127. Declaration of war
“Give up.”
Louise, who had been glaring at him with a fierce look as if she was going to devour him, finally opened her mouth.
“The Grand Duchess will never return.”
A voice that was babbling something that didn't even sound like words rang out loud.
Bjorn sat cross-legged, scoffing as if to say it was absurd. His polished shoes gleamed in the fireplace light.
“Why? Is she still feeling down?”
Bjorn, who had been slowly wandering the living room, stopped once again in front of Louise's face. Despite her relaxed posture, the hand gripping the armrest of the wing chair held an unconscious strength.
"Then I wouldn't have told you this. I sincerely apologized, and the Grand Duchess understood and accepted it."
"However?"
As the hypocritical smile disappeared, Bjorn's face became as cold as ice.
“It seems like you have no idea what kind of person your wife is, even though you’ve been living with her for a year.”
Louise, who had carefully examined the furrowed eyebrows, the space between his eyes, and the crooked lips, sighed as if she were pitying the poor child.
It would have been easier if Erna had been angry. She could have apologized and tried to persuade her again and again to change her mind.
But Erna laughed.
She expressed his sincere gratitude for the apology. She also said she fully understood the misunderstanding that could have arisen because she didn't know the truth. Erna said it was okay and hoped Louise would now feel at ease. There was no trace of lingering attachment to the Grand Duchess position in her expression.
Leonid, growing impatient, explained the atmosphere in Schwerin, where the Grand Duke was longing for her, but this too had little effect. She seemed slightly surprised at the news that Bjorn had injured his arm in a fight at the Harbour party, but that was all.
'I hope he recovers quickly.'
Erna, lost in thought for a moment, offered a polite greeting, her voice laced with a hint of concern. Seeing her detached demeanor, devoid of even the slightest intention of feigning hypocrisy, Louise knew the moment. The innocent Princess who had been so captivated by her husband was no longer there.
When Leonid and Luise could no longer find words, a heavy silence fell. Erna, who had been sitting quietly, watched them and called for the maid to bring her new tea. Her consistently calm and gentle demeanor felt like an impassable wall.
The visit ultimately yielded no results.
Erna offered them a night's stay, but they politely declined. It seemed absurd to put Erna through such a difficult task, since she had already decided to turn away.
The two siblings who left quietly returned quietly empty-handed.
Louise, in a tone devoid of emotion, told him the outcome of their futile journey. Bjorn, leaning back listlessly in his chair, stared intently at the fireplace's glow. The only response he showed was a slow, trembling groan at the mention of Erna.
"The Grand Duchess seemed relieved. It seemed she had decided to divorce."
As the moment arrived to deliver the most embarrassing words, Louise's composure cracked. She was forced to play the villain, not the villain. She suddenly felt envious of Leonid, who had gone straight to the palace for his next appointment.
"Divorce?"
Bjorn opened his eyes, which had been tightly shut, and turned his head. His sunken gaze was as cold as shards of ice.
"Getting a divorce? Who? Erna?"
Bjorn chuckled as if it were ridiculous.
“Just accept reality.”
"Reality? What do you know about Erna?"
“At least I think I know more than my brother.”
Louise let out a loud scream, her anger growing unbearable.
She really doesn't understand what's going on inside.
Did he remarry an easy woman because he didn't want to be involved with Gladys anymore?
That reason did not explain the misbehavior Bjorn had been displaying since the Grand Duchess left.
So, did you truly love her?
But that didn't feel like a good reason either.
"I understand you kept a secret from your grandmother and me. But how could you deceive the Grand Duchess, who has lived with such misunderstandings and accusations because of Gladys?"
Louise burst out laughing in amazement.
Leonid said it was a secret he hadn't even told his wife, but she didn't believe him. Still, they were a married couple. She thought he would have told Erna, even if it meant keeping it a secret. When Erna confirmed it wasn't true, she felt devastated. She couldn't bring herself to ask Erna to return to his side any longer.
“Leave it at that, Louise.”
Bjorn sighed in annoyance and stood up. Louise's eyes, glaring at his back, gleamed as if they held a blue flame.
“I can’t live with a husband like you either!”
The rebuke, uttered with anger, shook the heavy, heavy air in the drawing room. Bjorn stopped walking and cast a glance over his shoulder, meeting Louise's gaze.
"While Bjorn Dneister may be a great Prince of Letzen, he's the worst husband I can think of. Understand?"
"Well."
Bjorn, who had been staring at Louise quietly, smiled and wiggled his eyebrows.
“I see.”
With those calm words, Bjorn turned around again.
Leaving Louise speechless, Bjorn leisurely left the drawing room. All that remained was the sound of the door slamming shut, almost shattered.
The click-clack of her shoes echoed across the frozen stone path. The cloud-covered sky and the bitter winter wind were no problem for Lisa.
After delivering the flowers to Alessine's General Store, Lisa headed straight for the post office. In the once-desolate town square, an open-air market selling holiday goods had been set up.
A stall brimming with pretty decorations and sweets caught Lisa's attention, but she didn't look away and just cut through the bustling crowd. Her priority was to finish Erna's errand.
It was Lisa who strongly dissuaded Erna from accompanying her.
Erna said it was just a mild cold, but she couldn't quite put her mind at ease. Even the claim that she had fully recovered was equally dubious.
So, Lisa must do her best to complete the task assigned to her.
Lisa, having left the square, opened the post office door with a grave expression. It was a familiar place, having visited it several times to mail letters to Mrs. Fitz. The only difference was that she had one more letter to send.
Lisa, catching her breath, pulled out two envelopes she'd kept deep in her coat pocket. One was for her, the other for Erna, but they were both addressed to Schwerin Palace.
Since the day the royal family attacked, Erna's walks have become longer. She's been walking through the fields until her face turns red from the cold, and she's finally caught a cold.
The fact that she hadn't budged even after the Crown Prince and Princess visited her and tried to persuade her made it clear that she was determined not to return to her position as Grand Duchess. Lisa's mouth itched to ask what change of heart had caused her to write a letter to her husband, who had never once asked how she was doing, but she held it back. Whatever the reason, Erna was right. Even if she was wrong, she was right. That belief still held true. If Erna were to return to being a lady of the Baden family, Lisa would become her maid, too.
“Are you going to send that letter?”
The clerk, who was staring blankly at Lisa, nagged her.
“Uh... yes!”
Lisa hurried to the reception desk.
It seemed like she could finally give up her role as a spy at Schwerin Palace, but she was still attached to the Grand Duke's residence. Since she hadn't written even a single word about the Grand Duchess, the letter couldn't even be considered proper intelligence. It was a compromise Lisa had found, unable to betray Erna or break her promise to Madame Fitz.
“Please give it to me!”
Lisa's clear voice echoed through the small post office in the rural village.
“By the fastest mail possible!”
This deer is crazy.
This was the conclusion that Bjorn reached after reading the letter from Erna.
Leonid and Louise gone all the way to the countryside to visit her, bringing up divorce and all, and now, what on earth was she talking about? Two months after her midnight escape, she'd sent him a mere letter, and Bjorn chuckled a little.
“Please open it.”
Mrs. Fitz, who had delivered the mail, suggested it subtly.
Bjorn answered by tossing the letter onto the table. Judging by the weight of the envelope, it seemed like she'd written a rather long letter.
“I will take care of my own business.”
“Your Highness.”
“So the nanny does the nanny’s job.”
Even as he twirled lightly, Bjorn's gaze remained heavy. Mrs. Fitz swallowed a sigh and unfolded the letter Lisa had sent.
The wolf came back, very annoyed.
It was a change that had begun the afternoon Princess Louise had visited. Bjorn's irritability, so high that it made the pleasant mood of the past few days seem meaningless, had once again left the Schwerin Palace staff walking a tightrope. Reporting Lisa's letter, filled with meaningless anecdotes, at this time was quite embarrassing, even for Madame Fitz, who knew the Prince better than anyone.
“The weather has turned very cold in the past few days, but fortunately, the Baden family is well prepared.”
Mrs. Pitts relayed the news, in a somewhat sanitized tone, that a sudden cold snap had forced her to hurry up and finish dressing her newborn calf.
“It seems like Madam is actively interacting with the villagers.”
That's about all the rambling about the country town doctor, the post office clerk, and the general store owner.
After Mrs. Fitz withdrew with some more news, a profound silence fell over the study. Only after Bjorn had smoked a cigar did he glance at the thick envelope carelessly tossed to the ground.
Bjorn sighed slowly and held the letter in his stiff hands.
Erna.
Erna left only her name on the envelope of this letter. A slight tremble ran through Bjorn's fingertips as he quietly stroked the neat handwriting.
A clear voice, like a songbird, came to mind. The sweet scent of her body seemed to brush past his nostrils. Erna. It was a night when he felt as if he could simply whisper her name and her small, soft body would be embraced. As always, he held her in his arms, eyes filled with love.
Bjorn opened the envelope decisively, as if to erase those sordid thoughts. The sound of the paper knife being set down and the paper being unfolded permeated the silence.
When Bjorn found out why Erna's letter was so thick, he couldn't help but chuckle.
The divorce papers arrived.
It was a declaration of war from a mad deer.
“Give up.”
Louise, who had been glaring at him with a fierce look as if she was going to devour him, finally opened her mouth.
“The Grand Duchess will never return.”
A voice that was babbling something that didn't even sound like words rang out loud.
Bjorn sat cross-legged, scoffing as if to say it was absurd. His polished shoes gleamed in the fireplace light.
“Why? Is she still feeling down?”
Bjorn, who had been slowly wandering the living room, stopped once again in front of Louise's face. Despite her relaxed posture, the hand gripping the armrest of the wing chair held an unconscious strength.
"Then I wouldn't have told you this. I sincerely apologized, and the Grand Duchess understood and accepted it."
"However?"
As the hypocritical smile disappeared, Bjorn's face became as cold as ice.
“It seems like you have no idea what kind of person your wife is, even though you’ve been living with her for a year.”
Louise, who had carefully examined the furrowed eyebrows, the space between his eyes, and the crooked lips, sighed as if she were pitying the poor child.
It would have been easier if Erna had been angry. She could have apologized and tried to persuade her again and again to change her mind.
But Erna laughed.
She expressed his sincere gratitude for the apology. She also said she fully understood the misunderstanding that could have arisen because she didn't know the truth. Erna said it was okay and hoped Louise would now feel at ease. There was no trace of lingering attachment to the Grand Duchess position in her expression.
Leonid, growing impatient, explained the atmosphere in Schwerin, where the Grand Duke was longing for her, but this too had little effect. She seemed slightly surprised at the news that Bjorn had injured his arm in a fight at the Harbour party, but that was all.
'I hope he recovers quickly.'
Erna, lost in thought for a moment, offered a polite greeting, her voice laced with a hint of concern. Seeing her detached demeanor, devoid of even the slightest intention of feigning hypocrisy, Louise knew the moment. The innocent Princess who had been so captivated by her husband was no longer there.
When Leonid and Luise could no longer find words, a heavy silence fell. Erna, who had been sitting quietly, watched them and called for the maid to bring her new tea. Her consistently calm and gentle demeanor felt like an impassable wall.
The visit ultimately yielded no results.
Erna offered them a night's stay, but they politely declined. It seemed absurd to put Erna through such a difficult task, since she had already decided to turn away.
The two siblings who left quietly returned quietly empty-handed.
Louise, in a tone devoid of emotion, told him the outcome of their futile journey. Bjorn, leaning back listlessly in his chair, stared intently at the fireplace's glow. The only response he showed was a slow, trembling groan at the mention of Erna.
"The Grand Duchess seemed relieved. It seemed she had decided to divorce."
As the moment arrived to deliver the most embarrassing words, Louise's composure cracked. She was forced to play the villain, not the villain. She suddenly felt envious of Leonid, who had gone straight to the palace for his next appointment.
"Divorce?"
Bjorn opened his eyes, which had been tightly shut, and turned his head. His sunken gaze was as cold as shards of ice.
"Getting a divorce? Who? Erna?"
Bjorn chuckled as if it were ridiculous.
“Just accept reality.”
"Reality? What do you know about Erna?"
“At least I think I know more than my brother.”
Louise let out a loud scream, her anger growing unbearable.
She really doesn't understand what's going on inside.
Did he remarry an easy woman because he didn't want to be involved with Gladys anymore?
That reason did not explain the misbehavior Bjorn had been displaying since the Grand Duchess left.
So, did you truly love her?
But that didn't feel like a good reason either.
"I understand you kept a secret from your grandmother and me. But how could you deceive the Grand Duchess, who has lived with such misunderstandings and accusations because of Gladys?"
Louise burst out laughing in amazement.
Leonid said it was a secret he hadn't even told his wife, but she didn't believe him. Still, they were a married couple. She thought he would have told Erna, even if it meant keeping it a secret. When Erna confirmed it wasn't true, she felt devastated. She couldn't bring herself to ask Erna to return to his side any longer.
“Leave it at that, Louise.”
Bjorn sighed in annoyance and stood up. Louise's eyes, glaring at his back, gleamed as if they held a blue flame.
“I can’t live with a husband like you either!”
The rebuke, uttered with anger, shook the heavy, heavy air in the drawing room. Bjorn stopped walking and cast a glance over his shoulder, meeting Louise's gaze.
"While Bjorn Dneister may be a great Prince of Letzen, he's the worst husband I can think of. Understand?"
"Well."
Bjorn, who had been staring at Louise quietly, smiled and wiggled his eyebrows.
“I see.”
With those calm words, Bjorn turned around again.
Leaving Louise speechless, Bjorn leisurely left the drawing room. All that remained was the sound of the door slamming shut, almost shattered.
***
The click-clack of her shoes echoed across the frozen stone path. The cloud-covered sky and the bitter winter wind were no problem for Lisa.
After delivering the flowers to Alessine's General Store, Lisa headed straight for the post office. In the once-desolate town square, an open-air market selling holiday goods had been set up.
A stall brimming with pretty decorations and sweets caught Lisa's attention, but she didn't look away and just cut through the bustling crowd. Her priority was to finish Erna's errand.
It was Lisa who strongly dissuaded Erna from accompanying her.
Erna said it was just a mild cold, but she couldn't quite put her mind at ease. Even the claim that she had fully recovered was equally dubious.
So, Lisa must do her best to complete the task assigned to her.
Lisa, having left the square, opened the post office door with a grave expression. It was a familiar place, having visited it several times to mail letters to Mrs. Fitz. The only difference was that she had one more letter to send.
Lisa, catching her breath, pulled out two envelopes she'd kept deep in her coat pocket. One was for her, the other for Erna, but they were both addressed to Schwerin Palace.
Since the day the royal family attacked, Erna's walks have become longer. She's been walking through the fields until her face turns red from the cold, and she's finally caught a cold.
The fact that she hadn't budged even after the Crown Prince and Princess visited her and tried to persuade her made it clear that she was determined not to return to her position as Grand Duchess. Lisa's mouth itched to ask what change of heart had caused her to write a letter to her husband, who had never once asked how she was doing, but she held it back. Whatever the reason, Erna was right. Even if she was wrong, she was right. That belief still held true. If Erna were to return to being a lady of the Baden family, Lisa would become her maid, too.
“Are you going to send that letter?”
The clerk, who was staring blankly at Lisa, nagged her.
“Uh... yes!”
Lisa hurried to the reception desk.
It seemed like she could finally give up her role as a spy at Schwerin Palace, but she was still attached to the Grand Duke's residence. Since she hadn't written even a single word about the Grand Duchess, the letter couldn't even be considered proper intelligence. It was a compromise Lisa had found, unable to betray Erna or break her promise to Madame Fitz.
“Please give it to me!”
Lisa's clear voice echoed through the small post office in the rural village.
“By the fastest mail possible!”
***
This deer is crazy.
This was the conclusion that Bjorn reached after reading the letter from Erna.
Leonid and Louise gone all the way to the countryside to visit her, bringing up divorce and all, and now, what on earth was she talking about? Two months after her midnight escape, she'd sent him a mere letter, and Bjorn chuckled a little.
“Please open it.”
Mrs. Fitz, who had delivered the mail, suggested it subtly.
Bjorn answered by tossing the letter onto the table. Judging by the weight of the envelope, it seemed like she'd written a rather long letter.
“I will take care of my own business.”
“Your Highness.”
“So the nanny does the nanny’s job.”
Even as he twirled lightly, Bjorn's gaze remained heavy. Mrs. Fitz swallowed a sigh and unfolded the letter Lisa had sent.
The wolf came back, very annoyed.
It was a change that had begun the afternoon Princess Louise had visited. Bjorn's irritability, so high that it made the pleasant mood of the past few days seem meaningless, had once again left the Schwerin Palace staff walking a tightrope. Reporting Lisa's letter, filled with meaningless anecdotes, at this time was quite embarrassing, even for Madame Fitz, who knew the Prince better than anyone.
“The weather has turned very cold in the past few days, but fortunately, the Baden family is well prepared.”
Mrs. Pitts relayed the news, in a somewhat sanitized tone, that a sudden cold snap had forced her to hurry up and finish dressing her newborn calf.
“It seems like Madam is actively interacting with the villagers.”
That's about all the rambling about the country town doctor, the post office clerk, and the general store owner.
After Mrs. Fitz withdrew with some more news, a profound silence fell over the study. Only after Bjorn had smoked a cigar did he glance at the thick envelope carelessly tossed to the ground.
Bjorn sighed slowly and held the letter in his stiff hands.
Erna.
Erna left only her name on the envelope of this letter. A slight tremble ran through Bjorn's fingertips as he quietly stroked the neat handwriting.
A clear voice, like a songbird, came to mind. The sweet scent of her body seemed to brush past his nostrils. Erna. It was a night when he felt as if he could simply whisper her name and her small, soft body would be embraced. As always, he held her in his arms, eyes filled with love.
Bjorn opened the envelope decisively, as if to erase those sordid thoughts. The sound of the paper knife being set down and the paper being unfolded permeated the silence.
When Bjorn found out why Erna's letter was so thick, he couldn't help but chuckle.
The divorce papers arrived.
It was a declaration of war from a mad deer.
Comments
Post a Comment