Chapter 7
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After a storm had swept through once.
Lionel headed to the reception room together with Adrian, and Agnes was left alone with Chloe.
“How long are you going to stay sprawled on the floor like that, you filthy thing?”
Chloe’s mockery came from above her head.
“But it’s a relief, at least. Thanks to you getting up at just the right moment, an awkward situation was avoided.”
Unlike Agnes, Chloe looked perfectly fine.
Aside from the faint scratch marks remaining on the back of her hand, Chloe appeared no different from before the accident.
Her glossy hair, her skin smooth without a single flaw.
Everything was perfect, as if she had never been on the collapsing bridge in the first place.
Seeing her like that naturally brought to mind the image of the Commander-in-Chief protecting Chloe.
Agnes’s eyes distorted.
“You really were colluding with Sercadia.”
“Colluding? Have you been lying down so long that your head’s gone wrong too?”
Chloe casually said, flipping her hair behind her ear with her fingernail tip.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. I clearly saw it. That person called the Commander-in-Chief saving you, sister.”
“Saving? You’re saying things that could be misunderstood.”
Chloe abruptly cut off Agnes’s words.
“It must be that he instinctively grabbed me because it was dangerous. Are you sulking right now because I’m not as injured as you?”
Sulking. Is that a word that fits the current situation?
Agnes was at a loss for words.
“What a personality. Then you shouldn’t have stayed sluggish and should have come out of the carriage yourself. Why are you needlessly holding on to me and biting when it’s your fault you got hurt?”
“……Does Father know too?”
Agnes said, grinding her teeth.
“That the Commander-in-Chief saved you, sister. The circumstances of weapon smuggling with Sercadia. I’ll tell Father everything.”
Hearing those words, Chloe’s mouth twitched for a moment, and soon she burst into laughter.
“Who are you going to tattle to?”
As if it was genuinely hilarious, Chloe clutched her stomach and cackled.
“How naive. Do you think Father will believe what you say? Just because you know how to look at ledgers a bit. Do you think you’re something?”
At the mockery of “Who would listen to you anyway?”, Agnes clenched her fists.
It was frustrating, but Chloe was right.
It had always been like this. In this mansion, Agnes was a thorough outsider.
An illegitimate child born from a drunken Adrian’s one-night whim.
A dirty origin where even who her mother was couldn’t be known.
But the reason Chloe hated Agnes wasn’t solely because of that.
Chloe was more sensitive than anyone to adornment and luxury, but she had no talent for calculations.
Because of that, every business Chloe touched consistently recorded deficits, and to cover them, Agnes’s name was often put forward.
Unlike Chloe, Agnes was handling most of the trading company’s accounting and contract work.
Since she was also directly coordinating important logistics lines. In fact, the main profits of the Bardo trading company came from Anes’s fingertips.
A strong sense for numbers, eyes that read the trends, sharp business acumen.
Agnes’s talents were quite useful to Adrian. Though he didn’t want to admit it.
And Chloe was very displeased with that fact.
It was the same now.
The position of Duchess suited Chloe herself, not Agnes.
Yet Adrian pushed Agnes into that position.
That fact was infuriating and painful.
But Chloe forced a smile.
If she couldn’t have it, she could just ruin it.
“Oh. Come to think of it, I haven’t said this yet. Congratulations on your marriage, Agnes.”
A gossip sheet was thrown in front of Anes’s eyes.
There, the title was emblazoned largely.
【The Hero Who Saved the Nat0ion, Colonel Valheim. Engagement with Bardo Advancing!】
【Lionel Edmund Valheim. The Restored Duke’s Bride Revealed to Be Anes Bardo.】
Agnes’s breathing, which she had tried hard to steady, became disturbed again.
“W-what is all this? Why is Lionel marrying me……?”
“But what can you do. You incurred the Duke’s displeasure before even holding the wedding ceremony.”
To Agnes’s eyes seeking explanation, Chloe clasped her hands over her chest and pitifully lowered the corners of her eyes.
As if she was genuinely sorry.
“Why did you do that, Agnes. Over something like the Imperial Academy dance troupe.”
However, soon Chloe’s cheeks rose widely.
It was a face that wasn’t sad about the situation at all.
“If your skills were lacking and you needed a bribe, you should have just begged Father instead. How could you secretly divert weapons heading north and pocket the back money.”
“……What?”
“Because of you, the Duke’s younger sibling died.”
Chloe added in a whisper, raising the corner of her mouth.
“If the supplies had arrived on time, he could have lived.”
☆☆☆☆
In the middle of the reception room, the man leaning on a black leather sofa was remarkably quiet.
Lionel Edmund Valheim.
Descendant of a fallen noble family, but a man restored through merits on the battlefield.
From him emanated a heavy presence that naturally drew attention.
His shortly trimmed black hair flowed naturally over his neat forehead, and only the left corner of his closed lips was slowly raised.
That smile, whether mockery or leisure, froze the viewer’s breath in an instant.
Lionel was like a quiet statue, or like a powder keg on the verge of explosion.
He was silently looking down at his teacup, but in reality, he was the one in this room who first imposed silence.
The one who broke that silence first was Adrian.
“If I had known you would come so early, I would have prepared in advance.”
“It seems you’re not welcoming me. You urged me so much, I thought you were looking forward to my visit more than anyone.”
“Not welcoming, how could that be. It’s an honor that you’ve come.”
“You probably guess the reason I came here today.”
Lionel put down his teacup as if sneering.
“Withdraw the engagement while I’m saying it nicely.”
“I’m sorry, but Your Grace. How could a mere merchant like me have the power to retract an engagement ordered by His Majesty.”
Adrian put on a polite expression.
He raised the corner of his mouth pretending to be kind, but his dark intentions were obvious.
Lionel leisurely rested his temple on the back of his hand.
“Do you think I don’t know your true intentions?”
After the war ended, Lionel was cheered as the empire’s hero. But the Valheim ducal family’s assets had already been confiscated into the national treasury.
A family left with only a plausible shell.
Lionel knew well.
That this engagement recommended to him was the emperor’s scheming.
Framing the Valheim with treason to topple the family, and trying to silence his fame earned on the battlefield.
All of it was the current emperor’s doing.
So, how much of an eyesore he was to the emperor. It was obvious without needing to calculate.
Therefore, to prevent Lionel from fully recovering his power, the emperor intended to shackle him with the humiliating chain called Bardo.
And this emperor’s intention was like a windfall to Adrian.
If Lionel gained power, the one who would be most troubled first would be Adrian himself.
Because he would have to pay the price for having toyed with Lionel until now.
“I don’t know what intentions you’re referring to, but it’s a misunderstanding.”
Adrian licked his lips and moistened his dry throat.
In the end, from their perspective, Lionel was merely an expensive commodity bearing the name ‘war hero’.
Bardo that commodity,
The emperor that name,
They had traded it as collateral for mutual interests.
“I merely thought it would be an honor if my daughter could be connected with an outstanding person like Your Grace.”
“Are you doing this because you’re afraid I’ll hold you accountable for the pranks you’ve played on me until now?”
At Lionel’s question that pierced the essence, the corner of Adrian’s mouth trembled.
But in the end, he didn’t lose his snake-like smile.
“Also, I hear that Your Excellency had a connection with Agnes from childhood. So I thought it would be a good bond.”
When Agnes became the topic, a very subtle but noticeable agitation arose in Lionel.
Watching that, Adrian turned his head toward the door. And very kindly said.
“Isn’t that right, Agnes?”
Beyond the open door, Anes appeared, leaning on a maid’s arm.
Agnes’s movements as she slowly walked in, supporting herself on crutches, were mixed with pain and hesitation.
Adrian smiled brazenly and slyly slipped out of the seat.
“Then, please discuss the remaining matters with my daughter, Your Excellency.”
With those words.
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