Episode 136. The Burned Newspaper
Ansen Wilhelm.
Not content with intercepting Olivia's thoughts, he was blocking her every move. He trapped Olivia in a transparent box and moved an invisible hand to corner the child. His intention was to drive her to the brink of despair and then manipulate her as he pleased.
Olivia's face, crumbling little by little, weighed heavily on Marguerite's heart.
The sight of that little one carrying a bag as big as their own body, determined to study no matter what, was truly lovely.
The territoriality of the nobles, their modest circumstances, and even her grandmother. Nevertheless, she steadfastly carried out the tasks assigned to her and always smiled. That made Marguerite proud of her.
The gaze that was once mixed with interest had one day turned into love. Without her even realizing it.
“Professor! I tried it, and it was delicious, so I bought some to bring.”
“Professor! Come on, that’s not right.”
"Professor!"
Marguerite buried her face in her palms and wept. Although she had not cried even on the day her father died, she wept, overwhelmed by grief.
As she cried for a long time, her inner self whispered.
'What did I do for that child?'
Marguerite stopped crying and looked back on the past. Soon, her forehead contorted like a sheet of paper.
“...I even thought it would be better for you to resign yourself to what was taken from you.”
Even though she had told Olivia to keep the evidence safe, she was skeptical about the possibility of recovering it.
'A commoner like Olivia won't be able to win against Ansen Wilhelm.'
'I cannot help Olivia because I swore not to do anything against Herod under any circumstances.'
“I... never once moved to help you.”
She thought she regarded Olivia like a daughter, yet she was unaware of the condition of her house, which Noah recognized instantly, even after watching it for several years.
“It’s okay, Professor. There were days when I regarded the Magic Dome as my whole life... but that doesn’t mean it is my everything.”
She didn't even try to guess what was going through the child's mind when they said those words. She simply felt relieved to see them shake it off and no longer cling to something impossible.
Human thoughts can tear down walls, but sometimes they can become a wall higher and more solid than anything else.
Perhaps she wanted to see in Olivia her fantasy of a 'woman who overcomes any obstacle on her own.'
Like a foolish mother projecting her unfulfilled fantasies onto her daughter.
She glared at the report, then took out her notebook and scanned the list of famous people in Pulder with whom she had formed connections.
There were also the names of President and Mrs. Pulder, as well as the names of Supreme Court officials.
"If you stole, you deserve to be punished."
Wiping away her constantly flowing tears, Marguerite wrote down what she had to do.
Then, she stopped her hand as if something had occurred to her. The tip of the pen trembled slightly.
'Olivia, don't you want to get the Magic Dome back?'
If she asks that, what kind of face will she make? Also, at the same time, what kind of face will Noah make? How will Herod's royal court accept this?
Marguerite leaned back on the sofa and stared blankly into the air. Ultimately, it was her fault for having taken Olivia's resignation for granted.
It is her fault for taking the unfairness the child experiences for granted, even while loving her.
Margot clutched her chest in pain and curled up.
I wonder how long it had been like that.
Margot slowly rose to her feet and tidied her disheveled hair. She gasped for breath slowly and muttered.
“Still... I can’t just leave it like this.”
She told her not to throw away the documents and to wait for the right time, so she must take full responsibility for those empty words.
Marguerite called in the man who was waiting.
"I will be meeting people in the order listed here. Please contact them to schedule an appointment."
Meanwhile, Harold Beam returned home furious. It was a mistake to have thought that cornering the Princess would be no big deal.
"Shit!"
He slammed his fist on the desk and vented his anger.
High performance is bound to come with high risk.
"In the end, risk returned instead of high performance."
Enraged by his secretary's tactless remark, Harold Beam threw whatever he could get his hands on at him.
“Is that even a reasonable thing to say?!”
However, the secretary skillfully dodged the flying object and shrugged his shoulders.
“Sir Beam, calm down. You must stay alert right now if you do not want to end up like Count Seymour.”
Harold Beam felt a chill run down his spine again as he recalled the look in Prince Noah's eyes, which had glared at him as if to tear him apart. At the same time, the face of the Princess Consort, who had elegantly trampled upon him, came to mind.
“As expected of Astrid. Even when picking up things that fell on the ground, they didn’t just pick anything up.”
"Focus on the present, not what has already happened. They say that when faced with a crisis, you must remind yourself of your purpose. Just like a captain who keeps his eyes wide open in the direction to go when rough waves come."
“...Should I summon all the newspaper presidents? Shouldn’t I at least ask them not to put today’s events on the front page tomorrow?”
The secretary shook his head as if to say it was absurd.
“Would they come if summoned? Of course, they would come if our purpose were the same, but if we told them not to put the news about the Princess on the front page right now, would they listen?”
"Then what am I supposed to do!"
“If there is a news story that catches your ear, wouldn’t you come?”
“A news story? Did you find something interesting?”
The secretary brought a piece of paper and held it out in front of him.
Harold Beham snatched the paper the secretary handed him and read it quickly. After finishing the read, he glanced at the secretary and muttered.
"You're really unlucky, but you're good at your job."
"Thank you for the compliment. I would be even more grateful if you complimented me with money."
Harold Beam made a disgusted expression, then looked back at the paper.
“So, you’re saying that Magic Dome Unit 2 is currently inoperable?”
“About a month ago, Wilhelm Corporation maintenance personnel inspected two Magic Domes, but there has been absolutely no activity since then. It was undoubtedly an inspection related to repairs. So, I contacted an internal representative at Wilhelm Corporation, and it was confirmed that they are indeed currently out of service. Furthermore, it appears there are no plans to repair them for the time being.”
“This must be retaliation against Prince Noah, right?”
“Yes. Krakens will be appearing off the coast of Haroldington in just two months; how can we allow the two most important units to be inoperable?”
Harold Beam chuckled, took a wad of cash from a drawer, and handed it to him.
"Good job. Leak information regarding this to the newspaper."
“Yes, I understand.”
The secretary quickly gathered the money into his bosom and grinned.
Olivia felt like she was walking on a sharp blade all day long.
As the tension released after the speech, she became limp, like a frog that had been frozen all winter and thawed in the spring sunshine.
She dozed off as soon as she got into the carriage, and after arriving at the mansion, she fell asleep without even knowing how she had fallen asleep.
How long had it sunk below the surface?
The sound of something burning reached her ears, dulled by sleep. It was a sound different from that of burning firewood. It was the sound of something melting into the fire and fading away.
Olivia thought for a long time about what that sound might be, then slowly surfaced. After blinking her hazy eyes for quite some time, she realized the presence of someone with their back to the fireplace.
A large man was kneeling on one knee in front of the blazing red fireplace.
'Noah?'
Is he reviving the dying embers?
However, what he held in his hand was not firewood. He tossed the bundle of paper he was holding into the fireplace. As the embers grew larger, Noah's shadow grew even darker in contrast.
As soon as he stood up, Olivia closed her eyes without realizing it.
The sound of footsteps drew closer.
His presence stopped just a stone's throw away from her.
Olivia's heart pounded hard. She herself was unaware of why she was closing her eyes and pretending to be asleep. However, she felt like she had to.
Just then, the presence that had stopped in front of her moved away.
Olivia finally opened her eyes at the sound of footsteps receding without hesitation.
The door closed quietly.
Olivia, who had been staring at the door where Noah had disappeared, sprang to her feet and turned her gaze to the fireplace. As she hastily slipped on her slippers and approached the roaring fire, the crimson flames were devouring something with relish.
“What is this?”
It is clearly paper, so why are they burning it from dawn...?
A blackened corner of the paper, which had not burned completely, was visible. Olivia narrowed her eyes and examined it.
When the flames finally consumed even the corner of the paper, Olivia muttered as if she couldn't understand.
"...Newspaper?"
As she stared blankly at the flames, lost in thought, the sound of loud footsteps reached her ears. The footsteps, giving the impression of perfect order, sounded just like the noise made by soldiers.
Olivia hurriedly got up from her seat and pulled back the curtains on the balcony overlooking the mansion. As she opened the door, the cold dawn air rushed in. Goosebumps rose from the wind penetrating her thin pajamas, but Olivia did not even feel the cold.
“What on earth is this...”
She walked blankly past the balcony and reached the railing. Her slightly parted lips would not close.
Dozens of bodyguards in pitch-black suits stood guarding the front gate of the mansion, and bodyguards were also standing between the high walls in the garden.
Even the servants cleaning the garden held back at the fierce gaze of the bodyguards, whose expressions were colder than the bitter cold of midwinter.
Could something serious be wrong?
It felt like her heart sank.
Just then, the bodyguards, who had been standing like statues, bowed respectfully toward someone. Olivia's gaze drifted toward the direction the bodyguards had bowed.
Noah, dressed in a black coat, appeared under a leafy evergreen tree.
He crossed the desolate garden like the master of a cold winter castle. Wherever he went, polite greetings followed.
Unconcealable fear was etched on the faces of the servants as they hurriedly bowed their heads. He looked like someone leaving to fight a war. A sharply honed aura could be felt even from his retreating figure.
While Olivia was thinking this, Noah got into a carriage waiting at the end of the garden, and the carriage carrying him soon passed through the main gate of the magnificent mansion.
The magnificent main gate, which had been opened by the bodyguards, soon slowly closed its mouth.
The sound of the door slamming shut was unusually loud today.
Ansen Wilhelm.
Not content with intercepting Olivia's thoughts, he was blocking her every move. He trapped Olivia in a transparent box and moved an invisible hand to corner the child. His intention was to drive her to the brink of despair and then manipulate her as he pleased.
Olivia's face, crumbling little by little, weighed heavily on Marguerite's heart.
The sight of that little one carrying a bag as big as their own body, determined to study no matter what, was truly lovely.
The territoriality of the nobles, their modest circumstances, and even her grandmother. Nevertheless, she steadfastly carried out the tasks assigned to her and always smiled. That made Marguerite proud of her.
The gaze that was once mixed with interest had one day turned into love. Without her even realizing it.
“Professor! I tried it, and it was delicious, so I bought some to bring.”
“Professor! Come on, that’s not right.”
"Professor!"
Marguerite buried her face in her palms and wept. Although she had not cried even on the day her father died, she wept, overwhelmed by grief.
As she cried for a long time, her inner self whispered.
'What did I do for that child?'
Marguerite stopped crying and looked back on the past. Soon, her forehead contorted like a sheet of paper.
“...I even thought it would be better for you to resign yourself to what was taken from you.”
Even though she had told Olivia to keep the evidence safe, she was skeptical about the possibility of recovering it.
'A commoner like Olivia won't be able to win against Ansen Wilhelm.'
'I cannot help Olivia because I swore not to do anything against Herod under any circumstances.'
“I... never once moved to help you.”
She thought she regarded Olivia like a daughter, yet she was unaware of the condition of her house, which Noah recognized instantly, even after watching it for several years.
“It’s okay, Professor. There were days when I regarded the Magic Dome as my whole life... but that doesn’t mean it is my everything.”
She didn't even try to guess what was going through the child's mind when they said those words. She simply felt relieved to see them shake it off and no longer cling to something impossible.
Human thoughts can tear down walls, but sometimes they can become a wall higher and more solid than anything else.
Perhaps she wanted to see in Olivia her fantasy of a 'woman who overcomes any obstacle on her own.'
Like a foolish mother projecting her unfulfilled fantasies onto her daughter.
She glared at the report, then took out her notebook and scanned the list of famous people in Pulder with whom she had formed connections.
There were also the names of President and Mrs. Pulder, as well as the names of Supreme Court officials.
"If you stole, you deserve to be punished."
Wiping away her constantly flowing tears, Marguerite wrote down what she had to do.
Then, she stopped her hand as if something had occurred to her. The tip of the pen trembled slightly.
'Olivia, don't you want to get the Magic Dome back?'
If she asks that, what kind of face will she make? Also, at the same time, what kind of face will Noah make? How will Herod's royal court accept this?
Marguerite leaned back on the sofa and stared blankly into the air. Ultimately, it was her fault for having taken Olivia's resignation for granted.
It is her fault for taking the unfairness the child experiences for granted, even while loving her.
Margot clutched her chest in pain and curled up.
I wonder how long it had been like that.
Margot slowly rose to her feet and tidied her disheveled hair. She gasped for breath slowly and muttered.
“Still... I can’t just leave it like this.”
She told her not to throw away the documents and to wait for the right time, so she must take full responsibility for those empty words.
Marguerite called in the man who was waiting.
"I will be meeting people in the order listed here. Please contact them to schedule an appointment."
***
Meanwhile, Harold Beam returned home furious. It was a mistake to have thought that cornering the Princess would be no big deal.
"Shit!"
He slammed his fist on the desk and vented his anger.
High performance is bound to come with high risk.
"In the end, risk returned instead of high performance."
Enraged by his secretary's tactless remark, Harold Beam threw whatever he could get his hands on at him.
“Is that even a reasonable thing to say?!”
However, the secretary skillfully dodged the flying object and shrugged his shoulders.
“Sir Beam, calm down. You must stay alert right now if you do not want to end up like Count Seymour.”
Harold Beam felt a chill run down his spine again as he recalled the look in Prince Noah's eyes, which had glared at him as if to tear him apart. At the same time, the face of the Princess Consort, who had elegantly trampled upon him, came to mind.
“As expected of Astrid. Even when picking up things that fell on the ground, they didn’t just pick anything up.”
"Focus on the present, not what has already happened. They say that when faced with a crisis, you must remind yourself of your purpose. Just like a captain who keeps his eyes wide open in the direction to go when rough waves come."
“...Should I summon all the newspaper presidents? Shouldn’t I at least ask them not to put today’s events on the front page tomorrow?”
The secretary shook his head as if to say it was absurd.
“Would they come if summoned? Of course, they would come if our purpose were the same, but if we told them not to put the news about the Princess on the front page right now, would they listen?”
"Then what am I supposed to do!"
“If there is a news story that catches your ear, wouldn’t you come?”
“A news story? Did you find something interesting?”
The secretary brought a piece of paper and held it out in front of him.
Harold Beham snatched the paper the secretary handed him and read it quickly. After finishing the read, he glanced at the secretary and muttered.
"You're really unlucky, but you're good at your job."
"Thank you for the compliment. I would be even more grateful if you complimented me with money."
Harold Beam made a disgusted expression, then looked back at the paper.
“So, you’re saying that Magic Dome Unit 2 is currently inoperable?”
“About a month ago, Wilhelm Corporation maintenance personnel inspected two Magic Domes, but there has been absolutely no activity since then. It was undoubtedly an inspection related to repairs. So, I contacted an internal representative at Wilhelm Corporation, and it was confirmed that they are indeed currently out of service. Furthermore, it appears there are no plans to repair them for the time being.”
“This must be retaliation against Prince Noah, right?”
“Yes. Krakens will be appearing off the coast of Haroldington in just two months; how can we allow the two most important units to be inoperable?”
Harold Beam chuckled, took a wad of cash from a drawer, and handed it to him.
"Good job. Leak information regarding this to the newspaper."
“Yes, I understand.”
The secretary quickly gathered the money into his bosom and grinned.
***
Olivia felt like she was walking on a sharp blade all day long.
As the tension released after the speech, she became limp, like a frog that had been frozen all winter and thawed in the spring sunshine.
She dozed off as soon as she got into the carriage, and after arriving at the mansion, she fell asleep without even knowing how she had fallen asleep.
How long had it sunk below the surface?
The sound of something burning reached her ears, dulled by sleep. It was a sound different from that of burning firewood. It was the sound of something melting into the fire and fading away.
Olivia thought for a long time about what that sound might be, then slowly surfaced. After blinking her hazy eyes for quite some time, she realized the presence of someone with their back to the fireplace.
A large man was kneeling on one knee in front of the blazing red fireplace.
'Noah?'
Is he reviving the dying embers?
However, what he held in his hand was not firewood. He tossed the bundle of paper he was holding into the fireplace. As the embers grew larger, Noah's shadow grew even darker in contrast.
As soon as he stood up, Olivia closed her eyes without realizing it.
The sound of footsteps drew closer.
His presence stopped just a stone's throw away from her.
Olivia's heart pounded hard. She herself was unaware of why she was closing her eyes and pretending to be asleep. However, she felt like she had to.
Just then, the presence that had stopped in front of her moved away.
Olivia finally opened her eyes at the sound of footsteps receding without hesitation.
The door closed quietly.
Olivia, who had been staring at the door where Noah had disappeared, sprang to her feet and turned her gaze to the fireplace. As she hastily slipped on her slippers and approached the roaring fire, the crimson flames were devouring something with relish.
“What is this?”
It is clearly paper, so why are they burning it from dawn...?
A blackened corner of the paper, which had not burned completely, was visible. Olivia narrowed her eyes and examined it.
When the flames finally consumed even the corner of the paper, Olivia muttered as if she couldn't understand.
"...Newspaper?"
As she stared blankly at the flames, lost in thought, the sound of loud footsteps reached her ears. The footsteps, giving the impression of perfect order, sounded just like the noise made by soldiers.
Olivia hurriedly got up from her seat and pulled back the curtains on the balcony overlooking the mansion. As she opened the door, the cold dawn air rushed in. Goosebumps rose from the wind penetrating her thin pajamas, but Olivia did not even feel the cold.
“What on earth is this...”
She walked blankly past the balcony and reached the railing. Her slightly parted lips would not close.
Dozens of bodyguards in pitch-black suits stood guarding the front gate of the mansion, and bodyguards were also standing between the high walls in the garden.
Even the servants cleaning the garden held back at the fierce gaze of the bodyguards, whose expressions were colder than the bitter cold of midwinter.
Could something serious be wrong?
It felt like her heart sank.
Just then, the bodyguards, who had been standing like statues, bowed respectfully toward someone. Olivia's gaze drifted toward the direction the bodyguards had bowed.
Noah, dressed in a black coat, appeared under a leafy evergreen tree.
He crossed the desolate garden like the master of a cold winter castle. Wherever he went, polite greetings followed.
Unconcealable fear was etched on the faces of the servants as they hurriedly bowed their heads. He looked like someone leaving to fight a war. A sharply honed aura could be felt even from his retreating figure.
While Olivia was thinking this, Noah got into a carriage waiting at the end of the garden, and the carriage carrying him soon passed through the main gate of the magnificent mansion.
The magnificent main gate, which had been opened by the bodyguards, soon slowly closed its mouth.
The sound of the door slamming shut was unusually loud today.
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