A Way to Confirm Your Husband’s True Feelings - Chapter 71 - VIII.

VIII.

“Why are you here?”

Shaking off the woman clinging to him as if it were a joke, Caesar asked the question. The reality he was suddenly faced with felt so unreal that he couldn’t even summon anger.

“That’s something we both need to confirm, isn’t it?”

The surroundings were noisy enough to wake the dead, but Beatrice’s voice rang out clearly. The woman before him was, without a doubt, his wife.

Fortunately, neither of them had lost their minds enough to be shouting each other’s names. Whatever she was thinking, Beatrice turned and began to walk off somewhere, and Caesar followed her without hesitation.

But the dreadful party was full of obstacles. He had barely made it through the frenzy of revelers—like cultists desperate to indulge in decadence—when he came to a stop.

A man had suddenly appeared from the crowd and grabbed the wing accessory on Beatrice’s back.

“Where are you going, Miss Fairy? Come play with us for a bit!”

Caesar almost drew his sword the moment the man reached out, but he barely managed to restrain himself. As the disgusting pig of a man groped her waist through her thin dress, Caesar wanted nothing more than to sever his wrist, but he held back once again.

“Huh? What the—?”

Instead, Caesar lifted Beatrice into his arms with one arm. The drunkards grumbled at the tall man stealing their ‘target’, but the intensity of his gaze behind the mask quickly shut them up.

“Looks like she’s got a partner. Let’s go somewhere else,” said one of the men, leading the others away. Without letting go of Beatrice, Caesar walked off.

“Let me go. Please,” she said.

“Let’s get out of here first.”

Rarely ignoring her words, Caesar left the building.

Somehow knowing the way, he strode toward the back entrance of the mansion, where a plain, unmarked black carriage was waiting.

“Dillon, you take over the escort duty.”

Dillon Schultz, who had been dozing on the driver’s seat, jumped up at his superior’s sudden voice.

Without sparing even a glance toward the flustered aide, Caesar tore off his mask and threw it at his chest.

“What? Ah, yes—yes! Uh, Madam…? No, I’ll just head inside now.”

Glancing between Caesar and Beatrice in his arms, Dillon awkwardly bowed and disappeared into the building.

As soon as he was gone, Caesar carefully set her down and wrapped his cloak around her exposed shoulders.

“As for the escort…”

Looking toward where Dillon had disappeared, Beatrice sighed softly and finally spoke. Now that they were alone in a quiet place, she had a bit of space to collect herself.

“His Highness is here. He asked me to escort him to this secretive little event.”

“Ah…”

Well, Edgar did keep frequent contact with Camilla, so it wasn’t strange for him to have received an invitation.

…But is it really okay for a groom-to-be to be at a place like this? Just as that question popped into her mind, Caesar spoke as if answering it.

“He said he’d be spending time with his fiancée. But apparently, that wasn’t the case.”

Not with his fiancée? Beatrice frowned slightly, but she soon dismissed thoughts of Edgar from her mind. That wasn’t what mattered to her right now.

The reason her husband had come here was now clear. Which meant it was her turn to explain why she was here.

“Now, explain. Why are you here? From what I’ve heard, this is a rather… libertine, decadent affair.”

As he spoke, Caesar’s fists clenched tightly. It was obvious he was suppressing a rising fury.

And understandably so. This was a situation that could make even the calmest of men angry. For a spouse to be found at such a place was far from ideal, and even a husband like Caesar, who rarely showed anger, was clearly agitated.

So Beatrice, too, wanted to explain herself as quickly as possible. The problem was that the reasons behind her presence here were extremely complicated.

She didn’t know where to begin. To trace it back properly, she’d have to start by confronting something Caesar had once said to Dillon. But… was this the right time and place for that? It didn’t seem like it.

While Beatrice hesitated, struggling to form a reply, Caesar let out a deep sigh. What thoughts must have crossed his mind?

“Did you come here to meet with the Crown Prince?”

At the unexpected question, Beatrice was at a loss for words. Why was Edgar coming up again?

“…No. Even if that were the case, tonight’s plans seem ruined. I’ll take you back to the estate. Let’s continue this conversation later.”

Spitting out his words in a tone that seemed to barely suppress something deeper, Caesar still opened the carriage door for her with the same polite demeanor as always.

However, Beatrice did not take the hand Caesar offered to escort her.

“I came in a different carriage, so there’s no need to take me back. That one is His Highness’s carriage for secret outings, isn’t it? And… I don’t want to postpone this conversation.”