TLDWAE 46🔐

Chapter 46

“Will you answer if I ask?”

“Well, who knows.”

“Then that’s enough. I like children, after all.”

He leaned forward and deliberately stretched out his hand to place it on Andeon’s head. The boy recoiled in disgust, glaring sharply, but Noah only grinned more mischievously and tousled the small head roughly.

“By the way, is this really fine? A divorce is only a matter of time, but the lady’s honor will be sullied. Wouldn’t it have been better to hold onto the duke’s weakness and shake him more thoroughly…?”

“Did I ever have honor that could be sullied?”

In truth, at first she had considered exposing the scandalous relationship between the duke and the imperial princess. But there was no evidence of their affair. At least not until a child was born. Brother-in-law and sister-in-law? It sounded far too absurd to be believed just as it was.

To confirm the princess’s pregnancy, the imperial physician would have to check her pulse. But would the physician ever testify to such a colossal stain on the royal family? More likely, Caria would be branded a paranoid lunatic instead.

In the worst case, the princess could even abandon the child. Judging by how she showed no signs of pregnancy yet, it couldn’t have been long. A potion could take care of it. And if that happened… wouldn’t it be far too anticlimactic?

Caria was the type who liked to save the most delicious food for last, savoring it only at the end.

This whole matter was just a warm-up—an appetizer to win back her freedom of movement, and at the same time, a warning to show what she was capable of.

“In noble society, my name has always been ‘the bastard of Grand Duke Lutebert.’ From the day I was born, I was the shame of this empire’s royal family. I have no honor to protect. Nor do I have friends or family worth protecting, even if they weren’t mine. In fact, the chance to openly smear the royal name is nothing but delightful.”

Didn’t you see His Supreme Majesty the Emperor collapse in shock?

Caria clutched Andeon tightly and chuckled gleefully, as though she truly enjoyed herself. Noah didn’t know whether he should share in her amusement or mourn for her, for the way she spoke so objectively about her own circumstances.

“And besides, my husband—no, my soon-to-be ex-husband—there’s still much I want to give him. What if he collapses before the decisive moment, too exhausted to even make it that far?”

“—Give him… what, exactly?”

“I’ll put in another request with the guild. Look into the masquerade balls of the last three months—no, the last two. Find out which ones Duke Pandeon and Princess Serivis attended together.”

She would only play that card once she had precise evidence. Serivis must already have realized Caria knew something. Pampered and fragile in the face of crisis, the princess would panic and slip up all the more, leaving traces of proof everywhere.

Caria only had to approach step by step, slowly, like a predator cornering its prey.

Ah, and if possible, it would be wonderful if the child were born with bright blue hair. The royal bloodline was so strong—who knew what would happen?

“—Do you hate him that much?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“Then… may I ask why you endured at such a man’s side for so long?”

Noah’s question was careful, almost timid. It risked sounding as though he were blaming her for the suffering she had endured, and he knew that.

But for Caria, the answer wasn’t difficult. She only found it odd that he asked about her past, long gone, rather than the children who existed here and now.

Of course, she didn’t voice that thought. There was no need to stir up trouble.

“Back then, everyone said the same thing: ‘He’s the perfect match for you. No, in fact, he’s more than you deserve. This is the best life you’ll ever get. You are guilty from birth of staining your father’s honor. Live by accepting whatever comes—if they give, you take; if they push, you yield.’ I believed them, at the time.”

“That’s not true.”

“Right, it’s not. And realizing that is why I’ve finally stepped outside.”

Caria shrugged with a sullen expression. She knew now—there was nothing in this world too good for her.

Even the imperial crown—was it really won by the emperor’s own strength? No. She had risked her life, fighting at the side of the founding emperor, to win it.

The current royals, who never ceased shouting “royal blood, royal blood,” were nothing more than fools who thought being born was enough to brag about.

“So you’re saying… you never loved that man?”

“Love.”

Her words faltered for a moment at the question. She didn’t deny it right away, but fell into thought, and Noah grew nervous.

“…I did love him.”

“—You… loved him.”

“I thought of him as a father.”

Rubiderf Pandeon was a cold man who had never bothered to utter even a perfunctory kind word.

A man who never once called her name, always keeping his distance. A husband in name only, whom she might see only a handful of times a year.

Yet she always waited for him. Waited for him to stay by her side, to speak to her, to glance her way—just as little seven-year-old Caria once waited for her father.

“When I lived in the Grand Duke’s castle, I followed my father everywhere. Even if the rest of my family were false, I thought I could rely on him. But then the place changed, the environment changed, and I sought another person to rely on. In the end, it was all meaningless nonsense.”

So yes, it had been love—but not a pure love expecting nothing in return. It had simply been a will to survive. Instinctively, she sought someone to cling to, someone who seemed the safest choice. Both times, she had failed.

She was shuddering at the thought of the two men who had loomed largest in her life when the carriage came to a halt. The coachman announced their arrival and opened the door, where the town house servants stood lined up to greet her.

“Welcome back, my lady.”

“Mother!”

And something shot forward like lightning between them. Caria instinctively braced her legs and opened her arms, but Andeon quickly stepped in front of her, catching the waist of the figure about to leap into her arms.

“Look, my hair’s all curly now!”

Alice, her hair tied into twin braids, wriggled in Andeon’s grasp. She laughed merrily, as though she hadn’t even heard his scolding not to throw herself around so recklessly.

Caria, still tangled in grim thoughts moments before, couldn’t help but laugh when she saw her daughter’s carefree smile.

“Yes, it’s cute. It suits you well.”

“Hehe, Mommy, I waited so nicely.”

“Well, I didn’t expect you to, but you managed to behave. Good girl, Alice.”

Caria bent down to pat Alice’s head. The girl beamed with pure happiness, with nothing hidden in her expression. The maids who had cared for Alice during Caria’s absence all burst out in excited chatter.

“You wouldn’t believe how well-behaved the young miss was! Not a tear, not a fuss! Well, maybe a bit too much energy, actually—”

“Yes, exactly! At her age, it’s not easy to be so composed in a strange place! Her curiosity is boundless, though, she was running all over all day!”

“Alice is so mature!”

The servants’ cheeks looked thinner, perhaps from the exhaustion of chasing after her, but their smiles betrayed their fondness.

Proud of being called well-behaved and mature, Alice looked up at Caria with eager eyes. Her hopes were so transparent that Caria smiled warmly and answered.

“Fine. Next time, I’ll take you with me.”

“When’s next time?”

“—Next time. There will be a day when these precious sapphire eyes deserve to be shown to the world.”

With the air of a lioness satisfied with her meal, Caria brushed Alice’s eyes with her fingertips. Today, those blue eyes seemed more precious than ever. She wouldn’t trade them for a hundred, a thousand necklaces. In Alice’s gaze, she glimpsed a sweet future.

The servants all watched with warm expressions at the family’s tender reunion. Only one person among them couldn’t bring himself to smile.

“Why did you leave me behind?!”

Red Wyze stormed up, nearly in tears, his face full of reproach. He had looked fine when they brought him to the town house, but in just a few hours, his appearance was a complete mess.

“Well, your hair’s curly too. Looks good.”

“How, how could you do this to me?! I followed you here with nothing but my trust!”

Finally, he broke down, burying his face in his hands and sobbing loudly.

They hadn’t been able to leave Red alone in the forest castle while bringing the children, so they had brought him along. Why he was so miserable now was a mystery.

A closer look revealed his hair stuffed with pins and ribbons—clearly gifts. The giggling of young maids alongside Alice left little doubt they were responsible.

Even as Red wailed louder for everyone to hear, Caria only stood with arms crossed, looking unimpressed. The mercenaries, sneaking glances at him, finally asked.

“My lady, I’ve been meaning to ask since last night—what exactly is that? It’s not a nanny…”

“If anything, the little lady seems to be looking after him instead…”

“All he does is scream whenever he sees a face—so noisy…”

“And yet his looks are the only decent thing about him…”

Unlike the maids, who found him amusing, the mercenaries eyed Red with distaste. The reason was simple—his face.

Caria couldn’t allow him to reveal his elven form to humans, so she had forced him to use transformation magic. But the foolish elf, nearly of age yet still unable to perform even that simple spell properly, had managed only to round off his ears. Since elven and human magic differed in nature, Caria couldn’t help him either.

The result was a young man who, by human standards, was strikingly beautiful—and therefore far too noticeable. Which irritated Caria to no end.

“Tch. Utterly useless.”