Episode 10
“There is hardly enough gratitude I can express. Marquis Hagen truly seems to be Waluer’s good fortune.”
“Haha, I feel the same. Waluer is my good fortune, after all.”
“But unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to participate this time.”
Eliza rolled her eyes as she assessed the situation. Count Waluer was rarely one to show disappointment, but he was visibly disappointed now.
“For something of this scale, it is customary to affix the family seal, but I am scheduled to be away from the capital on that date.”
“I see. What a shame, considering what a good opportunity it is…….”
“I will!”
Having finished thinking, Eliza set down her teacup with a sound.
Count Waluer’s brow furrowed at the noise. Eliza boldly raised her hand before him.
“I’ll go. It’s a good opportunity.”
This venture was certain to fail. If so, Waluer’s wealth would decrease.
That was precisely what Eliza was after. Waluer’s losses were none of her concern. It was wealth she would never be able to possess anyway.
But what if Eliza could instead gain wealth by causing Waluer to suffer losses?
‘There’s a secret behind the Saxon Pebble. A secret only I know.’
Eliza smiled as brightly as she could. Count Waluer, who looked her over disapprovingly, asked.
“You?”
“If I’m a direct member of the family, I can sign on Father’s behalf. The Marquis has gone out of his way to make such a good proposal, so it would be a shame to miss it.”
After deciding to run away, the biggest obstacle was that she did not have enough money.
That was why she had even considered going to a convent with almost no other choice, but an unexpected opportunity had presented itself.
A way to obtain not only enough money to escape, but also financial independence, with the added bonus of dealing a blow to Waluer.
The Saxon mine made it possible.
***
Eliza decided to act as the representative for the contract concerning the Saxon mine.
After leaving her greetings and exiting the room, Count Waluer briefly followed her after asking the Marquis of Hagen for his understanding.
“Eliza Waluer.”
“Yes, Father.”
The two stood facing each other in the hallway. Count Waluer looked Eliza over with displeasure and clicked his tongue.
‘What did she do that made Marquis Hagen have no intention of taking her as his daughter-in-law?’
She had been so close to the Marquis’s son, and considering the countless rumors in high society, they could have married already, so it was a shame that there was still no news.
“Always conduct yourself properly. Especially with regard to this matter, be cautious.”
“Of course.”
“And…… has the Marquis’s son still said nothing?”
“……Yes. That’s right.”
Ever since the engagement, the Marquis of Hagen had never once rushed the marriage.
She had thought it was fortunate, though she did not know the reason, but now she thought she understood.
‘The engagement was needed to keep me tied down. He never intended to take me as his real daughter-in-law.’
Eliza suddenly realized something new.
The price of black magic was absurdly unreasonable. It required ten lives for a single drop of blood from the person one wished to curse, for example.
Yet, for a room to have been prepared as thoroughly as the one she had seen, it could not have been something prepared over just a few years.
It was clear that they had been dabbling in black magic since she was young.
Just when had the Marquis of Hagen begun targeting her? And when had he intended to sacrifice her?
Eliza bit her lip for a moment, then hurriedly raised her head when Count Waluer turned his back.
“Wait, Father.”
“Do you have something to say?”
“I have something to tell you regarding the engagement.”
Count Waluer, who was about to return to the room, gave her a subtle glance.
“Did the Marquis’s son tell you something?”
“Not that……. Recently, there’s someone new I’ve been seeing.”
“Eliza Waluer!”
A roar erupted from Count Waluer. Eliza flinched at the sound and gathered herself.
“Could we discuss it inside…….”
“How have you been conducting yourself! You’ve been engaged for all this time…….”
“What if he were His Highness the Crown Prince?”
Eliza did not raise her voice. Even so, the three words, Crown Prince, rang clearly in Count Waluer’s ears.
“……You?”
The Count’s eyes widened as he examined Eliza from head to toe.
She had a face worth looking at, having taken after her mother. But had she really captivated the Crown Prince, who was said to have no interest in women, with only that?
He still could not believe it, but his anger subsided thanks to the enormous possibility.
“I will summon you shortly, so wait in your room.”
Count Waluer returned to the room first.
After giving him a light bow, Eliza apologized inwardly to the Crown Prince, who would be used.
***
Eliza was waiting in her room to be summoned when it happened.
Amid an unexpected commotion, the door was flung open.
“It was you, wasn’t it? You did it!”
Eliza stared expressionlessly at her younger brother Helreos, who had barged into her room.
What was it this time? That boy’s asymmetrical face looked particularly foolish whenever he got this angry.
“You should maintain your dignity, Helreos Waluer.”
“Hey, I found something like this in my room, you know?”
Helreos strode toward her, his face turning red with anger.
Breathing heavily, Helreos took something out of his pocket and showed it to her. It looked like a long, white thread, but it was hair.
“What is that?”
“My bluebird disappeared! And this is your hair! It was you, wasn’t it? You did it!”
“Helreos. You asked me to do your arithmetic assignment, didn’t you? I only went into your room because of that.”
“Oh, right! You didn’t do that either!”
“It was too easy. Surely you’re not incapable of even doing that? Our heir to the Waluer family?”
“That’s……!”
Helreos opened his mouth and rolled his eyes around.
Eliza’s face remained cold as she watched him.
Hiding the disdain she felt for her brother behind her slightly sharp expression, she spoke in an even tone.
“It’s the textbook I used when I was thirteen.”
“I-I know that, too. I just asked you because I didn’t have time to do it myself!”
The corner of Eliza’s mouth rose smoothly.
Helreos Waluer was sixteen, but everyone knew he was so dull that he had spent money to get into the academy because he could not even pass its entrance exam.
“You’re laughing at me right now?!”
Despite all that, Helreos still could not abandon his arrogant attitude.
There was an obvious reason why Helreos could treat Eliza like this.
No matter how much of a prodigy Eliza was, the members of the family doted only on Helreos.
“Apologize! I said apologize!”
Helreos, who had been screaming unpleasantly, suddenly noticed the snow globe sitting on the bedside table by the window.
He hurried over to the window and picked up the snow globe. Eliza hurriedly reached out, but it was already too late.
A sharp shattering sound pierced the room and scattered through the air. The snow globe, thrown onto the floor, lost its shape and shattered into pieces.
“Ah…….”
Eliza’s brow furrowed slightly. Seeing her troubled expression, Helreos finally felt a little better.
“What did you just do?”
“Hmph, what’s the big deal about a mere snow globe? They said my bluebird costs as much as gold!”
“Helreos Waluer. You’re sixteen years old, yet you’re getting angry over something like that?”
Eliza rose and headed toward the window. Seeing the glass fragments that had lost their original shape, a chill entered Eliza’s voice.
Regardless, Helreos was simply pleased that he had managed to anger her.
“What are you going to do about my bluebird? Do you know how expensive it is!”
“Do you even know what kind of object this is?”
“It’s just a snow globe! No matter how expensive it is!”
This child seemed to think that the value of an object existed only in its price.
Unable to hide her exasperation, Eliza sighed.
“Yes, that’s true. It isn’t an expensive object. But it was something I treasured.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Unlike that bird you simply shut away in your room and never even gave a name to, I treasured that.”
Helreos frowned sharply, as if he could not understand even that.
Of course, compared to the expensive objects scattered throughout this mansion, that snow globe was not even particularly valuable…….
“Happy birthday. Eliza Waluer.”
It was the first and last gift Eliza had ever received from her father.
It was also the first and last time she had ever received birthday wishes from her parents.
Perhaps he had been in a good mood that day. Her father’s voice had felt unusually warm.
That was why she could not throw it away. Even knowing it was foolis
h, she could not help but care about it.
Because it seemed as though that kind voice from that day was contained within the glittering glass globe.
Eliza’s violet eyes sank even deeper as she recalled the memory.
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