Chapter 37

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: Chapter 37

-----------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter 37

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Actually, Duke Leroy arrived at the terrace sooner than Iona had anticipated.

Even while dancing with Erich's sister, his eyes had been following Iona, so there was no need to search for her anew.

As soon as the music ended, Leroy, who had trailed after Iona, quietly stood guard at the entrance.

He could barge in suddenly and interrupt them, but he was more curious about what that insolent subordinate knight would prattle on about.

Just then, a topic that piqued Leroy's interest drifted out from inside.

"Be honest for once. What exactly do you want to gain by even abandoning the job you devoted your life to?"

'Just the question I was curious about.'

Leroy thought leisurely as he brought his champagne glass to his lips.

"A happy married life."

And he nearly choked.

"Romance."

Before Leroy could doubt his own ears, Iona drove the nail in further.

He couldn't even properly hear what followed.

He was too busy digesting Iona's previous statement to pay attention to anything else.

Because of that, even when Erich burst out onto the terrace, Leroy was still struggling to compose his flushed face from suppressing his cough.

Erich spotted him, hesitated, and then said in a suspicious tone,

"You two don't mean to say that this isn't a forced marriage, but that you actually..."

Erich couldn't finish his sentence and just gritted his teeth. Then he brushed past Leroy and stormed out of the ballroom.

It seemed like he'd unintentionally caused a misunderstanding, but there was no time to explain.

No, upon second thought, he didn't seem like someone who needed an explanation anyway.

He was a frivolous man who tried to hit on a woman about to get married. If he could shake him off with even such a misunderstanding, wasn't that a good thing?

'Maybe it won't even be a misunderstanding.'

Thinking that, Leroy slowly took in Iona's flushed ears, her troubled expression, the hand clutching the hem of her skirt, and the like.

Having apparently replayed her conversation with Erich in her mind, she stiffly replied,

"I don't know how much you heard, but it was just something I said offhand to get rid of him quickly. Really. There were no ulterior motives."

It was a convincing explanation.

However, Leroy's following question easily dismantled the logic she'd used as a shield.

"Then let me ask one thing. If I cheated even after marriage, would that be okay with you? Since a happy married life isn't your goal anyway?"

There was no more cowardly attack for Iona than this.

Iona had anticipated that he might have other women in her past life and accepted it as natural, but that didn't mean she wanted him to live that way in this life.

A hint of undisguised agitation appeared on her usually impassive face.

Before she could even sort out the thoughts swirling in her head, she impulsively retorted,

"That's different. How lightly do you take the fidelity between spouses? No matter if it's a marriage not born of love, you still have to uphold at least the basic duties to your partner. Surely Your Grace wouldn't..."

Iona blurted it out like a rapid-fire cannon, then abruptly stopped. Suddenly, laughter poured down from above her head.

At his inexplicable reaction, Iona froze in bewilderment.

Toward her, Leroy spoke in a tone more relaxed than before.

"I thought I had no idea what was going through your head, but now I think I'm starting to understand."

Leroy slowly reviewed the various sides of her that he had discovered.

The count family that had taken her in for her abilities but treated her like a tool rather than family.

The crown prince who claimed to cherish her yet inevitably tried to drag her into his sordid affair.

And the inexplicable favor she had shown him the moment marriage talks arose.

When he pieced together these elusive clues, the conclusion pointed unmistakably in one direction.

Leroy thought, withdrawing the smile from his lips.

'She wanted to build an ideal family, even if it had to be through marriage.'

Since she couldn't marry the person she loved, had she decided to simply make herself like the person she would marry?

It was a foolish, stubborn idea. And yet, utterly like her.

If that was the case, she probably would have done her utmost for whoever became her husband. Even if it hadn't been Leroy himself.

There was nothing more foolish than arbitrarily assigning meaning to such a position.

But the man she was marrying now was none other than him.

Amid countless possibilities where they might not have been each other, they had coincidentally ended up at the same crossroads.

How unbelievable a coincidence this was, and how strongly the temptation pulled to surrender to the cheap illusion of fate.

Leroy closed his eyes, shutting out the reason trying to correct him.

"You're right. The fidelity between spouses is never to be taken lightly."

Leroy spread his right hand and looked at his empty palm, then folded all fingers except the thumb and pinky.

He extended that hand to Iona, who looked at him with puzzled eyes.

Knowing it was something even a child might do, Leroy didn't stop this childish gesture.

He said,

"Shall we make a promise? If you and I truly marry, we'll be faithful only to each other."

She seemed to think he was making this proposal because of her unusual reaction, as she hesitated to agree readily.

She trailed off uncertainly.

"I didn't say that to burden you..."

"It's a promise that applies to both of us, so why would it burden only me?"

With that, Leroy slowly listed out each point that might be an issue, in a deliberate voice.

"No cheating. Even if an old lover tempts you, you must never give in, and there'll be no sudden changes of heart leading to breakups."

"..."

"It's about both of us working together so this marriage doesn't lead to unhappiness."

Leroy hooked his pinky onto the tip of hers, as if urging her on.

He felt her flinch at the sudden contact. She hesitated for a moment but finally mustered the courage to link her pinky with his.

The tips of their thumbs touched cautiously. It was a flimsy vow. Yet to the two of them, it felt utterly sincere.

Even after the brief promise ended, Leroy didn't let go of her hand.

They stood side by side, their linked hands dangling down, gazing at the same spot for a while.

In the meantime, the musicians' break must have ended, as a delicate melody began to resonate from beyond the curtains.

Leroy suddenly said,

"It seems about time we head back to the ballroom together."

There was nothing better than dancing to show off the image of a harmonious couple. Considering the original purpose of attending this ball, they needed to step out around now.

Iona agreed with him but had one concern.

She said, hiding her embarrassment,

"There's something I should tell you in advance. I'm not good at dancing."

"Have you never learned properly?"

"I know the basics, but I'm not used to it. I might step on your feet."

"Perfect. Truth be told, I'm not fond of dancing either. I'm all thumbs when it comes to it."

Leroy replied nonchalantly. Iona knew it was a lie.

But Iona didn't press him on the truth. Likewise, Leroy didn't urge her to go out again.

They stood there shoulder to shoulder for a long while, until the lengthy piece finally ended—as if terribly worried about displaying their embarrassing dance skills to the world.

"I called you, so why did you only come now?"

The woman in the black veil spoke irritably.

The man before her was the crown prince of the Lehman Empire—someone no one should dare address so insolently—yet no one around found the situation odd.

And for good reason: she was the crown prince's birth mother and the empress of this land.

"I had so much to handle that I lost track of time."

"Your excuses lack sincerity. I know you always fall back on work whenever you're in a bind."

Her scolding tone was laced with affection for her son.

Richardt unconsciously glanced up to gauge her expression, but the thick veil revealed nothing.

Richardt often wondered what true expression lay hidden behind that veil.

'It's been fourteen years already... no, about fifteen.'

Yes, it had been right around then.

After suffering burns in a massive fire at the palace, she never showed her face to others again.

Not to her children, her husband, or even the maids attending her.

Not content with merely veiling her disfigured face, she had confined herself entirely within the palace.

Avoiding meetings with the secluded empress was easy. He just had to steer clear of her palace.

As the empress intended, Richardt would refuse her summons with the excuse of being busy whenever he sensed trouble.

Of course, he had no intention of admitting this to her outright.

"I'm hurt that you'd misunderstand. As you can see, didn't I come to see you the moment my schedule cleared?"

"Clever boy."

The empress shot back sharply, then lowered her gaze to her tea and said,

"I've decided to marry off that child."

She was referring to Iona.