Timid and Shy - Chapter 63

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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63.

Sophia looked up at Helen in surprise. Helen’s voice dropped even lower.
“Apparently there was a household that found out in secret. The betrothal negotiations were progressing, but once they discovered that Oberon preferred men, it fell apart. The other family did their own investigation, since he’s the one who’ll carry on the family title, and they discovered it that way. Besides, before Philip Wiscom, such matters among the nobility were taboo, so the rumors never spread.”
Sophia fell into thought.
“Philip’s ex-partner?”
“That’s why I didn’t tell you. After the Philip Wiscom incident, people kept gossiping about who his ex-partners were. Names were thrown around carelessly. My friend heard it then, but she couldn’t confirm it—it sounded more like baseless rumor to her. You see, Oberon dresses well, takes care of himself, and has quite a wide network in society. So it’s easy for gossip to attach itself to him.”
“I understand. I’ll keep a careful eye on Oberon.”
Helen spoke again.
“I didn’t think you were serious about getting along with Oberon, but I got worried after you mentioned the salt mine to him. With that handsome face and bearing, he might try to seduce you.”
The fact that Oberon preferred men hadn’t yet derailed her plan.
“What a waste of a face.”
Helen said.
“You’re not actually planning to be betrothed to him, are you? This is just reconnaissance?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
Helen took Sophia’s hand and spoke.
“I won’t tell you to stand against Parma. But don’t give up on Robert too easily. Hold out as long as you can. Use Oberon to make him jealous.”
After Helen left, Sophia lay in bed and reflected. The broken engagement was inevitable—for Robert’s sake and for Ariel’s. But there would be a right time and method to do it in a way that benefited both sides.
There had to be.
The next morning, Sophia opened the shutters the moment she rose. At Oberon Castle, you could see the sea whenever you opened a window—it was one of the pleasures of the place. Morning mist clung to the waters, softening them, but they remained beautiful.
‘Not bad. Oberon has taste.’
The fireplace had not gone cold through the night, and soon warm tea and water arrived simultaneously in the bedroom. After closing the shutters, Sophia began her day unhurried. Oberon’s hospitality was acceptable. So far.

***

This morning was scheduled as a tour of the castle with Oberon as guide. Pina had left early on horseback, having recently taken up riding and throwing herself into it completely. The party that Oberon would lead consisted only of Helen and Sophia.
Helen apologized to Oberon for the inconvenience.
“My brother only recently began riding and has become utterly absorbed in it. He left early this morning to practice, and I couldn’t hold him back. I apologize on his behalf.”
Oberon smiled and waved a dismissive hand.
“There’s no need to apologize. In weather this cold, I’d rather he didn’t fall ill.”
Helen shook her head.
“He complained about the cold in the carriage, yet on horseback he seems perfectly warm.”
Sophia remarked,
“He’s still a child. Playing is what matters most at his age.”
“If you tell Pina that, he’ll spend hours trying to convince you he’s almost fourteen now and not a child anymore.”
Oberon laughed and picked up the thread.
“There’s a certain charm to riding along the coast. I’d enjoy riding together with you both when the weather permits.”
Oberon’s attire today was immaculate as always. He glanced over Sophia from head to toe and grimaced slightly.
Sophia Ariel’s problem was not one of taste but of fabric quality. Helen Pina, despite her bourgeois station, possessed both finer clothing and better instinct for how to wear it. Oberon suppressed a sigh.
‘A prince’s betrothed, yet she looks like that. Is poverty truly so impossible to hide?’
Oberon led Sophia and Helen through the manor, room by room, offering commentary.
“As I conduct trade, acquiring items is remarkably convenient. This is the pottery collection. Not only items from Saturn, but treasures from other continents as well. I doubt anyone in the Capital possesses such variety and quantity. The contents of this room alone could purchase one or two estates in the Capital.”
Sophia wanted to examine things closely, but Oberon closed the door again and led both women to another room. Helen rolled her eyes at Sophia.
Oberon’s tour of the manor focused almost entirely on how many rare and expensive items he had amassed.
Sophia grew increasingly weary of the repetitive commentary. Whenever she tried to examine something more closely, Oberon would laugh awkwardly and usher the party back out the door.
When the tour ended, Sophia and Helen both declared they would rest that afternoon and parted ways with Oberon.
In Helen’s reception room, Helen and Sophia sat with their feet up, sipping tea. Helen spoke with a fed-up expression.
“I’d have more fun visiting a pawn shop. At least they actually let you look at the goods. Though I suppose they’re selling them.”
Sophia laughed as well.
“At first I thought he was just showing off his wealth, but by the end I thought he was actually mocking me. ‘You don’t have anything like this back home, do you?’ That kind of feeling.”
Helen glanced around, then lowered her voice.
“Gunter went down to the harbor this morning. I was at my window, thinking to wave to him, and I saw more than ten people quietly following behind him. I’m sure the Emperor’s Inspector wouldn’t resort to anything crude, but isn’t that excessive? So I just let him go without greeting him.”
“He said he was going to see the harbor, and that happened?”
Helen nodded.
Sophia was now certain that Oberon was concealing much. She hadn’t seen Baron Oberon’s Deputy since the welcome banquet.
Oberon had said he was busy with duties, but Sophia sensed that Oberon had taken personal charge of her party, keeping them separate from the Deputy’s sphere of responsibility.
‘He’s keeping us under surveillance apart from his duties as Baron’s Deputy. Why would he insist we stay for a full month?’
Despite touring the manor’s rooms all morning, she couldn’t even guess where Baron Oberon himself was housed, or which rooms belonged to the Deputy, to Oberon, or to their family.
The structure of the mansion had many additions, and even Baron Oberon sometimes found himself confused, so he instructed them to always move with the servants as guides.
“So they’re trying to deceive the eye? They show expensive objects to give the impression of touring the mansion, but in the end they showed us nothing at all.”
Helen nodded at Sophia’s muttered observation.
“That’s certainly true.”
When she had visited Ariel, Baron Oberon had shown clear favor toward Sophia. She hadn’t believed it was genuine, but she hadn’t expected him to change his demeanor so thoroughly the moment they arrived in Oberon.
Sophia spoke.
“Tomorrow, let’s all be together with Gunter and Sol. Something about this doesn’t sit right with me.”
“Won’t that make him suspicious?”
“Suspicious? Isn’t he already? Gunter certainly, and I suspect Sol and I can’t escape his watch either. Sol’s just a child, so maybe he’ll suspect her less?”
Helen said quietly,
“Ten men were assigned to Gunter from the first day we arrived in Oberon. Is it really because of the Port?”
Sophia thought the same—that given how high Baron Oberon’s vigilance was, he must be hiding something more dangerous.
“The Port? What could be there?”
The first images that came to Sophia’s mind were the sea, ships, and people.
‘People!’

***

The next day, Gunter suggested to Sophia and Helen that they visit the Port. The four of them—including Sol—planned to use it as an excuse to go to the Port again. Baron Oberon stepped forward to offer to show them around.
Since they had anticipated this, all four gladly accepted his courtesy.
The Port that Baron Oberon showed them contained only three things: “several ships, shops, and too many filthy areas to be worth seeing.”
Baron Oberon finished the tour in barely two hours and led them back to the castle. Sol rode out again, saying she wanted to gallop along the beach and harbor once more.
Helen and Gunter saw Sol off, then spent a long while whispering together. Baron Oberon watched them with obvious suspicion.
Having confirmed once more that Baron Oberon was indeed watching Gunter and Sophia’s group closely, Sophia smiled.
‘There’s definitely something. Has someone already come from Saturn? Soldiers? Or a secret envoy?’
Sophia approached Baron Oberon and spoke.
“Inspector Gunter is essentially just following Helen. Helen seemed quite uneasy about meeting you again in Oberon.”
Baron Oberon raised an eyebrow and said,
“So those two are…….”
“It seems to have happened this past winter. In Ariel, there aren’t many people worth meeting, you know—there’s no social circle. So naturally, they grew close with Gunter. In a place like Ariel, those two were among the few people who had lived in the Capital, so perhaps they found common ground.”
Baron Oberon nodded. Yet suspicion still filled his gaze as he regarded them.

***

After returning to the castle with the three of them, Baron Oberon went to the Office to meet with the Deputy Baron. The Office was empty, and Baron Oberon simply passed by the Deputy Baron’s office.
Opening the inner door and stepping through, he found a room with only a sofa. The Deputy Baron lay on the sofa with a languid expression. As Baron Oberon sat down on one side of it, he spoke.
“Sophia Ariel is just ordinary. Her tastes, the way she speaks—everything is ordinary. I’m actually curious why Prince Robert made her his fiancée. Even if it’s a fake betrothal, you’d think he’d find a woman who at least seemed plausible.”
“With Prince Robert’s circumstances, how could he set up a plausible fake fiancée? It’s because Ariel is so manageable that he pushes her around as he pleases. Damn it! The Salt Mine collapsed. His luck is absurdly good. Just when I thought everything was done, something else always blows up.”
“Saturn?”
The Deputy Baron scowled as he spoke.
“Don’t speak that name. Refer to it as ‘that side’ or ‘above.'”
Baron Oberon raised his hand and asked,
“That side?”
“I’ve sent word, so they’ll move soon. Until they do, let’s keep Sophia Ariel in hand. Anything unusual happen?”
“Nothing special—just walked through some alleys, looked at some ships. I heard the Inspector and Helen are involved with each other. Actually, the Inspector just followed Helen here. He wasn’t after us—he got anxious when he found out I was approaching Helen and had no choice but to come, or so he said.”
“Can you trust that? Isn’t it just a cover story?”
“That’s why I watched. Seems like it’s true. This Gunter character—whenever he sees Helen, he doesn’t know what to do with himself.”
“Still, don’t let your guard down.”
“Am I a child? I know what I’m doing. I’ve already assigned men to watch them.”
The Deputy Baron rose to his feet. After adjusting his clothes, he said,
“I’m going to see Father. Nothing for me to tell him?”
“Nothing. How long do I have to keep doing this? Why not just hand over the title to your brother entirely, or let Father take care of it himself? Why keep up this pretense of being ill?”
“You want to know? What are you planning to do?”
With obvious dismissal written across his face, the Deputy Baron of Oberon left the room. Baron Oberon curled his lip and spoke.
“Acting high and mighty with just a deputy title. Better to die soon. All this causes is unnecessary trouble. Ariel’s out of reach now, it seems, and yet he still won’t give up. Is the old man really still alive? Or did he actually die and just keeps coming and going…… No, wait. My brother would want the old man dead more than anyone else, so there’s no reason he’d deceive me about it.”
Baron Oberon lay back on the sofa carefully so as not to wrinkle his clothes, gazing at the ceiling as he spoke.
“Got a lecture from Cressida over Saturn for nothing. I’m annoyed enough about approaching some ordinary woman like Sophia Ariel on Saturn’s word, and then I got scolded by Cressida for it too. Good grief. I gain nothing and get pushed around from all sides. In any case, he acts so clever while being so damnably stupid. Father, I mean.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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