Chapter 78…

An idle wish.

But that only lasted a moment. The unnatural expression was quickly erased and a smile returned to his face. He then patted Altair on the shoulder in a friendly way. Altair was much taller and his arms were outstretched, making his posture quite awkward, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“Of course. Even though they passed away, they are still your father-in-law and mother-in-law, so you certainly should pay your respect. I will guide you there right away.”

As if to prove they were not empty words, the Marquis immediately took the lead and began guiding Altair. But at the same time, he did not forget to wink to give instructions to the servant who was following him. It was a signal that he would buy as much time as possible to get to the cemetery for them to arrange things in the meantime.

I don’t know if he understood correctly…

The Marquis watched the servant who had received the signal quietly leave the place, and then laid the groundwork on Altair’s part.

“If you go to the cemetery, you will see that it is a bit disorganised. I hope you’re not too surprised.”

“The family grave is supposedly managed by the family grave keeper. Why is it disorganised?”

“That’s what I’m trying to say.”

The Marquis sighed deeply, as if he was embarrassed to even mention it. He took a quick glance at the servants, and whispered to Altair.

“My late brother, the previous marquis, almost destroyed this household. There is no one in this family who doesn’t know that…Everyone was treated harshly. It’s hard to mention this as he’s my older brother with whom I share the same bloodline, but what can I do? It’s the truth.”

He was trying to make excuses for the neglected and unmaintained cemetery.

“Now that you are part of the family, there is nothing to hide. My late brother and his wife invested in worthless businesses and turned into gambling maniacs … But fortunately I managed to rectify the situation when I inherited the title.”

Although he was continuing the conversation calmly, the Marquis was actually in such a tough spot that he was on the verge of breaking into a cold sweat. The Marquis thought his good-for-nothing niece had no talent for seducing men, but ever since they arrived at the mansion, it almost seemed as if the Baron was wrapped around her finger. Additionally, it was difficult to keep his calm because the Baron’s every move put him in an awkward spot. Since Nadia was timid, he assumed she wouldn’t be able to say a word to her husband. If she had told the Baron about the way she was treated here… All of the grand plans the Marquis had made would end up in vain. He had to turn Nadia into a bitch, win the Baron over as an ally, and siphon off his fortune. However, unlike the Marquis who was very nervous, Altair’s reaction was quite nonchalant.

“Yes. Nadia also told me that something like that had happened.”

“Is-, is that so? Nadia said so?”

‘How much did this guy hear?’

The Marquis’ heart sank to the ground. But luckily, Altair’s gaze did not contain any hostility towards him.

“Thank you for not abandoning your niece and taking good care of her in such a difficult situation. Thanks to you, I was able to marry Nadia.”

“Uh, right… yes…”

It was a completely different reaction to what he expected. The Marquis nodded awkwardly at the seemingly friendly attitude rather than hostility. But before long, his eyes widened as Altair continued.

“The orchard? Could it be the place where fruit to be presented to the emperor is grown…”

“Oh. So you know.”

There’s no way he wouldn’t know.

How valuable that piece of land is!

The Marquis forgot that he was supposedly smiling with the face of a benevolent uncle, and his eyes gleamed with greed. But he was quick to adjust his expression.

“Ahem! No, well, there’s no need for that… but if that makes you feel at ease…”

Seeing the Marquis unable to hide the twitching corner of his mouth, Cain glanced at Altair in bewilderment. He couldn’t understand what his lord was thinking to hand over the precious land to this strange man.

What…Since when did he think of that??

Altair’s instructions were always assertive and unbiased, so most of the time they carried out orders without knowing what was going on. But of course, if they followed his instructions, things would soon be completed in a way that was beneficial to them. So, this time too, Cain just silently watched what Altair was doing.

“If you accept, let us visit the cemetery and then come back to talk more about this.”

“Yes, yes! Let’s visit the cemetery first!”

The Marquis, who had been walking sluggishly, began to move faster. Cain shook his head slightly in a fed-up manner as he watched Altair’s lips curl into a smile as he followed the Marquis’ quicken steps.

Our lord sure is insidious.

That’s why he could trust him. Cain followed Altair in a hurried but not urgent pace, and a smile similar to that of his lord appeared on his lips.

❈❈❈

What on earth…

Nadia glanced at Prince Orca walking next to her. His behavior was so natural that even a stranger would think they were people who had promised to meet from the beginning. Perhaps because of his overly comfortable appearance, Marie and Anna, who were accompanying her, were naturally pushed back and were whispering awkwardly. Meanwhile, the person accompanying Prince Orca…

Huh?

Her discontent thoughts suddenly stopped. No matter how many times she looked around, there were no escorts accompanying Prince Orca, not even one servant. It was strange to see someone as highly as a prince walking around without one single escort. Prince Orca, who noticed her visibly confused look, asked.

“What are you looking for?”

“I can’t see Your Highness’ escort or servant.”

“Oh. Is it necessary to have an escort or servant?”

“Rather than saying it’s necessary…”

Wasn’t that just the norm? As she tilted her head in bafflement, Orca smiled and looked around him.

“Look. No one is interested in me. It’s different for my older brothers, when every time they go out, people flock around them and cause a fuss. I guess it could be said to be a privilege of the royal family to be unpopular among the people.”

An unknown royal member, one that did not receive much attention from people. He laughed like it was a funny thing, but it felt like it was strangely self-deprecating.

But I…

“I’m really envious of you.”

He could enjoy freedom out of everyone’s attention while enjoying the rights of the royal family in moderation!

But of course, it won’t fit the ambitious Prince Orca.

Prince Orca’s eyes widened as if he couldn’t understand Nadia’s reaction. The pupils, which were usually hidden by the curved eyes from smiling, were clearly looking straight at her.

“You’re envious?”

“Yes. You know what? Many people have dreams like, ‘I’m super rich, but I hope no one knows about me!’”

Of course, I am one of those people.

“You could say that it is a desire to enjoy the comfort that the privileges provide while simultaneously avoiding the attention that comes with them.”

“Huh, I’ve never thought about it that way.”

Prince Orca tilted his head as if he really didn’t understand.

That’s understandable.

“Your Highness works hard at everything. It must not be easy to understand such complacency.”

Were all villains naturally diligent? From the perspective of someone who was diligently plotting and trying to achieve a huge goal, it would be difficult to understand an idle wish like ‘I’m super rich, but I hope no one knows about me!’

Besides, is Orca even a normal villain?

He was an ambitious villain who overturned the entire empire on a large scale. As Nadia became convinced, she turned to Orca and saw that he was looking at her with an even more strange expression. When she tilted her head, wondering if she had said something out of line, the corners of his mouth slightly curved up.

“For someone like me who receives nursing care all day, the term hard-work …doesn’t seem like a good fit.”

Oops.

Now that she thought about it, it was indeed like what he said. No one knew how busy he was plotting in discretion! Prince Orca spoke so naturally and comfortably that she let down her guard and ended up talking nonsense. Her eyes flitted here and there as she tried to find an excuse.

“Uh … From an admirer’s perspective, it looks like you work hard at everything! Wouldn’t traveling far away for treatment to restore your health be an outstanding effort? Hahaha…”

As Nadia returned to her role of being an ardent admirer, Prince Orca burst into laughter and his expression turned normal again.

“I’m lucky to have such a huge admirer. In return, I will escort you properly today. I think I know what the Baroness is trying to do. You’re trying to imprint Aylesford’s name in the capital, right?”

Prince Orca extended his hand to her, precisely stating her purpose. She tried to refuse at first, but…

“If that’s the case, it would be best to find the merchant where rumours travel the fastest. There is no need to go to many places. That alone is perfect for spreading rumours.”

Oh? So there’s no need to go to many places?!

It was a very tempting offer for a timid person like herself.

❈❈❈

After finishing the conversation with the marquis, Altair walked down the hallway with an expressionless face.

I think I can get what I want, but…

He wasted too much of his energy trying to keep the Marquis off his guard by saying things he didn’t mean to keep him flattered. Altair was confident in his physical strength, but this emotional exhaustion was a slightly different problem. Still, when he got back to the room, Nadia would be there. He felt like he could breathe a little easier when he thought that he could meet someone he was comfortable with and get rid of his fake mask. But contrary to Altair’s expectation, the room was empty. Looking at the empty room with a frown, he suddenly remembered Nadia said that she was going to the downtown area for shopping early in the morning.

But it’s already…

Outside the window, the sun was already setting.

It’s too late.

Altair entered the room with thoughts that he couldn’t tell whether it was dissatisfaction or worry, and there was a small bird sitting by the window. He noticed that it was a messenger bird with a note hanging from its leg. When he opened the window and took down the note attached to its leg, he saw a small secret symbol used by Aylesford’s knights drawn on the outside. Apparently, the knights that Cain had assigned to Nadia had sent him a messenger bird.

They followed her just for shopping, but there is a need to send a messenger bird?

If the knights had been able to handle the situation on their own, they would not have sent a messenger bird. Altair felt his mind filled with worry as he opened the rolled up note with somewhat hasty movements. And as soon as he checked the contents, his face crumpled. [Prince Orca. Approach the Madame. Tag along with her. Suspicious store. Enter. Difficult to follow.] At the end of the information listed in short words was an address that appeared to be the suspicious store.

Nadia’s with that suspicious guy…

Crumpling up the note out of frustration, Altair’s thoughts were running wild, and his body also refused to remain still.

“Aaah!”

A startled servant screamed upon witnessing the sight of Altair jumping out of the window and falling to the ground instead of walking out the door normally, but he couldn’t care less. He was picturing the fastest route to his destination. The destination, of course, was the address written on the note.