Chapter 89
It had been two weeks since the social season began.
Several major indoor events had already ended, leaving only one of the summer social season’s biggest events—the “Athena Island Tour.”
Athena Island was the southernmost island of the Empire’s vast territory.
There stood a beautiful summer palace, where the Emperor was required to spend at least one week every year, accompanied by high-ranking nobles.
If the rulers stayed holed up in the disaster-free capital and never appeared, the commoners would inevitably grow discontent.
“The Emperor has abandoned our region! Revolution!”
This event existed to prevent such impudent thoughts.
Thus, living in the summer palace for a week symbolically showed that the Emperor did not favor only the capital.
The timid Emperor always brought the Crown Prince and Marquis Kleist along, so it wasn’t just for show.
During the week-long Athena Island tour, numerous events took place. The first event on the schedule was the Athena Hunting Competition.
The competition crowned the hunter who captured the prey most pleasing to the Emperor. It was the biggest event on Athena Island.
The winner received a laurel wreath and had their face engraved on the silver coins minted that year.
They also enjoyed the honor of receiving a prized item from the imperial household.
But the greatest benefit for the winner was the “wish privilege”—they could ask the Emperor to grant one wish, and the Emperor was obliged to fulfill it.
Anyone could participate in the hunting competition, but men had to present their hunted game either to a woman or as a tribute to claim the victory wreath.
For this reason, women attending the Athena Island tour often wore the most beautiful dresses.
It was a strategic choice for winning the hunting competition.
Hence the saying:
“If you want to know Barcheha’s fashion trends, look at Athena Island that year.”
And this year, all the noblewomen arriving on the island wore pure white dresses.
“The Odette Dress Craze.”
“Watch Madame Sarah’s boutique!”
“From young ladies to duchesses, everyone is wearing white dresses…”
“Highly praised by Count Lilienthal!”
Since the social season began, newspapers had been flooded for two weeks with coverage of that dress.
A white dress even nicknamed the Odette Dress.
The summer rain seemed likely to stop completely after an hour or two.
“Good grief. It’s been raining nonstop for days, and now it’s weakening this morning?”
Count Albrecht, who had come to the greenhouse garden of the summer palace early in the morning, glared out at the rain.
His participation in the Athena Island Tour was rare, as he suffered severely from seasickness.
Since he had a legitimate daughter, even if the Count protested, saying, “I can’t go, let the ship take me!”, it would be hard to displease the Emperor.
“If that were the case, I could just enjoy tea here in the greenhouse garden.”
Even in summer, the palace greenhouse maintained the most delightful spring-like temperature.
Having been dizzy for days from vomiting, the thought of participating in the hunting competition was unbearable.
But he couldn’t skip this time. The Count’s financial situation was dire.
His goal on Athena Island was to socialize with wealthy nobles and secure investments.
“Normally, I would have used Odette as an excuse to extract money from the palace.”
Strangely, since the Crown Prince Rampage Incident, the imperial household seemed indifferent to his stories. Even if he claimed it was Odette’s message, they responded nonchalantly.
“If it was going to rain, it might as well pour all day.”
Then he could have chatted comfortably with wealthy nobles in the glasshouse instead of running around the hunting grounds.
“Even after selling all the paintings Sasha gave me, the cost of the burned seeds was so high that the money only covered the debt. That’s it.”
The seeds bought after the lab burned were astronomically expensive.
He used the cash from selling the paintings to pay off the debt for those seeds, but it wasn’t regrettable.
He knew that when the seeds bore fruit, they would be worth tens of times the price.
“I can’t end it here. I still have the pharmaceutical business and the casino. All my other ventures failed, so I must aggressively grow at least these two.”
Thus, he brought Odette along despite the inconvenience. Having his legitimate daughter present would help secure investments.
He even brought Mrs. Becker and the head maid Dolri as overseers.
“If I had a proper mistress, I wouldn’t have to attend this kind of event and could just hold a banquet at our mansion.”
He had been pleased to confine Sasha in a convent, but now her absence only increased annoyances.
“I should have married a young, high-born woman from the start. Next time I remarry, I’ll make sure of it.”
Just then, a footman whispered:
“Master, Marquis Kleist has arrived on the island.”
“Really? He’s the richest, so I should meet him first.”
The Count sighed. The days when he could boss around Marquis Kleist freely, before the Crown Prince Rampage Incident, now felt like a distant dream.
“It’s only been two months, and my position has already deteriorated this much.”
“Keep a close watch on Odette, understand?”
Count Albrecht whispered to Mrs. Becker.
“Yes, Count.”
Since the Count’s wife had been confined to the convent, his relationship with Mrs. Becker had grown much closer.
She had been deeply impressed by his revenge against Sasha.
“Vanessa, how do you like this glasshouse garden?”
The Count lightly brushed Mrs. Becker’s waist, smiling slyly.
“Master, I told you to call me Mrs. Becker in front of others.”
“Right. Mrs. Becker.”
Mrs. Becker tried to gently tap his shoulder with a playful fist, but the Count dodged. Marquis Kleist had just entered the greenhouse.
Dressed neatly in hunting attire, the tall Marquis Kleist looked sleek and imposing, always frighteningly handsome.
“Your Excellency!”
The Count approached with a servile smile.
“He is my hope to save the casino.”
“Pleasure to see you, Count Albrecht.”
Fortunately, the Marquis returned the greeting warmly, even taking out his cigar.
“Marquis Kleist, I have something I’d like to discuss with you. Could you hear me out?”
So he spoke without shrinking back.
Sion looked expressionlessly at the pastries set in the greenhouse garden and sipped his black tea.
“Your Excellency, even with just this discussion, can you not see the potential of the Ulrich Casino? How bright its future is!”
While listening to the Count’s boring speech, Sion noticed his hand gripping the teacup handle, his pinky rigidly raised.
“Different from a daughter.”
It was unlike Odette’s hand, whose elegance was expressed even with a lightly extended pinky.
“Promising…”
Sion pronounced the word as if mocking it.
“But a new casino opened opposite yours, didn’t it?”
“Ah, the ‘Wolfgang Casino’? Don’t worry, Excellency. I checked—the owner is a commoner. You know, casinos are traditionally for nobles.”
He cleared his throat and continued.
“What would a commoner know about cards? No wonder the main entrance looked cheap. White marble, chandeliers—blindingly flashy. No sense of refined restraint at all! Nobles never enter such uncultured places.”
“No brains for making money. Better to give it to the street than invest in him.”
That commoner’s casino wasn’t even worth investing in.
“Not interested—”
As Sion rose, he caught a glimpse of Odette leaving the greenhouse with an umbrella.
“What does he mean by offering it as collateral?”
Seeing that, Sion impulsively asked the Count.
