Chapter 191

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 191
Chapter Title: Conflict of Interest
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Lariesa, who had been about to make up for the sleep she’d missed at dawn, was summoned by her father, Duke Eudes, the moment she lay down in bed.

Wearing only a robe over her nightgown, she left the bedroom, rubbing her eyes.

“What is it, Father?”

Duke Eudes gestured for everyone to leave. Once he was alone with his daughter, having dismissed the servants, he asked her point-blank.

“Was it you who let Prince Alfonso and his party escape?”

He expected his daughter to be shocked or frightened.

He thought she would surely deny it, and that he would have to press her with questions like, ‘Then why did you bathe this morning?’ and ‘What were you doing at dawn that you’re sleeping during the day?’

But his eldest daughter, who had been the apple of his eye, had died young, and now the only daughter he had left simply widened her eyes and answered brazenly.

“Yes. I set the fire. Why?”

Duke Eudes unknowingly raised his voice.

“What? Have you lost your mind!”

Lariesa looked surprised by her father’s sudden accusation.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Good heavens!”

The sheer audacity. Duke Eudes was appalled by his daughter’s perception of reality. He knew she was a peculiar child, but this was beyond his imagination.

“To set a fire in the palace where His Majesty the King resides! If you’re caught, you could be punished for plotting against the King! It’s treason, treason!”

Lariesa replied with a sulky face, her fatigue still evident.

“I know it was dangerous. But I only did what I had to do.”

“What? Have you truly gone mad?”

“You were the one who taught me that a woman must share in any hardship for her husband’s sake!”

“What did you say?”

As Duke Eudes was doubting his own ears, Lariesa enunciated each word for him again, slowly and clearly.

“My. Hus. Band.”

Duke Eudes nearly lost his mind.

“Why is that man your husband!”

He felt like he was going to go crazy because of his daughter, whose head was in the clouds.

“I know you were very fond of the Etruscan prince. But all that passed between you were marriage talks, and those talks never came to fruition!”

To persuade his daughter, Duke Eudes decided to reveal a few secrets.

“And while I cannot go into detail, given His Majesty the King’s intentions, this marriage will be difficult to achieve. Even if His Majesty tries to marry you to Prince Alfonso, you must not accept it! Trust your father and come to your senses!”

Lariesa answered haughtily.

“I know. His Majesty the King planned to kill Prince Alfonso, then marry Bianca of Taranto to bring the throne of the Kingdom of Etruscan under the Brienne Dynasty!”

“How do you know that…?”

Lariesa offered no explanation, only giving her astounded father a sly smile.

“That’s why I helped Prince Alfonso escape! You were going to kill him! My husband!”

“You aren’t even married, what husband! Come to your senses!”

Lariesa looked straight at her father.

“No, we are married.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“If you promise not to get angry, I’ll explain everything.”

“What are you talking about! Are you in your right mind?”

Agitated, Duke Eudes yelled, his hand trembling unconsciously. To Lariesa, it looked as if her father was punching the air.

At her father’s fury, Lariesa’s eyes welled with tears, and she hid behind the sofa.

*Clack!*

Just then, the door to Lariesa’s drawing room opened.

“My dear? My dear?”

It was Duchess Bernadette. She rushed in, embraced Lariesa, and protested to her husband.

“What are you doing to our Lari!”

“Mother!”

Lariesa buried herself in her mother’s arms. The Duchess sternly scolded her husband.

“You’re making the child cry!”

“My dear!”

Duke Eudes shouted, his insides churning with frustration.

“The child says she’s a married woman!”

“Pardon?”

Even her mother, who was holding Lariesa, pushed her away with wide eyes and stared at her.

Her trusted refuge gone, Lariesa felt as if the ceiling was collapsing and wailed.

“Mother! Father! You’re awful! No one cares about my happiness!”

Duchess Bernadette asked her daughter.

“No, but what on earth do you mean? A married woman? You have a husband?”

“Don’t ask me anything!”

Lariesa burst into tears and began to sob.

Duchess Bernadette, utterly aghast, did her best to soothe her daughter, while Duke Eudes, taken aback, simply sat there watching over them.

It was a long while before Lariesa calmed down.

Having finally stopped crying in the arms of her mother, who had been patiently patting her back, she whispered in a mumble.

“Mother, I married Prince Alfonso.”

“!”

Though initially startled, having already gone through an ordeal after questioning her daughter just twenty minutes earlier, Duchess Bernadette gently coaxed her.

“The Prince? Well, that’s wonderful! When?”

“Last night.”

Behind them, Duke Eudes clutched the back of his neck. He was on the verge of fainting.

But Duchess Bernadette patiently placated her grown daughter. The sound of her child crying was what she feared most in the world.

“Was it romantic?”

The Duchess couldn’t bring herself to ask, ‘Did you have a wedding?’ If it was Prince Alfonso, he would have been in the middle of an escape, and a wedding would have been out of the question.

It was a brave question, one she could only ask because she never imagined her daughter might not have even received a romantic proposal.

“Ugh, uhh…”

Lariesa started to whimper again. Unable to bear it any longer, Duke Eudes bellowed.

“No ceremony, not romantic, no parents’ permission! What kind of marriage is that! You must be mistaking a game of house for the real thing! Do you think marriage is just about exchanging a ring made of grass?”

Lariesa, who hadn’t even exchanged a grass ring, retorted fiercely.

“That’s not true!”

She had something to say.

“We officially signed a marriage contract!”

“What?!”

If there was a document, that was a different story. Lariesa, filled with defiance, went into her room and returned with the marriage contract.

“Look at this! We’re husband and wife!”

With a trembling hand, Duke Eudes took the parchment his daughter held out. *Please, let this not be real… Let this be just a childish commotion stirred up by my foolish daughter…*

“Marriage Vows.

Prince Alfonso de Carlo of Etruscan hereby marries Princess Lariesa de Valois of the Duchy of Valois, Kingdom of Gallico. …(Omitted).”

The contents followed the exact format of a formal document, and in the signature section below, the names and seals of the bride and groom were in their correct places.

The date, the wording—everything was impeccable.

“No… It can’t be… There must be a problem with the format somewhere…”

To her father’s dazed muttering, Lariesa replied with a spiteful look.

“Impossible. I made sure to check everything before writing the marriage contract.”

This was the work of a Lariesa who had learned her lesson the hard way after signing a contract with Duke Mireille.

But Duke Eudes shook his head and called for someone from outside.

“Someone! Bring me the Duchy’s Doctor of Law! Right now!”

***

The processing of life events such as birth certificates, marriage contracts, and death certificates was, in principle, the duty of the Holy See.

This meant that the people who knew the most about these matters were the clergy.

However, the Duchy of Valois’s Doctor of Law, while not possessing the same level of expertise, had an incomparable advantage over a clergyman from the Holy See.

He was completely the Duke of Valois’s man.

He was someone who could be trusted not to let a word slip out, even when shown a bombshell like the marriage contract between Princess Lariesa and Prince Alfonso.

The Doctor of Law, a man in his fifties, lifted his monocle to examine the document closely, then asked Lariesa a few questions.

Then he declared firmly.

“Your Highness, you are not a married woman.”

Duke Eudes’s face brightened noticeably, and Duchess Bernadette, contrary to the words she had spoken to her daughter, also looked quite relieved.

What mother would be pleased that her daughter had a secret marriage without even a ceremony, and that her son-in-law was now missing?

Princess Lariesa, however, reacted furiously.

“Lies! You’re my father’s man! You’re just saying whatever you think will please him!”

She lunged at the Doctor of Law and physically snatched the marriage contract from him.

This paper was the only thread connecting her to Prince Alfonso. She could not let it go.

“Lariesa!”

“Lari, you’ll get hurt!”

Her parents were horrified, but she paid them no mind.

Unable to dare physically push away his superior, the Doctor of Law had no choice but to let the contract be taken, but he was angered by the princess’s trampling of his professional pride.

“Your Highness! Please do not treat me like some sycophant! This marriage contract truly has no value as a marriage.”

Duke Eudes, his face lighting up, chimed in on the scholar’s words.

“That’s right, Lariesa. Listen to the doctor. Sir, it’s because the signature isn’t in ink, isn’t it? Indeed, it’s not a proper signature, just a splotchy brown one, you can’t even make out the name…”

“The signature is not the issue. The document itself is perfect.”

The Doctor of Law’s unbending professional pride yielded neither to the daughter nor the father. Embarrassed, Duke Eudes cleared his throat.

“Well… As long as my daughter isn’t bound to some strange man…”

“Oh, Your Grace. Princess Lariesa is indeed bound to Prince Alfonso.”

This time, father and daughter stared at the Doctor of Law with opposite expressions. The father’s was of fury, the daughter’s of elation.

Having unintentionally thrown his employers into an emotional storm, the Doctor of Law began his explanation at a leisurely pace.

“Ahem. The constituent elements of a marriage contract are…”

“Just get to the point!”

The sharpest retort came from Duchess Bernadette.

Startled by the Duchess’s outburst, the Doctor of Law gave a direct answer as his lady commanded.

“There was no clergyman present. Therefore, this marriage is invalid!”

Duke Eudes rubbed his chest, a look of immense relief on his face as if all his stomach troubles had vanished. Princess Lariesa cried out in despair.

“But you said Prince Alfonso is bound to me!”

“Th-that is correct.”

The Doctor of Law continued his explanation.

“Ahem. When drafting a marriage contract, there are five formalities that must be included…”

“Just the conclusion!”

“The conclusion!”

“So what’s the conclusion!”

Berated by all three family members, the Doctor of Law, with a look of exasperation at these people who knew nothing of the beauty of jurisprudence, gave a relatively concise explanation.

“Since a clergyman did not witness the moment of signing, it has no legal force as a marriage. However, looking at the contents of this marriage contract, the mutual intent of both parties to marry is made abundantly clear…”

Duchess Bernadette glared at the Doctor of Law, her eyes wide.

He flinched and quickly offered his conclusion.

“In conclusion, this document is valid as a betrothal.”

Just in case those ignorant souls hadn’t understood, he drove the point home.

“The two of you are officially betrothed.”

Princess Lariesa’s expression brightened somewhat. If she was his fiancée, there was a chance. There were many rights she could enjoy as a fiancée.

“Then, Doctor. The Prince can’t marry any other woman now, can he?”

The Doctor of Law nodded.

“That is correct. If a fiancé marries another woman while engaged, the fiancée can officially file an objection with the Holy See and have their marriage annulled.”

“Can I demand that the Prince marry me quickly?”

“Erm… that is a bit complicated. According to custom…”

“No, wait a moment.”

It was Duke Eudes who cut off the Doctor of Law’s lengthy explanation. His eyes gleaming, he said.

“‘Officially’? This marriage contract hasn’t been announced anywhere yet, has it?”

He wore a meaningful expression as he fixed his gaze on the parchment clutched dearly in his daughter’s arms.