The Marquis Benstright had not yet openly declared his support for Fabrice, but was silently walking a tightrope.
He turned to the princess and found her quietly raising her cup of tea to take a sip.
He had just seen the inspection report of the Bui Mai mine.
If the income from the mine had been guaranteed, even after his death, Sonia would have been able to continue her studies without difficulty.
But with the emergence of a new variant, Inland, the price of Puy Mayh cobalt stone began to decline.
The Marquis was at a loss.
If the Pui Mai Mine had not been in the picture, he would not have needed the support of the Second Prince, and would have remained as neutral as he was now, taking into account the role of the main center of the Central Region.
While he was deep in thought about how to deal with this matter, the solution he needed unexpectedly came from the Crown Princess.
“He is the son of the newly crowned baron.
His only request is to enter the society of Leobrin.
Based on our agreement, he will support the First Prince once he obtains the title, but in the eyes of the aristocratic society he is still just an outsider noble who bought his title.
It will be difficult for him to integrate into the aristocratic society.”
“So, by betrothing my daughter, he wants to ingratiate himself with a family of old nobles, and settle into the aristocratic society of Leobrin?”
The Marquis sat with his arms folded.
The princess's words were not entirely reliable to him.
He saw countless people who coveted his wealth.
“Certainly, but it is not without benefit for you as well, Marquis.”
The princess began to persuade him gently and kindly.
“Because he is the man you have been looking for.”
“How are you so sure?”
replied the Marquis, wanting to hear what she had to say.
The Princess began counting the benefits of this marriage to the Marquis one by one:
“First, since the Murat baronial wealth is overflowing, he will not covet your wealth as Marquis.
Isn’t this the most important matter?
Secondly, since Baron Murat is from the south, he does not have many connections in the capital.
This means that after marriage, Sonia will not have to appear at social events as she does now.
Even if she stays in the palace to study, no rumors will spread about her in Leobrin and finally...”
The princess arrived here and smiled slightly.
“Finally, since the Baron’s party is the one who most desires this marriage, you can set your terms as you wish beforehand, right?
Like a prenuptial contract, for example.”
Prenuptial contract.
The last word rested with the same Marquis Benshtersset.
“Will the Baron agree to a prenuptial contract?”
“Of course.
Set the conditions you want.”
The princess answered gladly.
“And what does the Baron gain for all this?”
said the Marquis, who began to yield to the princess's words.
“He will not reap the fruit, but his descendants after him will plant the seed of kinship with the Marquis, and now he is just a baron, and future generations will reap the fruits.”
The Marquis looked at her silently.
While the princess looked at him and smiled.
Her words had logic.
The Baron did not covet present advantage.
Rather, he wanted to settle successfully in Leobryn, and for his descendants to continue in future generations to carry in their veins the blood of the Marquis.
With this, he will suddenly go from being a mere noble from the south to becoming a member of an influential aristocratic family in the capital.
Such was the course of Sonia and Jerome's marriage.
Sonia has been married to a man she has only met three times, but she seems to like her husband.
Jerome was still talking to people.
Breaths of his bright and cheerful spirit even reached here.
Sonia looked at Jerome tenderly and said:
“His heart is kind, and his face is most beautiful.”
"truly!"
Therese had to smile at Sonia's frankness.
“I also told him that I was happy because he matched my taste in appearance.
If he had not, I would not have agreed to marriage even if my father had pushed me toward it.”
“He is lucky.
Baron Murad passed on good qualities to his son.”
“Yes, thank you, ma’am.”
“I wish you both a happy life.
I have to go now.”
“Thank you, have a safe journey.”
Sonia gave her a half-hearted salute.
Thérèse returned to the palace alone.
As she got into the carriage, the rain began to fall, which had been at a standstill until the end of the wedding.
Therese opened the carriage window slightly.
Fog rose due to the heavy rain shower.
She couldn't see the road in front of her even by an inch.
She listened to the sound of rain hitting the roof of the car and immersed herself in her thoughts.
Because she remembered what Dennis said.
He told me to leave it.
Therese stared at her shoes.
The black shoes were made to fit his height.
Which she wore when she went to the shelter.
I felt that those happy moments, full of joy, seemed like a distant past.
Will this moment also pass like this?
Thérèse closed her eyes under the weight of fatigue that descended upon her.
I felt that her contradiction, wishing happiness for the new bride when she was unhappy herself, was funny.
At that moment.
After speaking with the Marquis Benshterset in the workroom and returning to his seat, Denis realized that Thérèse had disappeared.
“Where did the princess go?”
“Our Lady has returned to the palace.”
This was the answer of the knight guarding the entrance when he asked him.
Dennis stared at where she was sitting.
Then he looked at the couple who had just gotten married.
The couple was holding hands, arms linked, laughing cheerfully.
Suddenly, it started to rain heavily.
“Hurry and get inside!
Jerome!”
“Open the umbrella!”
“The rain is very heavy, butler!”
In an instant, the garden was filled with flowing water.
The wedding was almost over when the rain poured down.
In the end, the wedding ended in chaos without the umbrella being opened.
Leobrin's weather at this time of year was like an unruly filly playing around as she pleased.
Some opened their umbrellas, some ran inside, some took shelter under the trees, and between this and that, servants and female slaves looked around in confusion, searching for their masters.
Dennis stood in amazement like a lost child.
“Your Highness the Prince.”
Dennis didn't answer.
When he was deep in thought, he sometimes didn't even hear when he was called out.
Silbang shook him gently to rouse him from his daze.
“Your Highness, your clothes are getting wet.
You better go back to the palace now.”
“Yes, it should.”
A mist rose in the park, which was empty of people like the tide.
Little fans and ribbons that people had forgotten, empty dishes and rubbish, and flower decorations were mixed together.
One felt a sense of desolation and dryness, one could not imagine that this place was full of people just a moment ago.
Dennis finally returned to his stroller, pulling on his wet shoes.
Because the carriage in which they had come together had returned with Thérèse, he took the carriage which the Marquis Benstraset had lent him.
Silbang brought an umbrella through one of the servants.
But since Denise's clothes were completely wet, they were of no use.
Instead, Silbang wrapped Dennis' body in a blanket that had been packed in the carriage.
It is not known whether the Marquis lent him his best carriage, but the carriage was spacious and comfortable.
But Dennis seemed lost in deep thought.
Silbang watched him and then called him:
“Your Highness, what did you say to the princess a moment ago?”
"What?"
“When you were dancing together afterward, the princess’s expression was not good.”
“Why do you care, Silbang, about my wife?”
Dennis's tone was sharp.
“It's not like that...”
Dennis said indifferently:
“I told her: Leave me alone.”
Silbang was confused for a moment and couldn't say anything.
"Why did you do that?
The princess's plans are good for you.
They are helping you."
Dennis looked at Silbang smiling, his face pale from the rain.
“Do you, Counselor, have the right to question me about my reasons?
I didn’t know.”
“That was crossing the line, I apologize.”
Dennis cocked his head.
Silbang also bowed his head and commented nothing.
When he got out of the carriage, the heavy rain was still falling.
A servant carrying an umbrella came out to greet him.
“Are you back, Your Highness?”
Dennis entered the palace with big steps.
“Do you want to take a warm shower first?
If it stays like this, you'll catch a cold.”
“Do it.”
His voice was noticeably low.
In addition, his lips lost their color and looked pale.
The servant realized that Dennis was not in a good mood, so he quickly went to order the bath water to be prepared.
Knock..
Knock.
A drop of condensed water fell on the ceiling and made a sound.
Dennis's bathroom was so wet that he couldn't see.
Denis immersed himself in the gradually cooling water, remembering his last encounter with Richard.
“What brings you?”
Dennis said to Richard as soon as he sat down.
“I came to say hello.”
Richard slowly put down the teacup and looked at it.
“I understand that we have something to say hello to.”
“Of course, I'm Therese's full brother.”
Richard responded to Dennis without holding back and smiled broadly.
“Please state your request first, I don’t have much time.”
“Free Therese, divorce her.”
“Ha!
You gave her to me, and now you’re asking for a divorce?”
Dennis raised his eyebrows.
“The Marquis Ingläger will not let Thérèse alone.”
The face of Richard, whom his father called the Marquis, showed resolute sternness.
“Well...that doesn't seem like a good opinion.
It's safer to have a wife under my protection.”
But Richard shook his head.
“You know very well that that girl is trying by all means to put you on the throne.
The more Thérèse becomes tainted by the mud of this court, the more she will find herself unable to get out of this mud battle.”
Then he continued, as if in pain:
“And the Marquis...
The Marquis is a man who does what he says.
He is now silently waiting for Therese to give birth to an heir, but if he waits too long without hearing news, he will expel her.”
“This...”
“I mean, her child will be excluded if it becomes unnecessary.
You know very well what I mean by ‘exclusion’, in his own way.”
Denis looked at Richard silently.
“Before that man runs out of patience, break up with her first.
That will be the only way to save Therese.”
The memory stopped there.
Divorce… something he never thought about.
If he wanted to kill her, he would have killed her, but he never thought of letting her out of the cage.
He sometimes got in the way of what she did to prove that she could put him on the throne herself, but mostly he let her do it knowingly.
Rather, it is more accurate to say: He did not care.
He knew very well that she did things against her will.
The truth is that she looks strong, but she is weak on the inside.
Her insomnia is evidence of that.
She liked to sit quietly, drink tea, and look out into the garden.
And she also loves the forest.
He remembered when he went on a trip to the east earlier, she had stayed in the forest all day.
Dennis wanted to define his feelings for this woman.
Try to enumerate the signs that could be attached to it.
Is it homogeneity?
I think there are many similarities between him and that woman.
Such as losing a mother at a young age, loving tranquility, and suffering from insomnia.
Or pity?
Maybe it's pity.
Pity for someone you hated was in and of itself illogical.
But the truth is that he repeatedly thought that this woman deserved pity.
Knock..
Knock.
A drop of condensed water fell from the ceiling to the floor.
A drop of water passed over his eyebrow and landed on his left cheek.
Like tears.
Dennis got up and got out of the water.
The water had cooled.
Like a child suddenly awakened from a beautiful dream, reality was just cold.