Chapter 74
“No.”
“Why not?”
From the start, difficult questions poured out, leaving no room for hesitation. Instead of complaining about the mercilessly rising difficulty, Noah raised his voice a little.
“Because I don’t like it. Do I really need any other reason?”
“Isn’t it rare to find someone with such conditions? Not only the status, but the person himself is quite outstanding.”
“What are you saying? Do I look like the kind of person who falls for someone just because they’re handsome?”
“Then what’s important to you?”
When he stayed silent, waiting for her answer, Frederick added impatiently:
“Even if I let it slide that you dislike political marriages, I’m asking how long you intend to waste your time.”
“Waste my time?”
“The social season exists to find a marriage partner. How long do you plan to just sit around picking and choosing? You’d throw away such good opportunities for nothing?”
At those words, Noah instinctively realized the real reason he had sent Cordelia to the banquet—he wanted to engineer a meeting between them. Without thinking, Noah, who had clenched his fists tightly, slowly loosened them and glared at him. Frederick narrowed his eyes.
“Surely you’re not seriously saying you want to live alone like Calia.”
“And what if I do?”
Frederick let out a sigh of exasperation. A faint crease appeared between his brows.
“You’re insane.”
When Noah didn’t answer, he pressed further.
“I don’t think you’re that foolish. You know very well what kind of reputation, what sort of threats, an unmarried woman of age faces in society.”
That’s why he had laid the marriage stage before her, and yet his sister not only refused, but couldn’t even eat the food set before her.
Looking at Frederick as he lamented, Noah finally spoke.
“Well. I probably know it better than you do.”
Feigning a nonchalant tone, Noah spoke, and Frederick sighed deliberately for her to see. He rubbed his forehead with his fingertips, as if it ached.
“I’ve long known this, but you truly never know how to be serious about anything. How long do you intend to live like this?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Your youth won’t last forever. Beauty is fleeting.”
The unexpectedly serious tone left Noah speechless, and Frederick’s words turned colder.
“If you’re not weighing profits, then ultimately you’re judging people—but people are far more easily swayed by appearances than you think. Suitors may chase you now, but that will change. How many will offer affection to a wilting flower?”
His words were chillingly sharp and brutally realistic.
“What I mean is, things may not always go exactly your way.”
The choices would only shrink further from now on. Frederick hoped Cordelia would make a decision before she was forced to face that reality.
He knew his sister had always chased love throughout her life. But now, the time had come to compromise with reality.
In high society, as women lost their youth and beauty, their value declined. Cordelia was still beautiful, yes—but a flower that could not bloom and simply withered rarely met a good end. She would marry eventually, with her inheritance, but it would be a rushed, compromising sort of marriage.
“So let’s leave it at this. I’ll meet as many of your conditions as possible, but you need to take the situation seriously.”
Frederick shrugged lightly. Almond-shaped blue eyes stared back at him, steady and unwavering. Thoughts tangled wildly in Noah’s mind.
She didn’t think everything the duke said was wrong. She understood what he worried about. And yet, alongside that understanding, a subtle defiance rose in her chest.
To keep her lips sealed, Noah clenched the hem of her dress tightly. She scolded the impulse burning inside her.
Don’t interfere.
This wasn’t like facing the man who insulted Cordelia. The man before her was Cordelia’s family. Since it was family business, it wasn’t her place to meddle.
Who was she, after all, to tell Cordelia what to do with her life? She herself was cowardly enough to ignore Cordelia’s straightforward heart.
As always, Noah whispered to herself like a self-imposed spell:
Stay quiet. Keep your head down. Just snap back appropriately like Lady Cordelia would and walk away. She said I should ignore him rather than try to talk things through. There must be a reason she told me that.
I know. I do. And yet—
“Why do you have to say it like that?”
A calm, clear voice rang out. Looking up at his sister, who stared back without blinking, Frederick let out a disbelieving laugh.
“What?”
“I asked why you keep deciding my happiness for me.”
It’s not that I don’t want to get married. I just want to marry someone I truly love. This is someone I’ll live with for a lifetime—it’s not a simple matter, is it?
I want to date, I want to marry. But not with just anyone. I want someone who feels special. Is that so wrong? Whenever I say this, people call me childish. They say you can’t have everything you want.
But I think I’m full of motivation. It’s just my emotions that don’t follow through… it doesn’t work. I’ve tried to adjust, to make it work, but in the end it always falls apart. I can’t force myself to accept something that isn’t right for me.
Noah recalled the conversations they had in the grass, the profile of her face looking down in thought, the sighs, the vivid sparkle in her eyes, the shy smile as she cupped a ring of flowers in her hands.
I work so hard, but it feels lonely when no one praises me. My sisters are hard to see often, too.
That loneliness had been real. Though Cordelia had claimed she just wanted to live lightly, such a choice must have come after countless nights of heavy thought.
“My life isn’t as trivial as you make it sound. I always live with everything I’ve got. Rick, you may not understand, but that’s the truth.”
Noah hadn’t known Cordelia for that long. But at least, she knew her life wasn’t one to be belittled this way.
No—more than that. Who had the right to so carelessly judge another person’s life?
“Just because you can’t understand it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”
Her unusually assertive tone startled Frederick, his reply slightly faltering.
“You…”
“Rick,” Noah said softly.
“Do you actually want to talk with me? Or do you just want to force your thoughts on me?”
Frederick blinked slowly. His sister—usually cheerful, stubborn, quick to explode at the slightest cold word—was gone. In her place stood a strangely cold woman.
Was this really my sister’s personality? It feels like I’m facing someone else entirely.
“Is duty really the only right answer? Just because everyone else lives that way, does that mean I must too? Even if I don’t think such a life would make me happy?”
Her eyes twisted as she continued questioning him.
“Is my happiness so cheap, so worthless, that it can be ignored that easily?”
Words too embarrassing to say in her own voice. Perhaps fragments of an old obsession, stabbing at her own heart.
Yet spoken through Cordelia’s lips, they flowed naturally. Perhaps, Noah thought, she really just wanted to tell these words to herself.
“…That’s just how the times are,” Frederick finally said, after a long silence.
“You’d be far more at peace following the set path. Why do you keep straying from it?”
Noah nearly burst out laughing. Ah, she knew immediately. She knew exactly how Cordelia would answer.
Her lips curved upward as if they had always been meant to smile.
“Because that’s how I want to live. That’s all.”
What more reason was necessary? At least, not for her.
Even though the words came from her own mouth, Noah felt they didn’t sound like her. In moments like this, she realized again how different she and Cordelia truly were. Perhaps she would never catch up to her.
But that was fine. Cordelia had taught her that different values could still coexist.
Noah slowly walked down the stairs—neither too fast nor too slow. She passed Frederick, who stood dumbfounded. Snapping out of it, he shouted just as she reached the doorway.
“Cody, stop right there!”
Even at his ice-cold roar, Noah didn’t look back. She knew Cordelia wouldn’t have, either.
“Ah, I apologize. I got carried away seeing a familiar face and foolishly spoke out of turn.”
Benjamin scratched his cheek awkwardly. Cordelia, in her usual owner’s body, smiled faintly.
“Not at all. Thanks to your kindness, I was able to achieve my purpose.”
They were now walking down the corridor leading to the annex. Aside from a few priests passing by, the quiet hallway was perfect for light conversation. Faint sounds of hammering echoed from afar.
“The expansion has officially begun. Decorating the sanctuary always requires extra hands.”
Seeing Cordelia’s interest, Benjamin explained earnestly, though he glanced at her with a hint of regret.
“It would’ve been wonderful if we could’ve invited Mr. Ephemeral. I had been looking forward to seeing the mark you would leave in the sanctuary.”
Cordelia looked curiously at the oddly excited man, and Benjamin gave a low, embarrassed cough.
“The temple’s buildings all try to appear lofty. They never show their flaws. Truth is, the High Lord can be rather petty at times.”
“That’s quite the blasphemous thing to say.”
“I suppose it is. But it’s fine—I’ll repent for it again tonight.”
Are all people from the Grand Temple eccentric?
Thinking this prejudice to herself, Cordelia stole glances at Benjamin walking alongside her. Warm-looking, unpretentious, cheerful.
They say people’s faces reveal their character as they age. This frank, bright man was one Cordelia found quite likable.
“Still, I didn’t expect you’d want to revisit the mural you worked on.”
“What do you mean?”
“You struck me as the type to never look back once a project was complete.”
Benjamin chuckled casually.
“So, how is Sir Tirein doing?”
