Chapter 45
Chapter 45
Deep in the garden where the lights from the banquet hall barely reached.
“You’re saying you ran away because you couldn’t even seduce a single woman?”
Barto Smith asked with open contempt.
Fabian Nogen clasped his hands behind his back and answered stiffly.
“I did my best, but… that woman simply wouldn’t give me any opening.”
“Cut the excuses.”
Barto snorted and folded his arms.
“You just failed because you’re incompetent. Isn’t that right?”
Since anything he said would likely be dismissed as an excuse, Fabian kept his mouth shut.
“You see, an aide is someone who must produce the results his superior wants.”
Barto slowly circled around Fabian Nogen as he continued speaking.
“So if you failed at that, it’s hard to call you a capable aide.”
Just because he failed to seduce a single woman, he was being treated like this.
Fabian Nogen clenched his jaw.
“…My apologies.”
But no matter how frustrated or angry he was, there was nothing a mere aide could do.
His opponent was the heir of a marquis family.
If he crossed him even slightly, not only he but his entire family could be placed in danger.
“I’d rather hear that you succeeded than hear an apology.”
“That’s…”
“I told you already. The woman is necessary for the Nubiar I will rule in the future.”
Aileen had not only discovered the cause of the Raed River’s flooding—which no one had managed to uncover for decades—in just a single day, but had even found a solution.
The results had not yet appeared, but judging from how she had already prevented the autumn monsoon in Belheim, success seemed almost certain.
That was why Barto Smith desired Aileen even more.
With her abilities, she would likely be able to solve many other problems in the city as well.
“No matter what it takes, you must seduce that woman and make her settle in this territory.”
Male commoners could not leave their territory unless they possessed migration rights.
However, female commoners could move to another territory if they married someone from there.
Barto Smith intended to use that very rule to bring Aileen to Nubiar.
Of course, this was a plan he had conceived alone.
When he cautiously mentioned it to his father, Marquis Howell Smith, instead of praise he received a scolding telling him not to do anything foolish.
“Never do anything reckless that would provoke Archduke Krauvel’s hostility, Barto.”
His father had even warned him repeatedly.
But Barto had no intention of listening.
Letting a talented person slip away when she stood right in front of him would be idiotic.
Besides, if Aileen chose to marry the man she loved and leave the territory, Calix Krauvel would have no grounds to object.
“I’ll say it again. Seduce that woman by any means necessary.”
At his superior’s command, Fabian replied with a weary sigh.
“There isn’t enough time for that. Miss Aileen returns to Belheim tomorrow.”
“No time? There are still twelve hours left.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“History can be written in a single night.”
Barto’s eyes glinted with a sinister light.
“Alcohol, a few sweet words, and a bed for two—that should be enough, shouldn’t it?”
Only then did Fabian realize what his superior meant. His eyes widened.
“B-but that would require her consent—”
“Then make her consent. And if that doesn’t work, give her strong liquor until she loses consciousness.”
Just as Fabian was about to say that such a thing would be a crime, a lit cigar dropped onto Barto’s shoulder.
“Ah!”
Barto screamed and hurriedly threw off his coat.
Fabian, startled, stomped on the coat to extinguish the flame.
“Ah, my apologies.”
At that moment, a chilling voice came from above.
Both men looked up simultaneously.
Leaning casually against the terrace railing with a cigar in his mouth was a man.
“I heard such trash being spoken that I assumed this was a trash bin and tossed it away.”
The man was none other than Calix Krauvel.
The moment Barto Smith saw him, his face turned pale.
Fabian Nogen froze completely, unable even to breathe.
“S-since when were you there…?”
“Who knows.”
Calix muttered while taking out a new cigar.
“Perhaps from the moment you said your aide was no longer competent.”
That meant he had heard nearly everything.
Barto Smith bit his lip. Somehow, he had to survive this situation.
“I-if there has been some misunderstanding—”
“Oh, the trash speaks.”
Calix chuckled softly and flicked the ash from the cigar he had just lit.
Black ash and red sparks fell between the two men.
Barto reflexively stepped backward.
“Stop polluting my eyes and ears and get out of here immediately.”
The moment the order was given, the two men fled as if their lives depended on it.
Pathetic.
Calix Krauvel let out a quiet laugh and drew deeply on his cigar.
The red ember briefly illuminated his darkened eyes before fading.
He did not believe Marquis Howell Smith had orchestrated this.
The man was not foolish enough for that.
Most likely his reckless son had simply run wild in an attempt to satisfy his own greed.
Even knowing that, Calix had no intention of letting the matter pass.
“What should be done…”
Along with the plume of white smoke, the faint smile lingering on his lips disappeared completely.
Punishing Barto Smith for running wild without knowing his place was important.
But something even more important was controlling the people surrounding Aileen.
The more widely Aileen’s capabilities became known, the more men like Barto Smith would try to claim her.
“This is why being too capable is never a good thing.”
She never listens.
Clicking his tongue, Calix crushed the half-burned cigar against the terrace railing.
In truth, even he had not anticipated this outcome.
At most, he had expected her to reinforce the riverbanks or create additional drainage channels so the overflowing water could escape faster.
He never imagined she would solve the problem itself.
It was astonishing, yet at the same time it pleased him.
The resolution of the Raed River flooding was also a development different from the future he remembered.
If that woman truly stays, can we escape that cursed fate?
And perhaps even put an end to the endlessly repeating nightmare?
As the scale of doubt slowly tipped to one side, his thoughts solidified around a single conclusion—he could never let Aileen go.
“I almost want to hide her somewhere no one else can see.”
Though with her personality, she would never remain quietly hidden.
Aileen was a strange person who feared him yet still said everything she wanted to say.
Not that he disliked that part of her.
Still, thinking about it now, Calix clicked his tongue in mild regret.
When I returned to the ballroom, I stayed firmly beside Noah Roheim and didn’t leave his side.
That way, people like Barto Smith or Fabian Nogen wouldn’t be able to approach me recklessly.
The strategy seemed to work.
No one attempted to flirt with me anymore.
“Preventing the Raed River flooding—truly remarkable.”
“Indeed. Miss Aileen’s name should be recorded in the historical annals of Nubiar.”
Instead, I was endlessly showered with praise—how impressive I was, how I had saved Nubiar.
The flooding hasn’t even been completely prevented yet. If they’re already like this, it’ll be even worse later.
Just imagining it made my head ache.
The only small comfort was that I wouldn’t be in Nubiar when the construction was finished.
Even if they send me an invitation to a celebration party, I’ll refuse.
I didn’t want to be treated like a hero anymore.
And the experience of suffocating inside a corset once was more than enough.
“If you’re tired, you may return and rest.”
“Really?”
Since it was exactly what I had been waiting to hear, I asked with brightened eyes.
Noah Roheim chuckled softly.
Ah… did I look too eager?
Embarrassed, I hurriedly explained.
“The corset is uncomfortable, and my feet hurt from the shoes, so I wanted to rest.”
“Then go back and rest right away. I’ll escort you to your room.”
“No, it’s alright. I can go by myself.”
“An escort includes taking you all the way there.”
His reasoning made it awkward to refuse again.
Just as I was about to nod—
Someone grabbed my shoulder.
“I’ll take her.”
It was Calix Krauvel.
Perhaps he had been smoking a cigar, because a strong scent of tobacco clung to him.
“Understood.”
I had hoped he would refuse again, but Noah Roheim stepped aside without protest.
“Let’s go.”
Ah… suddenly I don’t want to go back to my room anymore.
Sighing inwardly, I followed behind him.