Please Let Marriage Be Your Payment!,
Chapter 59 —
“Only what my wife sent… Come to think of it, you’ve really been through a lot.”
“Through a lot? Compared to the hard work of the Marquess himself going straight into the Great Forest, it’s nothing at all.”
While the Marquess and Marchioness were away, all the letters sent in their names were handled by the butler.
Replying politely to greeting letters, refusing all invitations—just like that.
It was almost a relief that the Wayndal Marquess family couldn’t engage in social events while focused on the Great Forest expedition. That’s why the butler could manage all the letters coming to the Marquess residence alone.
“More than that, I’m worried about your health, young master.”
“Exactly what I was thinking…”
The Marquess had a few more drinks, using their quiet conversation as a companion. The steward knocked on the study door only after the Marquess had finished a whole bottle.
“Marquess, the messengers who visited the Earl of Elpiers and the Blair Marquess have just returned.”
“Really? Did they come together?”
“Yes. They moved together from the capital. Eldo is in the capital too, apparently.”
“In the capital? …Have them both come here immediately.”
A little later, the messengers entered the study, both looking exhausted.
The Marquess praised them for their hard work, then asked without hesitation:
“Eldo is in the capital?”
“Yes. The capital is very noisy. Everywhere you go, people are talking about the Blair Marquess and the Earl of Elpiers.”
“The Earl of Elpiers?”
Could it be that Eldo’s identity as the Earl of Elpiers had been discovered? Wayndal Marquess hesitated for a moment but acted as if he didn’t know.
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re getting married, aren’t you? It seems Eldo was hired for that, to come to the capital. You didn’t know?”
“I heard the Blair Marquess was marrying… But the partner is the Earl of Elpiers?”
“Yes. The dowry the Blair Marquess gave the Earl of Elpiers is five hundred million Larks. The capital is buzzing because the Marquess is completely infatuated.”
The Blair Marquess marrying Eldo?
Wayndal Marquess blinked, half in disbelief, and looked at the butler.
“Did you know this?”
“No, sir. We did receive a wedding invitation… but I don’t recall the groom’s name.”
The butler, busy handling the Marquess’s, Marchioness’s, and even the Marquess’s own matters, hadn’t checked the name carefully.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t pay enough attention.”
“I know you’ve been busy. It’s not your fault.”
Apparently, Leonard hadn’t sent news for the same reason—anyway, messages would come through the Blair Marquess.
“This couple… this is really surprising news.”
Blair Marquess and Eldo.
They seemed like a mismatched pair, like water and oil, yet imagining them together, somehow, they seemed right.
“Well, if the Marquess is truly infatuated, it’s a reason to congratulate them.”
Wayndal Marquess opened an envelope with Leonard’s congratulations inside and frowned.
“Too busy to find time? That’s all it says?”
No extra words at all.
Wayndal Marquess didn’t expect elaborate language from a mercenary like Leonard. But the lack of any hint for the future was a big problem.
Being busy now without saying when he’d be available meant he had no intention of coming to Wayndal Marquess’s residence anytime soon.
“Why do I feel so angry reading this?”
“Angry, Eldo?”
Wayndal Marquess showed the letter to the butler. The butler nodded after reading it quickly.
“Somehow… it feels like he doesn’t want to be involved with us again.”
Even the butler came to the same conclusion. Wayndal Marquess, anxious, questioned the messengers.
“You must have met Eldo while delivering the letter. How did he react?”
“Apologies, sir. Mercenary Eldo was at the Blair Marquess’s townhouse in the capital. I couldn’t enter.”
Wayndal Marquess sighed. Eldo’s reply came through his own steward.
Could Eldo be so angry he didn’t even want to see the messengers? But why?
‘No, if Eldo doesn’t come here…’
The Great Forest was still full of ancient beasts despite all efforts.
Outnumbered and exhausted, the Marquess and his knights were almost defeated two days ago.
Surrounded in a deep valley, they sensed their end—but the guardian of Keltenaha, leading the beasts, let them live.
With one condition:
‘We want only one thing. Bring our king here.’
‘Who is your king that you ask me?’
‘The one who inherited the guardian of Keltenaha.’
The one who delivered the Keltenaha guardian was the Crown Princess.
‘Do not wait long. Bring our king here.’
‘Otherwise, we will find the king ourselves and kill anyone who blocks us.’
It was truly a no-win situation.
Because he had personally delivered the Keltenaha guardian, the ancient beasts wanted the Crown Princess as their king.
If he told the Emperor, would she just happily go? No. The Emperor would send an army, claiming the Crown Princess was being sacrificed.
Ignoring the beasts’ demands? They would scatter across the empire.
Wayndal Marquess’s greatest duty was to prevent the beasts from leaving the Great Forest or his territory.
‘In this situation, the only one we can trust is Eldo, who defeated the giant black lion…’
Why was he angry? Wayndal Marquess sighed deeply.
“I’ll have to send another letter.”
“Shall we send Tony with the messenger? Among the knights, he’s closest to Eldo.”
“Actually, Flint is closest to Eldo.”
If Flint were healthy, they could trust him.
“Or perhaps we could persuade the Blair Marquess? If the ancient beasts keep rampaging, trade routes can’t reopen.”
“Good idea. The workers Blair Marquess sent are stuck here because construction stopped. He won’t ignore them, and Leonard won’t ignore his wife’s trouble either. That’s his nature.”
“By the way, you brought the Blair Marquess’s reply, right? Hand it here.”
“Yes, Marquess.”
The messenger quickly handed over the reply.
Wayndal Marquess, expecting little in it, read and couldn’t believe his eyes:
I will come personally in a month or two. Until then, keep the ancient beasts calm. This will keep them under control.
It was surprising not only that the Blair Marquess knew about the beasts but also that she included something to control them—so simple it seemed almost playful.
Wayndal Marquess had no time to focus on the object itself. It was the postscript that mattered:
If you want to continue your bond with my husband, make the person who broke trust apologize.
“Broke trust…?”
Wayndal Marquess suddenly remembered part of his conversation with Leonard:
Please keep it a secret that I am the Earl of Elpiers.
A chill ran down his spine. He finally understood why Leonard was angry:
‘He thinks I revealed his secret, that’s why he doesn’t want to meet me!’
Wayndal Marquess was innocent. Leonard, mercenary Eldo, was his benefactor. He would never break that promise.
If anyone else could have revealed it, there was only one possibility. Wayndal Marquess immediately took out paper and a quill and wrote a letter at once.
Even after several days since the wedding, the Blair Marquess residence was still busy.
Even though the wedding cleanup was done, in two days Irenea would go with Leonard, and a few days later, Elizabeth and Charlotte would visit the Blair Marquess territory.
Since the main family would be moving in shifts, many attendants were needed, and of course, many things had to be prepared.
While the main residence was bustling, the guest annex was busy too. Guests were preparing to return home.
Amid this, Janice was in the reception room early, ready to greet visitors. Not entirely happy about it, she flipped through a newspaper, her expression hardening.
The apology from the Lotus News was cleaner than expected. No one was blamed, and the false rumors were clearly stated as untrue.
They promised to prevent such mistakes in the future. A good apology, indeed.
“Good. I, Janice Elpiers, accept the apology from Lotus News.”
“Thank you for your mercy, Miss. Mathias will not forget this.”
“I agree. I will also watch closely to ensure Lotus doesn’t repeat the same mistake.”
The people from the Mathias family bowed repeatedly before leaving with Janice’s letter.
Back in her bedroom, Janice read the apology several times before folding the newspaper into her bag. She planned to burn it at her mother’s grave later.
Knock knock
“Can I come in?”
“Brother? Yes, please.”
As she closed her bag in front of the dresser, Leonard entered the room, pulling a trolley himself.
Leonard’s mercenary name seems to have changed from “El” to “Eldo.” I haven’t been commenting on most of the name change things, but that one seemed like one that could be quite confusing. I know I was confused until it confirmed that’s who they meant.
I’m actually at a computer for once, so I took the time to type out a handful of examples from the chapter that illustrate the big issues I’ve been seeing with the translation throughout the novel so far. This isn’t everything I noticed in the chapter, as that would take too much time and space. I did this because I like the story and really wish it was easier to read, not because I’m trying to be a pest.
—
[“What are you talking about?”
“You’re getting married, aren’t you? It seems Eldo was hired for that, to come to the capital. You didn’t know?]
This exchange was *really* confusing. I’ve mentioned it in previous comments on chapters, but there is an awful lot of tangling and misidentifying people going on, beyond just confusing gender. In this example, the tl as written mistakenly identifies the Wayndal Marquess as the one getting married, when it’s actually the Blair Marquess. Since the Wayndal Marquess is the one being addressed, it’s particularly rough.
—
[The butler, busy handling the Marquess’s, Marchioness’s, and even the Marquess’s own matters, hadn’t checked the name carefully.]
I’m assuming it was supposed to be “the **young** Marquess’s, Marchioness’s, and even the Marquess’s” here?
—
[“Why do I feel so angry reading this?”
“Angry, Eldo?”]
This part is really confusing. I see two possible interpretations.
1. The Wayndal Marquess is the one feeling angry as he reads, and the butler’s response is asking if he’s angry at Eldo.
2. The second possibility I see is if the Marquess is asking why it seems like **Leonard/El** sounds angry from reading it. Then, the Butler’s response of “Angry, Eldo?” would mean something like: “What? Why would Eldo be angry?”