Chapter 110 [part 2]: 110 [part 2]
< — Everything is as it should be — > (2)
Hugo soon held a detailed investigative report on the Count of Matin in his hands . The more he read, the more unpleasant the document became and as he flipped through the increasingly unpleasant document, he clicked his tongue .
In the Count’s first marriage, he got divorced after five years; in his second marriage, the wife’s family took action and invalidated the marriage in about a month . And his third marriage ended in a divorce, a few months ago . And it was just a month ago that the Count made a marriage proposal to the royal family for his fourth marriage . It was not an uncommon thing for an aristocrat to get divorced, but the Count was over the top .
His official children were three sons . There was the eldest son, who was born from his first wife, and the second son, who was an extramarital child, entered into the legal registry by his first wife . His first wife seemed to have used the legal registration as a condition to get divorced . The third son was born from his recently divorced wife and there were a few more illegitimate children that the Count did not retrieve .
It was written in the report that the Count likely had a problem with his male function, due to the fact that he was promiscuous when he was younger and had not had a child for nearly a decade .
Although the man was garbage, Hugo thought there was a high chance of Kwiz accepting the bastard’s marriage proposal because he offered quite the dowry .
Kwiz only acknowledged his sister from the same mother, Katherine, as his blood relation . His brothers were opponents that he wanted to kill if possible, and his sisters were deadweights eating away at the royal palace budget . When he was Crown Prince, Kwiz greatly despised the way the previous king had crapped out children all over the place .
The late king placed kingship in sight and idly watched as the princes killed each other . Rather, he thought that his children’s fierce power struggles increased his influence .
For a king like Kwiz who loathed his father’s debauchery, he was the type to practice moderation with women . He had only three concubines and even that was due to the need to further his interests . It was unknown what means he used but there were no children between him and his concubines .
If Kwiz were to accept the Count of Matin’s proposal and push ahead with marriage, the target would be Princess Cecil, who turned eighteen this year .
‘How did my wife know that he would make a marriage proposal to the royal family?’
Hugo wondered for a moment, but he didn’t linger on the thought for long . This was because another thought occupied its place . Just as his wife said, if she had stayed in the palace, the princess to marry this bastard would have been her . Princess Vivian would have become the wife of this garbage .
He felt like shit . It was something that didn’t happen but the mere possibility that it might have happened made him burn with icy fury .
Hugo thought carefully about how to deal with his wife’s request . It was quite cumbersome to retrieve a marriage proposal that had already been sent to the royal family . Asking the king would just create another chance for the king to make demands and he didn’t know what the king would ask for .
Hugo called Fabian, gave him the report and ordered him:
“Get rid of this man . I don’t want him in my sight . ”
“Should it be complicated or simple?”
“Simple . ”
“Yes, sir . But about the pendant you ordered me to find previously . I apologize . I have not found it yet . ”
Fabian was uneasy every time he came to the ducal residence to give a report because his lord had not mentioned the pendant all this while . There was no place he didn’t ask his subordinates to comb through, but he didn’t even get a single clue .
“Hm? Ah, you can stop looking for that . ”
Hugo had forgotten to mention that they didn’t need to look for the pendant anymore . But he didn’t feel sorry at all for the people who had been diligently looking for it . Not knowing the exact circumstances, Fabian was just glad that he wasn’t reprimanded .
And about a week later, the Count of Matin died in a carriage-flipping accident . [1]
* * *
Hugo informed Lucia about the death of Count Matin . Of course, he didn’t say that it happened under his orders .
“I looked into handling your request and learnt that he died in an accident . ”
His reaction was impassive as if it was an unknown stray dog that had died . Lucia understood . To him, the Count of Matin was really nothing, his existence was even worse than a stray dog .
“…An accident?” (Lucia)
Lucia couldn’t believe it . How much had she cursed him in her dream? She pleaded and begged for his death, even if she was punished for it . Maybe her desperate curses were heard and caused him to meet a miserable end by decapitation, but he was a someone that seemed like he wouldn’t die from something as fleeting as a carriage accident .
Hugo wrapped his arms around her absent-minded figure, as she had fallen into deep thought .
“Is it shocking that he died?” (Hugo)
“…Shocking? Yes, perhaps…” (Lucia)
“Why?”
“For it to be that trivial…I thought he was someone that wouldn’t die even if you killed him . ”
Hugo thought that for the standards of his innocent wife, who had lived sheltered in the palace and married him immediately after, the Count’s behavior was very shocking .
When the standard was the world which was overflowing with evil, someone like Count Matin was nothing but filth clinging to the soles of one’s feet . But she didn’t need to know stuff like that . It was enough for her to know someone like the Count of Matin as the standard for the peak of evil .
“He’s already dead . Stop thinking about it . He cannot marry anyone now, let alone the princess . ”
“…I see . ”
Suddenly realized something, Lucia wondered aloud .
“Then what will happen to the Count’s household…”
“He has a son, so his son will inherit his title . ”
“The divorced countess has a young son . ”
Since the Count of Matin was dead, the future where the Matin family was exterminated after being caught up in a plot of treason would change, and the future of Bruno fleeing to a foreign country would also change .
Lucia thought the precocious Bruno missed his mother a lot, even though he didn’t say it . He was still a young child who needed his mother’s embrace .
Count Matin’s eldest son, who was to inherit the title, did not seem like he would care and attend to his younger brother . From what she saw in her dream, they were brothers who treated each other like strangers .
“If the Countess wants, I can arrange for her son to be taken to her parent’s home . ”
Hugo pressed down the irritation deep in his heart and spoke kindly . He didn’t like it when her attention was somewhere else . He wanted all of her attention to be on him .
He didn’t tell her that the Countess might not want to take her son back with her . If the Countess remarried, her son would become a burden .
And if the Countess chose her son, she could not remarry for at least ten years, until her son became an adult . There were not many cases where a noblewoman sacrificed herself for her child . The Countess was more likely to think of her well-being first, before her son’s .
“Really?” (Lucia)
Can you really do that? Seeing her sparkling eyes, Hugo chuckled . His wife tended to underestimate him too much .
There were few things in this world that he could not do . Even the role of an envoy that reaped people’s lives was his . Only the divine ability of reviving the dead was never his .
“So forget about it now . And don’t worry about these things anymore . ” (Hugo)
“Okay . ”
She smiled sweetly as if she was shaking everything off, and finding that so pretty, Hugo bit her tender cheeks . Startled by his action, Lucia stared at him then she wrapped her arm around his neck and hugged him .
“I’m really thankful, Hugh . ”
“If you’re thankful then give me a gift . ”
Lucia burst into laughter then lifted her head and kissed him lightly on the lips .
“I love you . Is this not enough?”
He hugged her tightly and whispered into her ear:
“It’s more than enough . ”[2]
Hugo couldn’t believe how much happiness this small woman brought to him . He wished there was someone to tell him if it was really okay for this to keep on being this way . He felt uneasy because it seemed like his fate, which had only been cruel to him, was suddenly acting fickle .
Translator’s Corner:
[1] His carriage flipped upside down and he died . Not sure how else to word this .
[2] Overflowing is the exact word used here but I tweaked it to make sense .
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