Contract Marriage Interrupted - Chapter 96



Only Noblemtl

Episode 96. Fragment (1)
2023.12.31.

Walter and Regina’s scandal, like his other scandals, spread quickly through the social circles as soon as the sun rose.

No, it was even faster than that time. Back then, it was passed on by word of mouth, but this time, it was as if someone had been waiting for this situation, as gossip articles poured out quickly for several days.

Even the gossip articles did not simply mention the scandal.

“… … So, there’s an article saying that His Highness the Crown Prince is very angry. There was a meeting to be held, and His Highness the Crown Prince and Duke Ertmann were seen arguing several times. Is this true, Your Highness?”

“… … Probably. My brother didn’t like the fact that I married Walter.”

Odette nodded with a tired face at Anne-Sophie’s question.

She also knew that Cedric was angry. The day after the scandal broke, she received a call from Cedric asking her to come to the palace immediately.

The content of the letter was as affectionate as Cedric usually was, but its content was also quite brutal.

[I think I will feel at ease if I keep in mind either erasing your husband from the world or not calling him your husband anymore. I know you have a lot of trust in him, but I think this incident has proven that he is not worthy of that trust. I would like to advise you to use your time and trust a little more valuably.]

It was also a very clear example of Cedric’s trust in Walter’s human side hitting rock bottom.

So Odette replied carefully.

[I know what my brother thinks of my husband. And I know that he must be very angry about the current situation. But I trust him, and I think it is not useless.]

There were two reasons for writing such a reply.

First, she knew that this scandal was fabricated by Regina.

Immediately after leaving the banquet hall that day, Walter explained the scandal to Odette.

“The Third Princess… … was in your form. I think she used some kind of drug or magic that clouded my judgment. As soon as I took off this necklace, she returned to her original form.”

Walter said this and held out the necklace he was holding.

To others, it would seem like an ordinary necklace, but Odette, who knew how to manipulate magic, could feel the magic diagram engraved on the necklace and the faint remaining magic. Since she was not very knowledgeable in this area, she would have to take it to Anne-Sophie and have her appraise it to find out more, but it was certain that this was a magical tool.

“I thought it was you and was with you, but when I showed signs of recognizing you, the Third Princess hugged me. I confirmed her identity right after that and we parted ways. That’s all.”

“… … I see.”

“You don’t believe me?”

“I want to believe you. However… … I feel like I don’t know where to start and how much to believe what you say.”

Their relationship was a tower built on lies from the beginning.

So once things started to go wrong, there was no turning back.

“I thought you were trustworthy, but now I doubt if I even know you. Is the you that I know real?”

Walter looked shocked at Odette’s words. No, at first glance, he seemed to be. Walter was a person whose expression didn’t change much.

“… … I’ve always been sincere to you.”

“But I wasn’t sincere. You still hide something from me.”

Walter’s face twisted into a look of pain at Odette’s words.

“If you know that, why don’t you just bury it?”

“I want to do that too. But… … Would you be able to do that?” You

were so affectionate to me, but you kept a secret from the outside. You

said you could give me anything, but you didn’t tell me one thing.

　
When the world saw this, the first thing they thought of was the possibility of an affair.

Even though they said it was Regina’s scheme, didn’t such a scandal actually happen this time?

Ellie was even more angry because she had been suspicious that Walter was seeing someone behind his back.

– Even if the Duke is innocent, I don’t think we should give him another chance! I’ve never had a good ending after getting entangled with a man with many secrets!

In the first place, isn’t it already shady enough that he’s hiding something like this?

“… … I didn’t break my contract with you. I can be honest with anyone.”

“But you still can’t tell me what you’re hiding?”

Walter nodded at Odette’s words, and Odette also answered that she understood after a moment of thought.

“Yes. I won’t ask you any more. And I’ll trust you. That you didn’t commit adultery. I’ll trust that you, the person I know, are real.”

“… … !”

Walter’s face lit up at Odette’s words.

He couldn’t help but smile knowing what it meant to trust him.

However, Walter’s face hardened again at her next words.

“But I’ll keep my distance from you like I’ve always done.”

“… … Didn’t you say you trust me?”

“I trust you. But if I continue to be close to you now that I have no basis for trust, my trust will waver.”

So her argument was that she couldn’t be close to Walter until she had a basis for trust.

If there was something Walter didn’t tell her, she planned to find out for herself.

‘Once I know that, I can ask Walter about the past.’

About whether he really killed me. About whether Louis’ words were true.

‘I can’t trust everything Louis says, but at least I’m sure that it wasn’t just a dream, but a memory from the past.’

Thanks to this, Odette was able to see that Walter was not hiding anything about an affair, as Ellie had guessed.

In the past, she would not have been able to shake off the possibility either, but as she got closer to the truth, she became more certain.

‘What Walter is hiding must be something about the past.’

If so, she would naturally find out if she looked for things related to his past.

That was the second reason why Odette decided to stay at Duke Ertmann’s residence.

She had not yet heard a proper answer from Walter.

From that day on, Walter kept his distance from her as Odette had said.

It was just that he did not have the uncomfortable atmosphere he had before going to the banquet hall.

This distance was something they had agreed upon.

Waking up alone was now quite familiar. Every morning, when she felt the dreary air, she would vaguely think,

‘If Walter had not wanted me, I would have always been like this.’

She tried to sleep in late and even tried to be lazy like a beloved hostess, such as eating breakfast in bed, but the dreary feeling did not go away.

As she acted in vain, she realized how great Walter’s presence was, and then she thought to herself.

No matter what the truth was, she just wanted to live like before.

Is it because of her shallow beliefs that she couldn’t do that? Or is it because she suddenly had an intuition that she shouldn’t do that?

‘If I had that dream again… … I might learn something.’ It

’s funny how she came to wish for that dream that she had dismissed as a nightmare.

Anyway, the dream didn’t come for a while, and Odette decided to do what she could do first.

That’s how she came to see Anne-Sophie again.

“Your Highness, I thought you were a very gentle person… … but you’re rougher than I thought. Arguing in a public place.”

“Well, it would have been hard to keep the crown prince’s position if you were just gentle.”

Speaking from the perspective of someone who saw Walter and Cedric grabbing each other by the collar, Odette thought that Cedric was holding it together quite well even after he stopped.

I just hope it doesn’t go any further than that, but in any case, that’s out of Odette’s hands.

“More specifically, Anne-Sophie. Are you done with the appraisal?”

“Oh, of course. The magic formula restoration is almost done, so you should be able to check it out now.”

Anne-Sophie boasted a vast amount of knowledge about magic formulas, comparable to her master Zantipe.

In particular, making magical tools was her specialty.

And the appraisal was over in an instant.

“This is a necklace with a perception spell. It’s a one-time use, and it only applies to one target.”

“Perception spell?”

“It’s a spell that makes the wearer appear as a preset appearance. It’s a bit unusual for a spell to change appearances.”

“Why?”

“Well, if you want to change appearances, you have to cast a spell that applies to everyone, right? It wouldn’t be very meaningful if you make one person see it wrong.”

That’s why most appearance-changing necklaces are spells that target the wearer.

However, this necklace was unusual in that it designated a different person, not the wearer, and made them appear as that person.

Anne-Sophie tilted her head as if she couldn’t understand, but to Odette, it was a clear answer.

‘Regina’s scheme was right.’

From Regina’s perspective, there was probably no need for magic that would actually change her appearance.

All she wanted was to show others that Walter and Regina were together.

“But that’s why it’s such a strong magic. I think I would have passed it by without even noticing the existence of magic with my normal mental power.”

This means that Walter’s realization of the existence of magic was

also quite rare. If not, then who knows how far Regina would have deceived Walter… … .

‘Did Regina do this alone?’

Regina had lost interest in Walter since Odette and Walter’s marriage was announced. She

probably knew that public opinion would not go in her favor if she did anything else.

But after they got married, she suddenly approached Walter using a magic tool?

‘This is not like Regina, who has such pride.’

Then, there was only one thing we could guess. She was after

something. At the

moment Odette was lost in thought,

Anne-Sophie, who was rustling something and then banging her side against the corner of the desk, held something out to her with tears streaming down her face.

“Your Majesty, this is what you asked me to do last time.”

“If that’s what you asked for… … .”

“Information on the sacred relics.”