Chapter 59

Chapter 59

“Only the ones my wife sent… Come to think of it, you’ve been working awfully hard.”

“Hardly, Your Lordship. Compared to the hardships you endure by personally leading expeditions into the Great Forest, my work is nothing.”

While the Marquis and Marchioness were away, the butler had been handling all the correspondence that arrived in their names.

He sent replies to letters of inquiry and declined every invitation.

In a way, it was fortunate that the House of Waindal had been unable to participate in high society while the Marquis was occupied with the Great Forest expedition.

Thanks to that, the butler had been able to manage all the letters pouring into the marquisate on his own.

“More than that, I’m worried about the young master’s health.”

“That’s exactly what I’m worried about…”

Using their quiet conversation as an accompaniment to his drinks, the Marquis downed several more glasses.

It was only after he had finished an entire bottle of liquor that a servant knocked on the study door.

“Your Lordship, the messengers who went to the Elpiers County estate and the Blair Marquisate have just returned.”

“Really? Did they come back together?”

“Yes. Apparently, they traveled together from the capital. El is also in the capital at the moment.”

“In the capital? …Have them both come here first.”

A little while later, both messengers entered the study, looking utterly exhausted.

After thanking them for their hard work, the Marquis of Waindal wasted no time getting straight to the point.

“El is in the capital right now?”

“Yes. The capital was in quite an uproar. Everywhere we went, people were talking about the Marquis of Blair and Count Elpiers.”

“Count Elpiers?”

Had El’s identity as Count Elpiers somehow been exposed?

The Marquis of Waindal hesitated for a moment, then decided to pretend he knew nothing.

“What are you talking about?”

“The two of them are getting married, aren’t they? It seems the mercenary El was hired for that very reason and went up to the capital. Surely you already knew?”

“I heard that the Marquis of Blair was getting married… But you’re saying her partner is Count Elpiers?”

“Yes. Apparently, the Marquis of Blair gave Count Elpiers a dowry of no less than 500 million Larks. The entire capital is buzzing with talk of how completely smitten the Marquis of Blair is with Count Elpiers.”

The Marquis of Blair and El were getting married?

The Marquis of Waindal blinked, looking utterly dumbfounded, before turning toward his butler.

“Tell me, did you know about this?”

“Ah, n-no. I certainly did receive a wedding invitation from the Marquis of Blair, but…”

As he searched his fading memories, he vaguely recalled that the name of the groom-to-be might have been written on it.

However, the butler had been so busy handling not only his own duties but also the Marchioness’s affairs and even the Marquis’s responsibilities in his absence that he hadn’t had the chance to check the groom’s name.

“I’m sorry. I should have paid closer attention.”

“I know how busy you’ve been. How could I blame you?”

That must have been why Leonard hadn’t sent him any news separately.

After all, a letter would have reached him through the Marquis of Blair anyway.

“Those two… Now that’s truly astonishing news.”

The Marquis of Blair and El.

It seemed like an utterly incompatible pairing, like oil and water.

And yet, when he imagined them standing side by side, they somehow seemed rather well suited to each other.

‘Regardless, if the Marquis of Blair married him because she’s so deeply in love, then it’s certainly something to celebrate.’

Although he was a little late, the Marquis of Waindal decided he should send a congratulatory gift on Leonard’s behalf as well.

With that thought, he opened the envelope.

But as he read its contents, his brows furrowed.

“He’s too busy to make time?”

That was all the letter said.

There wasn’t even the slightest trace of the usual flowery language.

Given that Leonard had originally been a mercenary, the Marquis of Waindal hadn’t expected any elaborate pleasantries from him.

However, the absence of even a single remark hinting at future plans was a serious problem.

If he was busy for the time being but had failed to mention when he might be able to spare some time, it meant he had no intention of visiting the Waindal domain at all, whenever that might be.

“Judging by this letter, he seems quite angry. But why?”

“El is angry?”

The Marquis of Waindal showed the letter to his butler, who looked equally puzzled.

After quickly reading its brief contents, the butler nodded as well.

“For some reason… It feels as though he doesn’t want anything more to do with us.”

Even the butler had reached the same conclusion, making the Marquis increasingly anxious.

Unable to hide his impatience, the Marquis pressed the messenger for answers.

“You received the letter, so you must have met El, didn’t you? How did he react?”

“I apologize, Your Lordship. The mercenary El was staying at the Blair family’s townhouse in the capital, but I wasn’t allowed inside.”

When he heard that the reply had been delivered through Count Elpiers’s butler, the Marquis of Waindal let out a low groan.

Was El so angry that he didn’t even want to see the messenger’s face?

But why on earth?

‘No, more importantly, if El doesn’t come here…’

The Marquis of Waindal struggled to swallow his dry saliva.

Despite having repelled them countless times, the Great Forest was still teeming with ancient beasts.

They were outnumbered, and their physical strength had reached its limits.

Two days ago, the Marquis of Waindal and his knights had finally suffered what was, in essence, a defeat at the hands of the ancient beasts.

Surrounded by the ancient beasts in a deep valley within the Great Forest, they had sensed that their end was near.

But the guardian of Keltenah, who led the ancient beasts, had allowed them to leave.

On one condition.

‘We desire only one thing. Bring our king here.’

‘And who is this king of yours that you command me to bring here?’

‘The one who inherited the Crown of Keltenah.’

The person to whom the Marquis of Waindal had presented the Crown of Keltenah.

That person was the Crown Princess.

‘We will not wait long. Bring our king here.’

‘Otherwise, we will seek our king ourselves.’

‘And kill every one of you who stands in our way.’

It was a complete dead end.

Because he had personally delivered the Crown of Keltenah to her, the ancient beasts now wanted to recognize the Crown Princess as their king.

What would she say if he informed the Emperss of this?

Would she rejoice that the ancient beasts had recognized her worth and willingly send the Crown Princess here?

Not a chance.

The Emperss would send an army to the Marquisate of Waindal, accusing him of daring to offer the Crown Princess as prey to the ancient beasts.

But what if he ignored their demands?

The ancient beasts would break out of the Great Forest and scatter throughout the Empire.

That was absolutely unacceptable.

After all, the Marquis of Waindal’s greatest duty was to ensure that the ancient beasts never left the Great Forest, and that, should the worst happen, they never escaped beyond the borders of his domain.

‘In this situation, the only person I can rely on is El, the man who defeated the giant black lion…’

Why on earth was he angry?

The Marquis of Waindal let out a long sigh.

“It seems I’ll have to send another letter.”

“How about sending Tony along with the messenger? Among the knights, wasn’t he the one closest to El?”

“Actually, Flint was the one closest to El.”

If Flint had been in good health, he would have been someone the Marquis could confidently entrust with the task.

“Alternatively, couldn’t we try persuading the Marquis of Blair? If the ancient beasts continue to run rampant like this, we won’t be able to resume construction on the trade route either.”

“Yes, that’s a good idea too.”

The workers sent by the Marquis of Blair had also been stranded here ever since construction was suspended.

The Marquis of Blair wouldn’t simply leave them in this situation, and Leonard wouldn’t stand by and watch his wife be put in a difficult position.

That was simply the kind of person he was.

“Come to think of it, you said you brought a reply from the Marquis of Blair as well, didn’t you? Let me see it.”

“Yes, Your Lordship.”

The messenger, who had been standing quietly and waiting for those very words, hurriedly handed over the reply he had brought.

The Marquis of Waindal had been reading the letter, expecting nothing particularly noteworthy.

But when he came across its contents, he could hardly believe his eyes.

[ I will come in person in a month or two. Until then, keep the ancient beasts appeased.

With this, the ancient beasts should settle down. ]

It was surprising enough that the Marquis of Blair already knew about the ancient beasts.

But the item she had enclosed, claiming it could appease them, was even more astonishing.

It was such an ordinary-looking object that the Marquis wondered whether she was playing a joke on him.

However, he barely had time to concern himself with the object.

It was the postscript written by the Marquis of Blair that caught his attention.

[ If you wish to maintain your relationship with my husband, you must obtain an apology from the person who broke his trust. ]

“Broke his trust…?”

As the Marquis of Waindal blinked, wondering what on earth she meant, fragments of a conversation he’d once had with Leonard flashed through his mind.

‘Please keep my identity as Count Elpiers a secret.’

A chill ran down his spine.

He had finally realized why Leonard was angry.

‘He thinks I revealed his secret. That’s why he doesn’t want to see me!’

But the Marquis of Waindal was innocent.

Leonard Elpiers, the mercenary El, was his benefactor.

He had not the slightest intention of breaking the promise he had made to him.

If there was anyone else who could have revealed that secret…

There was only one possible culprit.

The Marquis of Waindal immediately pulled out a sheet of paper, picked up his quill, and began writing a letter at once.

Several days had already passed since the wedding, yet the Blair mansion was still bustling with activity.

And this was despite the fact that all the post-wedding cleanup had finally been completed.

The reason was that Irenea was scheduled to leave for the Blair domain with Leonard in just two days, followed a few days later by Elizabeth and Charlotte.

Since the members of the household were departing for their domain several days apart, a large number of people would be accompanying them, and naturally, there was plenty to prepare.

While the entire main residence was in a state of commotion, the annex where the guests were staying was just as busy.

Now that the wedding, the original reason for their visit, was over, they too were preparing to return to their respective homes.

Amid all this activity, Jenis had been sitting in the reception room since early morning to receive a visitor.

The guest wasn’t particularly welcome, and her expression remained stiff as she flipped through a newspaper with the visitor seated before her.

[ For publishing unverified rumors as news articles and thereby damaging the reputation of the House of Elpiers, as well as… ]

The apology published by the Lotus Press was more straightforward than she had expected.

They hadn’t tried to shift the blame onto anyone else, and they had explicitly stated that the rumors they had previously reported were absolutely untrue.

They had even pledged to make every effort to ensure that nothing of the sort would happen again.

It was, by all accounts, an excellent apology.

“All right. I, Jenis Elpiers, accept the apology from the Lotus Press.”

“We are deeply grateful for your generosity, my lady. The House of Matthias will never forget this.”

“Neither will I. Just as promised in this apology, I’ll be keeping a close eye on the Lotus Press to make sure it never repeats the same mistake.”

“Of course, my lady.”

The representative from the House of Matthias bowed repeatedly before Jenis, then politely accepted the letter she handed him and left.

After returning to her bedroom, Jenis read the apology printed on the front page several times before carefully folding the newspaper and placing it in her bag.

When she returned home, she intended to burn it in front of her mother’s tombstone.

Knock, knock.

“Do you have a moment?”

“Brother? Yes, come in.”

As she closed her bag and placed it beside the dresser, Leonard entered her bedroom.

He was personally pushing a trolley.