Deceived, Yet Drawn to You - Chapter 100

Edmund, seemingly uninterested in hearing Blair’s answer, turned his gaze away after saying so. With one hand, he pushed the table that had been skewed by their violent encounter and roughly set it back in place, preparing to leave the conference room. The bluish glow of the city seeping through the glass windows shimmered sharply along his silhouette. His face, devoid of the heat from moments before, revealed only the habit of gathering his emotions and restoring order.

Blair retraced the words Edmund had let fall and tried to gauge his true feelings.

Was it sincere when he said he wanted her by his side? Or was he still tapping away at his calculations?

In truth, it didn’t matter. Whether it was heartfelt love, calculated words, or simple loneliness. Blair just wanted to be deceived. Hoping that what filled their hearts was dyed in the same light. Wanting to step a little closer to the man standing a few paces away.

“Then I’ll stay in Eldenvale too.”

She answered casually as she looked at Edmund. There was no need to think any further. If he wanted her by his side, that was enough.

“It’ll be uncomfortable.”

“Still, if I go off to the townhouse, you’ll be left alone.”

“….”

“I’ll stay. That’s what I want.”

Blair declared it stubbornly and waited for him to close the distance. Edmund, who held her gaze for a moment, spoke with a faint smile in his voice.

“I’m glad we feel the same way.”

Then he reached out his hand to her. It was the same large hand that had shaken her so thoroughly on the table just moments ago.

“Shall we head back together?”

“…Okay.”

Blair nodded and took his hand without hesitation. Her heart began to pound at the cool temperature that passed into her. When she held his hand, a sense of relief washed over her, as if they were at least connected by the same feelings.

Shoulder to shoulder, the two soon exited the conference room. Their shadows stretched diagonally as they returned to their places, leaving behind the lingering heat that hadn’t yet cooled.

14. Knot

“What in the world are you saying right now, Mother?”

Rufus, pale as a sheet, was already repeating the same question for the third time.

“You’re telling me I have to leave for Rorschach?”

“…Rufus, my dear. Please calm down first.”

“How could I possibly calm down!”

Unable to accept his fate, the eldest son of House Libert kicked back his chair and stood. Isabelle couldn’t even bring herself to stop her son, only squeezing her eyes shut before opening them again.

“You want me to marry some filthy barbarian princess? And the second princess, at that…! Does that make any sense?”

It was the reaction she expected, but seeing her son’s pale face as he raged still made Isabelle feel as if her heart were being torn apart. Her gaze slowly dropped to the letter clutched in her hand. It was the missive that arrived from the Kingdom of Genoa that morning.

The moment she saw the golden seal of Genoa stamped on the envelope, Isabelle’s heart sank. Letters addressed to the head of the house were strictly kept separate, so there was only one reason this one had so conspicuously ended up in her hands. It was Edmund’s doing.

With a sense of dread, she opened the letter, only to find a royal decree written in the king’s own hand. Isabelle couldn’t help but doubt her eyes from the very first line.

「Victor III, King of Genoa, hereby formally approves the marriage proposal between Rufus George Libert, the firstborn son of the Ducal House of Libert, and Princess Selma al Hanifa of the Kingdom of Rorschach, for the purpose of strengthening friendly relations between our two nations.

This matter shall be regarded as a marriage alliance between the two states, and I hereby command House Libert, as nobles of Genoa, to faithfully fulfill its diplomatic duties.

The wedding ceremony is to be arranged and held promptly within this month.

Victor Louis Lionel Mortimer Lancaster III」

It was a concise and unambiguous letter, written as if the matter had already been decided.

‘That cunning fox bastard…!’

Isabelle’s hand trembled violently. The rage she’d suppressed for so long surged up all at once.

When she first heard Edmund’s notice that he intended to send Rufus to Rorschach, Isabelle immediately sought out her legal counsel and asked how the marriage could be nullified. But every answer she received was the same.

At present, all ducal authority had been delegated to Edmund, and with it, the power to decide matters of marriage. From ancient times, the fate of those born into noble houses rested entirely in the hands of the family head, and there was effectively no way to overturn such a decision.

Only one lawyer, who had long-standing ties with Isabelle, suggested a faint possibility. They might look for a flaw on the Rorschach princess’s side. Even that would amount to no more than delaying the engagement, a temporary objection at best.

But all of it had turned to dust. From the moment the letter bearing the royal seal of Genoa arrived, every remaining possibility was sealed off. So that she couldn’t even dream of resisting his will, Edmund had fixed Rufus’s marriage as a bond on a national level.

Only then did Isabelle understand just how meticulously Edmund had planned this, and that she herself had been completely pushed out of the game.

‘We truly raised a beast within the ducal house.’

A chill ran down Isabelle’s spine at the realization that there was now nothing left she could use to control Edmund.

“Mother, in that country, men can’t even keep their own names. They can’t pass their surname on to their children. Living like a shadow, worshiping women, and dying like a handful of ash when the time comes. How is that marriage? It’s exile and humiliation!”

“Rufus.”

“Who do they think I am! It’s Edmund, isn’t it? That bastard planned all of this, didn’t he? A mere bastard daring to decide my life for me? Selling our family name?”

Rufus’s pupils, which had been shaking wildly as he ranted at the empty air, turned toward Isabelle. His lips, bitten until they bled, trembled violently.

“That filthy mistress’s son!”

“Watch your mouth!”

Isabelle shouted sharply, as if she might strike Rufus. It was the first time in twenty-six years that she’d ever raised her voice at her son. She’d never even been able to scold the Rufus she cherished beyond measure.

“We need to think about our position. This is reality, whether we like it or not. Your father left nothing to either of us, so we must accept that all authority now lies with Edmund.”

Rufus, stunned, stared down at Isabelle with his mouth hanging open. “Mother, how can you acknowledge that bastard…?”

“Don’t cling to pointless arguments. You must not lose sight of what matters most right now.”

“Then what are you going to do? Are you really going to sell me off to a barbaric country like this? Because we have no authority left?”

“…That’s not what I mean. There’s still time, so we need to find an alternative.”

“Mother, you don’t have any power left anymore.”

Isabelle flinched at the sneering voice. Rufus paid her no mind and continued, as if he had lost his reason, “So you’re just going to watch him swallow our family whole in place of our dead father, and now sell me off as well, without doing a thing?”

“…That’s enough, Rufus. You’re too upset right now….”

At the same time, a bright light slid in through the darkened window. Both of them stopped short and turned their eyes toward it without a word. It was the sound of a car’s wheels crunching over the gravel as it entered the manor’s front gate.

Edmund had returned to the mansion.

“That son of a bitch!”

Rufus suddenly spat out a curse and bolted from the bedroom. Isabelle didn’t even have time to stop him. Swept up in panic, she grabbed the hem of her skirt and hurried after her son.

“Rufus!”

“I’ll kill him!”

Blinded by rage, Rufus sprinted down the corridor and headed for the stairs. When he reached the landing that led to the front hall, the wide-open main doors of the mansion framed a scene like a painting: the duke and duchess entering together, side by side.

Rufus came to an abrupt halt on the landing. Strangely, the blazing fury in his eyes fixed not on Edmund, but on the woman beside him. Rufus himself didn’t know why. Was it because he realized that if he lunged at his half-brother, who was far superior in height and build, he would be thrown aside without a chance? Or because he instinctively sensed Edmund’s weakness? Or was it simply the urge to snatch away even one thing from the man who now held everything, including the very position that should have been Rufus’s as duke?

Rufus thundered down the stairs, his steps pounding as he charged straight toward Blair. Nothing drove him now except the fury of having everything stolen from him. Closing the distance in an instant, Rufus raised his hand fiercely toward Blair.