CHAPTER 77…………………………………….
He seemed as frozen as ice, as if he couldn’t believe my reaction either.
Even a slight push backward would have felt like shattering him.
But I wasn’t the only one frozen.
I needed to come up with a plausible excuse, but nothing came to mind. At the very least, I could have made a silly joke or pretended it was a lie.
The more I thought about it, the more cluttered my mind became, until it felt completely empty. My brain, overloaded and unable to function normally, had clearly gone on strike.
“What did you just say…?”
He, too, finally made a sound after being frozen, seemingly recovering faster than me.
Being asked again about my answer was a chance to cover up a mistake—a chance directly handed to me by the very person whose marriage proposal I had rejected.
I couldn’t let this opportunity slip… yet my mouth wouldn’t move.
Had I really broken down? Why couldn’t I say anything?
The expression of the one who had given me a second chance stiffened in real time. No matter how much I tried to move my lips, no sound came out.
Had I really lost my voice?
“Joyce!”
“Yes, sister!”
Ah, no. My voice was fine.
Not just fine, but loud and clear. I looked at my savior with gratitude.
Had Luna overheard my conversation with Peredil? I felt an overwhelming urge to hug her for showing up at the exact moment I needed her.
“My father was worried, so he came to check on you. He said that since you must have had a hard time going out, it would be better if you rested now.”
There’s nothing better than a parental excuse, anywhere in the world.
Unlike me, Luna had a good excuse ready. I immediately responded.
“Nothing could be a more serious act of filial impiety than losing sleep over me.”
It was as if I had rehearsed it; the words came out smoothly.
Why couldn’t I say this earlier?
“Duke, I think it’s time for me to head inside.”
“Uh, yes. Right.”
Peredil looked flustered, unable to keep up with my flow. Even though I fully noticed this, I had no choice but to exit the scene.
Even if I stayed, I wouldn’t be able to fix the situation properly. I had to leave as gracefully as Luna had appeared.
“Then I’ll excuse myself first!”
I bowed to Peredil and quickly nudged Luna forward. She, clueless, was swept along into the mansion. I deliberately avoided his eyes as he followed me, pushing only the innocent Luna ahead.
“Looking for some strong liquor after a long time?”
“Must have been a lovers’ quarrel.”
“Really? Searching for that kind of drink over a mere lovers’ quarrel? He didn’t even ask for it during the empire’s war.”
Peredil’s three maids were debating among themselves.
He had asked for the strongest drink in his collection and occasionally sighed deeply while drinking. The maids couldn’t help but speculate about the reason; drinking while sighing looked terribly painful.
“Duke, did you argue with Miss Joyce?”
Unlike the other maids, who had restrained themselves many times, Susan asked easily.
The maids were grateful for Susan’s presence. She had pushed the boundaries of rudeness just enough that the line was now faint. Even Peredil didn’t see her question as crossing the line.
“I… was… rejected….”
He answered as if the world had collapsed. By his standards, it had.
“What? Duke, you already proposed? You two haven’t been dating that long.”
“We’re going to spend our lives together anyway. What’s wrong with starting early?”
Hearing this, the maids blushed. How could such a handsome man be so naive as to swear eternity to a woman he just met? They couldn’t help but feel envious.
“Unlike the Duke, Miss Joyce might not want forever.”
Susan spoke freely, unaware of Peredil’s darkening expression.
“Or maybe because she lived in the glamorous entertainment world, she pursued pleasure without responsibility! Some legendary actress in Bria reportedly dated a hundred men in her lifetime. Settling with one man was beneath her; for a star like herself, it was an insult.”
Even when lightly nudged to stop, she finished her point. The maids, who had been grateful for Susan’s eloquence, now felt completely drained of that gratitude.
Watching Peredil mutter like a madman, they regretted not stopping Susan earlier.
“I wanted to give her everything… Could it be that I’m just a passing fly to her…?”
“B-But! Miss Joyce wouldn’t think that way.”
Joanna, a senior maid who rarely spoke up, defended Joyce.
She usually closed her eyes, ears, and mouth to everything at the duke’s house. Her stepping in meant Peredil’s mind had gone completely astray.
“I read that you had no dating experience and mostly imagined things yourself.”
“That’s just to protect fans’ fantasies.”
Peredil’s face, briefly brightened by Joanna’s words, darkened again.
“Fantas… cy…”
The maids felt hollow seeing him murmur gloomily. Joanna’s efforts seemed wasted, and they lost the will to encourage him further.
Having exhausted her own words, Susan finally noticed his mood and began to rectify the situation.
“Miss Joyce’s charm is her honesty. She wouldn’t have dressed it up. Perhaps it wasn’t the proposal itself, but the way it was done?”
Peredil listened intently to this tempting suggestion.
“The way I proposed was wrong?”
“How did you propose to her?”
“I was talking to her… and just said, ‘Shall we get engaged or something?’ or something like that.”
Susan again made a fuss.
“Duke! Miss Joyce must have had her share of suitors, right?”
Peredil remembered the pile of invitation letters she had received. He wanted to hear more of Susan’s reasonable reasoning.
“You mean she rejected me because my proposal was lousy?”
“Of course, she’s received many confessions. And since she’s written herself, she must have imagined countless romantic proposals. But you clumsily said, ‘If you want, let’s get engaged,’ so naturally she was disappointed.”
It sounded like nonsense, but seeing the duke regain composure, the maids let it pass.
Learning the reason she rejected him didn’t harm him; it actually made him happy.
“Yes… the way was wrong…”
Susan was pleased he had taken her advice seriously, though she had forgotten that she had originally caused his discouragement.
“So what should I do?”
“You need to prepare a proposal that will move Miss Joyce!”
“There’s no record of what kind of proposal Joyce dreams of.”
“Then you’ll have to investigate yourself, Duke.”
“Got it. I’ll start tomorrow.”
Joanna, sensing his intense resolve, spoke again.
“Duke… how do you plan to investigate?”
“I’ll sit her down and ask. Everything about the proposal she wants.”
Joanna shook her head.
“You’d better not. She’ll know you’re preparing a proposal, and it’ll spoil the surprise.”
“The senior is right, Duke! You mustn’t show it. You have to ask subtly!”
When both maids agreed, Peredil nodded—confidently.
Recalling his diplomatic negotiations that always favored Coventin, he smiled slightly.
“Asking subtly? Easy.”
I lay flat on the bed to calm myself.
Honestly, being proposed to by him made me feel nauseous.
His love for me was burning hot. I could understand not obeying the emperor’s order to break up.
But an engagement? Until recently, I’d have fled if it had involved Vivian’s threats.
Even if he was crazy about me, wanting eternity after so little time together left me frozen.
His serious expression made me feel I had to give a proper response.
Tomorrow, I’d have to explain that I was shocked by the sudden proposal.
I thought I couldn’t take leaving him lightly. When it came time to part, I’d have to make sure he wasn’t hurt, giving him all my attachment before breaking it off dramatically.
In the early days of a relationship, people say they’d fetch stars from the sky, right?
Maybe his proposal was just a meaningless, light-hearted remark. My exaggerated reaction was only because I anticipated our breakup.
That thought shattered the next day in his office.
“Duke, why do you keep fiddling with my ring finger?!”
