My Sweet Deceiver - Chapter 73

Olivier covered his expression and said with a smile. It was because he realized that it was a question that would trouble Dennis.

 

“This is a bit disconcerting. Who was the first to reach out for help?”

 

“Of course, on our side. However, the deeper you get involved, the more difficult it is for you to get out of the way, as you know better. So please decide at this point.”

 

The dark-skinned man, Robert, looked at Dennis and said.

 

That was right. The protesters were clearly cornered. The ringleader was caught and killed by the King, and Robert, who was helping him, suddenly became the vanguard of the protesters.

 

Robert didn’t believe the prison warden’s words that the ringleader died when he was away. He must have died of torture. Just looking at the corpse floating on the banks of the Allir River, it was confirmed. The body of the ringleader, Yug, looked horrific. His mother, who took his body, passed out, and his wife covered her little children’s eyes, holding back tears.

 

However, the royal family and the head of the prison issued a false statement that even a child would not believe. Robert’s teeth gnashed at the royal attitude. Even if he cursed and spit in the King’s face, it would not be enough.

 

No matter how much you work, the tax rate, which rose little by little every year, and your livelihood did not improve. He was shrinking. Life was eating him up.

 

At that time, the person who came to him was Yug, the leader of this protest. He proposed to Robert, whom he had known since working in the same factory. Let’s dismantle the royal family and create an equal world for nobles and commoners.

 

Robert was a sceptic since birth, but he felt boosted by Yug’s fierceness.

 

Yes, maybe, this time. Looking at Yug, he became hopeful.

 

But that cannot be easy.

 

Robert smiled cynically.

 

When Yug, the centre and flame of the protest, disappeared, the protesters began to fade at once. Some were caught and sent to prison, while others returned home. It was because they ran out of wheat.

 

Even if you lifted the torch for the ideal, you still had to eat. Because earning a living is an important issue.

 

Even though he understood them in his head, Robert had nothing to say. At that time, he was lucky to meet Olivier.

 

There were times when things worked out in an unexpected direction, just like the phrase, “Whatever has to happen, happens.”

 

Olivier, the eldest son of Count Oliver, ran out of the county, so he did not have much discrimination and prejudice against the high and low levels.

 

So he listened to Robert’s request, and did not hesitate to let him meet with the First Prince.

 

It was already the third time Robert had met the First Prince.

 

Robert felt both frustrated and credible about Dennis’ excessive prudence. If he was the First Prince, he should also be the head of the Republic.

 

Dennis picked up a cigar. At first glance, the sight of him lighting a cigar, sitting cross-legged as if at home, seemed relaxed.

 

Of those present, only Olivier noticed that Dennis was lost in thought. It was because he knew Dennis would pick up a cigar whenever he was troubled. Cigar smoke filled the narrow room.

 

After a while, Dennis opened his mouth to speak.

 

“I’m on the side of the King. Do you see it that way?”

 

Smiling, a voice full of calmness, as if he were reciting an extremely obvious fact.

 

Robert shook his head at Dennis’ words. And he answered so that his nervousness would not be revealed.

 

“Of course not, I think. The King’s heart is on the other side. Isn’t one-sided love lonely?”

 

The fact that Elliot favoured Fabrice was a fact known to everyone in Valloise.

 

Because the King didn’t even try to hide it.

 

Dennis let out a laugh.

 

If only Robert hadn’t added that.

 

“Besides, you lost the queen, unfortunately.”

 

“…Please do not refer to my mother carelessly.”

 

Dennis raised his eyebrows and looked at him. In an instant, the atmosphere dropped.

 

Robert replied, bowing his head.

 

“Sorry, Your Highness. I, too, lost my mother in an accident when I was young. I cannot compare the pain.”

 

Dennis glared at Robert for a while.

 

Dennis, who had smoked a cigar, stood up.

 

The sound of his chair being dragged was deafening. Even when he was sitting, he was by no means small. However, as he rose from his seat, an atmosphere overwhelmed the audience.

 

Dennis turned his back and looked out the small window.

 

The light was streaming in through the frosted windows.

 

Finally, he opened his mouth and spoke in a soft voice.

 

“…Let me answer you. If only one condition is met.”

 

* * *

 

Olivier followed Dennis. He strode forward, as if excited.

 

“Why did you make such a condition earlier?”

 

Olivier put on an incomprehensible expression.

 

“What?”

 

Dennis answered in a clear voice and climbed into his carriage. As he was about to close the carriage door, Olivier rode in.

 

“I have something to tell you, so let’s go to the Count’s house first, Your Highness.”

 

After saying that, Sylvan told the coachman to go to Count Chabrol’s house. The wagon moved slowly.

 

Dennis crossed his legs and looked out the window.

 

His eyes were falling again.

 

There was not a day without snow.

 

Dennis opened his mouth as he thought about it.

 

“Wasn’t that what you want to hear from me?”

 

Then Olivier said with a smile on his lips.

 

“It would be accurate to say both. It would be good for you to explain in detail why you said that, and why you never said a word about it until now.”

 

Olivier raised his index finger and waved it, as if telling him to be prepared.

 

“…”

 

“If the answer is insufficient, let alone the academy director.”

 

Olivier gave him an ultimatum, and Dennis sighed heavily before replying.

 

“What are you so curious about?”

 

“A little while ago. Isn’t that a boon? Why are you kicking it away?”

 

“…For my wife in the palace.”

 

“Does the Princess hate protests? Well, she can. Isn’t she also from a great noble family that is one of the best three in Valloise? But… I still don’t understand. Please explain in a more understandable way.”

 

Olivier asked him back with a frustrated expression.

 

Dennis then dismissed it in a word.

 

“Olivier. You just need to know that. If she is not the woman, then I am not doing it.”

 

“…Your Highness. I’m sorry to say this, but maybe you’re feeling a little sick somewhere.”

 

“…”

 

“What does the Princess have to do with the refusal of the Prime Minister?!”

 

Olivier shouted.

 

“If you decide to aim for the throne, shouldn’t you also accept the position of Prime Minister? Why does this work, and why does that not?”

 

Sylvan, who had been listening like a wooden stone, also nodded.

 

In the eyes of others, Dennis’ behaviour was bizarre.

 

Dennis, who has been holding back for years, was determined to claim the throne in just half a year.

 

But he was going to refuse the Prime Minister’s position?

 

Did it make sense?

 

Dennis opened his mouth slowly, still looking out of the window.

 

“I had an argument with my wife not too long ago. The funny thing is, we get into fights more often these days than in the past few years.”

 

“Isn’t that a bad sign?”

 

At Olivier’s worrying words, Dennis answered with a smile.

 

“What shall I say to the unmarried?”

 

“I have a lot of dating experience, so please exclude me, Your Highness.”

 

Sylvan sternly drew a line.

 

“Well, anyway, keep explaining. What is the connection between the Princess and the squabbles, and refusal of the prime ministership?”

 

“I thought succession to the throne was the way for her, but I realized after fighting that it wasn’t true. The more times I appear in public, the more inevitably the woman will be exposed to the public. But you know, we don’t have children. But all those arrows hit her alone. The child is ‘our’ problem, not only hers.”

 

“Isn’t the child problem originally a woman’s problem?”

 

Olivier thought so too. Then Dennis lightly shook his head.

 

“I thought so too. But my wife said she never doubted herself. She said I might not have the baby seeds. My fault here is great, too. I never imagined that my wife was suffering so much from it… I did not know.”

 

“Ahh….”

 

Olivier wondered.

 

Usually, in Valloise, the issue of posterity was often dismissed as a woman’s problem, so Tehez’s words sounded like a pretty radical argument to hear.

 

However, Tehez’s feelings were not incomprehensible.

 

Five years of marriage without a child, the position of a Princess where every move was made public, open contempt and gossip from people, and rumours of divorce and discord that pop up from time to time.

 

It was very frustrating and depressing.

 

“Now I don’t want to see my wife hurt by the gossip and backstory. To do that, I must be forgotten from the public’s memory.”

 

“But will the Princess accept that decision easily? Wasn’t she the one who wanted the throne more than anyone else?”

 

Sylvan also nodded at Olivier’s sharp point.

 

Dennis was well aware of that. His wife desperately wanted him to ascend the throne more than anyone else.

 

Looking at Olivier, Dennis said out of the blue.

 

“Olivier. Haven’t you ever been like, thinking back to the past, ‘Ah, that was the turning point.’”

 

It was a friendly tone, as if he were raising a child.

 

“It’s just like that sometimes. When I think about the past, there are times when I regret why I made that choice, and there are times when I think, ‘That choice was right at that time.’”

 

“Was that a right choice you made to study abroad, in Herzan?”

 

“Uhh… It was.”

 

Olivier said shyly. It seemed that he remembered what made the media buzz as the eldest son of a Count who abandoned his title and left to study abroad.

 

“Of course.”

 

“But do you regret your choice now?”

 

“I gave up my title, but I never regretted the choice.”

 

It was Olivier with a determined tone.

 

He went to Herzan alone without the help of his family and studied music fiercely.

 

Even though he didn’t have money to ride a carriage, he walked every day, and he didn’t have money to buy food, so he soaked a large loaf of bread in water and chewed it all week, but Olivier didn’t regret it for a second. Because it was the life he wanted.

 

“That was the turning point in your life, wasn’t it?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“I think this is a turning point for Valloise.”

 

Dennis’ eyes shone brightly.

 

“…Is that so?”

 

“History is never stagnant in the past but flows into the future. Can we stop the people whose aspirations are for a better country to live in? Even if I’m the next King. It will take more force than it is now to stop their aspirations. It’s not easy to stop a dam once it bursts. I’ll let this wind flow.”

 

“…”

 

“Wouldn’t my wife be convinced if I said this?”

 

Then Dennis smiled.

 

Olivier and Sylvan were in deep thought.

 

(To be continued in the next episode)

 

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