente was surrounded by four or five people. Thinking he may be uncomfortable, she raised her heel to head that way.

“Don’t worry too much, my son will be there.”

But hearing the voice behind her, Ercella stopped, if not, she would have run to Vicente in a heartbeat.

“Brother?!”

It was Caron. When did he sneak up behind her?

“Are you going to check up on my nephew now? It’s not good to be overly protective.”

“What do you mean overly protective? It’s his first time at a banquet. I can’t help but worry.”

Caron’s forehead creased at his sister’s temper, “You’re treating him like a baby. Did you forget? Your son is fifteen now. Even from a distance, I could tell he’s doing well even without the help of your distinguished husband.”

Ercella faltered as her sore spots were stabbed one by one. Was I unconsciously harboring these thoughts?

That I don’t want to treat Vicente as a grown person.

I want to treat him as a child and take care of him for a long time.

I wish he’d never become a knight, never go to war.

I want him to stay under my wings forever.

It was all her greed and selfishness. It was also a compulsion and obsession created by the guilt of neglecting Vicente.

‘Even though Vicente is not a child anymore.’

The time was long past for him to be looked after. What Vicente, a fifteen-year-old, needed was parental trust, not overprotection.

Yet, Ercella could not help herself from treating Vicente as a child whenever she had the chance.

“...That’s right.” She admitted listlessly. Vicente was no longer a child who should always be looked after. As Caron said, he would do well on his own— without her, just like before.

She relaxed. Bracing her melancholic heart, Ercella stoutly folded her arms. “All right, it’s not a bad idea to have a chat with my beloved brother. And it just so happens that I have a question for you.”

“...What’s with the attitude?” Caron asked cautiously like a child caught red-handed.

“Tell me what you’ve been up to these days. Right now.“

“Up to? You should change the way you speak to your older brother.”

“Why are you here at Lady Garten’s Coming-of-Age ceremony?”

“That’s all you wanted to ask?”

“In the past—”

You didn’t come.

Ercella hurriedly swallowed her tongue. I almost got myself treated like a lunatic.

“In the past?”

Despite how fast she was, Caron still did not miss it, raising her goosebumps all over.

“A-anyway, do you know how surprised I was?! How hard is it to just say a word to your younger sister for once?”

“I can hear you loud and clear, no need to raise your voice. And it’s not that surprising.”

How can I not be surprised? Duke Garten successfully completed the diplomacy with Conrad and even received a welcome from the king, evidence of which was embedded throughout the banquet hall. Is Caron okay? It’s the Gartens’ banquet whom he really hates, yet he doesn’t seem to mind it.

He’s my brother, thought Ercella, yet, right now he looks like a total stranger. He used to display various facial expressions when he was young, such as openly showing his dislike.

“Did you really come this far just to celebrate the Ladyship’s Coming-of-Age?”

“Who cares. I dropped by because you were coming.” he carefreely answered as if throwing charity.

‘Of course, you did.’

Why did she assume that the matter would not leak out? Dale Bergman was his man. Caron’s words, ‘Because we’re family,’ were not wrong, but Ercella didn’t want him to worry because he was also her family.

“I’ve told you this before. Don’t do anything dangerous.”

Ercella did not like his tone. She was confident that she had been behaving well all her life. Yet, she was always treated like a child.

“It’s not dangerous. It’s just that, someone I know is very sick... And I just don’t know why. It’s not a big deal, and above all, you don’t know them, so I didn’t want to bother you with it. You’re busy enough.”

Ercella did not appear to be lying. Caron eased his mind and said in a softer tone, “It is a big deal in itself if you’re willing to give Sannar’s 10-years worth of profit without hesitation. I didn’t expect you to save it when I gave it to you to use it. But I guess it’s not like you can take it with you to your grave.”

She did not intentionally let that much money pile up. There was just no use for it. Even though she loved jewelry and dresses, she was not extravagant enough to use Sannar’s earnings.

“That’s right.” Ercella wondered if it was really that surprising and recalled how much Sannar’s earnings were.

‘It’s really a lot.’

Even on a moderate estimate, it was too much as her brother said. Yet, she did not regret it. As he said, she couldn’t take the money to her grave.

“Anyway, if you’re going to do something dangerous, you’d better give me a heads up. I’ll have to know in advance lest I need to fix it if anything happens.”

“Thank you for saying that.” She knew it was not just empty words, yet Ercella reacted insipidly. If you tell him right now, ‘I’ll get sick in two years’, Caron was sure to immediately distressingly say, ‘Oh dear, I’ll call a doctor for you’. Ercella did not want to say anything.

“Anyway, I heard something more interesting than that.”

“...”

“I can’t believe you’re handing over your son to Garten’s daughter.”

She wondered what he was building suspense for, but was it just that? She didn’t like that, of all topics. Ercella didn’t like Caron’s choice of words and thought of correcting it.

“I’m not handing him over, it’s an engagement. I understand you don’t like the idea, but if anyone hears you, they’ll think we’re using our son to do business.”

He snorted at the absurdity of it, “It may not sound good to hear but it’s not entirely wrong, is it? It’s a normal thing to do as aristocratic parents. You, me, sister... Was there any of us that was not involved in politics one way or another?”

It was a cold hard fact. To nobles, it was as natural as breathing to tie the knot based on interests.

To have the marriage partner as a partner in name only, and the lover as mistress, was the ideal life for them.

Ercella wondered if she had been ultimately jaded by reality. In the past, I think there was a time when I absolutely believed in fairytales where the prince and princess get married and live happily ever after.

Sadly, reality ridiculed fairytales as if they were all mere fantasies.

She heard Caron’s withered voice.

“It’s truly unfortunate what happened to Count Pantetz’s daughter. If she had been wiser, she could’ve become the future Duchess of Bernhardt.”

Ercella felt uncomfortable at the sudden mention of Count Pantetz’s daughter.

“Count Pantetz’s daughter?”

“Yes. It seemed that His Excellency considered the second daughter of the Pantetz family as his first option before.”

The second daughter of Count Pantetz.

“His daughter...”

“Elysia Pantetz. You should know her.”

As Caron said, Ercella knew her. They weren’t close due to their age difference, but she did occasionally greet her.

But that was not important to the present Ercella. In the past, it was important since Lady Pantetz was the girl who almost got engaged to Vicente.

According to the previous story, Vicente’s engagement was brought up later than it was now, and the candidate was Elysia Pantetz, not Olivia Garten.

Pantetz was in the central aristocracy with a strong support base. However, the engagement between her and Vicente never occurred as at the time, she had a lover and was apparently pregnant with his child.

‘It was a mess.’

The premarital pregnancy scandal turned high society upside down. Ashamed, the Countess had not since shown herself in high society.

If it weren’t for Lady Pantetz’s misconduct, the two would have been engaged without a hitch. Ercella tried to recall what had happened to her afterward, but she remembered nothing except that the girl’s relationship with her family was severed.

“It’s kept under wraps but from what I found out, the Count returned home early that day and as a result, caught his daughter sleeping with a servant.”

The unidentified lover was a servant. It was a shock.

“His Excellency obviously couldn’t go for her, so I suppose that’s why he turned to Garten instead of Pantetz. I don’t think that was a very wise decision but of course, it’s an evaluation based on my personal feelings.”

“Why did Count Pantetz return home earlier than usual that day?”

Though the question was off the mark, Caron still answered faithfully, even though she seemed to be asking about everything.

“We had a meeting that day but it was postponed for a while because of the Duke’s private affairs. He had a worried expression and said he needed to go to his residence. There was nothing else we could do since your husband had left the meeting, so everyone either stayed at the palace or went home. Count Pantetz went back to his county, and thanks to that, he witnessed his daughter’s misconduct.”

Harsen did that?

“What time did he leave?”

“I think it was around the time we were discussing who to send to Conrad as a delegate. We almost decided on Count Pantetz, but it was canceled due to his household affairs. After that, Duke Garten volunteered and he was sent. Well, maybe if the Count had gone, he could have forged a friendship with Conrad. He could have gotten more than just a few words.”

Ercella would not necessarily call it a friendship but instead of telling him that the result would be the same even if Count Pantetz went, she calculated the time this happened.

‘The day when Harsen returned home earlier than usual... Ah!’

There was one time he did.

Note: I don’t know what ‘central aristocracy’ means. I’m assuming it comprises the few important families that run the country.