The news that oil had gushed out of Nox turned not only Rutemia but the entire world upside down.
The fact that something that would have taken at least ten years to accomplish had been achieved so quickly was nothing short of a miracle. And on top of that, the reserves were enormous.
「Was the royal family’s brilliant golden legacy Nox? A series of absurd coincidences… The goddess of fortune is ultimately on Princess Cynthia’s side.」
「The Medea royal family’s bold investment, another hit.」
Thanks to the Diem artisans from Diem who had relocated and the Count Hert’s House’s full support, work facilities were quickly constructed.
People were amazed by Cynthia’s foresight, but their reactions were mixed.
“Is this for real? Damn it, is she really a lucky Princess!”
“I told you, didn’t I? I said it would work!”
Those who had pulled out their investments wanted to turn back time and tore at their hair, while those who had persevered until the end became rich along with her.
Even those who had criticized her suggestion to start work from the unexpected location of the western mountain range were left speechless.
Many people sent congratulations through letters, but Masera didn’t feel anything in particular.
He had believed Cynthia’s words that there was treasure there from the beginning.
‘She’ll be excited and come running when she hears the news.’
He was prepared to listen to her ear-splitting chatter.
He quietly stared at the tightly closed door of his office.
“Ta-da! A lemon battery that lights up a tiny light bulb! It’s an invention that will shock the academy, right?”
“…Are you talking about the principle of lemon as an electrolyte?”
“Ah! This stingy world that won’t let only me be a genius!”
He didn’t know why such a bizarre conversation came to mind, but it was about time for her to come with an effortless smile on her face.
Masera looked down at the dessert plate he had prepared in advance.
Then, realizing that he had been waiting for her without realizing it, he shook his head and looked out the window.
There, Cynthia was playing tennis with Major Rodriguez and Dahlia.
‘I want to be good enough to enter a tournament. Because there’s someone I have to beat.’
Judging from her lip movements, that’s roughly what she seemed to be saying.
‘It seems like she’s living in a world that runs just fine without me.’
‘Was I the one who ended up alone?’
He swallowed his bitterness and picked up the documents.
When he told Cynthia to do as she pleased, it was like a plea to hold onto her, disguised as a farewell.
***
Helene paced around the room with a very anxious look on her face.
The avalanche in Diem, the discovery of oil in Nox.
She felt suffocated by the overwhelming reality that felt as if fate had abandoned her.
She tried to think positively about the Duke family’s silence.
She couldn’t get a divorce yet. Having turned her back on her father, she had nowhere to return.
‘Still, they won’t mention divorce, right?’
Her faint expectations were the last thread being gnawed at by her anxiety.
‘I’m valuable just for the fact that I’m of royal blood.’
At that moment, the door burst open without a knock, and the Duke entered.
His face wasn’t angry or flustered, but simply coldly indifferent.
“Half of Diem was buried? Weren’t we supposed to proceed after completing the avalanche prevention facilities?”
Unlike the original plan, Helene, impatient, had unilaterally pushed ahead with the work.
Helene tried to maintain her composure and said, “Once the restoration is complete and mining begins, public opinion will…”
“Mining? Do you not understand what this means?”
He scoffed and thrust a newspaper at her.
「Diem development suspended and restoration work underway due to avalanche disaster alert issued by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Inadequate safety measures, administrative penalties unavoidable. Local mainstay Count Hert family, ‘warned several times already.’」
Even if it wasn’t gold but diamonds buried there, development there was gone forever. The military would not grant permission.
Moreover, most of the residents who would restore Diem had left for Nox.
“And I only received this today.”
Helene’s eyes widened as she saw the Medea royal family’s letter of investment rejection in the Duke’s hand.
An aide, judging Helene to be a lost cause, had secretly delivered it to him.
The Duke raised his eyes, expressing calm anger.
“To dare deceive me with a barren land that’s not even worth investing in? The real thing was Nox! There was an unimaginable amount of oil buried there!”
But she clung to her lingering attachment until the end.
“Didn’t you see the royal family’s heritage records? Cynthia must have sent false information to Medea. It will be different if we explore again. I, the true blood of the Snow Queen…”
I am the true heir, the Princess.
Helene, her lips blue, was unable to easily accept reality.
Had she even lost her sense of reality?
The Duke, clenching his fist and suppressing his anger,’s blue eyes sank coldly.
“Let’s end our deal here.”
Helene, jolted back to her senses, asked urgently, “Are you saying we should divorce? You married me, a Princess, with the intention of becoming regent, are you perhaps thinking of remarrying Cynthia? There are still assets the family doesn’t know about…”
“Even if you have lineage and assets, an incompetent Queen is worthless. And it’s none of your business who I remarry.”
“You’re going to put a maid on the throne? You’re really out of your mind!”
Bang!
The Duke slammed his hand on the desk and said in a threatening tone, “I might generously overlook the fact that you bring men in every night, but I can’t condone that it’s someone from the organization.”
Helene’s face turned white as she thought of Capitano, who visited her every night.
“If you don’t accept the divorce willingly, I’ll have no choice but to send you to prison for embezzling funds from the association and for your remaining crimes related to the criminal organization.”
This was the Duke’s conclusion and notification.
Helene seemed to have stopped in time all alone.
‘How did this happen?’
It’s not my fault, it’s Cynthia’s.
That lowly maid, daring to surpass the real thing, that’s where it all went wrong.
***
Carlos headed to the Queensguard County’s capital residence.
He was tired of the endlessly repeated banquets.
He was also in a state of heightened anxiety, facing the bondage of having to spend his life with someone he didn’t love.
“I heard your sister and her husband have joined the ranks of the oil tycoons? They say the reserves are enormous.”
People were more interested in the oil in Nox than in his marriage.
“It seems Princess didn’t attend today’s banquet thinking of the protagonist, Lady Valeria? She’s different from her sister, who ruined the engagement ceremony.”
Said someone who had taken the lead in criticizing Cynthia on the day of the engagement ceremony.
Politics and high society were like that, changing like the back of one’s hand depending on the other person’s success.
Carlos was already tired of everything.
‘My father will give me the position of president of the railway company, right?’
Carlos thought as he watched Edford, who was full of pretense, after arriving at the residence.
‘My father seemed to be planning to take back Nox, but what is he going to do?’
Now that oil had been discovered in Nox, it was like achieving results beyond railway development.
Was he going to reveal Cynthia’s identity and invalidate the marriage to get it back?
If he could prove that there was no intentionality, it was possible enough.
The Brigadier General’s money that had been invested so far, he would be willing to pay back if he thought about the future profits.
“Where’s Father?”
“Helene came and is talking in the study.”
Carlos headed to his father’s study along the stairs.
The moment he stood in front of the door and was about to knock, Helene’s excited voice was heard from inside.
“Weren’t you going to kill that girl as planned? If she dies within a year, we can get Nox back.”
The moment he heard those words, Carlos immediately realized.
Marriage law, grace period.
Carlos’s face hardened in an instant, and he slowly backed away.
‘From the beginning, he was planning to kill Cynthia and get Nox?’
His mind turned blank with shock, then slowly returned.
Carlos, realizing that his father had deceived him, turned around urgently.
Now even his faint expectations had disappeared. He had come to the conclusion that he was a madman who would even kill his own son if he got in the way.
‘How could I have…’
Carlos recalled Cynthia’s sooty and emaciated appearance from when they were children. Along with the past when his father had prevented him from being close to her as royalty.
‘How could I have compromised…’
He had lived controlling even his emotions.
Even getting married against his will.
Then, he encountered Princess Margarita’s portrait hanging on the stairwell wall.
The couple’s portrait, hung ostentatiously, was excessively perfect and beautiful.
“…”
His mother’s face, which he only remembered from pictures, suddenly felt frighteningly unfamiliar.
