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Chapter 17
Still Haven’t Noticed?
Elodie didn’t know exactly what had happened between Odette and Walter.
All she could vaguely guess from Walter’s reaction was that Odette had chosen Count Clovis, Louis.
And in Elodie’s reasoning, there was only one possible reason why Odette would choose Louis instead of the distinguished Walter: love.
Naturally, she assumed Odette must love Louis.
“She even makes that face to Duke Ertmann?”
It was, in a way, a look like someone realizing they had been toyed with by a flirt.
A look that could not be faked if there were no genuine feelings.
Of course, it seemed that neither Walter nor Odette had noticed this yet.
And that, for Elodie, was nothing short of a stroke of luck.
“They still haven’t realized it?”
Moreover, since neither of them spoke easily to the other, their relationship didn’t seem particularly close.
Elodie’s tearful eyes quickly shifted between the two.
Before anyone could speak, she addressed Odette.
“Excuse me, are you the person who came with the Duke? I fear I may have been rude to your partner. Will you forgive me?”
“No, I…”
Odette hesitated briefly.
Saying “I’m not Duke Walter’s partner” would feel petty in a situation where Elodie had already singled her out.
“Rumors are already circulating. If I handle this poorly, who knows how it might be twisted.”
Although she didn’t want to, Odette realized she had to mediate this situation.
“I am not Duke Ertmann’s partner, but it’s not right to let a young lady remain embarrassed over a single mistake. Duke Ertmann, do you have anything to say to her?”
“…Nothing. But I hope the same mistake doesn’t happen again.”
“I—I swear it will never happen again!”
Elodie’s voice trembled, and Odette calmed her down.
“Your sincerity has surely been conveyed. Isn’t that right, Duke?”
“….”
Walter didn’t answer, but in this moment, even his silence could be interpreted as agreement.
Although a proper apology hadn’t passed, the discussion had reached a point where the matter could be considered resolved.
At that moment, Louis stepped forward to help Odette.
“Since you two seem acquainted, you can continue your conversation elsewhere. We’ll be going—”
“Wait!”
As Louis tried to escort Odette away, Elodie grabbed her hand firmly.
Elodie’s moist eyes looked at Odette purely and earnestly.
“This is fate too, I think. May I ask the name of the person who helped me? Would that be too difficult?”
Odette couldn’t bring herself to refuse Elodie.
“I had no choice. If I refused there, I’d be the only one who seemed rude.”
She had intended to just give her name and be done with it, but the problem was that Elodie had no intention of leaving anytime soon.
- “My goodness, I didn’t recognize Your Highness! I am Elodie Montuar. I will never forget the favor Your Highness has shown me!”
With those words, Elodie clung persistently to Odette.
It could be seen as the cute behavior of a debutante, but Odette found Elodie rather uncomfortable.
“Could it really be that Elodie Montuar and Duke Ertmann have… that kind of relationship?”
As time passed in the ballroom, Odette began to grasp the rumors circulating there.
She sensed something odd from the strangely uncomfortable glances toward her and Elodie.
“And to think people are saying Duke Ertmann is seeing a woman…”
No, “seeing” would be an understatement in this case.
From what she heard, it was almost as if he had brought a woman into his home.
The rumors Odette overheard at the ballroom were as follows:
- Duke Ertmann valued Lady Montuar so much he gave her an entire annex.
- The dress she wore today was by the most famous designer in the capital, and Duke Ertmann generously gifted her such an expensive gown.
- In fact, the dress she wore today was chosen by him personally.
These stories were somewhat absurd, but since the woman she accompanied was the niece of the Marchioness Grimmoire, people accepted them as partially true.
“The Marchioness Grimmoire… she was famously close to the late Duke Ertmann.”
The late Duke Ertmann referred to Walter’s grandfather, Arnold.
The close ties between the Grimmoire family and the Ertmann family over three generations were so well known that even Odette, who was not well-versed in social gossip, knew about them.
Thus, Odette couldn’t imagine them making up lies.
And so, her mind became a mess.
“To openly have a lover like this… what could he possibly be thinking?”
Whether Walter’s proposal was genuine or not aside,
“Duke Ertmann… didn’t he have feelings for Regina?”
For a smooth marriage to Regina, and to provoke her jealousy, one woman—Odette—should have been enough. There would be no need to involve another woman.
Walter’s actions were completely incomprehensible, and the scene she had just witnessed lingered unpleasantly in her mind.
- “Duke! Fancy seeing you here again!”
Elodie had hugged Walter tightly and laughed, while he frowned at her playfulness.
Walter’s unfiltered reaction actually seemed to confirm the closeness between them.
For some reason, it made Odette feel a little unsettled.
Meanwhile, wherever she looked in the ballroom, their story seemed to follow.
“I only planned to meet Count Xavier and leave…”
She felt like she was feeding gossip-hungry people material for rumors.
Luckily, Regina was not attending this banquet.
Odette glanced toward the back.
At a distance, she saw Louis and Walter having a friendly conversation.
“I heard you’ve been unwell recently, Count Clovis. Are you feeling better?”
“No matter where I go, people ask the same question. Aside from the embarrassment that my lack of health management has spread widely, I’m fine.”
“I see. You seem to have recovered, judging by your cheerfulness.”
Walter loosely smiled and brought his glass to his lips, while Louis changed the topic naturally, and their conversation flowed smoothly.
From a distance, the atmosphere seemed perfectly fine.
To an outsider, it could easily appear that the two were on very friendly terms.
“So their relationship is better than I thought.”
Odette had assumed he disliked her, but clearly that wasn’t the case.
Then why did he propose to her?
Odette tilted her head in puzzlement just as Elodie clapped her hands.
“By the way, Your Highness! You haven’t seen the inner part of the ballroom yet, have you? The dance pieces haven’t started either. Why don’t we take a quick look? They’re gorgeous! I’ll guide you.”
The inner ballroom contained resting spaces and decorations, often flaunting the family’s wealth. For Elodie, it all seemed fascinating.
“It might be better to see inside than just stand here.”
Odette didn’t mind the suggestion either.
Of course, part of it was that it would be awkward to refuse so bluntly.
“All right. I’ll follow your guidance.”
“Of course!”
Following Elodie’s cheerful lead, Odette moved forward, unaware of what awaited her.
“…They’re gone.”
Walter spoke slowly, eyes fixed on one part of the ballroom.
The faint smile that had been on his face vanished around the same time, unnoticed by anyone.
Only the young man chatting warmly beside him seemed puzzled.
“Gone? Who are you talking about?”
“The Count’s partner. And Lady Montuar, who had shown great interest in the Count.”
“Oh, Miss Elodie? She’s cheerful and cute.”
Louis smiled faintly. He recalled how Elodie had followed Odette and even spoken to him a few times.
Walter seized the opportunity to ask casually.
“You seem to have formed a favorable impression of Lady Montuar?”
“A cheerful person is always pleasant to have nearby. Just being around them lifts your mood.”
“I see. But the Count’s partner didn’t seem particularly cheerful.”
As the topic of Odette arose, Louis’s expression stiffened slightly.
He had already heard some of the rumors about Walter and Odette.
Moreover, he had been told directly by Odette:
- “I was waiting at the meeting place, but Duke Ertmann interrupted me.”
- “To clarify any misunderstanding, Duke Ertmann and I are absolutely nothing to each other.”
From her behavior, it seemed Walter was reaching out to Odette unilaterally.
Whether it was genuine or not was uncertain, but overreacting would not be good.
“…Haha, cheerfulness alone isn’t the sole measure of a good person, is it?”
Louis laughed, skillfully deflecting the topic, making Walter chuckle.
“That’s true. There are many standards for what makes a good person.”
“Exactly. And Her Highness, the Fourth Princess, is certainly a good person too.”
“Then the Count became her partner for that reason?”
Louis carefully worded that becoming Odette’s partner was coincidental, making Walter glance at him with a slightly suspicious look.
As if checking whether Louis was hiding something.
“The Fourth Princess and Count Clovis… an unusual pairing, so I wondered how they became partners.”
“Others have said the same. I understand.”
“And recently… I heard something peculiar. I wondered if the Count might be the type.”
“Something peculiar?”
“A memory that seems slightly absurd, yet vivid in mind.”
Walter gave examples: memories of being close to someone you weren’t, or experiencing something that never happened.
“I’ve heard stories of people seemingly marrying someone they had no previous connection with. How about you, Count?”
