“Ma-marriage?”
The Master sputtered, still coughing from shock.
“To the House of Duke Maius?”
“Yes.”
Judith’s calm affirmation left the Master unable to hide his bewilderment.
“But… the young master… he must be eight years old?”
“Not the young master. Besides, child marriages are legally prohibited anyway.”
“But… the Duke and Duchess are known to have a very good relationship, aren’t they?”
“Not the Duke. The Empire practices monogamy.”
“So then…”
“The young duke.”
“Are you talking about Écian Maius, Lady Aylan?”
“Yes.”
Judith could understand why the Master looked utterly flabbergasted. Planning to marry someone officially declared missing hardly sounded sane.
She decided to cut off any pointless argument with a firm tone.
“You said you know nothing about the young Duke Écian Maius, didn’t you? Then just stay that way.”
“But… how can anyone marry a person who’s missing?”
“That’s exactly what will happen.”
Judith smiled faintly, serene and assured.
“Has my information ever been wrong?”
Somewhat panicked, he staggered back to the Grey Information Guild.
Slamming the door of his room behind him, he sank into his chair and let out a hollow laugh.
“Marry Écian Maius?”
From the moment he first met her, this woman had been utterly preposterous. Lately, however, her words and actions had become even more astonishing, daily bombardments of shock.
Even after eliminating all the “bombs” in his life, his mind felt like it had been struck by a real one.
From her ridiculous declaration that she loved someone she had never spoken to, to now—marriage.
“Marriage… without a husband?”
The more he thought about it, the more absurd it became.
Judith had even visited the Duke’s residence today, which meant she intended to gain the recognition of the House of Maius. Was that even possible?
The Maius family was a great noble house, wielding power comparable to the Imperial family. They were not a target she could manipulate or deceive at will.
And by all appearances, Judith Aylan was good and just. She was not the type to con a noble family.
“So… that makes it even more impossible,” he muttered in a voice tinged with confusion.
“Marrying the young duke… what…?”
Alone in his room, the Master removed his mask with an air of exasperation. Carefully concealing it all the way to the back of his head, the mask fell with a soft thud.
Beneath it, his hair flowed like a wave of midnight, revealing a flawless forehead, well-groomed thick brows, piercing eyes, and a sculpted nose.
His eyes were a dark red, as if stained with blood, complementing a sharp jawline and subtly curved lips.
“Just how does she expect to marry me?”
The Master of the Grey Information Guild.
A man in his late teens who, while concealing his identity, had founded the information guild with his bare hands and risen to dominate the city’s back alleys.
No one, not even his closest aides, had seen him unmasked. Though a master of swordsmanship, he had never shown his skill to anyone.
No one knew his true identity: Écian Maius.
It had been nearly five years since he had disappeared from the Duke’s household.
Officially, he had been missing for half a decade—enough for a declaration of death to be issued.
‘It’s for the best. There should be no place for me in the House of Maius.’
Écian closed his eyes, thinking of the Duke and Duchess and his young brother, Karl.
‘I have to become the vanished one.’
If he did not vanish, the Duke and Duchess would not name Karl as heir. Since childhood, Écian had always had the support of their retainers. Without an official death notice, he could not simply relinquish his position to Karl.
‘And now, just when it’s almost time… she wants to marry me?’
Écian had no idea what Judith Aylan was thinking. Only her confident words echoed in his mind:
“Has my information ever been wrong?”
Judith and Écian had never officially met. Naturally so—when he lived in the Duke’s household, his schedule barely allowed him to meet high-ranking nobles, and he disliked social gatherings.
‘And yet, Judith Aylan… among nobles, she’s practically drowning in debt… wait.’
Écian suddenly realized something, pressing a hand to his forehead. In his shock over her bombshell declaration, he had completely forgotten to deliver the reason he had visited her earlier that morning.
Originally, he had intended to repay her debts with his own fortune!
Few events in his life had left him this flustered.
He glanced at the clock and thought:
‘Visiting again would be awkward… she’s probably tutoring by now.’
He knew her daily routine well enough. Despite her debt, she lived diligently, day by day. Selling information to him allowed her to avoid falling further into debt while paying interest. But she still had daily expenses—lodging, clothing, food.
Thus, Judith usually spent her days tutoring, seemingly well-educated from her upbringing in a noble household, teaching essential knowledge to children with impressive skill.
‘Most people in her situation would give up entirely. But she… she’s remarkable. Hardworking, positive, never losing hope.’
Even working tirelessly like that, most would never hope to repay the principal of their debts. Yet Judith bore no sign of despair, never lamented her misfortune. Calmly, she carried on her routine as if she had a plan. Those consistent, uneventful days left a lasting impression on him.
‘I’ll call her here tomorrow. I’ve already thanked her, so I’ll just have her come straight to me. I can hand her the check directly.’
Without realizing it, Écian organized tomorrow’s plan, constantly thinking of her.
‘And I need to ask her more about this marriage plan.’
Earlier, investigators had appeared, and he couldn’t question her about the bombshell publicly. So he had left, deciding it would be better to summon her to the guild for a private discussion.
He immediately picked up a quill and wrote a letter asking her to visit the Information Guild the next day, sending it via staff.
The following evening, Judith arrived at the Grey Information Guild.
“Am I late? I’m sorry,” she said, her face bright and lively.
“I was visiting the House of Maius. I had originally planned to come in two days, but the Duchess called me urgently.”
He already knew she had been summoned at dawn. All day, he had been anxiously waiting.
He had deliberately kept no information agents inside the Maius residence.
“Why were you at the Duke’s residence all day? I heard you were there since morning.”
“Oh, I was also filing the marriage registration,” she replied cheerfully.
“…Pardon?”
“By tomorrow, the registration will likely be complete.”
Écian felt as if he’d been struck across the head.
Truly… he had never imagined life could shock him like this.
“Ah… no… how…?” he stammered.
“I’ll announce it first out of courtesy, Master. It’ll spread across the capital soon enough.”
Judith smiled brightly.
“Tomorrow, the House of Maius will announce that I’m expecting Écian’s child.”
At that, Écian canceled his earlier thought that nothing could possibly surprise him more than her first revelation—because now, he was utterly stunned. Truly, he was near panic.
