Chapter 19

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 19

Chapter Title: Straight Flush

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The carriage carrying the grand duke rolled into the Haber estate long after the party had already begun. Crown Prince Leonit and Princess Luise, who held little fondness for the social gathering hosted by Marchioness Haber, had opted not to attend, leaving Prince Biern as the only guest from Schwerin Palace.

“You’re here, Biern!”

Marchioness Haber approached with a face full of emotion upon spotting Biern, who had arrived amid a stir.

Please live up to my expectations.

The blatant ambition in her eyes made Biern smile. If there was one person who desired more than anyone for the party to end in disaster, it was undoubtedly the hostess herself.

Biern exchanged perfunctory greetings with the familiar, boring faces as he slowly surveyed the banquet hall. It didn’t take long to spot Erna among the clusters of ladies laughing and chatting.

Erna stood clinging to the wall by the window in the most remote corner. She looked timid, but her curious eyes darting around were bright and alert. Countess Victoria Meyer, who should have been busy displaying the auction items to the bidders, was nowhere to be seen.

Biern watched the woman with intrigued eyes. A few men approached her directly without intermediaries, but her overly defensive attitude kept the conversations short. Some among them were even gambling cronies from the card tables.

“Dear, did you know Princess Gladys is here at this party too?”

Just as he was about to approach her, unwelcome faces surrounded Biern. They were royal matrons who drew their life’s energy from meddling and nagging.

“Go say hello to her. I hear she’s forgiven you, so you’d better reconcile before she comes to her senses.”

An elderly lady pointed gravely toward Gladys, who was surrounded by her followers, lecturing him as if it were a sermon.

“Listen well, Biern. Youth may seem eternal, but one day you’ll snap to attention and find yourself white-haired.”

“Exactly. If you keep living so dissolutely, your bones will rot away in old age, dear. Shouldn’t you start living a proper life with Gladys now?”

The barrage of scoldings was no different.

Biern endured the storm of trials with a shameless grin, waiting for it to pass. This kind of patience was the greatest gift from his boisterous divorce. The fact that he had gained something from it, however small, offered some small comfort even in this damnable situation.

Realizing their advice was falling on deaf ears, the matrons let out deep sighs of resignation. Biern left them with polite bows and strode toward his target with wide steps.

Straight flush.

It was the hand Leonard had held before flipping the table. An unbeatable hand. So now, this woman had to become his straight flush. Of course, he’d need to settle the debt first.

The prince was approaching.

Erna, realizing the undeniable fact, began backing away into an even more secluded corner. She prayed fervently that it was a mistake, that he was heading for someone else, but the prince’s gaze was fixed squarely on her.

Why on earth?

She furrowed her brow as if to question him, but he showed no sign of wavering. He seemed utterly unconcerned by the stares focused on them. Only when she spotted Princess Gladys in the crowd did Erna realize he might be doing this on purpose. As humiliation boiled within her, the prince closed the distance right up to her nose.

“Hello, gold thief.”

He blocked her path as she tried to flee, greeting her with an absurd salutation while wearing an elegant smile utterly at odds with his rude demeanor. Erna quickly turned her face away from the prince.

“Shouldn’t we have a little talk?”

Biern gazed down at Erna, who was desperately avoiding him, and whispered leisurely, savoring the sight. She flinched but still refused to look at him.

“Isn’t that a bit too haughty for someone who stole another person’s possession?”

“I have no idea what Your Highness is talking about.”

Blushing, Erna retorted in a polite yet curt tone. Her pretentious ladylike act made Biern chuckle.

“So, my trophy?”

Leaning against the banquet hall wall just like Erna, Biern posed the question with a sigh.

“I don’t know anything about that. So please, just go away, Your Highness.”

“Once you return my stolen trophy.”

“Why are you doing this to me?”

“Because you’re the thief.”

“Thief? That’s such an insulting thing to say!”

Erna bristled indignantly and lifted her head. Biern regarded her large eyes, flickering like blue flames, with interest.

“You seem to forget inconvenient memories quickly.”

“Isn’t Your Highness the one doing that?”

Despite her terrified expression, her defiant tone was calm and bold. Biern decided to exercise a bit more patience because of that intriguing contrast.

“That day... I mean, after committing such a shameful act, for you to be rude to me again today...”

Erna exaggerated as if she could barely bring herself to mention it. It was a reaction Biern found hard to understand.

“Even if you were drunk and don’t remember...”

“I remember.”

Biern nodded nonchalantly. Stunned, Erna’s lips moved silently, her unfinished words hanging in the air.

“What happened at the fountain in Tara Square. I remember it. All of it.”

“You... remember? But how...”

“If I went too far, I apologize, Miss Hardy. It wasn’t entirely my fault, but not blameless either.”

Biern bowed his head graciously to convey his apology. It was impeccably polite, yet felt arrogantly so.

“Now it’s your turn, Miss Hardy.”

Though his face wore a sly grin, the look in Biern’s eyes as he regarded Erna was serene. Its intensity overwhelmed her.

“What exactly do I have to apologize to Your Highness for?”

Erna couldn’t hide the tremor in her eyes and voice. Suppressing the urge to flee took all her strength, leaving no room for anything else.

“Perhaps for assaulting me with the trophy and then stealing it as you fled?”

“That’s ridiculous! It was...”

She started to snap back indignantly but trailed off as a sudden memory surfaced. In her panic, she had grabbed a long golden rod. She had definitely struck the prince with it, then fled clutching it without a second thought. It had resembled a trophy.

“Good. Looks like you remember now.”

As Biern’s smile grew satisfied, Erna’s face drained of color.

She had only realized she was holding something after leaving the square. The mere thought of it having touched that man made her skin crawl, so she had tossed the rod away and run back to the Hardy residence without looking back.

In other words, the item the prince now claimed as his trophy was likely rolling around near a sewer grate on Tara Avenue. Assuming it was still there.

“So, my trophy?”

“...I threw it away.”

Erna barely squeezed out the words. Biern’s eyes flickered at the unexpected answer.

“Threw it away? My trophy?”

Erna nodded shakily at his incredulous question, laced with a hollow laugh.

“On the way back... I th-threw it away.”

His straight flush—the one who had stolen the golden antler—quavered on the verge of tears. At that moment, the strains of a waltz announced the start of the first dance.

Biern let out a deep sigh and extended his hand to Erna first.

“Shall we go, Miss Hardy?”

“Pardon?”

Captured by bewilderment, Erna repeated the question. Biern smiled with exaggerated politeness, which chilled her even more. Realizing he was asking her to dance, she shook her head desperately.

“Refusing would only cause a bigger misunderstanding.”

The prince whispered to Erna, who was lost in the increasingly absurd situation, in the gentlest of voices.

“Dancing together at a party like this is nothing special.”

His gaze, pointing to pairs heading to the center of the hall, was calm.

“But hiding behind a pillar and talking alone like this draws attention.”

His darkening eyes fixed on Erna once more.

“But I...”

“Don’t you have much to say about the gold you discarded, Miss Hardy?”

Biern gently took Erna’s hand, leaving her unable to move either way. Then, slowly and tenderly like a lover, he escorted her to the center of the hall. From afar, Gladys watched them with sorrowful eyes. Seeing her act as if witnessing her husband’s infidelity almost sparked some sympathy in Biern for this foolish woman who had dared toss his gold into the street.

Weaving through the excited onlookers thrilled by the juicy drama, Biern stopped at the center of the hall. Erna still wore a woeful expression.

“Was that really gold? The golden trophy?”

Strength entered Erna’s limp hand. Biern nodded calmly as he stared at the woman, who clearly wanted to deny reality. Ah. Erna’s despairing sigh melted into the beautiful waltz melody.

“I’m sorry. That day, I was so startled and panicked, I didn’t know what it was. Really.”

Biern’s eyes narrowed as he watched Erna stammer her apology.

“Is that so?”

“Yes! I’ll compensate for the damage I caused. It might be hard right now, but if it’s really gold, it must be valuable, so though I can’t now, if you give me time, I’ll somehow...”

“Miss Hardy.”

Biern quietly called her name to calm her rambling. Only then did Erna notice the stares fixed on them, and her shoulders hunched. Watching her silently, Biern let out a short chuckle.

“Very well. Let’s do that.”

Biern accepted readily, knowing full well Erna could never repay the trophy’s value on her own. The benefits he could gain by using her properly far outweighed it, so there was no reason not to be magnanimous.

Incurring a debt meant having a weakness seized.

Biern planned to exploit that weakness appropriately. She didn’t seem shameless, and appeared to understand the basics of fair trade, so the game might be easier than expected. She had already set one foot in his boat.

“R-Really?”

To Erna’s incredulous question, Biern nodded indulgently.

“We’ll see.”

Releasing Erna, Biern stepped back and extended his hand again.

“For that compensation, let’s start with a dance.”