Chapter 10. The Radiant Web

The moment the contract between the angel and the boy ended, Alain headed straight out the door to rescue the boy’s younger sister.

Right after, a young man with chestnut-colored curly hair entered, greeting them in an energetic voice.

“I’m late, Your Grace. The train was delayed.”

He soon noticed Oliver standing beside Mikhail and his eyes lit up.

“Oh, so this must be him. Your Grace’s new younger brother, correct?”

“Charles. That’s the name of this brat,” Mikhail replied.

The man bowed deeply, as if Oliver—no, Charles—were a real nobleman.

“Master Charles, I am Louis More, the chief secretary to the Duke of Ophilenz. Please, feel free to call me Louis.”

Mikhail looked satisfied as he watched Oliver’s lovely, bewildered eyes flicker with unease, then gestured.

“What are you doing? Accept the greeting.”

Unsure of what to do, Oliver merely clasped his hands together and bowed slightly, prompting Mikhail to sigh.

“His face is flawless, but as you can see, he has a long way to go. Louis, you’ll be teaching him alongside Alain for the time being. Make him into the perfect man of Ophilenz.”

Louis’s chestnut eyes rolled dramatically.

“Hmm. Well, I’ll give it a shot.”

“One month.”

Mikhail added, lightly tapping the armrest of his chair with his slender fingers.

“Make him perfect before the princess’s birthday celebration.”

Oliver’s eyes widened at Mikhail’s command.

“Pardon me, Your Grace. The princess’s birthday party?”

Mikhail raised an eyebrow, countering the question as though it were obvious.

“As a member of the House of Ophilenz, it’s only natural to attend the princess’s birthday party, wouldn’t you agree?”

“But if I attend and disgrace Your Grace in any way…!”

At this point, Louis’s expression started to shift strangely.

“What is this? Didn’t you agree to everything when you made the contract?”

Seeing Louis’s uneasy look, Oliver’s mouth grew parched, and an unsettling sense of anxiety began to creep in.

Mikhail shrugged his shoulders.

“I planned to explain everything about the princess in due time.”

“Oh, dear God.”

Louis pressed his hand to his forehead, while Mikhail, unfazed, placed his half-burnt cigar delicately on the iron ashtray.

“Charles?”
“Yes, Your Grace?”
“Do you know something?”

Oliver had no idea what Mikhail was referring to, so he simply stared back at him, bewildered.

“Frankly, I have no intention of marrying Isabella.”

“…Ah, I see.”

“Let’s be honest—anyone can see she’s beneath me, isn’t that right?”

“…”

It was an incredibly self-serving statement, but unfortunately, neither Oliver nor Louis could muster any strong objection to Mikhail’s bold claim.

“That said, I have no desire to ruin the mood of a grand engagement ceremony that even the king is involved in.”
“But hasn’t it already been officially announced?”

The fact that Mikhail had brought up the princess in this very moment made Oliver break out in a cold sweat.

“Exactly. Which is why I need a stand-in.”

No way.

Oliver’s face turned pale.

“Your Grace, you can’t possibly mean…!”
“See? Sharp as ever. Look, Louis, my new younger brother catches on so quickly.”

Mikhail’s golden eyes sparkled as he shrugged nonchalantly.

“Of course, Charles, you’ll have to take my place.”

Oliver’s mind went completely blank.

“Y-Your Grace! But that’s—!”

“We already have a contract, don’t we?”

“B-but! I, I mean, how could I possibly—! I’m just… I mean…”

I’m a girl!

The single most crucial reason caught in Oliver’s throat, an absolute truth he could never dare to voice.

“If you’re afraid of punishment for violating royal laws, don’t be.”

“That’s not it, I…”

“Louis, explain.”

Louis glanced at the boy’s face, now as pale as a marble statue, and offered an awkward smile.

“Just as His Grace said, there’s no need for concern. As a matter of fact, I happen to be the best lawyer in Verlene. I’ve already taken care of all the legalities regarding Master Charles’s status.”

Adjusting his glasses with confidence, Louis added,
“So, please, rest assured. There’s absolutely nothing to worry about.”

Mikhail clicked his tongue as he watched his new younger brother remain frozen, pale as ever.

“A man with so little composure—what a shame.”

The crackling of the cigar’s embers filled the silence between the three of them.

Then Mikhail added:

“Listen, Oliver—no, Charles. Do you think it’s possible to change your status in this kingdom of Verlene, no matter how hard you work your whole life?”

“…B-but.”

“But I, the Duke of Ophilenz, can turn your entire life upside down. And now is that moment.”

Was he naïve, or truly clueless about how the world worked?

Mikhail, for the first time, began to feel a tinge of worry for the boy, whose pretty face and pure innocence seemed to scream vulnerability.

“If you were a true member of the House of Ophilenz, you wouldn’t let an opportunity like this slip through your fingers. No, you’d claw your way to seize it at any cost.”

Mikhail’s golden eyes bore into Oliver, whose sorrowful blue ones glittered back in silent protest.

“So watch and learn. That’s the most fundamental condition of this contract: to become the perfect member of the House of Ophilenz.”

…This isn’t right, thought Oliver.

No matter how much of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity this seemed to be.

Pretending to be a man—sure, he could endure that. He’d already survived three years like that.

But standing in as the duke himself?

That meant entangling with the princess.

Oliver’s lips moved unconsciously as he struggled to process the overwhelming reality.

Before he could utter a word, there was a knock at the door.

Alain entered with Melanie, and the sight of his sister made Oliver freeze, holding his breath.

“Melanie…!”
“O-oliver.”

Mikhail, ever so graceful, stood up, as if to grant the siblings some privacy for their heartfelt reunion, which he found too sentimental to watch.

“Well then, we’ll continue this conversation tomorrow. Alain?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“See to the rest.”

Oliver could only stare, dumbfounded, as Mikhail left with a radiant smile, moving with the elegance of scattering light.

“For now, let me escort you two to a quieter space where you can talk,” Alain said.

Oliver and Melanie followed Alain to a room at the end of the hallway.

“I’ll return shortly. Would you like tea and dessert?”

Oliver shook his head.

“…No, thank you.”

After Alain left and the door closed, Melanie, still trembling, looked around the room nervously before speaking.

“W-what happened, sister?”

Despite Melanie’s quivering voice, Oliver couldn’t answer.

‘Remember, this is a contract you chose to accept’

Mikhail’s firm, almost damning words echoed heavily in Oliver’s mind.

Oliver had anticipated some kind of deal, but not something of this magnitude.

She bit his nails, trying to piece together a plan, but the weight of the situation crushed any clarity of thought.

Dragging her hand roughly over her face, Oliver finally asked Melanie:

“Your body—”

“Huh?”

“You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

Melanie shook her head.

“Not at all. I’m fine. But I was scared when Madam suddenly called me out and put me in a carriage.”

“And then?”

“I don’t know. The curtains in the carriage were all drawn. We drove for a long time and then stopped somewhere. That butler came to fetch me.”

Her voice trembled as she recounted the strange series of events.

“He told me not to worry anymore. That the Duke of Ophilenz had kindly arranged for me to work here at Violette Castle as a maid.”

“…A maid? A job?”

For someone like Melanie, an immigrant with an ambiguous status, getting hired as a maid for the prestigious House of Ophilenz—especially at Violette Castle—was nothing short of a miracle.

With tears in her eyes, Melanie grabbed Oliver’s hands, her voice wavering.

“Sister, can you believe it? Me, a maid for such a grand family. You don’t have to suffer anymore!”

That’s when Oliver realized—

…She’d fallen right into the dazzling web Mikhail had spun.

Melanie, oblivious to it all, kept asking questions, her face brimming with gratitude.

“What about you? How did you get here? Are they giving you a job too?”

Unable to stand any longer, Oliver collapsed onto a velvet chair in the room.

“…Sister!”

Melanie exclaimed, rushing to support her, alarmed.

“Shh! Don’t call me ‘sister’!”

Oliver pressed her parched lips together and looked at Melanie with sharp, wary eyes.

“S-sister—”

“Under no circumstances can the Duke find out that I’m a woman, Melanie. No one in this castle can know. Do you understand?”
Tl/N: Okay so this chapter was escpecially harder to translate considering this chapter had multipple povs and without page breaks or anything. I tried my hardest to make it not look weird but this chapter was half? In Alain’s pov and half in Ml’s and then last part was in Emma’s so it was a little diffcult