Six years after the broken engagement—
Lena Creimoran was about to turn twenty-two.
“Big sister, please eat breakfast quickly. Aunt Betty is coming today!”
While changing into her dress, Lena hears her twelve-year-old brother Alex calling from downstairs. A few seconds later, the maid Catherine knocks on Lena’s door.
“Young lady, your husband is calling… Wait! Why don’t you call me when you’re changing clothes?”
Seeing Lena struggling to change her dress, Catherine scowls.
The Creimoran Count family isn’t very wealthy, so they don’t have maids. There’s only Catherine and a kitchen maid. They certainly don’t have a butler or other expensive staff.
“If you can do something alone, you should do it alone. Ah, sorry, Catherine, could you help me tie the back ribbon?”
“I always tell you that you can’t put on your dress by yourself, right? And what about your corset?”
“I find it bothersome, so I don’t wear it.”
“That’s not allowed! I think I heard Lord Alex’s voice, but today, Viscountess Esther is coming, so you’ll get in trouble if you don’t dress properly!”
Betty, the Viscountess Esther, is Lena’s aunt—her father’s sister. She’s caring and often worries about Lena and Alex, especially since they lost their mother. But she’s also quite bossy.
“You won’t notice,” Lena mutters.
“You’ll absolutely notice because your chest will change position!”
“…Oh, really.”
Though Lena thinks she’s still too young for her chest to sag, she glances down at her rather modest bust.
(Corset, I hate it because it’s uncomfortable…)
Reluctantly, Lena takes off her dress again and, with Catherine’s help, ties the corset.
After finishing her preparations, Lena goes downstairs. Her father looks somewhat restless, and Lena tilts her head in confusion.
“Father, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, no, Lena… Um, please don’t take this the wrong way, but…”
When Lena sits at the dining table, breakfast is brought in. Alex and her father seem to have already started eating, but most of the food in front of her father remains untouched.
“Today, my older sister is coming.”
“Yes, I heard from Alex, so I know,” Lena nods while chewing a warm vegetable salad.
Betty’s visits aren’t unusual, so Lena wonders what’s bothering him.
Her father scratches his head awkwardly, then takes a deep breath and seems to have made up his mind.
“Well… it seems that your sister intends to arrange a marriage for you.”
“What?! What did you say?!”
“I asked her not to bring a fiancé suddenly, so she’ll probably just bring a letter of introduction… Anyway, you should prepare yourself…”
“Don’t be ridiculous! You know I’ve decided not to get married, right?”
“Y-Yes, I know… but your sister doesn’t listen once she starts talking about something…”
“Please do something about your own sister!”
Even so, Lena knows well that Betty isn’t the type to easily change her mind about what she’s decided.
“Anyway, I’ve had enough! I don’t want to be engaged to anyone! Absolutely not!”
Hearing this, Alex, who was eating strawberries after the meal, chuckled.
“That’s not it. Sister isn’t giving up because she’s fed up; she’s totally fallen for the cold-hearted duke. Now she sees other men as potatoes, right?”
“Alex! Don’t say unnecessary things!”
“Okay!”
“Cold-hearted duke? Did you, out of all people, fall in love with the Prime Minister?!”
Their father, hearing this for the first time, gasped in shock and stood up.
Last year, King Ernesto abdicated, and with the accession of Crown Prince George III, the second prince, Klaus, became Prime Minister. Now, he’s also nicknamed the “Ice Prime Minister” along with the “Cold-Hearted Duke.”
“Face reality! Even if the Prime Minister is single, there’s no way he’d consider a count family like ours!”
“I know that! I don’t have any illusions about marrying Klaus-sama! I’m just happy to watch from afar, so it’s fine.”
“Oh, what a mess…”
Despite claiming to only watch, their father despairingly puts his head in his hands.
What is going on? It’s fine not to do anything, really. But given his behavior, I’m worried he might do something stupid.
Lena sternly pins him down with a serious look.
“Father, absolutely don’t do anything! I’m happy right now just as I am!”
Even without marriage or a fiancé, Lena is very happy living her life, watching Klaus from afar. But—
(Someday, even if it’s just to be scolded like “This useless one!” by some bureaucrat, I wonder if I could meet him again up close…?)
Her admiration has twisted into something a little strange.
~·~·* * *·~·~
Hey there, It’s Green Rose 😉
Since I human I might have make some mistakes while translating so please if you find them let me know here in the comments or in the Discord group so I can correct them and be careful in the future so they do not repeat.
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
~~~Next Chapter~~~
Next chapter will be released on July, 26.
See you then!!
