Contract Marriage Interrupted - Chapter 62



Only Noblemtl

Episode 62. Hidden Truth
2023.09.03.

If you think about it a little, there were many parts that made you feel uncomfortable.

In fact, if you wanted to threaten Odette, just her hair would have been enough.

That alone would have made Odette shake and feel anxious.

It wouldn’t have been difficult to threaten Odette even if you only had Ellie’s existence in your hands.

‘But Blake prepared a lot.’

The chessboard. And the story about Cedric.

These were actually unnecessary stories.

Especially considering that Blake had revealed through today’s story that he was the one who caused problems all over the empire.

Blake had revealed a little of his cards just to threaten Odette.

‘I’m not trying to persuade her, but if it’s to threaten her, it’s too much.’

He was being overly kind, just as he said.

-Can’t you see how kind I am right now?

This part.

‘This was the clue.’

A clue that Blake was adding an exaggerated explanation in order to lie.

Anyway, Odette couldn’t know what Ellie was going through right now.

So Blake created a situation appropriately through the chessboard, and confused Odette through the hair in the envelope. Only

then did he bring up the story about Cedric.

‘While revealing a little of his own cards.’

Only the truth can deceive people.

People tend to believe that what a person tells the truth is unconditionally true.

If you mix in a little truth, you can cover up a lie as if it were the truth.

Furthermore, by using Cedric, you could incite Odette’s anxiety, so the loss of revealing this much cards was worth it.

By confusing Odette with truth and lies, and provoking her a little while while she was anxious and confused, she would fall into the trap.

Her stomach was still rumbling as if she was going to vomit at any moment due to her anxiety, but her mind became clear in an instant.

‘If this hypothesis is true… … .’

There was only one thing Blake could be lying about.

Odette clenched her fists. Then she met Blake’s eyes and said,

“Blake.”

“Tell me.”

“You lied about saving Ellie, right?”

Blake’s face hardened, perhaps because Odette’s words were unexpected.

But he immediately laughed and replied,

“I know you think badly of me, but that’s too much. No matter what, I won’t break my promise—”

“No.”

Odette’s firm voice cut off Blake’s words.

There was only one truth Blake could be lying about in the first place.

The only premise that could make up this whole situation.

“You don’t have Ellie with you.”

That was exactly Blake’s lie.

* * *

Hiss.

The candle held between his gloved fingers blew out with a sound of defiance.

‘Is this the last?’

Philip, the butler of the Ertmann residence, looked back at the rooms he had turned off, checking if there were any rooms where the lights were not turned off.

Even though he checked habitually, Philip knew that he would not miss any room.

Turning off the lights in the ducal residence was something he had been doing for decades before he became Ertmann’s butler.

‘I’m old enough to let someone else do it now.’

He had been doing it for so long that he didn’t feel like he had finished his day unless he turned off the lights in the ducal residence at the end of his workday.

So Philip vaguely guessed that he would be in charge of turning off the lights until he handed over the position of Ertmann’s butler to his son. As people got older, they tended to dislike change.

‘Well, I guess I don’t hate change all that much.’

The old butler, reflecting on his stubbornness, chuckled to himself and took the lights away.

The reason he laughed was the new mistress of the ducal residence.

The fourth princess Odette, who had been causing a stir in the world by constantly getting involved with her master Walter.

The ducal residence of Ertmann, which had been without a mistress for a long time, accepted her as her prospective mistress with the same heart.

However, it would be a lie to say that he didn’t feel anxious or worried while welcoming Odette.

‘I thought she would be a picky person

since she’s the princess.’ Philip himself had been devoted to Ertmann for a long time, and he was from a family that had served Ertmann for generations, so he was willing to serve Ertmann’s new mistress with all his heart.

The other servants didn’t have that much loyalty.

So, even among the servants, there was a tendency to secretly look forward to the new mistress, but also to secretly look down

on her. – The new mistress, she’s a princess, do you think she’ll like this?

– I wonder if she’s just nitpicking and getting slapped.

– I heard from my cousin who works at the palace that the royal family is very picky. The 3rd princess often breaks rooms. What if the 4th princess has that kind of personality?

– What can I do? I can’t stand that. Why don’t you try doing that here too? You’ll have to walk around the mansion barefoot.

You’ll be afraid or reluctant. The direction may be different, but in summary, it was similar.

‘Terribility, territoriality.’

Most of Ertmann’s servants had been working here for more than a year.

Naturally, they had a strong bond with each other, and it would be awkward to replace them with someone else now.

In addition, because Walter, who had been serving them, was such a blunt and uninterested master, the servants’ hearts had been secretly lax.

Philip knew this, but he didn’t try to control them.

‘If I step forward, there’s a chance they’ll oppose.’

And secretly, he also wanted to see what kind of person the new mistress would be.

The long absence of the mistress made the new mistress welcome, but at the same time, it raised expectations about the new mistress.

So Philip wanted to see how Odette would respond to the servants’ territoriality.

‘I was thinking of stepping forward when it got to a certain level.’

He had the expectation that a wise mistress would take care of it before he could reach her.

And surprisingly, this expectation quickly disappeared.

– She seems like an easy person to serve, ma’am.

– She’s not a ma’am yet.

– Hey, hey! You’re so hot with the master, so you can just call her ma’am!

As the rumor that Walter and Odette were not on good terms spread among the servants, no servant dared to show off.

Odette’s plan to capture Arnold had an unexpected effect without her knowing.

Furthermore, Walter’s unusual gaze towards Odette caused a great stir among the servants.

– I think the master likes the madam more?

– Yes. The madam is more indifferent than I thought. But the master is so passionate.

– Their eyes never looked apart. Is a nanny coming soon?

The third party’s perspective is the most accurate.

Without Odette having to worry, the servants quickly realized that she was a ‘mistress loved by her husband’.

Even when the fact that Arnold was very fond of his new granddaughter-in-law spread, the territorial sentiment that had been circulating around completely disappeared.

Of course, some might say that Odette had only benefited from the favors of Arnold and Walter.

‘It’s not easy to please those two.’

Philippe already thought that Odette was a great hostess just from that fact.

Above all, Odette was a really easy-going master, and he really liked the fact that her presence made the dreary Ertmann a little softer.

‘She’s a kind woman.’

He had only been there for a few days, and he had found himself feeling empty in her absence for almost three days.

And it seemed that Philippe was not the only one who felt that way, for Arnold kept grumbling and then on the second day he left for the Wellington Hotel.

– What good things would I hear if I were here without Odette? I’d only hear about how cheap that rascally grandson was at selling his manners. I won’t come until Odette returns, so you know that

!

Thanks to this, the already dreary Duke Ertmann’s mansion became even dreary.

‘Well, it’ll be twice as noisy starting tomorrow.’

After the wedding, the duke’s mansion would definitely be noisy for a while.

I heard that they decided not to go on a honeymoon and stay at the duke’s mansion, so it was obvious that there would be quite a few guests. He

had to decorate the mansion accordingly and prepare to receive the guests, so the burden on Philip, the butler, was bound to be heavy.

However, it was strange that he felt good and excited about something that should have been tiring.

‘How long has it been since I felt this way?’

Thinking of the mansion that would soon be noisy, Philip unconsciously smiled and went down the stairs. He

was going to bring a light, write his diary, and then go to bed.

At least, until he heard someone knocking loudly on the door.

Bang bang bang!

The sound of hands pounding loudly echoed through the hall on the first floor.

And the high voice calling out to people.

“-Give me! Is anyone here?”

It was a woman’s voice that seemed familiar.

Thinking that it couldn’t be, Philip quickly ran to open the door.

And standing there was.

“… … Madam?”

“Philip!”

It was Odette, completely disheveled.

　
She seemed to have come riding a horse, and a white horse was visible behind her, who was not even wearing a robe.

‘… … It’s a little strange to call it a horse?’

It was definitely a horse, but at that moment, something felt out of place.

Odette grabbed Philip’s hand.

“Walter? Is he inside? I need to meet Walter!”

“Calm down. The master is inside. Why are you here at this hour…?”

Philip’s face hardened as he tried to comfort Odette.

It was because he recognized the red stain on her long sleeve.

Not only had she suddenly come in the middle of the night when all the lights were out in the mansion, but there was blood on her sleeve?

Philip was startled and grabbed Odette’s wrist.

“Isn’t this blood? What on earth happened?”

“I don’t have time to explain!”

But Odette was stubborn.

“Where is Walter? We have to see him quickly! I can explain in detail later.”

She pleaded in a strangled voice as if she would die if she didn’t see Walter right away.

“Please, Philip. We have to find Ellie right away. If we’re not careful, Ellie could be in danger-.”

And then.

“Your Majesty?”

Another voice cut in from behind Odette.