Love Me Just Once - Chapter 31

Of course it was a lie.

Including her previous married life, Ophelia had rarely mentioned Mahanas. Even those few times were unavoidable situations.

Back then, Idren thought Ophelia had a good relationship with her family, so he assumed she just wasn’t close to him.

But it turned out she hated her family.

Idren thought if Ophelia was here, she might have wrung his neck for saying unnecessary things. That was just like her.

But Taeran, who didn’t know Ophelia well, seemed to take his words at face value.

Since he had gone to great lengths to marry Ophelia, he probably thought paying off her elder brother’s debt was nothing.

Taeran’s face relaxed as he spoke.

“Ah, the princess must have been very worried. Actually, there is a related issue. Would you like to see the ledger?”

At the appropriate suggestion, Idren nodded. Taeran ordered the boy who was waiting by the wall.

“Go to my study and bring the ledger I wrote with the Prince of Leden.”

“Is the debt large enough to require a separate ledger?”

“It won’t seem large to you, Your Highness. Of course, it was large for the prince… The difference in your wealth is vast. We just created a separate ledger because of the frequent transactions.”

Then Taeran glanced at him, seeming worried he might be shocked by the amount.

Having seen how recklessly Mahanas spent money in his previous life, Idren was confident he wouldn’t be surprised by anything, but he remained silent. There was no need to correct Taeran’s misunderstanding.

The boy who had left the reception room soon returned with a small red notebook. He approached Taeran’s chair and handed the notebook to his master.

That was when Taeran stroked the back of the boy’s hand with his finger. Idren, who had been casually watching the ledger exchange, stiffened.

It was brief, but he wasn’t mistaken. It was definitely a sexually suggestive touch.

While he was stunned, Taeran, who had taken the ledger from the boy, said,

“You may leave now.”

As the boy passed by his chair, Idren realized the child’s face looked strangely familiar. He was sure he had seen him somewhere.

But before he could recall anything significant, Taeran held out the notebook to him.

“This is the ledger of transactions with the Prince of Leden.”

Hearing that, Idren was reminded that he was in no position to think of other matters right now.

Taking the ledger, Idren opened it. As he quickly scanned the numbers, he narrowed his eyes.

“Is this all?”

“…What do you mean?”

“I asked if this is the full extent of the prince’s debt.”

The amount written in the ledger was far less than he had expected.

When Ophelia said Leden would have been ruined without her dowry, Idren thought Mahanas must have borrowed money from foreign countries. Domestic debts alone couldn’t have caused that.

And there weren’t many foreign nobles Mahanas could have gone into debt with.

Considering Mahanas’s reputation, most wealthy people wouldn’t want to lend him money, so the candidates had to be those who mainly dealt in money lending. Among them, Taeran was the most likely candidate. He could provide large sums and had some friendship with Mahanas.

But the amount written in the ledger, while large for Mahanas to handle alone, was not enough to ruin Leden.

At the very least, the royal family’s treasures should have been mortgaged.

In his previous life, Ophelia had foreigners associated with her buy up Leden’s territory and quickly mortgage the royal family’s assets. She completely blocked off any source of money for Mahanas.

It was meticulous follow-up, uncharacteristic of her personality, but in other words, it meant Leden couldn’t be ruined without going that far.

However, the debts listed in the ledger were significantly less than he had anticipated.

Taeran, who had been watching him, spoke with a hint of dismay in his voice.

“Yes, that is the total amount the Prince of Leden borrowed.”

“…Is there anyone else besides you who has lent money to Prince Mahanas?”

“I’m not sure. At least among the southern lords of Aglante, there seems to be no one but me. Even if there were, it would likely be a small amount.”

He had no reason to lie about this, so it had to be true. Idren handed the ledger back to its owner and said,

“I see. I’m done checking the ledger.”

As Taeran took it, he asked Idren,

“How about going hunting with me tomorrow? I recently acquired a new hunting ground.”

And Taeran smiled just like when they first met.

Idren recalled that in his previous life, Taeran had made similar invitations to him several times.

In fact, before getting married, he had gone hunting with Taeran a few times. Back then, he thought there was no harm in being close to Taeran.

But now there was no reason to maintain a friendship with Taeran, and tomorrow he had to meet Ophelia’s friend with her.

“Well, I have plans with Ophelia tomorrow.”

“I see. But if you ever change your mind, please feel free to let me know.”

Going hunting together was the best way to demonstrate closeness with the royal family, so Taeran expressed his regret. Just then, someone knocked on the door from outside.

“Dinner preparations are complete.”

When Idren arrived at the dining hall with Taeran, Ophelia was just coming out.

She had changed her clothes and fixed her hair and makeup. Seeing her dressed up so glamorously, Idren realized anew that Ophelia was pretty. Objectively speaking, excluding his personal opinion, she was good-looking.

Taeran also spoke softly beside him.

“The princess has grown up very well.”

“…Have you seen Ophelia when she was young?”

“I visited the Leden royal palace a few times at the prince’s invitation. I saw her then.”

And Taeran added, especially when she was young, she was so lovely that the prince cherished her very much.

Idren thought those words, contrary to the truth, were strangely creepy.

His seat was prepared next to Ophelia’s. Since there were three of them, it seemed to be arranged so that they faced each other, leaving the head seat empty.

Idren tilted his head slightly toward the woman beside him and said,

“…I didn’t expect you to attend the banquet.”

It wasn’t an accusation, but a result he truly hadn’t anticipated.

He had mentioned Taeran, but it was more like grumbling about how Ophelia never told him anything. Idren had thought Ophelia really wouldn’t participate in the banquet.

In his previous life, she wasn’t close to the Aglante nobles, and judging by how she was sleeping on the ship, she seemed quite tired.

So he naturally assumed she would skip the banquet and rest.

Without even looking at him, Ophelia replied,

“I have something to confirm.”

And Idren noticed that the candlelight from the candlestick on the table was reflected in her blue eyes.

A strange tension crept up his spine. He tilted his head to ask Ophelia what she was thinking. But her words came faster.

In a voice audible only to him, Ophelia whispered,

“If you want me to behave, focus on your conversation with the lord during the banquet.”

Then Ophelia fixed her gaze on the candlestick in front of her.

The large silver candlestick looked vaguely familiar. If she kept looking at it, she felt like she would remember something.

That was why she asked Idren to talk to the lord. He was quite annoying for someone without malice.

Fortunately, although Idren looked at her with disbelief, he did as she said.

While he conversed with the lord, Ophelia carefully examined the silver candlestick. The candlestick was quite thick, looked heavy, and had a red candle inserted.

She had definitely seen it somewhere.

The candlestick was more familiar than the lord. Rummaging through her mind, Ophelia thought she really needed to see a doctor this time.

Idren seemed displeased with her selective memory, but her forgetting things was truly not intentional.

After Haslen died, she often forgot small things, and the people around her would take care of it for her.

They said it was more likely a mental issue rather than a physical one. Leden’s former finance minister had even found a good doctor for her and told her to see them.

But by then, Leden was already ruined, so Ophelia didn’t pay much attention to those words. It wasn’t a time when mental issues were important.

…Come to think of it, didn’t she meet that finance minister in a place like this?

Suddenly, a familiar voice flashed through her mind.

“I was actually a servant of Taeran Lahos. No, I should say I was his toy.”

Realizing those words tinged with self-deprecation and misery were spoken by her finance minister, Ophelia’s eyes widened. It was because she had just remembered something related.

She turned to the man beside her and said,

“It’s the silver candlestick.”