CH 58

……I’ve been granted permission to break up!

As I stood there dumbfounded in disbelief, even though I had clearly heard it with both ears, the Duke of Perdia turned to me, staring straight ahead with his chin in his hand, and asked.

“What?”

The Duke’s golden eyes bore into mine languidly. I smiled awkwardly and answered quickly.

“Ah, no. I just didn’t think you’d say yes right away.”

No wonder, he’d already turned down my request for an annulment once. I thought I’d have to be a little more insistent to get him to consider it.

‘I haven’t even talked about the first prince yet.’

The very story that I had agreed to a breakup with the first prince, and that the emperor knew about it and agreed to it.

I flinched, feeling like the discussion was over before I’d even had a chance to hold out my bargaining chip.

Unlike me, the Duke of Perdia replied calmly.

“I told you, I dismissed your request for a disengagement because I thought you had acted on impulse.”

“I was rational enough then, and I am rational enough now.”

“But Elodie.”

“Yes.”

“Look at your behavior.”

My behavior?

I tilted my head slightly, and the duke leaned his upper body back, crossed his arms, and tilted his head pointedly.

“You sent a letter of disengagement to the first prince without consulting me, your guardian.”

“…….”

“And you didn’t even apologize for it.”

The duke was right.

When I first recalled the memories of my previous life, I realized my predicament and was so consumed with the fact that I had to survive here that I blindly sent the letter of breakup.

In hindsight, it was a rather foolhardy move.

Getting out of a marriage with a prince shouldn’t be as easy as sending a letter.

It’s no wonder the Duke disapproved of my decision and placed me on probation.

“……I’m reflecting on it.”

“That’s all I needed to know. On the other hand, since you came to me first and expressed your opinion, you deserve a serious answer.”

Then, instead of sending the letter of breakup to the first prince, would he have listened if I had visited Duke Perdia and told him that I wanted to break off the engagement?

‘I don’t think so…….’

Then again, I wouldn’t have been able to do that since I was afraid of dealing with the Duke in the first place.

In any case, it was important that I was allowed to break up now.

“If so, I’ll have to announce my intention to break off the marriage to the first prince.”

Fearing any unnecessary misunderstandings, I quickly added, “His Majesty already knows.”

“‘He already knows. About what?”

“About the breakup. Because His Highness also agreed. Also, when I met His Majesty the Emperor earlier, he said that he did not likee me and asked me to break off the engagement.”

“What? He doesn’t approve of you?”

“Yes. He doesn’t like me–”

“The damn emperor……. I guess he’s finally lost his mind after all these years.”

Argh……!

I reflexively scanned the empty office.

My heart raced at the thought of the duke blurting out words that would get him hauled in for insulting the emperor if anyone overheard.

“Father, but the emperor is still here…….”

“Funny how he thinks he can talk down to my daughter. I let a dying man live, and he dares to speak such nonsense to you.”

The Emperor’s words stung my pride somewhat. I quickly smiled broadly and changed the subject.

“So, if my father agrees, we can annul our marriage agreement. How long will it take?”

“……There are some formalities, but it shouldn’t take long.”

“I’m glad to hear it won’t take long!”

I said, unable to keep the smile off my face. The Duke’s anger seemed to subside when I replied with an overly cheerful smile.

‘I think I will mark my calendar for the day when we are annulled.’

It’s going to be a historic day.

But as happy as I was, I was also worried.

I glanced cautiously at the Duke, still looking uncomfortable.

“What makes you look like that?”

“Because if…… were to split up, would it change the relationship between His Highness the first prince and Perdia?”

First Prince Adenmir was betrothed to me because of the power of Perdia.

He needed the strength to stand up to the second prince’s power, which is the Empress Salvatrice. But even at this point in the marriage agreement, the power of the Empress Salvatrice was still strong.

Without the power of Perdia, she was still too much to handle.

“No. Your change of heart is to blame for the breakup, Elodie, and nothing will change.”

It was a good thing for the first prince that the relationship didn’t change. I, who had asked for the breakup in the first place, would no longer have a heavy heart.

“Besides, if that fool, the second prince, becomes emperor, he has nowhere to hide.”

I nodded at the Duke’s sour assessment of Prince Beltran.

‘Agreed.’

If he becomes Emperor, Wallentia will be on the fast track to ruin.

For the sake of the Empire’s survival, we had to prevent the second prince from becoming emperor.

‘In the original, the first prince became emperor, so it must be the same now.’

While I was lost in thought, the Duke of Perdia raised his head and looked at me again.

“Elodie.”

“……?”

“By the way, is there a bastard you have in mind next?”

“Huh? Bastard?”

“If there’s another one you like, tell me, and I’ll get him and sit him down.”

Does he mean to hunt down my potential husband?

My mouth dropped open at the Duke’s frightening statement, but I quickly regained my composure and shook my head vigorously.

“No. I’m not really looking to get married right now…….”

The corner of the Duke’s mouth lifted slightly.

“It’s nice to hear that.”

“Huh?”

I asked, wondering if I’d misheard, but the Duke of Perdia had already taken his eyes off me and was looking down at his papers.

“Well, if you’ll excuse me.”

“Yes.”

He looked preoccupied, and I couldn’t bear to ask more questions as I stepped out of his office.

*** 

The procedure for the annulment went smoothly.

The Duke of Perdia took care of it, so there was little I had to do, including meeting with the first prince.

Nevertheless, I was now at the point of needing two bodies.

“It’s been a while since I’ve made one.”

With the incense from the emperor’s bedchamber and the emperor’s medicine that the first prince had sent me, I quickly created an antidote and sent it off as discreetly as possible.

Although I was nervous that the Duchess would find out, I was able to send it safely.

‘I have to do this until the first prince finds proof…….’

I couldn’t just sit back and watch someone die in front of me.

I just hope the first prince finds the evidence soon.

The next thing I did was to stop by the headquarters of the Earth Hawk Mercenaries and meet with the Vice Leader, Mario.

Entering his office, I sat down across from Mario, who greeted me with a friendly smile.

“Welcome, Miss Lili.”

“Your letter was well received, my kind Mario.”

“Haha. Isn’t that clever? No one will know it’s a letter about a commission.”

I don’t know. Perhaps if the recipient had been an ‘ordinary’ noble lady. But the recipient was none other than me, Elodie Perdia.

I smiled faintly and called out Mario’s name.

“By the way, Mario.”

“What?”

“If you send me anything like that again, I’ll be in trouble.”

“What?”

“Because I don’t have any friends.”

Mario wrinkled his nose in confusion.

“But you do have one, don’t you?”

“No, I don’t.”

“You’re supposed to be a Perdian lady, don’t you have any?”

“No.”

“Wasn’t there one?”

“No, there isn’t.”

“Oh…….”

Mario’s expression darkened sharply. He pursed his lips, trying to say something, but couldn’t seem to find the right words.

I didn’t mean for the mood to be gloomy, so I smiled lightly and added a little advice.

“You don’t have to look like that, I’m telling you. You might as well tell me it’s a costume shop or a jewelry store.”

“I’ll keep that in mind…….”

“Okay.”

Now that we’d exchanged pleasantries, it was time to get down to business.

I placed Mario’s letter on the table.

“So, what are your findings?”

“Here they are.”

Mario handed me a thick file folder. As I’d expected, the investigation was about a mage in the service of the Duke of Angellus.

“Name, Gabe Zenaid. Resides in the Duchy of Angellus…….The most important information is in the back.”

I did as Mario said and flipped to the very last page.

It read.

[Gabe Zenaid. Master of the South Magic Tower].

“Oh, my God.”

I thought it was out of the ordinary, but it’s a magic tower!!!

*** 

Rodrigo Angellus, Head of the House of Angellus, looked at the guest of the mansion who had entered his office.

The guest turned to the duke and said, in a matter-of-fact tone, “I am short of materials and funds.”

Despite the demanding tone, the duke maintained his smile and asked.

“Can you do it for half a million lalit?”

“Not even close. Two million lalit.”

“Two million lalit, you mean?”

Two million lalit was a huge sum of money, more than the taxes collected from a single estate in a year.

It was enough to build several large buildings.

Even Rodrigo Angellus, who had a natural talent for rolling the dice, couldn’t afford it.

The person in front of him was casually asking for a huge amount of money.

“The funds I gave you last time were…….”

“I spent it all.”

“You spent it all…….”

Despite smiling, Duke Angellus’s insides were burning.

The endless expenditure of money was like having one more Dorothea……. 

(T/N: Favorite line with him so far¯\_༼ ಥ ‿ ಥ ༽_/¯)

‘I need his skills, so I can’t help it.’

He had no choice but to comply with his demands. Even if the demands were self-righteous, even if the demands were outrageous.

Because he needed the abilities of this man, Gabe Zenaid, to fulfill his grand purpose.

“Can you give me a little time, because even I can’t come up with that kind of money straight away.”

“A week.”

“…….”

“Two weeks. No more.”

“Okay. In the meantime, I’ll get you the things you mentioned.”

Having fulfilled the purpose of his visit, Gabe gave a curt nod and headed for the door, but just before he went out, he was stopped by the call of the Duke of Angellus.

“Ah, how is Dorothea?”

“Your daughter?”

“Yes.”

By casting illusion magic on the ornaments, Gabe became Dorothea’s mentor. He was told that the teaching part was mostly magic, but he also taught miscellaneous things besides that.

It was Duke Angellus who had made the request for his daughter, though he did not know exactly what she would be taught.

After a moment’s hesitation at Duke Angellus’ question, Gabe replied with a grim expression.

“She’ll either cry or sleep.”

It wasn’t a very sincere answer.

Dorothea had been crying for some time, ever since she had been humiliated in front of the Four Families at the meeting.

She even screamed whenever she saw a newspaper or magazine for a while because someone had deliberately written about the incident.

Worried about his daughter’s unstable state, Duke Angellus went so far as to ban newspapers and magazines from Dorothea’s room in order to calm her down.

He said, “In that case, could you give her this newspaper?”

“A newspaper?” Gabe asked at the Duke’s words. “She’ll burn it as soon as she sees it.”

“Let her see it first.”

Accepting the paper with a smirk, Gabe immediately understood why the Duke had asked him to show it to Dorothea.

It was certainly an article that Dorothea Angellus would enjoy.

[Exclusive. First Prince Adenmir and Elodie Perdia’s breakup is imminent…… imperial aide “will make an official announcement soon!”]