Chapter 81
While Gustavo was too drunk to even keep his senses straight, Leticia was quickly working her mind.
Judging from his attitude yesterday, he wasn’t likely to meekly agree to marry her.
“I’m not going to sit around like a fool waiting. If I want to marry him, I need one decisive move—something that will leave Gustavo with no way out.”
She grabbed her purse, slung a hooded cloak over her arm, and stepped outside. Her destination was Le Manje Street—the underbelly of the Netor Empire.
After stepping down from the carriage, Leticia pulled the hood deep over her face and slipped inside a shabby building.
It was an office that arranged people. On the surface, it connected day laborers to shops or noble households, but in truth, it also dealt in far more secretive transactions.
Inside, a fat, sly-looking man greeted her.
“What brings you here?”
“I need a healthy man. One with brown or reddish-brown hair.”
“A healthy man, you say?”
The man’s eyes glinted unpleasantly as he ran his gaze up and down her figure.
“Is it just a man you’re after?”
“I’ll need a room as well.”
“Ahh, I see. Looking for someone to keep you company, eh?”
He chuckled lewdly.
Not wanting to meet his eyes, Leticia turned her head aside.
From behind the reception counter, a man who had been half-lying down raised himself slightly at the intriguing conversation.
It was Varus—who had left behind Gustavo, passed out after three bottles of liquor that morning, and wandered here. Unable to continue his usual shady dealings, he had been spending more time in the brokerage.
Varus narrowed his eyes, studying the side of Leticia’s face. Though her hood hid part of her features, he could tell right away she was a beauty.
With such looks, she clearly wouldn’t be lacking for men. Why, then, was she searching for one in a place like this?
When she opened her cloak slightly to reach for her purse, Varus also noted her curvaceous figure.
After Leticia paid the fee and left, Varus told the clerk to bring him her contract.
Of course, the name written there was a false one. No one ever used their real name in dealings this secretive.
“Tasha… A pretty name.”
A woman beautiful enough to extract fortunes from men was actually paying money to procure a partner—what a curious case.
Varus’s hair was blond, but dyeing it brown would hardly be difficult.
Leticia’s next destination was Dreze Street.
It was a discreet spot frequented by young women who enjoyed free-spirited romances.
The creaking door opened, and inside sat a red-haired woman at the reception desk.
Leticia explained her purpose briefly.
“Then you’ve come to the right place. I’m Perena Brhol. I assist Doctor Marsha. Please wait a moment.”
Gathering the herbs she had been trimming into a basket, Perena disappeared inside.
When she returned, she guided Leticia to the consulting room.
There, Leticia met Marsha for the first time—a white-haired woman whose appearance matched her reputation of possessing mysterious powers.
“You want medicine to conceive quickly? Hm, unusual. Most who come here want to end a pregnancy, not begin one.”
“I don’t care what others do. I must conceive within this month.”
“As long as you follow instructions, that’s no problem. But the procedure is costly. Can you afford it?”
Leticia pulled out a pearl necklace she had hidden in her cloak. Each bead was large, perfectly round, and gleamed with flawless luster.
Marsha’s eyes sparkled at the sight.
“Will this cover the cost?”
“More than enough.”
She handed the necklace to Perena in its box.
“Keep this safe in the strongbox.”
“Got it.”
Yet even after stowing the pearls, Perena didn’t leave the room.
Since Leticia’s request was unusual, she was curious to see what Marsha would prescribe. Planning to take over the practice someday, Perena wanted to observe as many treatments as possible.
“People don’t realize half of Marsha’s fame is exaggeration. She just knows her herbs and a few tricks she learned from that gypsy crone. But with her white hair, everyone thinks she’s some great sorceress. Ridiculous.”
Listening to Marsha’s directions for Leticia, Perena smirked inwardly.
“During this treatment, you must have relations as frequently as possible.”
“Yes, I understand. Anything else?”
Deciding there was nothing more worth hearing, Perena left with the pearl necklace.
“Hah! What a fraud. Everyone knows more frequent relations mean higher chances of conceiving, but she wraps it up as if it’s her mystical method. And that fool of a woman actually believes it.”
She had no further interest in the charade between the “fraud” and her “foolish client.”
Early that morning, Kais arrived at the Grand Duke’s estate to share breakfast, but found himself more engrossed in the siblings at the table than in the food.
Tirzen ate calmly, while Roena bristled with sharp irritation.
“The atmosphere today… You two aren’t fighting, but…”
When neither responded, Kais’s words trailed off.
At last, after glaring at her brother for some time, Roena spoke.
“Do you have no feelings at all for Sister Elisha?”
Kais, lifting his forkful of salad, swallowed only dryly, startled.
“Why must there be feelings?”
“You said you’d marry her.”
“That’s already settled. There’s no reason to bring feelings into it now.”
—Bang!
The table shook under Roena’s blow. Kais turned toward her nervously.
Her hand, gripping the fork tightly, trembled with fury—as if she might stab Tirzen right there.
“Do you even like Sister Elisha?”
“You like her, don’t you? That’s enough.”
“You’re the one marrying her! Your feelings matter.”
“I don’t dislike her.”
To Tirzen, this was an enormous admission of feeling. To Roena, it was hopelessly insufficient.
She had once told him to give Elisha a flower. Since then, he had dutifully visited the Marès Ducal House every day, each time with a different bloom.
But that was all. No further progress had been made.
“Brother, do you even think? I didn’t tell you to deliver flowers just to act as a messenger boy! You need to give her other gifts, take her out—do something!”
“Why bother with such tedious nonsense?”
“If you can’t be bothered, then just live alone forever!”
Listening quietly, Kais quickly grasped the core of the problem.
Tirzen adored his sister Roena, giving her everything she ever wanted—yet had never once bought her a gift with his own hands. To him, gifts were mere bribes or formalities, not tokens of affection.
He had never once considered the idea of putting his feelings into a present.
“Roena’s right, Tirzen. Even if it’s a loveless marriage, giving gifts to your fiancée is the most basic of courtesies.”
“Remember when we went to the Marès estate? Even Lord Drak gave Elisha a gift. Don’t you recall?”
At that, Tirzen’s mood turned ominous, recalling a distasteful memory.
He remembered vividly the urge to snap Teus’s wrist when he placed a hairpin in Elisha’s hair. And Elisha’s expression then—uncomfortable, hardly pleased.
If she had liked Teus’s present, she wouldn’t have looked so troubled.
After enduring a barrage of nagging, Tirzen finished breakfast and retreated to the study, still brooding.
“Do I really have to give her a gift?”
It was bothersome. But thinking of Teus, his pride flared.
If Elisha didn’t like ordinary gifts, perhaps she would like something rarer, more precious.
Teus was due to leave the capital for a while on trading business, so I decided to see him before he departed.
Since the ball at the palace, I hadn’t had the chance. He had been busy, and I too had been preoccupied, trying to discover which noble had helped verify my adoptive father’s papers.
“Your Grace, the Grand Duke will be arriving shortly.”
“Already? I should go down, then.”
Lost in thought about my adoptive father, I straightened at Mervel’s words.
These days, my mornings almost always began with Tirzen’s visits.
He brought a different flower every day.
It didn’t seem to mean much, but the changing blooms made me look forward to which one he’d bring next.
Today, it was a pale pink-tinted white ranunculus.
“Thank you. The color is enchanting.”
“Hm. This is a gift.”
He handed over a large bundle he had been carrying under his arm.
I accepted it absentmindedly, then nearly dropped it—it was much heavier than expected.
“What kind of gift is this?”
“Something I thought you’d like.”
“May I open it?”
“As you wish.”
I hesitated, not knowing what to do with the flower, until he took it back and tucked it behind my ear himself. Stepping back, he looked me over with satisfaction.
“It suits you well.”
“…Thank you.”
Feeling awkward under his gaze, I focused instead on unwrapping the package.
It was thick—about the width of three fingers—and broad enough that both hands couldn’t cover it. I assumed it hid a box inside.
But no—the first layer peeled away to reveal a book.
“Ah…”
Seeing the title embossed on the cover, I was left speechless.
“Do you like it?”
His eyes gleamed with expectation.
It was bound in fine leather, the title stamped in gold leaf—a rare and valuable volume. I had never read anything like it before.
“Does this mean he wants me to start preparing to be crown princess?”
It wasn’t meant to pressure me, but I felt the weight of the future resting on it.
“This must be a very precious book.”
“I was certain you’d like it.”
As the corners of his lips curved upward, I couldn’t help smiling back.
Even if the gift felt heavy with responsibility, the fact that he had chosen it with me in mind—it warmed my heart.
