Chapter 24 A New Engagement
Chapter 24
24.1
When Euridsi's carriage left the city of Oplunsi, she did not look back.
But even without looking back, she knew that Lorenz was standing on the city wall of Oprunsi, watching her carriage go away.
Olidisi sat in the carriage and sighed softly.
When Lorenz said, "If you can't stay, can you take me with you?"
Olidisi said, “No.”
Lorenz didn't say anything. Euridice looked at him calmly. "You should know that between you and what I want to achieve, I will choose what I want to achieve, not you, Lorenz."
But Lorenz did not show any excessive surprise or sadness.
He just smiled and said, "I know."
He stroked Oulidesi's hair again and whispered, "When I choose you, I choose myself. It's my own choice, not to interfere with your decision."
Lorenz said, slowly moving his fingers away.
"So," he said, "be yourself. That's what makes you so attractive, Tisi. If you stop being that, you're not you anymore. That's your soul, and that's why I love you and why I chose you—just, Tisi."
"……Um?"
"Would you at least tell me," Lorenz said, pleadingly, "where you want to go?"
Euridice looked at Lorenz, silent for a moment, and finally said, "I'm going to Ravenmont, where the Caragaran family is. I murdered Beatrice Caragaran, declaring war on the Caragaran family. Her brother, Duke Hugh Caragaran, won't let me go easily."
Lorenz looked into Euridsi's calm eyes and seemed to understand something.
"You planned all of this," he said. "Just like...Annie. You planned all of this a long time ago."
Olidisi didn't say yes or no.
She just called out softly, "Lorenz."
“…”
"Do you remember I once told you: They killed me, and you are the culprit."
Lorenz paused, then smiled slightly: "How could I forget?"
At that time, Oulidsi proposed for the first time to break up the engagement with him.
In his extreme shock, she said to him clearly: "If you are a cruel, arrogant noble who tramples on others at will, then I will not have any confidence or hope in you. I will grit my teeth and rely on myself, because I can only rely on myself."
Lorenz smiled and repeated Euridsi's words word for word: "'And your existence, Lorenz, has trapped me in a sweet trap: you made me think that in this ethereal continent, besides myself, I can still rely on others. But that is not the case: anyone other than myself will get hurt, will die, and will leave. Only myself is my eternal and only true support.'"
Olidisi also laughed.
"Yes," she repeated word for word, "The evil and conspiracy on the Ethereal Continent will not disappear. I must grow into someone who can save myself. I must be able to rely on myself to survive on this Ethereal Continent. I must protect myself from harm and have the ability to create the career and life I want with my own hands."
As Oulidsi said this, he gradually stopped laughing.
She looked at Lorenz and said seriously, "Lorenz."
"Um."
"I think the real culprit behind all this may not be you."
“…”
"The real culprit," she said, "is actually me."
Lorenz looked at her, and Euridsi smiled. "The person I blame the most is myself. Deep down in my heart, I clearly had that wish, but when faced with it, I hesitated. I didn't give it my all to realize it."
Lorenz understood what she meant.
When Eurydice and Lorenz were first engaged, she was a...
lady.
As the lady was burned at the stake, she thought quietly:
What a failure.
What a failure it is to not be able to become an independent enough and strong enough person.
What a failure it is to fail to create an ethereal continent where commoners will not be easily bullied by nobles.
I have not followed my heart in this life. I am such a failure.
If even I am hesitant and not living my life according to my own wishes, how can I blame others?
So, it has come to this.
The fire started and the lady closed her eyes.
This life was a failure. She thought that if she could live again, she would never live like this again.
She wanted to follow her original wish - her original wish as a commoner, not only to make the Abrad family, the Karagaran family and Prince Constance disappear, but also to make the entire "aristocratic" bloodline completely disappear from the ethereal continent.
Olidisi suddenly smiled.
"I must go to Ravenmont, where the Caragaran family is," she said. "You are right, Lorenz. I have planned everything from the very beginning. I must do what I want to do. I must kill them all—Prince Constance and every one of the Caragaran family."
As she said this, she stared at Lorenz.
"And this plan," she said, "is very important, and that is marriage—your marriage, my marriage, is essential to my plan. So, we must break off our engagement, Lorenz."
Lorenz was slightly startled, and Euridsi reached out his hand to him.
"Be my ally," she said. "Until I have done what I want to do, until I have killed them all, I will not consider anything related to romance. But if your beliefs are my beliefs, if your choices are my choices, if we are the same people, fighting for the same things - then let us be each other's firm allies and walk side by side on the common path."
Lorenz looked at her, then reached out and shook her hand solemnly.
"We walk side by side on a common path," he said. "I will never betray you, nor myself, Euridsi."
"Miss Aquitus," said the coachman, "you have arrived at your destination."
Olidisi suddenly woke up from her sleep.
"Have we entered Ravenmount?" she asked. "Were we not checked at the gate?"
"It was just a routine identity check," the coachman replied. "The city guard knights of the Karagaran family took down our identities and let us through. I saw you were resting, so I didn't wake you. We've already entered Ravenmont and will soon reach the market in the north."
Olidisi nodded slightly.
From the carriage window, she could see the market scene in Ravenmont:
It was already the third hour of the afternoon, and most of the citizens who had come to the market had already packed up and left. The streets were quiet, and carriages clattered along the gray stone-paved streets.
"Here we are," said the coachman.
This is a quiet place at the end of the street. On the door of an inconspicuous little shop hangs a handwritten sign: "Catherine Wood Wood Art".
Olidisi looked at the sign and smiled, "Yes, it's here. Thank you."
She got off the carriage, carrying her suitcase, and paid the carriage fee with silver coins. The coachman left happily. Eurydice stood outside the carpentry shop for a while, took a deep breath, then pushed open the door and walked in.
The carpentry shop was very quiet. The reception area for customers was a little cramped and dimly lit. The only ray of sunlight came in through a small window, illuminating the wood chips and dust floating in the shop.
Although the shop is full of sawdust, it doesn't feel dirty. The air is filled with the unique fragrance of wood.
Hearing Olidisi's footsteps, someone in the inner studio raised his voice and said, "Are you a guest? The door is not closed. Please come into the studio."
Carrying a suitcase, Ouli Desi walked into the studio of "Catherine Wood Wood Art".
The lighting in the studio was much better, with daylight filtering in clearly from the skylight. Carpentry tools were neatly stacked on the table, and the wood was divided and stacked according to the type of wood, in an orderly manner.
At the studio's largest workbench, a woman was holding a planer, working with her head down:
Her movements were deft and smooth, clearly a testament to her familiarity with her work. As she carved patterns into the wood with a planer, she turned her head and smiled at Oulidisi, saying, "Hello, how can I help you?"
Olidisi looked at her and smiled friendly, "You must be Catherine Wood, the most famous carpenter in Ravenmont."
Catherine smiled cheerfully and said, "We may not be the most famous carpenters, but we are definitely the carpenters in Ravenmont who pursue art and beauty the most."
Olidisi looked at the planer in her hand and nodded slightly:
Sawdust fell layer by layer, and beautiful and delicate carvings quickly appeared under the hands of the master carpenter.
Catherine asked again, "How can I help you? Do you need custom furniture?"
Ollie smiled and said, "I think I'll need custom-made furniture soon... But I came here to find someone first."
Catherine was slightly startled. Oulidisi's eyes moved away from the master carpenter's face and turned to look at a carpenter apprentice wearing a gray cloth apron in an inconspicuous corner of the studio.
The black-haired young apprentice was concentrating on trimming an oval wooden board with his head down. His eyes were calm and his movements were calm. He was as silent as the wood, and his neck drew an arc.
When Euridsi looked at him, he seemed to have carved a pattern on the wood that satisfied him. The apprentice stroked the wood under his hand with his thumb, and a small smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: this finally made his silent expression a little more lively.
The apprentice raised his head, looked towards the master carpenter happily, and called out, "Master, I—"
However, his voice quickly froze in his throat.
He saw Oulidisi beside Master Catherine:
She stood between the sawdust and the sunlight, not wearing any aristocratic jewelry or family crests, yet she remained calm, like a knight's blunt sword without a sharp edge.
The apprentice opened his eyes slightly, and Oridesi smiled at him and said, "Hello, we meet again, Hesong Karagaran."
24.2
As Hesong put down the planer and took off his apron, he looked a little embarrassed. "Ah, Euridsi... I mean, Miss Aquitas. Hello."
Master Catherine looked at Hesong, then at Oulidesi, as if she had noticed something. She blinked and said, "So you're Hesong's friend. Well, I'll go outside and check the account books first. How about you two catch up?"
Hesong opened his mouth a little nervously, but ultimately did not refuse.
Master Catherine went outside, and only Oulidisi and Hesong were left in the carpenter's studio.
Olidesi smiled at Hesong and said, "Remember? I once said that we would meet again, Hesong."
The last time they met was at the Queen's Birthday banquet: Hesong, an illegitimate child of the Karagalan family, was bullied by his half-brother Osborne, and Olidesi rescued him - then Osborne got into trouble and was punished by Prince Rokolan.
At that time, Oulidsi smiled at Hesong and said, "We will meet again."
But for some reason, Hesong seemed a little embarrassed when facing her: "Oulidsi... Countess."
Oledsi smiled and said, "She is no longer a countess."
Hesong was slightly startled, and Euridsi shrugged casually: "I have broken off my engagement with Lorenz Ebrard, and I am no longer a countess."
He Song hesitated: "You..."
"Yes," Euridice smiled, "I am a free man now."
For some reason, He Song looked into her rose-gold eyes and asked inexplicably: "So, you came here for--"
"It's to ask you a question."
“…”
"Hesong," Olidesi said in a light tone, "I want to ask you: Are you willing to enter into a marriage contract with me and fight against the Karagaran family together?"
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