Chapter 009
The Duke, still expressionless, replied to the Emperor’s question.
“I apologize for the disturbance.”
He cut straight to the point, uttering just that one line.
His demeanor was so indifferent that it almost made the onlookers uncomfortable.
“Ah, no need to apologize. I actually wanted to extend my apologies to you.”
The Emperor’s words left a puzzled expression on the Duke’s face, and I was equally confused.
“I almost separated two people who were meant to be together.”
“Pardon?”
I widened my eyes in surprise and looked at the Duke, who was also staring at the Emperor with a furrowed brow, clearly puzzled.
“I was trying to match the Duke with the daughter of Count Brienne without realizing that you two were meant for each other.”
The Emperor added that he felt sorry for this mistake.
Before we could recover from the surprise, the Emperor made another unexpected statement.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll set the date myself. It’s a great pleasure to unite two families I hold dear!”
After finishing his sentence, the Emperor looked back and forth between the Duke and me, bursting into a hearty laugh.
His words clearly expressed his expectation that the union of the two families would solidify his faction’s position.
At that moment, a servant approached the happily laughing Emperor and whispered in his ear.
The Emperor then stood up with a somewhat apologetic expression and said,
“Oh dear! I completely forgot I had an appointment this afternoon. I’ll have the wedding date communicated to the families. Until then, see you both on the wedding day.”
“Wait, Your Majesty…!”
The Emperor quickly poured out his words and exited the greenhouse.
After our brief meeting with the Emperor, the Duke and I stepped outside the greenhouse together.
ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
Thud, thud.
“……”
On the way to the carriage.
Neither of us found it easy to speak.
‘The Emperor personally pushed for the marriage.’
It must be a calculated conclusion that the marriage with the Feldro family is more advantageous to the Imperial family than one with the Brienne family.
While it was fortunate that the marriage with Lady Brienne was prevented…
“Are you satisfied now?”
The Duke, who had been walking silently, suddenly turned around and fixed his gaze on me.
His piercing eyes made me unconsciously stiffen.
“I’m curious about what you intend to do now, considering you’ve ended up having to marry a complete stranger because of a prank.”
‘So, he really saw it as just a prank.’
I felt a bitter taste in my mouth, knowing that my feelings had been genuine.
At the same time, I recalled what I had heard from Cesar previously, which troubled me even more.
I looked at him with as calm an expression as possible and spoke.
“What else can we do? We just have to get married.”
“I do not wish to marry the lady. I will return to the Emperor and ask him to rescind the order, so there will be no marriage between the lady and me.”
His outright rejection left me momentarily speechless.
I hadn’t expected him to show such a strong display of dislike, so I couldn’t hide my surprise.
‘He had followed the Emperor’s command without complaint when marrying Lady Brienne, though.’
“Is it because you prefer Lady Brienne?”
I asked him the question, hoping for some clarification.
I could see the Duke’s face scrunch up even more unpleasantly than before at my question.
“I don’t even know what Lady Brienne looks like, and even if I did, it wouldn’t matter.”
“Then what’s the reason?”
At my continued questioning, the Duke, who had been answering readily, suddenly shut his mouth upon hearing my last question.
As I watched his cold expression silently settle on me, my impatience grew.
‘Is he simply not interested in getting married? But what can I do? If he says he won’t marry me, he’ll end up marrying Lady Brienne as planned.’
Knowing the outcome of the planned marriage, I wanted to do everything I could to prevent it.
“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”
While I was momentarily lost in thought, the Duke seemed ready to leave, as if he had said all he needed to.
Considering my recent experiences of being turned away, I had a feeling that if I let him go now, I wouldn’t see him again.
I stepped in front of him and shouted in a desperate voice.
“Wait! If you don’t want to get married, just think of it as a contract.”
He frowned at the mention of the word “contract.”
“If you marry me, the nobles who look down on you will disappear, and there will be many benefits for both our families in the future.”
I elaborated on the advantages he could gain from this marriage.
At this point, I had no other options left.
After listening silently for a long time, the Duke met my gaze and spoke.
“Lady Feldro.”
He called my name in a low, gravelly voice.
He seemed to be in a bad mood for some reason.
Then, the Duke slowly began to approach me.
His expressionless face looked extremely cold, making me instinctively step back as he approached.
Thud.
Then, my back hit the wall, leaving me unable to move further so I looked up at the Duke.
“Why are you running away when you were following me just fine until now?”
Our eyes met as the duke looked down at me with a darkened expression.
Overwhelmed by his cold, ashen gaze, I couldn’t move my lips.
Suddenly, he leaned closer to my face.
“Hmm.”
As his fierce gaze came closer, enough to take down a few people, I instinctively shrank back and tightly closed my eyes.
But no matter how much I waited, I didn’t feel anything, so I opened my eyes again, and the Duke was staring at my face with one eyebrow up.
“If you’re scared just by me getting this close, what were you thinking when you said you wanted to get married?”
“……”
“Do you think I’m the kind of man who would just let myself be taken advantage of because you casually talk about marriage as if it wasn’t a big deal?”
His rough words reminded me of a back-alley thug, leaving me momentarily speechless.
“Dahlia!”
A sharp voice broke the silence from afar.
Turning my head towards the call, I saw Delos charging towards us like an outraged bull.
He arrived right in front of me, catching his breath, and glared fiercely as he shouted.
“What is this nonsense? Marriage?”
As I watched the fuming Delos, I struggled to suppress the curses that were about to escape.
When would this guy ever be helpful in my life?
Instead of cursing, I sighed, and Delos made a remark that crossed the line.
“Don’t tell me… you’ve come up with such nonsense because of me?”
“What are you saying?”
“No matter how upset you’ve been, you can’t just say you’ll marry someone else.”
I could only gape in response to his outrageous words.
But that wasn’t all.
“Moreover, of all people, why this one…”
Delos glanced at the Duke, his brow furrowing deeply as he muttered under his breath.
It was a clear display of disdain towards him.
At that moment, my gaze suddenly fell on the tips of Delos’s fingers.
He was slowly rolling a ring on his index finger.
Having been with him for a long time, I could tell that Delos was very upset.
He had a habit of rolling the ring on his finger whenever something was bothering him.
Finally, Delos turned his head back towards me, quickly composing his expression and putting on a gentle smile as he spoke.
“I’ve been quite patient. Enough is enough. Besides, if you break up with me, you probably won’t be able to marry anyone. Who would want to marry a woman who’s been trailing behind me for over ten years?”
