Chapter 45

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 45

Chapter Title: Partners for the Engagement Party

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After only meeting three times—and without even confirming our engagement yet—I wondered if it was okay to get this close.

Having never dated anyone before, I had no idea if we were progressing at the right pace.

Lucia stared at Bern as they walked quietly side by side without speaking.

'Why on earth did he choose me?'

When he'd asked her out via letter, Lucia had been puzzled.

Of course, they'd parted on good terms after their arranged meeting, so it made sense for him to suggest a follow-up. But she couldn't help thinking that someone like Bern didn't need to keep her as a fiancée candidate.

A man who had just become a marquis at twenty-four. Handsome, intellectually appealing, and kind to boot. With no siblings to threaten his title either.

He was the perfect catch that anyone would pursue. Surely he'd received multiple proposals for arranged meetings, so why had he chosen her out of them all? Lucia couldn't understand it.

Objectively speaking, she wasn't a bad bride candidate herself, but the rumors circulating in high society gave plenty of reason for hesitation.

Yet Bern had never once brought up those rumors or mentioned Herwin.

That made his intentions even harder to read, leaving her all the more confused.

'Is he comparing me to other women?'

For all she knew, he could be meeting other women in secret, weighing who would make the better wife.

"...Um."

Lucia realized too late that Bern's mouth had opened as she stared openly at his face.

He looked embarrassed and troubled.

"Is there something on my face? You've been staring..."

"Ah! N-no, nothing like that. I was just lost in thought... Sorry."

She'd thought she was being discreet, but apparently she'd ended up staring blatantly without realizing it.

Lucia's face flushed as she apologized repeatedly. Bern gave an awkward smile and waved it off.

"It happens to everyone. No need to apologize so much. Mind if I ask what you were thinking about?"

"Well..."

Lucia hesitated to speak. She couldn't flatly say no or brush it off vaguely—not when she'd been thinking while looking right at him.

"I was just wondering if you're meeting other women besides me..."

"Pardon?"

Bern's face twisted in bewilderment. Knowing full well how rude her words were, Lucia felt mortified.

"It's not that I'm doubting you, Marquis. I just thought there might be other fiancée candidates besides me... That was rude, wasn't it? I'm sorry."

"Is that what you've been thinking all this time?"

She wanted to crawl into a hole. Lucia kept her head down, her face burning.

Bern stared at her in a daze before tilting his head.

'Did I do something to make her misunderstand?'

No matter how he racked his brain, he couldn't recall any such behavior. So why had Lucia thought that?

It didn't seem like she suspected him of cheating exactly.

'We're not even officially dating... Ah!'

Suddenly, Bern thought he understood why she'd said it.

He and Lucia were still in the stage of getting to know each other. They hadn't discussed dating or engagement—nothing formal.

It was a mutual situation where both needed fiancées eventually, so it was fine to scout other candidates too.

Some people even met multiple candidates at once before choosing.

Bern turned his head to the side.

Brown hair and an adorably fidgety expression came into view.

Their blue eyes met, and Bern gave a faint smile.

"I'm not the type to see two women at once. That's dishonorable."

"Ah..."

"So no need to worry."

"Then... may I ask if you're meeting me because you intend to get engaged with me?"

Bern nodded slowly. Lucia bit her lip and averted her kind yellow eyes.

She felt ashamed for having such mean thoughts about someone like him.

"If I had no feelings for you, Lady, I wouldn't have asked you out today. I don't know if we'll actually get engaged, but for now, I think positively of you. And you?"

Every word he spoke was polite and considerate. After hesitating, Lucia finally murmured softly.

"...I'm not the type to spend time with someone I have no feelings for either."

She'd phrased it indirectly, but it clearly conveyed they felt the same. Seemingly satisfied, Bern's smile deepened.

"That's a relief. I was worried about how you saw me."

His lighthearted joke eased the slightly tense atmosphere back to normal.

It wasn't too hasty a question, but she'd been concerned nonetheless. Good thing she'd asked—it would make things more comfortable now.

"Did you receive one too, by any chance?"

"Receive what?"

"The invitation to Her Highness the Princess's engagement party."

"Ah, yes. It arrived a few days ago."

The grand engagement ceremony between the Princess and Young Lord Lydia of the Lydia Ducal House. No one in the empire could be unaware of this major event drawing everyone's attention.

"I hear they're keeping the ceremony simple and just holding an engagement party. If it's alright with you, would you go as my partner?"

Lucia stopped walking. Bern halted too, waiting for her answer.

Attending a major party where most nobles gathered—with a partner—was extremely rare unless they were close friends or lovers.

In other words, going with him would signal their engagement intentions to everyone else.

There was no need to hesitate; holding his hand was the natural choice. But suddenly, Herwin's face flashed in her mind, stopping her.

Lucia's eyes darkened, growing hollow—then light returned as she shook her head. Her clear blue eyes looked up at Bern.

"I'd be delighted, Marquis."

"No need to be so formal—call me Bern from now on, Lady."

"Then call me Lucia instead of Lady. Bern."

By calling each other by name, they took one step closer to engagement.

Lucia climbed into the carriage he'd prepared, thinking Bern was someone she could trust.

"How was your date today? It looked like Marquis Casper brought you all the way here."

Julian asked Lucia during dinner.

She seemed pleased that Lucia was getting along well with Bern.

Seeing Julian's unmistakably excited expression, Lucia replied flatly.

"It was fine. Bern's so kind—it's comfortable being around him."

"Oh my, already calling each other by name? You were saying 'Marquis' just yesterday!"

"...Yeah, things just turned out that way."

"Ahem, I've met him a few times myself, but he's a rare, upstanding man these days. Still, he might be hiding his true colors, so keep a close eye."

Lucia glanced at Yohan at the head of the table. Unlike Julian, he didn't seem thrilled about Bern.

Why the grumpy reaction when he'd suggested the arranged meeting himself and picked the candidate who was now hitting it off with his daughter?

As Lucia puzzled over it, Julian whispered.

"Your father's just a bit upset. Letting his daughter go is probably stirring up complicated feelings."

"What are you telling Lucia?"

"What do you mean, what did I say?"

Julian shamelessly avoided Yohan's gaze, and he shot her a glare for a moment.

"Also, I think I'll go to Her Highness the Princess's engagement party with Bern."

Lucia quietly revealed her promise to him. Julian's face lit up with joy, while Yohan's darkened in contrast.

"Did the marquis suggest it first?"

"Yes, so we agreed to go together."

Julian clapped excitedly.

"That's wonderful, dear. I'm so glad he likes you."

"Hmph, our Lucia is precious enough to cherish like the apple of one's eye. What's so 'wonderful' about it?"

"Why do you keep saying things like that? It's great if Marquis Casper thinks well of her. From what I hear, he treats her nicely—what's your problem?"

Yohan grumbled without a good comeback, insisting they should watch and see since you never knew with people.

Julian grumbled back that he was just regretting losing his daughter now that it was too late.

Leaving her parents to their childish bickering, Lucia quietly slipped out of the dining room.

Back in her room, Lucia spotted a letter on her desk.

Thinking it might be from friends, she approached lightheartedly—but paused upon seeing the familiar seal and sender.

"...Herwin."

It was a letter from Herwin. The moment she realized it, her heart began to race.

Her pulse quickened, her stomach churned, and her palms grew sweaty. Lucia pressed a hand to her chest.

Unlike before, when thinking of Herwin brought only joy, this time her heart felt unstable.

The long-forgotten sensation shaking her whole body hit harder than ever.

Still, Lucia steadied herself and opened the letter. Herwin's bold, straightforward handwriting appeared.

There was nothing special in it. Just a greeting asking how she was and word that he was doing well subjugating monsters in the north.

『My duties are done, so I'm heading back to the capital today.』

Lucia's hand twitched.

He must have left right after writing, so factoring in delivery time, he'd arrive in the capital soon.

『I hear Her Highness the Princess's engagement is in a few days. I'm planning to attend— you too, right?』

Lucia nodded faintly.

『Let's meet again at the engagement party. This time, I hope to see you smiling.』

The letter ended there. Her hand dropped limply, still clutching it.

"Smiling..."

Could she face him with a smile? Or, after what happened a month ago, could he face her smiling?

As her thoughts turned negative, something suddenly occurred to Lucia. She let out a self-deprecating laugh and brushed her face.

"What are you doing, Lucia? You were the one who said let's meet smiling again."

It was ridiculous to blame Herwin now after she'd said it first.

With her head cooling, she could think straight.

Come to think of it, it had been a while since Herwin wrote first. Usually, she sent letters one-sidedly, and he replied late.

He only wrote first for urgent matters—almost never otherwise.

"Is this his way of extending an olive branch?"

They hadn't fought, so it wasn't exactly reconciliation, but him writing suggested he was bothered by how they'd parted last time.

Even then, uncharacteristically, he'd tried to hold her back after she refused.

Just receiving his letter made the resolve she'd steeled waver perilously.

But wavering changed nothing about her current situation.

At the party where she'd reunite with Herwin, she'd appear as Bern's partner.

Not just Herwin—everyone would learn of her relationship with Bern.

That was reality.

Reality wasn't as beautiful as a fairy tale.

Lucia opened her eyes. Her blue gaze no longer wavered.