ERTHMB Chapter 179

An Unavoidable Deal

At that, Ian made a deeply uncomfortable face. His expression became so disturbed he looked almost nauseous, prompting Elai to step forward. He gestured with both arms toward Ian.

“Look at him. Does he look like a small child?”

Between the unbuttoned shirt flaps, his bare abdomen showed distinct contours as it rippled. His moon-shadow cast on the ground was large enough to swim in.

Helena withdrew her gaze and shook her head. Elai continued speaking smoothly.

“That’s right. Lady Heidi is no longer the figure in your memory either. What could one learn from someone who used to roll their body around like a ball? Actually… Eden was Lady Heidi’s teacher too.”

“So you’re saying Heidi is a mage?”

“It’s why Dion’s pants frequently fall down whenever she’s in a foul mood.”

Despite saying that, his tone was thoroughly imbued with firm trust. Though whether pants-lowering magic was particularly trustworthy magic was questionable.

Just as Helena was trying to imagine Heidi’s grown-up appearance, Ian cut in.

“In any case, what Beelzebuth is after is my head, so until we settle things, he’ll endlessly replenish his forces everywhere.”

“Then that’s even better.”

To Ian’s deeply suspicious gaze, Helena explained.

“Since they know I’ll go to Rihalt with you anyway, they’ll wait for that moment and use me as bait to threaten you. I can’t be a stumbling block for you. I’ll stay here.”

“Helena—”

“But we’ll arrive in Rihalt according to their plan.”

Elai, who had been listening with arms crossed, also raised his eyebrows and interjected.

“What do you mean?”

Now Helena pulled Elai’s hand over and pressed the brooch into it.

“Elai will take this and go to the Kiera Plains. I mean, let’s turn it around and set a trap ourselves.”

“That’s already a strategic point with sufficient forces stationed there.”

“That may be, but since we’re bait anyway, let’s just shake things up. If movement is detected coming over from the plateau side, we’ll have properly sown confusion.”

Understanding swept across Ian’s and Elai’s faces simultaneously.

Helena turned her attention back to Ian.

“It’ll be an opportunity to reduce any possible difference in troop strength. Watch their movements according to Elai’s trail, and you ambush him by deploying forces around him in response, then surround him.”

“You… prepared?”

Helena’s eyes sparkled with confidence as she recalled various faces. She could already hear the Partren people itching with anticipation.

“More precisely, ‘our’ preparations.”

****

From the next day on, Evergale was turned upside down. Day after day was abuzz with consecutively shocking news.

The first spark was news of a villa fire, evidence discovered there ignited the incident, and it peaked with news of Eugene’s imprisonment.

All newspapers, including dailies and gossip sheets, spared no space to carry news about Evergale. Even going out on the streets, all one heard were words repeating the newspaper contents.

“I knew something was off about the first impression. That woman Natasha—she was a spy trying to revive a fallen nation, wasn’t she?”

“The Grand Duke of Evergale covered for her even knowing this. Unlike his predecessor, he had quite an ambitious temperament. It must have felt like a waste to remain just a duchy.”

“But did he really know? According to the estate servants, they thought she was just a fugitive fallen aristocrat.”

“Well, what difference does that make? Unless that spy appears in person, the Grand Duke won’t escape prison.”

“You think she’s alive? With such a big fire, she must have died.”

“Can’t say for certain until a body is found.”

As long as her ears were open, information came in, so Helena could know Eugene’s whereabouts without even trying.

Since only evidence that Natasha was a spy had been discovered, with nothing particular about Eugene himself, perhaps for that reason he was in a prison that held mid-level criminals despite being draped in suspicion of treason.

Helena pulled the shawl over her head tighter and quickened her pace. Unlike her firm steps, her mind was complicated.

‘Every situation has been moved up significantly. The villa fire happened before even five years passed, and Natasha revealing her identity herself is even more unprecedented. Did Eugene really not know? If he was aware of Cheshire’s existence, he’d have information that could help Ian.’

Half hoping he didn’t know about Natasha, half hoping it would benefit Ian, Helena stood before the thick bars.

Visits were not permitted in principle, but she was able to meet Eugene under the condition of cooperating with a confrontational interrogation.

“Eugene.”

Sitting with his knees bent like mountains, eyes cast downward, he slowly raised his head.

As if he hadn’t expected her to appear, she could see his pupils dilate briefly even in the darkness. He looked a bit weary but maintained his usual upright dignity.

Helena got straight to the point without bothersome preliminaries.

“Did you know about Natasha?”

Eugene snorted coldly and asked back in a sarcastic tone.

“And did you know about that bastard?”

As if he had no intention of listening from the start regardless of what answer Helena gave, he immediately continued speaking.

“You saw my memories too, so you know. Even if things went awry, I was sincere every moment.”

“I didn’t see this life. You and I both changed in this life. Do you really not know where Natasha is?”

“I don’t know, Helena!”

Eugene shouted as he stood up. He came close to the bars and growled low.

“It’ll all sound like excuses now, but I didn’t even know she was a spy. You at least, you at least should believe me.”

Helena suddenly felt this moment was familiar. These were words she’d heard somewhere before.

[I didn’t kill her, Eugene! Really! Please believe me!]

Helena couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh as she met Eugene’s eyes.

“How absurd. That you’re saying the words I poured out while wailing so desperately.”

Helena prepared to leave without lingering. Seeing Eugene’s reaction, it was certain she couldn’t get information about Natasha from him.

“I’ll believe your words are sincere. Since you’re barking so pitifully, how could I not do that much?”

“Stop, Helena!”

Unable to resist Eugene’s desperate cry, when she turned back he made a sound as if his throat was completely choked.

“How… what do I have to do for you to come back?”

Does he really not know? Helena answered with a numb expression.

“If you had known that, I wouldn’t have left you in the first place.”

“……”

“Try kneeling and begging. Like I did. Then I’ll think about it once in a while when life gets boring.”

“—Helena.”

“You’ve already hit rock bottom anyway. What’s there you can’t do?”

It was always she who was sincere. So Eugene must have read that this too was sincere.

Nevertheless, he spoke as if in denial, or as if he’d never made such a premise in the first place.

“You’re meant to come back to me.”

These meager bars couldn’t damage even a fragment of his dignity. Like someone trying to inform her, Eugene amplified his presence.

“The person who owns you from head to toe. That’s me. Helena Evergale belongs to Eugene Evergale.”

Helena left his space with the feeling of spitting.

However, her striding steps stopped before another set of bars. In the prison where Eugene was held, coincidentally, Christine was also there.

They said that after going mad following her trial, perhaps because quite some time had passed, she maintained her sanity for a few hours each day. Helena cursed her misfortune at hitting precisely those hours.

“Dear child, my dear child. Our daughter-in-law. Please help me. That wicked woman is trying to kill our Eugene. You know everything, child. He’s my son. What parent in the world could just watch their child walk into danger?”

Gripping the bars with both hands and pressing her face against them, she rattled on without taking a breath.

Helena truly could not look favorably upon this woman who resembled Eugene.

“Then what about my child? Why on earth did you do that to my child, Madam?”

Those who bore the Evergale name were all the same. They easily betrayed, abandoned, used, and hurt, then clung like this.

“And Madam.”

Helena swatted away the hands that reached out through the bars like claws trying to grab her and said.

“However wretched that mouth of yours may be, you should speak properly. What you need isn’t your son but Grand Duke Eugene Evergale.”

She cut her words short, finding even her exhaled breath wasteful.

“Just as Eugene doesn’t need his mother Christine Evergale.”

****

That day, Helena wasn’t the only one who came to see Eugene.

As dawn deepened, a black shadow melted into the darkness, taking advantage of the guard shift during patrol.

The shadow that infiltrated soundlessly with cat-like movements landed before Eugene and lightly tapped the bars.

Eugene’s head, not asleep, lifted. The robed figure pushed back their hood and revealed their identity.

“It’s been a while, Grand Duke.”

Her shortened golden hair swayed above her shoulders.

Before Eugene could raise his voice, Natasha put her index finger to her lips and made a shushing sound.

“Calm down, Your Grace. I’ve come to make a proposal.”

She pulled up the corners of her mouth and spoke in a whisper.

“It will likely be a deal you cannot refuse.”

“……”

The space filled with silence. But it wasn’t long. Soon Eugene’s bright yellow pupils flashed.

“What do you want?”

“As expected, I appreciate your quick judgment.”

“Your tongue is long, Natasha.”

At Eugene’s unchanged demeanor, Natasha also threw out the main point with her unchanged grinning face.

“Don’t you want to reclaim Your Grace’s reputation and your lovely wife?”