The Eldest Daughter Walks Down The Flower Path - Chapter 124
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
The Eldest Daughter Walks the Path of Flowers Episode 124
“….”
Olivier, who was about to head to the banquet hall, stared intently at the letter envelope Yael had brought.
[Letter of Severance]
“…Eve Russel, what kind of low-quality prank is this now?”
Olivier tried to ignore the letter.
However, those childish letters that clearly showed signs of being hastily scrawled had a strange power.
Even knowing that opening the envelope would inevitably make him angry beyond redemption, it had the kind of power that made it impossible to resist without opening it…!
In the end, Olivier had no choice but to remove the pure white gloves he was wearing and open the envelope.
[To His Highness Olivier, 3rd Prince, whom I held dear.
I am sorry, but I, Eve Russel, wish to reverse all the proposals I made to Your Highness the 3rd Prince as if they never happened.
The reason is that what I desire has changed.
I no longer cling to titles.
However, I will not forget Your Highness the 3rd Prince’s efforts on my behalf.
That kindness will surely someday….]
The fingertips of Olivier holding the letter turned white.
Yael was startled enough to jump at seeing his expression.
Olivier’s face was contorted.
Fine wrinkles had formed between his brows, and the emotion that rose in his beautiful violet eyes was unmistakable anger.
“…Ha.”
Olivier let out a short sigh that sounded almost like a curse.
He threw the perfumed luxury stationery onto the table as if it were trash and said.
“Burn it.”
“Yes.”
Yael immediately threw the letter into the fireplace.
The letter soon burned away and turned to ash, but the anger did not disappear.
After putting gloves back on his pale, delicate hands and examining the front and back of the silk gloves, Olivier thought.
‘Why would that bundle of ambition suddenly do this now? What is it that he’s come to desire?’
His sharp intuition was vaguely sensing what Lord Russel had newly come to desire.
However, he deliberately ignored it.
‘That can’t be. And even if it were, it doesn’t matter. Such a noisy crow….’
Joel, who had come up from the lobby, informed him.
“Your Highness, the carriage is ready.”
Olivier said.
“Let’s depart immediately.”
The Imperial Greenhouse was a luxurious building made by fitting glass into a beautiful structure reminiscent of a birdcage, one of the artistic architectural works the Imperial Court took pride in.
The greenhouse was filled with rare plants that couldn’t be seen in the Empire, and the rich fragrance they emitted was sweetly infused throughout the warm air.
Among the exotic plants that drooped their sword-sharp and shield-round thick leaves, and the surprisingly large flowers blooming here and there, was a tea room famous as a social venue for noble ladies.
However, Elizabeth Russel always found this place uncomfortable.
Elizabeth’s delicate shoulders trembled lightly as she entered the tea room.
She looked up at the large plants surrounding the tea room with anxious eyes.
The plant stems seemed to be clad in rough armor and were so thick that even embracing them with both arms wouldn’t be enough to encircle them.
Moreover, the thick leaves reminded one of all kinds of weapons stacked layer upon layer.
Whenever Elizabeth saw the leaves that gleamed as if waxed, she would fall into a strange feeling.
Leaves that didn’t know the seasons and couldn’t fall from the trees, growing ever more bloated and swelling their bodies… Whenever Elizabeth saw them, she felt as if she too was growing heavier and sinking down, down.
“Oh my, Lady Russel. Please sit over here.”
At the voice calling her, Elizabeth awakened from her reverie.
She turned away from the eerie plants and walked to the tea room table, wearing a gentle smile.
“Lady Perrel, thank you.”
The noble ladies sitting at the tea room table showed Elizabeth friendly smiles.
Elizabeth exchanged warm greetings with each of them.
They were all ladies who had come to the Imperial Capital to attend the banquet welcoming the new Master.
Sofia Ferrel spoke to Elizabeth.
“Lady Russel, did you hear why today’s banquet was suddenly delayed?”
“Ah… I’m sorry. I just left the estate and arrived at the Imperial Capital, so I haven’t heard anything.”
Ceril Atoz whispered while fluttering her long eyelashes.
“Sorry? We’re having fun bringing up that story every time a new person arrives, you know? Hohoho, well, Count Rodrick, who was a candidate for the new Master, completely achieved victory over Lord Xenon at the Imperial Arena, they say?”
Elizabeth covered her mouth with her hand to express surprise and made an interested sound.
“What? Victory? What do you mean by that?”
At her words, the ladies sitting around the table opened the floodgates of chatter.
“It seems Lord Xenon didn’t want to give up the Master position to Count Rodrick.”
“But Count Rodrick completely crushed Lord Xenon!”
“It was truly dazzling martial prowess. And what a beautiful man he is…!”
“Lady Arne, please explain well to Lady Russel. Especially that part about him being beautiful….”
Among the ladies smiling thinly, Elizabeth, who had been lost in thought, opened her mouth.
“If it’s House of Relbelloa, that’s understandable. Right now, House of Relbelloa is the only ducal house protecting the Iszad Party, while the Bellius Party has both the Coban Duchy and the Bayard Duchy. Checking the House of Russel, which was once a pillar of the Bellius Party, would be natural for the Relbelloa family.”
Elizabeth suddenly realized that the ladies were looking at her with mysterious smiles.
Elizabeth tilted her head and wore a friendly smile before opening her mouth again.
“…How wonderful must he have been for Lady Greenfield to fall so deeply for him?”
At her words, Arne Greenfield smiled brightly and raised her voice.
“Lady Russel, listen to me! Well, it was worth going to the arena despite the scorching sun!”
Arne Greenfield described Count Rodrick removing and throwing off his helmet in an excited voice.
How dazzling his sweat-soaked platinum hair was, as if it had a halo, how his tanned brown skin looked as sweet as chocolate drink, how his martial prowess was like a hero from mythology….
Among the ladies letting out sweet sighs, Elizabeth felt her chest growing more and more stuffy.
She could never get used to these things.
The cage-like greenhouse, the precious plants kept confined and cultivated, and the thick, humid air they emitted.
However, these plants could not leave the greenhouse.
Even if they did leave, they would soon meet their death.
The plump, oily leaves would turn yellow, and the hollowly fattened stems would rot and emit a sweet stench that would attract all kinds of insects.
Moreover, the beings outside the greenhouse would not be kind to those dying plants.
Surely someone would wonder why they had become this way and press that bloated stem with their finger out of curiosity.
Elizabeth could easily imagine that light, curious touch causing the once-firm stem to cave in and spurt rotten water, pouring out insects through the torn bark.
The unkind beings would be amazed at that sight and say this.
‘Elizabeth, why don’t you try harder to please His Highness the 1st Prince?’
‘Being so stiff like that makes His Highness the 1st Prince dislike you.’
‘It’s the Empress who holds your fate.’
‘You’re acting like my mother!’
Elizabeth turned away from those whispers and said with an elegant smile.
“I’m really looking forward to today’s banquet!”
In her ear, wearing a brilliant smile, dear Olivier whispered one last time.
‘If Your Ladyship also desires the Empress’s position, please understand His Highness the 1st Prince’s heart a little more….’
Elizabeth wanted to scream instead.
Just like in her very early childhood, when neither she nor Olivier wore masks.
‘Oli! Eat this.’
‘….’
‘Hey! You’re so skinny with nothing but bones, so why won’t you eat anything?’
At her words, the small and cute Olivier looked at her with his pretty purple eyes wide open and whispered.
‘I can’t eat anything except what Joel gives me. It all has poison in it.’
‘What are you talking about? There’s no such thing. I brought this from my house.’
At her words, Olivier spoke as if telling her the most important secret.
‘Jojot, if you eat something with poison, it hurts so, so much. If you don’t throw it up right away, you could die. So you always have to be careful about what you eat.’
Elizabeth felt so frustrated.
‘No! This is fine. Look, I’ll eat it first.’
She forgot that her front tooth was loose and opened her mouth wide, biting into the cookie as if to show him.
-Crack.
A strange sound came out, but Elizabeth thought it was the sound of the cookie breaking.
She chewed the cookie and smiled brightly as if to show him.
Olivier’s face, watching her, slowly turned pale.
Olivier looked at her with a face filled with horror and began backing away.
Elizabeth, bewildered, asked him.
‘Olivi…? What’s wrong?’
The moment she asked that, the expression disappeared from Olivier’s face as if it had been erased.
‘Goodbye, Jojot.’
After Olivier disappeared, Elizabeth looked in the mirror.
The spot where her front tooth had been was completely empty, and blood was flowing from there.
She looked at the blood-stained cookie and cried sadly.
She wasn’t crying because she had shown an ugly appearance to the boy she liked.
It was because she realized that the boy who always stood in dark shadows without expression would no longer trust even her.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————