It was a Political Marriage, But I’m Being Loved - Chapter 76

“Father! Why aren’t you doing anything?! The Bianchi family is practically the leader of the pro-imperial nobility…! Isn’t now the time for the noble houses to stand united and show strength?!”

Susanna’s voice rang through the room, sharp and desperate like a cry. Marquis Leroy looked at her with a tired, irritated gaze. Father and daughter had been arguing over the same matter for days now.

Normally, his daughter would never raise her voice to him. But this time was different. Leroy Marquis knew well enough—Susanna had been romantically involved, or at least infatuated, with Valter Bianchi.

“Don’t be ridiculous. His Majesty has already declared Valter Bianchi guilty of treason. Siding with House Bianchi now would be a surefire way to fall out of the Emperor’s favor—”

“There’s no way Lord Valter committed treason!!”

He raised his voice too, but Susanna didn’t back down. Unlike the shallow and politically calculating princess, she had always considered Valter Bianchi the love of her life.

“Why would he ever try to kidnap the Princess? He never once showed her any affection! She was the one who kept following him!”

“The reports say he orchestrated the kidnapping and his knights were caught not far from the site by the Tower Lord himself!”

The Marquis shouted in frustration, but Susanna remained defiant. She shook her head in disbelief, her voice trembling with emotion.

“It’s all a setup! The Princess acted out of jealousy—everyone knows it! Why would Lord Valter have any reason to arrange a kidnapping? The Princess asked him to run away with her, and when he turned her down, she took revenge by framing him—!”

“Susanna Leroy!!”

The Marquis’s face turned red with fury at her outrageous claims. His sharp voice silenced the room. Then he turned to the maid who stood quietly behind Susanna.

“She hasn’t been spreading these delusions to other nobles, has she? Speak the truth!”

Startled, the maid took a hesitant step forward and spoke.

“My lady—your wife, I mean—has not allowed the young miss to leave the house. She also instructed the staff to deny any visits from other ladies of society.”

The Marchioness, unable to bear Susanna’s outbursts, had taken to bed with a headache. But even in that state, she had been firm with the servants, making sure no word of Susanna’s obsession spread.

Relieved, the Marquis gave a curt nod and turned his gaze back to his trembling daughter.

Foolish girl. Valter never once looked at her the way she hoped.

Other young noblewomen who had been caught up in similar rumors with Valter had long since denied any connection. Only his daughter was still clinging to her foolish dreams.

Treason was not something to be taken lightly. And the fact that Valter had made several questionable moves immediately after the royal engagement was announced only made him look guiltier.

Not to mention, there had been an assassination attempt on the Crown Prince on the same day Achilles received his noble title. Many nobles now believed Valter had aimed not for the Princess’s affection—but for the throne itself.

It was entirely plausible he had no interest in the Princess at all—but coveted the imperial crown.

“Please, Father! Help Lord Valter! He’s innocent, I know it!”

Susanna cried, now on her knees at his feet. But instead of softening, the Marquis’s expression only hardened.

“Lock her in her room. She’s not to leave unless I give permission. Nail the windows shut and post a guard at the door.”

“Father!”

Susanna’s voice cracked with shock, but the Marquis merely sent her a cold look. At his gesture, the maids and attendants rushed to her side.

“No—please! Don’t abandon Lord Valter! Our family and the Bianchis have always been close, Father!”

Even as she was carried away, thrashing and shouting, Susanna’s cries echoed down the hallway. Marquis Leroy rubbed at his temples in frustration.

“…Once the trial is over, she’ll come to her senses. Until then, don’t let her out of that room. I’ll speak to the Marchioness myself.”

“Yes, my lord.”

He spoke to the butler with a dismissive wave and then left the room. Returning to his study, he sank into his chair behind the desk.

If Valter Bianchi were sentenced to death, Susanna would be devastated—but at least this nonsense would finally come to an end.

“The sooner the Princess’s wedding is finalized and the trial begins, the better.”

The only consolation was that none of his other daughters seemed to share Susanna’s madness.

“Hh… hic… ngh…”

Susanna lay collapsed on her bed, sobbing uncontrollably as the daylight faded into dusk. She hadn’t even bothered to light a lamp. Her maids and siblings had tried to speak to her, to calm her down, but not a single person had dared to open the door.

The windows were nailed shut. A maid stood guard outside her door. She was completely confined—and that terrified her. She couldn’t stop imagining something terrible happening to her beloved Valter Bianchi while she was helpless, locked away.

“How could the Princess do this? Even if she loved him, this is far too cruel!”

Susanna truly believed the theory she had shouted at Marquis Leroy earlier. She refused to believe the reports that Valter had caused a scene at the palace or that he had been placed under arrest. She thought it was all part of an elaborate imperial plot to undermine House Bianchi.

Valter was too brilliant, too beautiful. Even the Crown Prince couldn’t compare to his reputation. Of course they would try to slander him.

“Do people think I’m just being emotional? Who else has spent as much time near Lord Valter and the Princess as I have?”

She remembered the time she had been invited to the northern fortress by the Princess herself. Valter had given his attention not to Charlize but to her and the other noble ladies—escorting them, smiling for them. The Princess had been completely ignored. That memory had been the highlight of Susanna’s life.

Since then, he hadn’t spoken to her again—but she held onto that memory like a treasure.

“I never believed the scandal about Lady Rebecca Roland either! That wretched girl spread lies just to shake Lord Valter’s heart!”

Susanna had even tried to rally like-minded young ladies to take revenge on Lady Roland. She’d planned to ruin her face—believing that if she wasn’t beautiful anymore, she’d stop hovering around Valter.

They had tried to involve Princess Charlize in their scheme too, but it had failed—thanks to that arrogant Amelia, now Duchess Gianni. Amelia had always been haughty and oblivious to the ways of the world.

“I should have known back then that the Princess was a traitor!”

To hold a grudge for being rejected by Valter, then turn on him just because she was getting married? It was beyond petty—it was cruel.

Susanna was convinced that the Tower Lord must have been part of the scheme too. The Princess could never have done something so vile on her own.

“Even the Crown Prince must be in on it! They’re all conspiring to destroy House Bianchi! I have to tell His Majesty…!”

She believed—truly believed—that the Emperor would understand the truth. House Bianchi had served the imperial family loyally for centuries. If the Emperor couldn’t see that, then perhaps he wasn’t worthy of the throne.

“Now’s the time for the nobility to stand together and protect House Bianchi… But why won’t Father…?”

Curled up and sobbing into her blanket, Susanna suddenly felt a chill.

She gasped and sat up.

The windows had been nailed shut. She knew that. Even the bathroom window had been sealed. So why was there cold air?

“Wh… what…?”

She turned toward the window—and froze.

A tall man stood there, silhouetted by the last golden light of sunset. The window was wide open, and the curtains flapped softly in the wind.

Susanna opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out.

「There is no need to be afraid, my lady. 」

Iaoros stood by the window, smiling with a face as beautiful as it was unnatural.

Meanwhile, in the Imperial Palace Garden…

The garden had been opened to guests for the evening banquet, but it was still empty. The Crown Prince had just arrived at the banquet hall and was still engaged in conversation with diplomats.

Some nobles, seeing Princess Charlize and Achilles slip out into the garden, had started to move as if to follow them but the couple had vanished almost immediately.

“Huh? Where did they go?”

One noble, hoping to at least exchange a few words with the soon-to-be Grand Duke and Tower Lord, blinked in confusion. He had seen them walking behind some hedges, but then… they were just gone.

— They won’t be able to see or follow us.

Perhaps a high-level mage might be able to sense the magical field. A spellcaster from the East, trained in different ways of using energy, might catch something.

But Achilles had used magic to bend space, splitting the garden into separate dimensions. No ordinary person could enter the area they were now in.

Charlize stood within that conjured world, arms wrapped gently around Achilles’s waist, eyes wide with wonder. She watched his spell with admiration.

Ever since she had begun studying magic, his power felt even more magnificent to her.

“Will I ever be able to use magic like this one day?”

Her energy, her mana was different from Achilles’s, and he had explained that her learning path would be unlike anyone else’s. She was studying slowly, carefully, but it was still incredibly difficult.

That man, he seems to have sensed your power.

Prince Ryuhan?

Yes.

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