Chapter 78
“I can no longer call you Duchess, would you allow me to call you ‘Miss Idelle’?”
"naturally."
Edel's quick and reassuring response confirmed Edmund's intuition.
“Hmm! To be honest, I’ve always felt that what happened to you was very cruel. You’ve barely been married for two years, haven’t you?”
“Even less than that, but it doesn’t matter anymore. Thank you for your sympathy.”
“Less than two years as a duchess, and yet you are considered a prize? This is an injustice from the emperor.”
Edel tried to end the conversation at this point, but Edmund ignored her attempt and continued talking.
"Then you were sent to Count Crisis? You must have suffered a lot."
“No, I live very well here. The Count is a very noble man.”
“You look like you’re afraid someone is eavesdropping. But rest assured, I’ve made sure we’re alone.”
Idil felt a shiver run through her body.
Edmund checking that the place was empty meant that he was hiding something.
But in such situations, showing confusion is not an option.
'I need to find out what this man is planning.'
Edel changed her mind and decided to prolong the conversation instead of ending it.
“In this case, I can speak more freely.”
“Of course! A lady like you, who was a duchess, now working as a maid in this house? It must have been very hard work.”
“Well… I can’t say that I didn’t face any difficulties.”
“I understand that. Just taking a cold shower in the freezing winter was tough, wasn’t it? Not to mention having no one to talk to.”
Edel smiled awkwardly, as everything he said was true.
“Excuse my boldness, but… is there a specific reason why you are saying this to me?”
When she asked this question, a smile appeared on Edmund's face.
"You're eager to know why. Well, now's the perfect opportunity for me."
He looked at her with eyes full of sympathy and gently placed his hand on her shoulder.
“I just want to help you, without any ill intent. I felt a moral responsibility towards you, because you were a victim of political conflicts.”
“This is none of your business, and you don’t need to feel responsible.”
“It is a feeling of guilt as a nobleman who did not object to what happened to you. Please, do not think about it too much.”
Edel hesitated for a moment as she looked at his hand placed on her shoulder before murmuring softly.
"And what kind of assistance is this?"
His smile widened.
“Whether it’s material or moral, I want to support you.”
“But as you know, I am a captive granted to Count Crisis, and I have no freedom of action.”
“I know that. But I think you get permission to go out sometimes, don’t you? What do you think about us meeting then?”
Idell seemed to consider his offer, then lowered her voice and asked him.
"With this insistence, it seems you want something from me, don't you?"
Edmund was confident that she had fallen into his clutches.
***
Why is this man getting close to Idil?
Just moments ago, Laszlo had been watching Edel and Edmund from time to time.
Whenever he looked where Edel was and saw Edmund approaching her, he wanted to immediately rush out and grab him by the back of the neck.
But Laszlo restrained himself, fearing that this would draw attention to Idel.
'He doesn't seem to be abusing or threatening her…'
Edmund, who was wearing the mask of a “noble knight and courteous gentleman,” did not appear to be doing anything rude, but Laszlo could not shake off the anxiety that had taken hold of him.
Perhaps the reason was that Edel and Edmund looked surprisingly harmonious together.
Although Adele was dressed as a servant, she was the most beautiful and elegant at the entire party.
As for Edmund, who seemed to have prepared himself for this day, he looked handsome even in the eyes of Laszlo, who couldn't stand him.
Both of them displayed refined and polite behavior, which annoyed Laszlo for no apparent reason.
'What is the point of sophistication and refinement? In the end, they are merely tools to conceal true intentions.'
Laszlo remembered the moment Edmund came to see the stupid knights of the Imperial Guard.
Laszlo had remained suspicious of Edmund's intentions when he insisted on meeting Edel to apologize, and today he felt as though he had found an answer.
As he thought, scenes from the moment when the knights were dragging Idyll came back to his memory.
He felt nauseous as he remembered that moment.
At that time, he hid to observe what was happening in order to gather evidence to incriminate them, but now he regrets his stance.
'When I saw them pushing Edel against the wall, I should have acted immediately and hit them. She was scared, so how could I just stand there and watch what happened?!'
Although he intervened later, Idil bowed to him in gratitude, her face pale, but she did not shed a single tear.
Idil was always very hard on herself.
And today, it was the same.
Although he asked her to tell him about anything that happened, he knew she wouldn't.
She would have endured everything in silence, even if it left a permanent wound in her heart.
'…I can't go on like this. I have to send someone to get her.'
Laszlo made that decision immediately, and called over one of the servants passing by and whispered to him.
“I want to check on the progress of the party, so bring me the maid quietly.”
The servant nodded silently, then skillfully began to move towards Idel, pretending to collect the guests' glasses and offer greetings.
“They say they have intensified the training of the servants. If I didn’t know, I would have thought they were servants of a duchy.”
Laszlo felt Idel's touches in every corner of the ballroom, even in the disciplined way the servants worked.
“I am beginning to doubt the wisdom of my decision to hand Edel over to Grande Lady Celestine…”
Laszlo sighed sadly, but then he suddenly heard someone calling him.
He turned around to find a middle-aged woman smiling warmly at him.
“It seems your first concert was a great success. Congratulations.”
“Oh, you’re here? Hello, Countess Galli.”
Lady Adela Galli was one of the Empress's ladies-in-waiting.
Laszlo often saw her next to the Emperor, but they had only ever exchanged a formal greeting before.
'I didn't expect Countess Galli to speak to me.'
He felt the situation was a bit strange, and he wasn't wrong.
She had a specific goal.
"Since this is a good opportunity, I'd like to introduce you to someone. Angela!"
When she called out, a young woman who had been hiding behind her stepped forward, looking shy as she walked ahead.
Countess Galli's features seemed to say, "Don't you look wonderful and lovely?"
The Countess said with a smile.
"You've certainly heard of the Bliss family, haven't you? Miss Angela Bliss is the granddaughter of Count Bliss. She came as a representative of the Bliss family, but she was worried about leaving the party without greeting the Count. Hahaha!"
Angela's cheeks flushed red at these words, but Laszlo did not entirely believe what the Countess had said.
"She doesn't seem worried enough to be so tense."
To be honest, he didn't expect to meet Angela here.
In the world of the social elite, for a young woman like Angela to be rejected in the matter of marriage is a major blow to her dignity.
Of course, it wasn't Laszlo who spread the news, so no one knew that it was her family who had initiated the marriage proposal.
But seeing Angela act as if nothing had happened showed that she was not an ordinary person.
Angela grasped the hem of her green dress and bowed gently to greet him.
“Hello, I’m Angela Bliss. Nice to meet you again.”
Her actions were flawless.
Laszlo, with his trained eyes, could not deny her beauty.
Although her self-confidence seemed a little arrogant, he did not dislike self-confident people.
'Why don't I find myself attracted to her? Is it because her interest in me now seems so obvious?'
Laszlo smiled to himself, mocking his own thinking.
He said to her respectfully:
“I am Laszlo Crises. Thank you for attending the concert.”
She responded with a smile.
“On the contrary, I should thank you for inviting me. I have wanted to meet you again for a long time, but I never had the chance.”
He told her without hesitation.
"It's rare that opportunities bring together someone like me and a woman like you."
His words had many meanings, but Laszlo wasn't sure if she understood them.
At that moment, he sensed an unusual gathering of people around them.
The crowding wasn't obvious, but he felt as though talking to anyone else required breaking through several layers of barriers.
When Laszlo realized this, someone opened their mouth and spoke.