ERTHMB Chapter 130

Marry Me

“What’s with that expression? Is something wrong?”

“……Your Highness seems to be doing well. You look good. Are you planning another amusing prank?”

It was a sharp tone unthinkable from the usual Dion. Heidi’s eyebrows rose with worry mixed with puzzlement.

“What’s this? Why are you so on edge? Something really is wrong. Did brother cause trouble again? Or is Elai bothering you?”

“Everything may be a joke to Lady Heidi, but not to me. You shouldn’t think of me so lightly.”

“Why are you being like this today? Is that all you have to say to someone about to undertake a great deed? This might be the last time we contact each other like this. Say something meaningful and affectionate.”

When Heidi urged him with a pout, Dion rubbed his face wearily. He muttered without raising his head buried in his palms.

“I have something I want to ask. Why on earth did you do that?”

“……What? What are you talking about out of the blue? I may be a mage, but I can’t read minds, Dion. Could you speak more clearly?”

“The blind date with Lady Hamilton last year. Did you really order Elai to ruin it?”

“…….”

Whether she had something to say but wouldn’t, or really had nothing to say at all, Heidi was quiet. Knowing what that silence meant, Dion let out a hollow laugh.

“That’s answer enough. More than sufficient, so I’ll hang up now.”

As he moved to put down the communication device with self-mockery, Heidi hastily stopped him.

“It’s not like that!”

“What isn’t?”

“It wasn’t like a joke or anything. I was more sincere than you. I was the most desperate one.”

“……?”

Who was the one who should be angry here, yet she was being brazenly unreasonable? Her Highness probably wouldn’t understand the sorrow of having to endure helplessly due to the barriers of power.

Dion made a face showing he was completely baffled and displeased. Then Heidi struck her chest as if frustrated.

“Who’s thinking lightly of whom, you clueless pigeon who’s hopeless at reading situations?”

“……Pardon?”

“Isn’t a blind date a place to find a marriage partner?”

“No, so if you knew that, if you knew it was such an important occasion… why on earth did you do such a thing? I thought we were at least comrades!”

“Don’t get married.”

“……Pardon?”

Dion made another dumbfounded sound. Heidi drove the point home even more clearly without giving him time to be more surprised.

“No, don’t marry another woman.”

“What… do you realize what you’re saying right now?”

“Yes, I know. You’re the one who seems not to know, so I’ll say it properly again. Even for me, this requires tremendous courage to say. I won’t say it twice. Listen carefully.”

Dion’s Adam’s apple bobbed greatly. She was the one making a great resolution, yet why was he so nervous? Perhaps it was because he was finally beginning to guess what she might say.

Heidi faced him, rigid with tension, and took a deep breath. Laughter threatened to burst from her inflated lungs, but she barely held it back. To think the day would come when Heidi Ravendeim Sohl Fevernheim would confess first.

Of course, having lived a somewhat bitter life, it was too late to harbor fantasies of honey-sweet confessions. But it felt unfair to have even the chance to imagine taken away.

So Heidi, like Ian occasionally picturing Helena, would sometimes envision her future husband.

If someone she really liked appeared, she would ask for a wonderful proposal. She would ask them to lay rose petals on the ground, light colorful candles, and confess while looking at her with the most affectionate eyes in the world.

‘But… I never thought I’d be the one doing it.’

If there was fault, it was hers for giving her heart to a man with eyes in the back of his head. There was no wonderful proposal, no path thickly carpeted with roses. Not even colorful candles, only the crude light of the communication device.

But there were the most affectionate eyes in the world. That didn’t feel too bad. Rather, it was far better than the other three combined. So Heidi finally let out a small laugh.

Air rushed out of her lungs, and Heidi spoke as if shooting fireworks into some dark night sky.

“Marry me.”

This might really be the last time I see that dumbfounded face of yours.

Just say one meaningful and affectionate word. Yes, or okay.

Just say something good anyway.

***

‘Still dark.’

Helena woke early in the dawn. The morning at the Grand Duke’s residence was much quieter compared to the guild, but she couldn’t sleep deeply. Instead of trying to sleep more, Helena got up and dressed herself.

However, while she was busily brushing her hair, she heard a small knock. Helena didn’t answer immediately but waited.

If it were Madam Tara, the servants, or Eugene, they would have announced their names first. But no sound came from whoever was outside the door.

Still, she felt someone was standing beyond the door. Helena put a shawl over her negligee and approached the door.

When she turned the doorknob, brilliant blonde hair was the first thing that caught her eye. It was Natasha. The woman who had finally melted her long-held hatred into resignation. Eugene’s love, who still looked at her with an endlessly innocent face.

Whether she couldn’t sleep either, or had something she wanted to say without Eugene knowing, she greeted her in a somewhat quiet voice.

“It’s been a while, Madam.”

Helena was somewhat tired but felt grateful at this moment for waking early. If she had encountered her in a half-awake state, she might have dismissed it as a dream.

“You were awake after all.”

“What do you want?”

A colder voice than she expected came out, surprising Helena inwardly. Now her heart didn’t pound when facing Natasha this close. Even when that innocent voice called her, even seeing that swollen belly.

Far from anger, she felt no emotion at all, which was strange. If she had to find just one thing…

‘Pitiful.’

She pitied her for throwing herself into the dying embers that would eventually lose. She was also curious about what kind of face she would make when what she believed to be eternal love finally scattered like white smoke.

‘Will she cry and wail? Will she curse and rage? Or will you make the same face I do? Did you ever think about me like this?’

But Natasha, as if she knew nothing of such things, or as if it didn’t matter what happened, showed her usual smile.

“Do you really need a reason to become friends?”

“I’m not fond of wasting time with unnecessary small talk.”

“My, how alike you and His Grace are. You’re truly a married couple.”

“……I said I’m not fond of it.”

“I have something important to tell you. Do you have time?”

Contrary to her presumptuous words, she stood still and waited. It seemed she would stay that way until Helena’s permission came.

She held a small rattan basket with a lid in her hands, and when Natasha lifted it, a strange fragrance and rattling sound emerged.

“His Grace has also permitted this. Even if not for that reason, there’s something I personally want you to know.”

What business required such secretive early morning visits? Though it didn’t make sense, Helena didn’t ask further and stepped aside. As soon as a gap appeared, Natasha slipped inside.

Unlike her patient waiting moments before, she strode boldly into the center of the room. Then, setting the basket on the arranged table, Natasha said:

“I heard you’ve had two miscarriages.”

“…….”

Helena doubted her ears. But Natasha paid no heed and drooped her eyebrows like an actor on stage.

“It must have been very hard. Your body probably isn’t healthy enough to conceive again.”

“If that’s what you urgently had to say, I’d like you to leave now, Natasha.”

Helena nodded toward the still-open door. Instead of agreeing to do so, Natasha opened the basket’s lid and asked casually:

“Don’t you want to resent someone?”

“Who, you?”

“No, the Dowager Duchess.”

“I don’t understand why you’re deciding who I should resent.”

Helena frowned at the name that came up out of nowhere. Then Natasha widened her eyes and covered her mouth with her hand.

“Oh my, you didn’t know yet. I thought you knew since His Grace looked for you and immediately sold Grand Bleu.”

“……He sold Grand Bleu? Then what about the Dowager Duchess?”

“She naturally returned to the main house. That’s why she doesn’t come here often now.”

It was a question about whether Christine had just watched it all happen, but Natasha answered as if it were a natural procedure. Her tone was so casual, like reciting a breakfast menu, that it became even harder for Helena to digest.

‘Sold Grand Bleu?’

Grand Bleu was the mansion Christine cherished like life itself. Just as she loved Eugene, Christine loved Grand Bleu. It was her hometown and home that she cared for and cherished like a living being, just as Partren was to her.

Eugene must have known this well too – if anyone understood Aslan Evergale and Christine, it would be him. Helena couldn’t fathom why he had made such a choice.

Glancing at the confused Helena, Natasha drew her attention.

“Their relationship has been very turbulent since that day too. They’re practically strangers now. No, enemies might be better.”

“Eugene…? Why?”

She couldn’t help but ask. Natasha paused her movements briefly, smiled mysteriously, then answered while maintaining her carefree tone as if it were all part of the flow.

“Well, because Christine is the one who caused your miscarriages.”

“……!”

Helena felt the ground beneath her feet give way for a moment. Or perhaps the force that had been holding her feet to the ground vanished instantly. She didn’t even realize she had stopped breathing.

That woman took my children twice.

Truly Christine Evergale, Eugene’s mother.