Mostly marriages of convenience.
But that’s why it was funny for someone to offer just their body, without any dowry, asking for marriage.
Part of him wondered who the protagonist of this voice was.
‘Choosing Louis Clovis of all people.’
Either dreadfully desperate or dreadfully lacking discernment.
It had to be one of the two.
‘Maybe it could be both.’
Either way, Walter was curious about the protagonist.
It was the first time in his life that he’d been curious about someone, though Walter didn’t realize it at the time.
And before long, Walter finds out who the voice belongs to.
Because the marriage between Princess Odette and Louis Clovis was announced.
.
.
.
‘…If the connection had ended one-sidedly there, I wouldn’t have been tortured for so long.’
Odette would probably never know.
The impulse that took Walter whenever he looked at her.
The fact that his own obsession with her choked him.
What kind of face would she make if he told her?
‘Even more hatred, that’s certain.’
Then there’d be no occasion like today to worm into Odette’s ‘crack.’
[Dash] …Well, it wasn’t the worst.Saying that, Odette blushed, looking all the more lovable.
It seemed she had forgotten that she once called him the ‘worst.’
If we keep narrowing the gap like this, someday.
‘…Someday?’
Suddenly, upon that thought, Walter chuckled bitterly.
‘You’re drunk on a foolish dream, Walter Ertman.’
At best, all of Odette’s actions would be an act, and she would still be in love with Louis Clovis.
It was funny how he was acting like a boy who had fallen in love for the first time over a mere kiss.
‘To Odette, I’m as undesirable as an arranged marriage.’
His mood soured in an instant.
Walter scowled and abruptly stood up.
And at that moment.
Flap.
The sound of bird wings flapping came from the window.
“Hmm? Isn’t that the Crown Prince’s bird?”
At Russell’s words, he turned his head to see a white bird sitting by the window.
It was the bird Sedric used to send urgent messages.
The problem was that Cedric’s letter had arrived not long ago.
“What could be the matter?”
Ignoring Russell’s puzzled voice, Walter opened the letter to find just one line.
[Will come within a month. If you announce your marriage before my arrival, I will kill you, Walter.]The handwriting was hastily scribbled, uncharacteristic of Cedric.
Even the content seemed almost compulsive, hardly believable to be a letter from Cedric who usually maintained pleasantries at the beginning and end.
It might have been suspected to be written by someone else if it were not for Cedric’s unique handwriting and the audacity to call Walter by his name.
“Who’s this bastard?”
Anger tinged Walter’s voice.
Crunch, the paper was crumpled.
“Who’s the damn person who already told Cedric about the wedding news?”
A new letter was thrown before Walter, who hadn’t even considered his unloved bride-to-be as the culprit.
“My lord, I apologize for the late hour! We have urgent news from Duke Ertman’s domain…”
If there was anyone who could send urgent news from Duke Ertman’s domain, it could only be one person.
“My grandfather?”
Arnold Ertman.
His letter was equally brief.
If there was any difference from Cedric’s letter, it was that this side usually wrote only what was needed, so it was no different from usual.
Walter read the short sentence written in the opened letter, and a low curse flowed from his mouth.
[See you in the capital.]“Damn it.”
Oblivious to the wave of disturbances approaching Walter,
Odette had been leading her own busy life since the palace banquet.
At daybreak, Havel, the Emperor’s secretary, had come looking for Odette.
Thanks to this, Odette saw her father’s face after a very long time.
“So, you didn’t like the fact that I planned to send you to Kyerang, did you, Princess? Going this far?”
“I apologize, Your Majesty.”
“I clearly warned you during the tea party. I wonder if you underestimated me… or if you were so keen on joining hands with Ertman.”
The Emperor continued to chastise Odette for her reckless behavior, questioning why she didn’t voice her disapproval of the arranged marriage sooner.
But in the end, the conclusion was the same.
“I approve of the Princess’s marriage. I don’t want to discuss this matter further, so go.”
The Emperor had already flipped several abacuses in his mind.
And in a situation where the scandal between Walter and Odette had exploded beyond repair, he calculated it would be better to bring Walter into the imperial family.
‘As expected.’
Odette was able to leave the chamber relieved.
‘It was right to think that making a big scene is better when dealing with the Emperor.’
But there are usually side effects to making a big scene.
And that side effect appeared before Odette as she was returning to her palace.
“Caught you all here, haven’t I? Odette.”
It was Lizaina.
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
