Chapter 66
***
Despite his kind words, there was a bone in them, and Louise wasn't ashamed to admit that she had bought a ten-shilling bet.
Inwardly, she thought it was a good lesson in gambling.
But when Caius said something similar, it made her feel terrible.
While Louise was thinking about it, Caius opened a drawer and pulled out something. It was a checkbook with a scribbled amount.
"Ah................"
Louise suddenly understood the situation.
Lady Hessen had received checks at the racetrack. She just hadn't thought that an individual, rather than an institution or organization, could carry a checkbook and write checks whenever they wanted.
Not that there were many people in the Empire who could.
Caius scribbled a number on the checkbook and tore off a page for Louise.
Louise took the check, but was stunned by the amount written on it.
"Is this..................?"
"Now that I think about it, I realized I didn't pay you for the pearl. I don't want to be accused of taking your mother's belongings without permission, so you'll have to keep them."
"What?"
Louise looked at the check again, stunned.
Fifty-three hundred crowns.
The words were still there.
It was a ridiculously large number. It hadn't been that long ago that she couldn't even pay for her mother's funeral because she didn't have ten crowns.
"But that's too.................. much, and I have the pearl."
Caius snorted.
"Does that mean it's yours, because I've got you with the pearl, and I'd have said it was mine, even if it wasn't, though of course it is."
This was the man who, only a month ago, had screamed at her for running away. Louise was helpless to his whims.
"But how can you give me so much money....... I'm sure I'll get it later......."
But Caius didn't let Louise finish her unsettling sentence.
"Later, when you run away, I'll cancel the check. Isn't that the difference between a check and cash?"
"Ah................"
"Are you disappointed?"
Louise frowned at the man who was selling her an absurd trap.
"No, I'm not, and I think it's cowardly of you to try to frame me like that by writing me a check that you can cancel at any time."
The man thankfully didn't seem offended.
"I've been told, too, that the late Viceroy once put that pearl up for private auction, and the winning bid was five thousand three hundred crowns, but he changed his mind and didn't sell it."
"Five thousand three hundred crowns..................?"
Come to think of it, the pawnbroker's price for the pearl was 10 crowns. Unaware that she had been so nearly defrauded, Louise had often thought desperately of those ten crowns, which she could have used for her mother’s funeral expenses.
Caius nodded lightly.
"That was decades ago. If I were to sell it to the current Emperor, I'm sure he wouldn't spare fifty thousand crowns for it, perhaps even raid the treasury for half a million."
As he said this, Caius's expression suddenly darkened.
His heart seemed to clutch at his fingers, wishing that his mother had come to him with the pearl.
Louise gently placed the check down on the desk and deliberately changed the subject.
"Well, I was lucky enough to see the train, and it was really big and fast."
The man suddenly stood up and walked over to the wall. He unrolled a curled tapestry and pulled it down to reveal a map of the empire.
"When I get my place back, from here."
He pointed a finger at Burg, then once more at Vinerno, the southernmost point of the Empire.
"I'll lay a railroad from here, not just for show, but to reach out to foreign lands, so that I can go there to work if I want, and vice versa, so that foreigners can come to Hyreth."
It was a different feeling to hear him talk about the future of the empire. Louise hoped the day would come when he could fulfill his plans.
"I hope so, and I'll be on that train."
Caius picked up the check that Louise had set down and held it out to her.
"You can take this."
Louise laughed out loud as she held the check, which she could cancel at any time.
When he regained the throne and laid down the railroad, she wondered if they could still laugh together like this.
The laughter faded quickly because she couldn't envision that future at all.
She could not even imagine the blueprints of the empire that seemed so clear to the man; it was impossible to place herself in the mirage.
***
A week later, Krefeld.
It wasn't as ornate or as large as Imperial Celle, but the Krefeld Racecourse, standing tall in the open fields, was a beautiful sight.
Caius was dressed in a bright azure vest with an ultramarine tail coat and a blue cravat. He looked even more outstanding than usual under the blue sky.
In contrast to his plainly dressed self, Louise was one of the most colorful women in Krefeld.
Her pink empire dress, with its rounded bustline, fluttered just above the nose of her shoes, and the shirring on her shoulders accentuated her slender arms.
But it was the large pearl necklace that stood out the most, draped across her sternum.
And what about the dazzling blonde hair that cascaded down the outside of her hat, which turned heads just by standing there.
Louise blushed, her face half hidden by her long-brimmed bonnet, and grabbed Caius' arm.
"You're just, you're just going to stand here, not go find your old friends?"
"I don't need to go looking for anyone, half the nobles here today know me anyway."
Caius smirked and tipped Louise's hat. He looked lovingly into her exposed eyes and whispered.
"You just have to be the Ermoli who loves me."
He kissed Louise's bonnet, tilting it slightly.
He did it for show.
For today he had come to prove the rumor that Ermoli, a loyal servant of the Emperor, offered the Pearl of Albrecht to the surviving Prince.
Rumors that the former Emperor's son had trusted, chosen, and even fallen in love with Ermoli upon her return had been circulating among the nobility.
Some of the imperial nobility had turned a blind eye to Karl's rebellion and were quick to protect their own lives, titles, and estates.
If the former Emperor's bloodline were to survive and take the throne, their position would be in trouble. For them, the story of Ermoli's return after 20 years was a ray of hope.
The cowardly survivors could be forgiven if they, too, could return to their rightful place.
Louise's cheeks flushed beneath her bonnet, and she caught her breath. Caius asked her in a hushed tone.
"Why are you so nervous? The racetrack is weapon-free, so there's no danger."
"There's too many......... too many people watching. I've never done this before."
"I think you picked the right bonnet. From the look of your face, you could easily be misunderstood."
"What?"
When Louise didn't understand, he nibbled her earlobe, then whispered in her ear.
"They would think I'd slipped my hand under the hem of your skirt, Louise. Or is it that you're not getting enough at night?"
Louise looked up into the glittering golden eyes and gaped in disbelief.
Not enough?
He'd been tormenting her all night, insisting that they practice being a natural couple in front of people. In the inn room, which, unlike the mansion, was poorly soundproofed, Louise had to bite her lip to keep her screams from coming out.
On days like this, she was forced to swallow anti-pregnancy pills without realizing it.
But the man, a natural performer, stood by Louise's side as a sweet, compassionate, love-struck young prince, nuzzling and sucking her every chance he got.
Only Louise ached for every light kiss, hoping it was sincere.
The chaos of the racetrack, reminiscent of a cattle market, was exactly the same as the Imperiale Celle, but Louise could not see any of the horses. Nor did she see the tricks of the vendors or the wares they were selling.
Standing there, pretending to be his beloved wife, was harder than she realized.
It was all she could do to cling to his arm, as if he would vanish if she let go.
***
To donate for extra chapters for my series or to tip me visit my kofi page
Write a comment