Chapter 41
“Phew.”
Suppressing the anger that was about to explode, Lucia hurriedly left the café.
Fortunately, Simon didn’t follow her.
‘Whether he does or not, I don’t care.’
The information Johann had given her made no mention of the man having a woman. In fact, it had said that his romantic life was clean.
‘Either Father’s information was wrong, or he’s been secretly meeting someone behind people’s backs.’
No, if Johann had known this, he wouldn’t have even listed him as a candidate — he would’ve handled it before it got that far.
Having stepped on a bomb rather than a dud on the very first meeting, Lucia’s irritation didn’t subside.
Quickening her pace, she headed toward the carriage depot where she’d agreed to meet Sein.
Since she’d left earlier than expected, it would be faster to go there directly rather than wait for the carriage.
Luckily, the depot wasn’t far. When she arrived, Sein looked startled to see her.
“Young Lady! Don’t tell me you’re finished already? It hasn’t even been an hour yet…”
“It was a disaster. I’ll tell you the details when we get back.”
“Yes, understood. Shall we head straight to the estate, then?”
As Sein helped Lucia into the carriage, Lucia paused.
“Let’s stop and get something spicy on the way.”
Knowing that her lady always craved spicy food when angry or stressed, Sein nodded quietly.
He couldn’t even imagine what the man had done to make Lucia this furious.
As planned, Lucia bought skewered chicken slathered in special hot sauce on the way back to the mansion.
The servants, too, were surprised at her early return.
When Lucia went straight to her room without a word, Sein prepared the spicy food and a palate-cleansing dessert to lift her mood.
Sitting down beside her as she bit into the spicy chicken with a pout, Sein carefully asked,
“Would you tell me what happened now?”
She glanced at Lucia — who, despite the fiery food, ate without batting an eye.
“He asked me to enter a contract marriage.”
“…A contract marriage?”
“Yes. He heard a rumor that I like Herwin and thought I must be having some sort of affair with him. Apparently, since he already has a lover, he thought we could both benefit.”
“What kind of rude man says such a thing!”
Before Lucia could even finish speaking, Sein gasped and fumed.
“How dare he say that to you! And he has a lover? What a disgraceful man!”
“What annoyed me wasn’t just that — but that he dared to lump me and Herwin into the same category as himself.”
What infuriated her even more than him admitting to having a lover was his insinuation that she and Herwin were in some indecent relationship.
‘How could anyone even come up with that idea?’
She thought only the rumor that she had a crush on Herwin had spread in society — could it be that, as Simon claimed, some people believed they were actually involved?
‘No, if that were true, I’d have heard it by now.’
Even if she didn’t pay much attention to high society gossip, she had connections. If such rumors existed, she would have heard them through someone.
It was more likely that Simon had drawn that conclusion himself.
“Young Lady, you mustn’t just let this go! You should make a formal protest! How can you stand being insulted like that?”
Sein, still unable to calm his anger, urged.
“I hadn’t planned to, but… I should at least tell Father, right?”
“Of course! You can’t just ignore it.”
Lucia imagined how Johann would react if she told him the truth.
She could already picture his fury — and pressed her lips together.
Her father rarely lost his temper, but when it came to family matters, he was the type to burn down heaven and earth.
If he truly got angry, this could easily turn into a feud between noble houses.
She didn’t want to stir up unnecessary trouble.
“For now, I’ll just wait and see.”
“Young Lady!”
“There are still three more candidates. I’ll just meet them — maybe one will turn out all right. No need to blow things out of proportion.”
“Well, I suppose so…”
“Don’t tell Father. That’s an order.”
“…Yes, my Lady.”
Hearing it was an order, Sein backed down.
As Lucia finished her skewered chicken, she thought to herself,
‘Surely the rest of them can’t all be weird, right?’
Her second meeting was in three days. With a sigh, Lucia hoped the next man would at least be normal.
Clatter, clatter—
Inside the shaking carriage, Sein quietly made himself smaller, careful not to disturb the person sitting across from him.
The person making him so cautious was none other than Lucia.
The reason she was in such a foul mood was simple — all three of her previous matchmaking meetings had been failures.
Her second partner, after Simon Dehard, had been Herriot Soled, heir to the Soled Viscounty.
He had inherited his title young and was currently managing a large business.
So far, so good — but then things had gone downhill.
“My mother has been suffering from dementia recently. I’m her only child, so I can’t care for her properly. If you became my wife, I’d like you to look after her. It’s more reassuring to have family do it than strangers, you see.”
Although his mother’s illness was mentioned in Johann’s report, it also stated she was under professional care.
Yet this man had the nerve to ask a woman he’d just met to take on that burden.
“How many children do you plan to have? I grew up lonely as an only child, so I’d like my kids to have plenty of siblings. Three sounds ideal to me — what do you think?”
He was asking about children before even holding her hand.
“I’m currently busy with a business venture. Since we both have to get married anyway, how about keeping it simple? We could hold the ceremony this month.”
He was arranging the marriage on his own before she’d even said a word.
None of it sat well with her.
Lucia politely declined him. Then, his response—
“Are you serious? You’ll regret it.”
“And why would I?”
“Well, because you’ll have a hard time finding a better husband than me.”
He wasn’t being sarcastic — he genuinely believed it. Which only made it worse.
“I may not be active in society, but even I’ve heard the rumors, Lady. Think about it — what man would want a woman who’s been in love with someone else for ten years?”
“That’s none of your concern, Viscount.”
“Maybe not. But think carefully — not many men would accept you unconditionally like I would.”
He wasn’t as outrageous as Simon, but annoying in a different way — the type who pokes at people’s nerves and then says, ‘What? I’m just being honest.’
Lucia loathed people like that.
After that second disastrous meeting, she steeled herself.
Johann’s reports were thorough, but they didn’t capture a person’s true temperament — too many unknown variables.
So for the third meeting, she decided to go in with zero expectations.
Her third suitor was Aren Valter, heir to the Valter County — and the only younger man among them.
When she met him, she discovered something unexpected.
“You were my junior at the Academy. I didn’t know.”
“Haha, really? I actually saw you around a few times. If I’d known we’d meet like this, I’d have said hello back then.”
With only a year’s age gap, it was natural that both attended the Imperial Academy — most nobles did.
They talked about Academy life, and before she knew it, time had flown by.
Compared to the last two men, he seemed decent.
“To be honest, I was surprised by this matchmaking offer. I thought you were dating Senior Herwin.”
“There was such a rumor?”
“More of an assumption. You two seemed so close that I thought you were secretly seeing each other.”
“Unfortunately, Lord Feneus and I are just friends. We’ve never dated.”
Aren’s eyes widened.
“Really? Not even once?”
“Yes, just friends.”
“Ah, I see…”
They continued chatting pleasantly, and for the first time, Lucia thought, ‘He might actually make a decent husband.’
They agreed to exchange letters before parting ways. Aren courteously escorted her to the carriage stop, and she thanked him sincerely.
“I’ll take my leave now. It’s been a pleasure, my Lady.”
“Yes, I also enjoyed today. Please get home safely.”
After saying goodbye, Lucia waited for Sein to fetch the carriage.
Then she noticed a handkerchief on the ground — embroidered with Aren’s initials.
Picking it up, she glanced in the direction he’d gone and spotted him turning a distant corner.
She hurried after him to return it.
When she rounded the corner, she saw Aren standing in front of a carriage, talking to another man.
She was about to call out—
“Lord Valter—”
“How was Lady Agnes?”
—but their conversation reached her ears first.
Hearing it, Lucia froze.
“You were right. They’ve never even held hands.”
“Hahaha! So I won the bet!”
“Damn, there goes my plan.”
A bet? A plan? What were they talking about?
Whatever it was, it was clear Aren had ulterior motives.
Feeling her blood run cold, Lucia stayed silent and listened.
“Too bad, though. That was your golden chance to steal the Feneus heir’s woman.”
“My thoughts exactly. I thought she was dating Senior Herwin — what a disappointment. I figured they must’ve dated at least once.”
“I still don’t get why you’re so obsessed with Lord Feneus.”
Aren gave a low chuckle, running a hand through his hair.
The gentle face he’d shown Lucia turned into something chilling.
“He’s too perfect. Makes me want to knock him down a peg.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Just one of those things. I wanted to marry Lady Agnes and taste that feeling of superiority. What a shame.”
“So… are you giving up?”
Aren frowned as if thinking, then smirked.
“I’ll think about it. She’s from a good family, and she’s pretty enough. Wouldn’t be bad to keep her as a wife. Besides, she’s already half-fallen for me. I only flattered her a few times and she melted — honestly, it was disappointing. Women should play hard to get.”
Hearing his true feelings, Lucia’s lips twisted.
She didn’t get angry or sad — her face became utterly expressionless, like staring at an inanimate object.
She stepped toward Aren, who was still talking smugly.
The look of horror spreading across his face as he saw her was almost satisfying.
“What an amusing thing to say, Lord Valter.”
“L-Lady Agnes?!”
“To think that behind that smiling face you hid such filth. I almost fell for it.”
Aren’s expression stiffened as he realized she had heard everything.
Lucia dropped the handkerchief she’d been holding at his feet.
“I don’t think there’s any need for us to meet again.”
As she turned to leave, Aren grabbed her arm, babbling in panic.
“M-my Lady! I don’t know what you heard, but this is a misunderstanding! Men sometimes joke like this—”
“No need for excuses. I simply have no wish to see you again.”
She shook off his hand firmly and began walking away — then stopped to glance back.
“To think you’d dare to compare yourself to Herwin… You’re either arrogant or delusional.”
Aren’s pale face flushed red with rage as Lucia’s eyes swept over him from head to toe.
“You’re not even fit to touch the tip of Herwin’s boots. Don’t flatter yourself, boy.”
“W-what did you just say?!”
Leaving the furious Aren behind, Lucia returned to the mansion.
Three disastrous meetings in a row.
And now, she was on her way to meet her final suitor.
Every man she’d met so far had been not just disappointing, but downright awful.
At this point, Lucia’s patience was hanging by a thread.
