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Episode 63: Happy Birthday (II)
My eyes widened upon seeing Pamela.
‘Is that woman a living Buddha?’
Even the living Buddha could not look more peaceful than her.
I thought perhaps she was a cyborg.
Pamela maintained her noble attitude even though Deborah was not far away.
Her calm and still eyes were perfect like a mask.
Marquis Karen’s mother, Pamela Caruso.
‘Because she was an extra, she didn’t come out well in the original.’
She was only mentioned among a bunch of names.
In the first place, Marquis Kalen himself did not have a large role in the original story, so his mother also did not appear often.
According to the stories I heard from Aktoum’s social circle, she seemed to be in level 1.5 in her own way.
A woman who lacked a bit to be part of level 1, but had the desire to excel.
(TL/N: the raws used 1 and 1.5, but just think of it as ‘top/best’ and ‘very good, but not good enough to be the best’.)
Ah… And for reference.
‘It’s said that her love for her son was terrible.’
Therefore, this situation would be very difficult to bear.
It was when I was staring at Pamela for a moment with sympathetic eyes.
Despite how it seemed like screws or mechanical parts would come out of her body when she died, Pamela’s eyes trembled slightly.
“……?”
She was looking towards the entrance.
To be more precise, the image of Marquis Kalen entering, the son she cherished terribly.
“Welcome, Kalen!”
Deborah called out his name and smiled brightly.
Pamela flinched a little more.
“Deborah…!”
Marquis Kalen loudly called Deborah, approached her, and gave her a brief hug.
Thanks to that, the distance between them and I was far apart, so I couldn’t hear their conversation, but I could tell at a glance.
“Are they saying that they’re going to play openly since the adultery has been exposed…?”
The old lady at the nearby table muttered as she watched them.
Then she realized that Pamela was around and went ‘Huup!’ closing her mouth.
Pamela’s teacup trembled as the old lady shifted her eyes away.
Deborah and Kalen hugged affectionately and chatted with Yuria, the birthday girl.
Although their voices could not be heard, the happy laughter of the two could be heard loudly.
“I’m not dreaming…?”
“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a couple having an affair so confidently.”
“Aren’t they absolutely crazy?”
Everyone in the banquet hall lowered their voices and whispered.
A weak-hearted young lady looked at them in contemplation, seemingly about to burst into tears.
At that time, Deborah and Kalen finally finished talking to Yuria and stood on the podium.
Standing in front of the magic tool that increased the volume of their voices, they went, “You say it,” “No, I should not, Deborah should speak.” Their soft voices came out as it was.
“……”
In the end, it was Marquis Kalen who stood in front of the magic tool.
He tapped the magic tool twice and looked around the crowd with a refreshing expression.
“Fellow nobles of Aktoum, I am Marquis Kalen Caruso.”
“…….”
“I’ve got something to tell you, so I’ve borrowed this place for a while.”
Feeling overwhelmed, Marquis Kalen took a few deep breaths, then said,
“Actually, Madam Deborah and I…”
“……”
“We decided to get married.”
“!?”
The eyes of the nobles in the hall were about to pop out.
The young lady who had tears in her eyes immediately screamed, “Ah!” and covered her ears as if she had heard the devil’s voice.
Marquis Kalen said in a calm, low voice.
“I know what this marriage will look like.”
“…….”
“But I couldn’t stop my love for Deborah.”
“Kalen…”
Deborah looked at him lovingly.
“Please congratulate me.”
Marquis Kalen smiled innocently as his pale blond hair swayed.
“I will love Deborah for the rest of my life and live well.”
“……”
“Thank you.”
Even after Marquis Kalen left the podium, there was no reaction in the hall.
Everyone was glancing around, thinking whether they should congratulate them or not.
At that moment, Yuria, who was standing next to them, slowly started to applaud.
Clap, clap, clap–
Then, one by one, they followed her and applauded.
In the middle, Pamela jumped up from her seat and trembled.
Her gaze was turned towards her immature son.
She bit her lip and frowned slightly.
“…You, you, you crazy bastard…!”
Pamela, who was glaring at her son with an expression like she was about to collapse from high blood pressure, quickly turned around.
Then she stormed out of the outdoor banquet ‘hall’.
‘They are not ordinary…’
I shook my head as I drank wine in the party atmosphere that had become a mess.
I couldn’t believe an affair couple was announcing their marriage at someone else’s birthday party.
Although she was an attention seeker, not only was it not polite to the birthday girl, it was even more disrespectful to Pamela.
‘In the end, she attached herself to Marquis Karen.’
In the present situation, Deborah would have had only two options.
Stick to Duke Douglas until the end even if he asked for a divorce, or stick with Marquis Kalen.
A normal person would never have imagined remarrying Marquis Kalen… But this was Deborah.
She would choose to be the ‘future marchioness’, even if it caused a violent repercussion, rather than be the divorcee from a lowly noble family.
It would have been nothing to rub the young man who was blinded by her.
In fact, from the time I heard the rumors of her divorce, I had guessed what would happen today.
It was like Deborah to burst forth the news of marriage in a place like this.
‘She struck first. As it would be difficult to get permission from the family.’
They had already declared that they were getting married, so it would seem really ridiculous if the marriage was postponed.
It was a weak signal to pressure Marchioness Caruso.
Wouldn’t it be one of the two now?
Between allowing her beloved son to marry a divorcee, or being ridiculous.
‘But unless she gets shot in the head, Pamela won’t allow it easily.’
Since she loved her son so much, would she allow a marriage where a road to hell was clearly visible instead of a flower road? She would rather be humiliated.
‘In the end, Pamela becomes the main key…?’
Whether or not Deborah would be able to go to the marquistate and seize power again…
Now it was up to Pamela.
This was a pretty important issue for me and Rixus.
“Laura, come here.”
“Yes! Your Majesty.”
Laura, who had been distracted and chatting in a nearby place, heard my voice amazingly well and came straight to me.
I whispered while covering my mouth with the palm of my hand.
“Can you find out about Madam Pamela?”
She asked back in a quiet voice.
“…How much do you want to know?”
“Information about Pamela as an individual, and any information about the marquis family, anything. Scratch it to the bottom.”
“I see, Your Majesty.”
Laura said goodbye to the people she was chatting with and left the banquet hall quickly.
For a few minutes, Marquis Kalen and Deborah became the subject of conversations. Then, Yuria got up on the podium and grabbed the loudspeaker magic tool.
She gave a formal greeting, saying that this place became even more brilliant because of the participation of the nobles.
Her voice seemed to be deliberately trying to pretend to be calm and bright. Unfortunately, the effort was noticeable because she was the type to show her true feelings.
Apparently, the aftermath of the gift was still there.
When Yuria barely finished her greetings and went down from the stage, the flow of the conversations changed in an instant.
Because the nobles in this place were really interested in Yuria, Rixus and me.
Some thought of weaving the three together, and some simply focused on the ‘discord between the prince and the queen’.
Either way, it was equally provocative.
Everyone was careful in front of me so I couldn’t hear well… Words such as ‘margrave’ and ‘holy marriage permit’ were heard at a quick glance.
Everyone seemed to have noticed that the marriage permit was too late.
And the rumors that the margrave’s expression at Marchioness Ilmare’s tea party didn’t look good seemed to have spread.
It was easy to guess that he might have voted against.
I got up slowly and deliberately and walked towards them.
“Y-Your Majesty the Queen!”
“!”
I could tell that the nobles who were standing and chatting were visibly embarrassed.
“I was bored sitting alone.”
I smiled softly.
Among them, a middle-aged nobleman changed his expression and bowed his head politely.
“Thank you for taking the first step, Your Majesty. I was just about to go say hello.”
“Yes, Viscount Minerva.”
“…It is an infinite honor for this servant to be remembered by a royal.”
He seemed a little moved. I called out the names of the madam and young lady who were also present in turn. Everyone looked surprised.
All of them were relatively low-ranking nobles who had no presence in the social world, and therefore were not often remembered by the imperial or royal family.
However, they had something else in common.
‘The neutral force.’
These were nobles who had a neutral attitude toward me.
They neither support nor oppose.
In politics, whoever wins the hearts of the middle group wins.
Moreover, they must have expressed their opinions on Johann’s approve/oppose survey.
If a negative vote was cast, there was still time to change it to an affirmative vote.
“Since you’re from a noble family, there’s no need to lower yourself that much.”
I said with a soft smile.
“In a way, I’m from a swamp.”
“Oh my goodness……!”
A young lady, from a family of lowly commoners who barely managed to buy the title of baron, blushed in surprise at my remarks.
Soon, there was a small sympathy in her eyes.
She said with a lot of hesitation, and with a little difficulty.
“I don’t know if it’s okay to say this. Your Majesty the Queen… I think your image was a little different from what I was hearing.”
“What about my image?”
I was a little curious about that.