~Chapter 36~
No!
Aveline screamed inside as she saw Theron about to open his mouth.
She’d been warning him with her eyes not to say anything, but Theron just looked amused, like he was enjoying the show.
“Actually, Lady Herolds and I—”
“Ow!”
Before he could say more, Aveline shouted loudly.
“Sister!”
“Aveline!”
Ares and Count Herolds both jumped at her sudden cry.
“What’s wrong?”
Even Serio was distracted, turning his attention away from Theron.
Aveline shot Theron a warning look, telling him not to say another word, then began acting.
“It’s just… after what Count Juan said earlier, my heart hurts. I feel so upset…”
She clutched her chest as if she really meant it.
“What?!”
Ares was the first to react.
“What did he say to you, Sister?”
Ares, no longer bothering with polite words, looked furious.
“He said… I’m such a worthless lady, even Viscount Berta rejected me…”
“I—I never said anything like that!” Count Juan protested, startled.
“But isn’t that what you were trying to say? Ugh…”
Aveline even pretended to cry, watching the people around her.
Just as she hoped, everyone was now looking at Count Juan like he was garbage.
“Count Juan, is what my daughter says true?” Count Herolds spoke up first.
“I never knew Count Juan was so interested in other people’s private matters,” Marquis Nor added.
“I didn’t say anything like that!”
“I saw everything. You came over just to insult Aveline,” Logan said, joining in.
“Hmm.”
Serio touched his chin, deep in thought.
“Count Juan, is that true?”
“N-no, I…”
Now Serio was also questioning Count Juan.
With Serio against him, Count Juan’s face turned white.
“Aveline, are you okay?”
While everyone was looking at Count Juan, Logan spoke to Aveline with a worried voice.
“I didn’t know you met with Viscount Berta. If I’d known, I could have helped you avoid someone like that…”
“How?”
Ares, who had been standing next to Aveline, looked at Logan, really curious.
“Well… The only reason anyone suggests such bad matches is because Aveline doesn’t have a fiancé yet, right?”
Logan’s pale cheeks turned a little pink.
“If that’s the problem, I could help with that…”
For some reason, he couldn’t look straight at Aveline.
‘Huh?’
Aveline tilted her head, puzzled by her friend’s strange behavior.
“What are you talking about?”
Ares frowned.
“How could you, of all people, find a fiancé for my sister?”
“Th-that’s…”
Logan’s face turned even redder.
‘Wait… did he pick himself as my fiancé without me knowing?’
Aveline was just as surprised as Ares.
‘He looks like he’s about to explode.’
Logan’s face was getting so red that Aveline started to worry he might faint.
“In my opinion,”
Theron, who had been silent, finally spoke.
“It sounds like Young Lord Casey is volunteering to be Lady Herolds’s fiancé himself.”
“What?!”
“Huh?!”
Ares and Aveline both shouted at the same time.
“Logan, is that true?” Aveline asked. Logan only mumbled, unable to answer.
That confirmed Theron’s guess.
‘Logan… wants to be engaged to me?’
Aveline was shocked by the unexpected truth, and Ares seemed just as confused.
“Why would you two get engaged?”
“H-huh?”
Ares sounded like he didn’t get it at all.
‘Yeah, it is a bit weird.’
Even if they were childhood friends, getting engaged just to help wasn’t something you heard every day.
‘I’ve never even thought about it.’
So it made sense for Ares to react like that, but what he said next was totally unexpected.
“You’re being way too self-sacrificing!”
Ares looked at Logan like he couldn’t believe what he’d heard.
“No matter how good a friend she is, what if this ruins your own chances at marriage?”
Ares really thought Logan was just trying to help out of friendship.
“I—it’s fine…”
“Young Lord Herolds is right,”
Theron interrupted.
“It’s a touching friendship, but Young Lord Casey doesn’t have to go that far.”
“No, really, I’m fine—”
“I don’t think so.”
Theron cut him off softly.
“Besides, there’s no need for Young Lord Casey to step in.”
“Why not?”
Logan asked in a trembling voice.
“Because,”
Theron’s eyes curved as he nodded.
With that handsome smile, the whole room seemed to brighten for a moment.
“I’m already courting Lady Herolds.”
With Theron’s bombshell, everyone questioning Count Juan turned around at once.
Even Count Juan, who’d been under fire, stared with his mouth hanging open.
“Did he say courting? He said courting, right?”
Serio looked stunned, and Marquis Nor calmly confirmed, “Yes, he did.”
“What…?”
Count Herolds was just as surprised.
“So you sent those flowers yesterday to court her…?”
“That’s right,” Theron replied, giving Count Herolds a relaxed smile.
“Of course, I couldn’t find a flower as beautiful as Lady Herolds.”
Everyone fell silent again.
Their faces all showed what they were thinking: That’s definitely not true.
But nobody dared say it out loud.
Still, the person most troubled by Theron’s announcement was Aveline.
‘How can he just drop something like this without warning!’
Even if they’d agreed to spread rumors about being a couple in her dreams, this was way too sudden.
‘Maybe he thought calling it a one-sided courtship would soften things…’
If this was Theron’s idea of being considerate, maybe it was.
But still.
Looking around, Aveline saw everyone was shocked—Ares and her father looked stunned, even Marquis Nor was surprised, and Count Juan hadn’t closed his mouth yet.
And Logan looked hurt, as if he’d been wounded.
‘Now I feel bad.’
Even if it wasn’t her fault, seeing her friend almost tear up for her sake made Aveline feel guilty.
“I just don’t get it,” Serio interrupted.
“So Theron, you’re courting Lady Herolds? But why?”
He sounded like he really couldn’t believe it.
It made sense, since Aveline and Theron had never really crossed paths before now.
Aveline had stayed home for years, and Theron rarely showed up unless he had to.
Plus, their families were in different political camps—there wasn’t any reason for them to meet.
“For that, I have Count Juan to thank,” Theron said calmly.
“M-me?”
Count Juan was startled to hear his name.
“It’s because of Count Juan arranging that meeting that I got to meet Lady Herolds.”
Everyone turned to look at Count Juan again.
“N-no, I didn’t mean for that to happen—!”
Count Juan stammered, unable to finish as everyone stared at him.
“Who did you set up with Viscount Berta?”
Suddenly, Count Juan’s wife appeared, pushing through the crowd.
“My dear!”
“What’s going on here?”
The red-haired Countess Juan looked down at her smaller husband.
“So that’s why Viscount Berta went off to a monastery?”
She looked shocked, stumbling in disbelief.
Everyone stared in confusion at the serious reaction from the Countess.
“You know my son?”
Marquis Nor asked, also surprised.
“Of course they do,”
The answer didn’t come from the Countess.
“They must have been very close, for her to react so emotionally.”
“What are you talking about?! I was just curious—!”
Countess Juan shouted in panic.
“You look more shocked than just curious,” Theron replied with a lazy voice, staring at her, then at Count Juan.
“Did you not know your wife had a secret relationship with Viscount Berta?”
“That’s ridiculous!”
Count Juan trembled with anger.
“Go ahead and ask your wife if what I’m saying makes sense.”
As soon as Theron finished speaking, the Countess’s face turned white.
