Chapter 5
Upon returning to the Darthion mansion, there was an inexplicable air of excitement.
A strange carriage, gleaming with golden decorations, was parked in front of the main gate.
“There’s no family crest, so they’re probably not a noble.”
Since Father never entertained anyone lacking either honor or money, this guest was most likely a fairly successful wealthy merchant.
Leading my tattered body inside, a passing maid grabbed me as if she had been waiting for just this moment.
“Young lady, where on earth have you been?”
Feeling guilty at the sight of the maid’s anxious, crumpled face and restless feet, I opened my mouth.
“You must have been surprised I wasn’t in my bedroom. I remember wandering around the house at dawn, but when I woke up, I was in the stable. Hmm… I must have been sleepwalking.”
The maid wrinkled her nose as if she smelled something foul.
“Ah, so that’s the smell… Anyway, you should hurry to the drawing room. We have a guest.”
She had been pulling my arm but then stopped, took a closer look at my disheveled state, and made an awkward face.
“……I did wash my face, you know.”
“Ah.”
“In the stream out front.”
“……Don’t worry, my lady. I’ll help you look presentable in no time.”
I have to go through this right after returning? Feeling as if my body might shatter at any moment, I grabbed the maid’s arm and said.
“If it’s Father’s guest, just tell them I’m sick. Please.”
“Well, it seems to be the Count’s guest. But the Count was urgently looking for you.”
At the words that he was looking for me, my body froze for a moment. Something came to mind.
“……Did a marriage proposal arrive for me?”
The maid flinched in surprise and spoke carefully.
“How did you know…?”
In my previous life, the Marquis of the Frontier had made an advance, so if a guest had arrived for whom I needed to dress up, it was probably him.
One thing that bothered me was that the proposal had come a little earlier than I remembered.
Last time, I had already received Lucas’s proposal before the Marquis came, so I never actually met him…
Feeling somewhat uneasy, my exhausted body refused to think any deeper.
The maid, who had been busily adorning me as if it were her own affair, finally handed me a thin veil. They say an expressionless woman dampens a man’s spirit.
Father always insisted I wear a cloth veil to cover my face whenever guests visited or we went out.
This had been the natural way of life for me, so even at my wedding to Lucas, I naturally wore a veil.
‘But today, you’re the main character.’
The angelic Lucas had said those words and untied the veil strings himself.
‘Lucas…’
I had just pictured him only a few hours ago, but my thirst for him seemed to have deepened.
Knock knock.
The maid’s subtle signal snapped me back to my senses, and I realized I was already in front of the drawing room.
I secretly slipped the veil she had given me into my sleeve pocket.
From early morning, a guest was already in the Count’s drawing room.
He was a young man wearing a rich reddish-brown suit — so luxurious that even someone ignorant of fabrics could recognize its value — and his hair was slicked back tightly with pomade.
“Haha, who would have thought you’d send a marriage proposal to my family, eh? And with five million gold coins, no less. Welcome. Congratulations. On becoming my son-in-law.”
The moment the Count saw him, his peculiarly sparrow-like mouth began twitching incessantly without rest.
Things haven’t changed at all in the past five years, thought the guest, who had once been the Count’s servant.
“……Now that we’re here, I believe it would be better for appearances if you addressed me with a proper title.”
“Oh, fine. For my precious son-in-law, I suppose I must do whatever he wants. I was wondering who would take our fourth daughter, Reina, whose marriageable age has not only been met but long since passed. And here you are, Sir Theodore!”
The Count spattered saliva here and there as he spoke. Theodore frowned, looking rather displeased, and said,
“Did you not read the proposal?”
“What’s there to read? I have two daughters left. One is charming Reina. The other is Vivian, who is so cold and standoffish it’s beyond compare. Anyone would want the sweet-natured Reina as a bride, wouldn’t they?”
At the Count’s words, Theodore firmly shook his head.
“I sent it to Vivian. Along with the five million gold coins attached to the proposal.”
The Count, as if in disbelief, pulled a monocle from his suit vest pocket and put it on.
“……Not Reina Darthion, but Vivian Darthion? Is this truly sincere?”
“Yes. It is exactly as written.”
“Why on earth? If I were you, I wouldn’t take such a rigid child as a wife. Frankly, though she is my daughter, as a man… You could search the entire empire and not find a man who wants to hold a woman who doesn’t even smile.”
“So, are you saying you refuse the proposal?”
The Count quickly waved his hands.
“Don’t you dare utter the word ‘refuse’ ever again. I’m just curious, that’s all. Truly curious. So you really want to take Vivian, not Reina?”
“How many times must I say it before you believe me?”
“……From my perspective, you’re taking a troublesome one off my hands and giving me money, so it’s no loss at all. But no takebacks. Understood?”
“That won’t happen. If you wish, I’ll even write a contract.”
“My, what peculiar tastes. Hey, out there! Someone find Vivian and bring her to the drawing room. And don’t forget to dress her up as much as possible. Make sure she’s not an embarrassment to look at. Do you hear?”
From outside the drawing room door, the maids’ voices acknowledging the Count’s orders could be heard.
Theodore, who had been staring intently at the Count with a crooked expression, slowly opened his mouth.
“Speaking as a fellow man, Lady Vivian is more than enough even without smiling.”
The Count, as if burned by Theodore’s blazing gaze, subtly averted his eyes and repeatedly cleared his throat.
By the time the black tea in Theodore’s hand had grown cold, someone’s presence was felt outside.
What kind of reaction will Vivian, to whom I proposed, show? He was exceedingly curious.
Theodore kept his mouth tightly shut, as if waiting for my answer.
But I couldn’t react at all, merely wiping my sweat-dampened hands on my dress.
‘He said he lost sleep over me?’
For those words to come from the mouth of the man who killed me — a chilling coldness seemed to run down my exposed nape.
Lost in bewilderment, my gaze caught a single sky-blue, thick card.
Could that really be the proposal he sent me? With trembling hands, I picked it up and opened it.
First, my name, written in neat handwriting, caught my eye.
[I request marriage to Vivian Darthion, fifth daughter of Count Shabil Darthion.]
It was a real proposal, stamped with Theodore’s seal, still glistening as if the ink hadn’t fully dried.
Unable to believe it, I read the same sentence again and again.
“……So, you mean everything written in this proposal, and everything you’ve said since entering the drawing room, is your sincere truth?”
“From the proposal itself to every word I’ve spoken here — there is not a shred of falsehood.”
Why was Theodore running a trading company instead of being a knight, and why was he proposing to me?
Not only had his proposal never happened in my previous life, but it was also a shocking event I could never have imagined even in my dreams.
My mind turned as white as a canvas without a single drop of paint.
“I simply… cannot understand. The man who was once my father’s servant becomes the head of a trading company, comes with a vast sum, and buys me… is that it?”
“I didn’t come to buy you; I came to propose. And the money isn’t a ‘sum’ — it’s a dowry.”
At Theodore’s reply, the Count eagerly opened his mouth.
“Have you ever heard of the imperial law that says a son-in-law must provide living expenses to his wife’s family? Considering the memories of you, my clever former servant, I shall graciously refuse the living expenses. Instead, how about buying a small estate in my name? If you two bear a son, I’ll pass it down to my grandchild, so think of it as an investment. How about it? Isn’t your ability more than sufficient?”
“If you have a desired direction, we can discuss it calmly.”
Even with the Count’s attitude as if he might gobble up gold coins at any moment, Theodore simply nodded.
It seemed I was the only one unable to accept this situation. From the fact that Theodore had become a merchant guild master to his declaration that he wanted to marry me — I was utterly at a loss.
“……Why on earth are you proposing to me?”
Theodore tilted his head as if he didn’t understand my question, then spoke.
“Is there any reason I shouldn’t want you?”
