To The Eternal Knight (2 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 127

“It’s said that more nobles showed up at Baron Biota’s garden party than there were invited guests. Since even Viscount Illautzer is attending, it seems they wish to take this chance to verify the relationship between His Grace the Grand Duke and Count Esteban.”

At the butler’s report, Count Illautzer’s lips curled faintly upward.

How long had it been since he last tasted this pleasure—the satisfaction of watching events unfold precisely as anticipated? Indeed, ever since His Grace the Grand Duke regained his resolve, everything had proceeded as if following the natural course of things.

The scandal printed in the special edition flew far and wide like a sailboat catching a fair wind, while news of the Crown Princess’s pregnancy vanished into thin air like dust. All eyes in society were now fixed solely on the Grand Duke’s prospective bride.

“Just in time,” David would drop at today’s garden party hosted by Baron Biota just enough convincing detail to fuel the rumors about the Grand Duke and Count Esteban.

He could easily imagine, even with his eyes closed, how greedily the nobles would yearn for certainty, harvesting the rumors he had carefully sown.

By tomorrow, throughout high society—and indeed the entire aristocratic system—the Grand Duke and Count Esteban would be known as an intimately close pair, as if on the verge of marriage.

Count Illautzer gazed at his teacup.

The tea had gone completely cold—it had been prepared from the moment he’d heard the Grand Duke had left Count Rosa’s residence.

Such a steadfast and wise man would surely have realized, even if momentarily blinded by love, that Count Illautzer had deliberately used the rumors about himself and Count Esteban to his advantage.

“…If they still haven’t come by now, I suppose that means silent consent.”

In truth, given the Grand Duke’s temperament, this level of restraint wasn’t mere tacit approval—it was outright endorsement. He’d occasionally received word from his second son: the Grand Duke had been frequently speaking of Nerea Esteban.

Count Illautzer lightly shook his head. The days of turning away from a fallen hero were over; he had clearly inserted himself onto Nerea Esteban’s board before she’d fully regained her footing.

This self-granted absolution gently blurred memories of the times he’d deliberately ignored Nerea’s story in the past. Now, in fact, he could face Nerea with full confidence—

for by spreading these rumors himself, Nerea Esteban would now be positioned to rise all the way to the Empress’s throne, coveted by all.

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