Chapter 122
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 122
Word of Charlotte’s visit to Reinhardt Manor and the events that unfolded there had already reached Dietrich’s ears. No matter how much she reigned over the place like its mistress, the manor’s servants quietly fed all information back to him.
This was because Charlotte was not a Jerome.
Dietrich drained the drink she had abandoned, then asked, “Should I congratulate you?”
“…Congratulate me?” Charlotte snapped, whipping around to face him.
A twisted smile played on Dietrich’s lips as he poured more alcohol into his glass. “I heard you met the woman the Marquis brought back. Well? Is she worthy of being your daughter-in-law?”
“Ha!” A hollow laugh escaped her, her face contorting with rage. “Again! Did those pests run straight to you to tattle?”
“They are Jerome’s maids, after all. Not the Marchioness of Reinhardt’s. It’s about time you accepted that, don’t you think?”
“……”
“If you’re unsatisfied, just say the word. I can make you the Countess Jerome this very instant.”
Charlotte remained silent.
To secure her perfect life, she held several cards in her hand: Oscar’s mother, the Marchioness of Reinhardt, Countess Jerome, and the mother of the next queen.
The only reason she hadn’t been forced to give any of them up was that she was in a position to hold them all. As long as she didn't have to discard a single card, the suffering of those around her was of no concern.
But if a situation arose where she had no choice but to discard one…
Charlotte would prioritize her own perfect life, deciding which card to let go of first. Furthermore, if discarding a card offered some benefit, she would toss it aside like trash without a moment’s hesitation. Which card was the most useless?
“You’re mocking me, aren’t you, Diet?” she asked, her voice venomous.
Dietrich immediately wiped the mocking expression from his face. “Of course not. I’m just worried about you.”
“……”
“You need to at least maintain your power as the Marchioness of Reinhardt. It’s the only way our daughter will be treated like a queen.”
A fire flared in Charlotte’s violet eyes.
“I’m a bit worried,” he continued. “This is the first time the Marquis has ever acted this way, as you know. What if he starts ignoring you and keeps that woman by his side from now on? No, what if he goes even further and makes her his wife…?”
“Nonsense! She’s just a guest! A nobody.”
“A guest? Don’t make me laugh. You have no idea how urgent your son’s business was today, do you? Is Oscar the kind of man who would bat an eye just because a mere guest was put in a difficult spot by his mother?”
The first card she would have to discard would likely be ‘Oscar’s mother.’ Only by letting go of that one could she ensure the safety of all the rest.
Dietrich’s expression softened, as if to clear the air. He changed his tone, bringing up another matter. “Oh, by the way, Char. The young lady you originally had in mind as your daughter-in-law.”
“……”
“I heard she’s been staying at the Dowager Lady’s residence recently. She’s the Dowager Lady’s niece, isn’t she?”
Dietrich approached Charlotte, lightly wrapping an arm around her shoulders. He leaned in, kissing the ear of the woman lost deep in thought, and whispered, “If you miss this chance, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
“……”
“If you ever need my help, just say the word. I would do anything for you and Sabine.”
He lightly kissed her lips.
“I love you.”
The sweet, alcohol-laced whisper brushed against her lips.
* * *
After rescinding his orders to Abel, Oscar closed the door of the mountain cabin.
He had delegated the meeting with the Tekan Ambassador to Simon—a matter so important he had been prepared to visit Tekan himself if necessary.
Yet, he felt little regret.
Creak, creak. The wooden floor shrieked under his weight with every step.
Oscar sat beside the woman, who lay with her eyes closed, as still as death. He gently placed his fingers on her nape. On the forearm he stretched toward Seo-ah, blue veins stood out like mountain ridges, pulsing with life. But the pulse beneath his rough fingertips was as faint as a flickering candle.
Thump… thump.
A quiet but insistent anxiety tapped at his solar plexus, and a cold dread coiled in his stomach, sending a chill down his spine.
Oscar knew this feeling all too well.
It was the helplessness he never wanted to feel again—no, the helplessness he had sworn he would never feel again.
After Charlotte had left the manor, Oscar would find himself staring out the window as the nights deepened.
Will Mother come today?
The nights were so long that he eventually found a name for that maddening emotion. In the midst of those ruins, the foolish boy had spent every night just like that, thinking of a mother who had no intention of returning.
That emotion, which he had named helplessness, only vanished the day he discovered evidence suggesting his mother's involvement in his father's death. It was then that he finally let go of his lingering attachment to her.
Only on the nights he no longer waited for her did that sickening feeling finally cease.
And on that night, he had made a vow.
He would never wait for another person again. He would never believe in something as invisible as a heart.
By abandoning his trust in others, Oscar had freed himself from that swamp of helplessness. Since he never trusted and never gave his heart, there was no price to pay. It was a solid wall, built over many long years.
But one day, an Outsider with a naive face had appeared without warning and knocked on that solid wall.
“I want to be by your side.”
Her clear face as she whispered those words, her eyes so transparent they seemed to reveal the very depths of her soul… they had easily slipped through the cracks in a wall he’d been so sure was impenetrable. His attempts to shake off the memory of her tearful face and voice crumbled with absurd ease.
He even wondered if he had somehow been drugged.
But as Oscar stared blankly at her sleeping face, he suddenly remembered the day he first saw her.
A woman hiding behind a door, terrified.
He hadn’t been able to take his eyes off that pale, bewildered face.
That day, he had burned the inside of the mouth of the bastard who tried to drug and rape her. There had been no need to go that far, but he had only felt satisfied after utterly ruining the man’s mouth.
And was that all? After returning to Luxen, he’d had Simon shut down the brothel for good. He’d done it under the guise of ‘cleaning up,’ prompting a passing remark from Simon, who asked if it was really necessary to go that far.
And Abel.
At some point, Abel's appearance—which Oscar had once acknowledged was handsome enough to charm anyone—began to unbearably annoy him.
Since when?
Was it when they returned from the public cemetery? Or the day he first called her by her name?
No.
Perhaps it started back at the Pelfe Hotel, when he had first shown Seo-ah to him. Perhaps it was from the moment Abel boasted that a woman like her would fall for him in a matter of days. On the train to Luxen, even as he kept his eyes on his documents, his attention had been entirely focused on Abel and her.
Even at the horrific scene where his Wolves were devoured by dogs, Oscar had opened Abel’s report first. At that moment, his heart had fluttered. He had thought it was anticipation.
But he hadn’t thought deeply at the time about why he had only smiled after reading the complaints that filled Abel's report.
Perhaps it had been relief. The flutter he’d felt upon opening the report hadn’t been anticipation, but anxiety. The fear that the report might describe her looking up at Abel, her delicate eyelashes raised.
“…Seo-ah.”
The name, uttered in a strained voice, sounded strangely sorrowful, as if a soul now clung to the word itself.
Letting out a faint laugh, Oscar leaned back in his chair as if collapsing.
“Seo-ah…”
His brow furrowed. Even now, his sharp intellect pushed forward what needed to be considered.
She must have sensed the demonic beasts' attack while they were still in the carriage. Even after entering the cave, she had repeatedly slowed their group, pressing her ear to the wall. Then, as if she felt something, she ran to him and ultimately saved his life.
There were those in the world, though very few, who were like that. Those who could feel the mana dwelling in all things more delicately than anyone else—and beyond just feeling it, could read the flow of mana to perceive the world.
The Wolves called such people ‘The Seer.’ Though that was something of an exaggeration, as Peter had been the only one among their countless numbers to ever possess such an ability.
The key that disappeared with Peter. Han Seo-ah, who brought that key.
Theresia, whose trail went cold near Danguk. Han Seo-ah, who came from Danguk.
He felt that if he could just grasp a few more invisible links, everything would connect.
For the first time, Oscar began to think that perhaps he hadn’t found her. Perhaps she had come looking for him.
The strange Outsider was shrouded in fog.
Not only did he not know her intentions, her background, or her purpose, but he now questioned if he knew anything about her at all.
But one truth remained undeniable.
Han Seo-ah wanted Oscar von Reinhardt to live.
Slumped in his chair, staring blankly into space, Oscar let out a hollow laugh and rubbed his face. His empty eyes drifted toward Seo-ah, as if drawn by an invisible force.
His heart still beat with anxiety, and his stomach felt cold.