“Well, I’ll consider it. In any case, Lady Ingrave is also my benefactor. ……I intend to repay this debt to her somehow.”
The Marquis and Marchioness, failing to notice the other meaning hidden in his words, brightened.
“Haha, I knew you would, Young Master.”
“We’ll look forward to a positive answer, Your Grace.”
The Marchioness bowed her head toward the Duke. The Duke of Valencia, who had been watching the conversation between Nathan and the Marquis and Marchioness with an intrigued expression, nodded.
“Yes, I’ll be stepping down soon anyway. Isn’t my son’s wishes the most important thing?”
“Yes. Once again, congratulations on completing the first sealing ceremony and on your succession, Young Master. If you invite us to the succession ceremony, I’ll certainly attend.”
The Marquis and Marchioness of Ingrave left with triumphant expressions. After seeing them off from the drawing room, the Duke, still resting his chin on his hand, looked at his son with interest.
“What are you planning to do? You said you had no intention of marrying Lady Rachel.”
“I only said I would consider it. There will be no marriage, so don’t worry.”
It was an engagement that could never come to fruition in the first place. Surely the woman who had been so eager to distance herself from Valencia would do everything she could to smooth things over.
Besides, if she realized that things were unfolding differently from what she had expected.
This time, he might finally be able to discover what she was truly hiding.
“Vale.”
At his call, the man who had withdrawn together with Nathan’s personal servant quietly approached.
“Yes, Young Master.”
He was Vale, formerly the deputy commander of the Red Falcon Mercenary Corps, and now a knight of the Valencia family as well as Nathan’s adjutant.
Still wearing a peculiar expression at the title that he could not seem to get used to no matter how many times he heard it, Nathan immediately gave him an order.
“Put someone on Rachel Ingrave. Have them keep watch and report immediately if anything unusual happens.”
“Understood. Sir Lou, Sir Pola, and Sir Max are still receiving their knightly training and currently have no assigned duties. Shall I have them take turns following her?”
All three were former officers of the Red Falcon Mercenary Corps and were skilled in espionage, tailing, and infiltration. Nathan nodded.
“Yes.”
“Understood.”
Nathan bowed his head toward the Duke.
“I’ll be going now.”
“All right. Good work.”
Nathan suddenly remembered the lesson he had forgotten, and his expression crumpled.
A short while later, the Duke, left alone in the drawing room, silently rubbed his lips.
It was his son whom he had met after nineteen years, and he had only spent a month or two with him.
“……That brat shouldn’t make the same mistakes I did. Though I suppose it’s already too late. Don’t you think so?”
“…….”
The leader of the Black Shadow, Valencia’s shadow who had appeared without anyone noticing, silently bowed his head. It was ten days before the succession ceremony.
Meanwhile, Rachel had roughly finished sorting through the candidates for marriage over the course of several days.
Those selected were two sons of viscounts and one son of a baron.
Their titles were low, but they had considerable wealth, and neither their families nor the young men themselves had bad reputations.
Of course, she would have to meet them in person to know for sure.
Still, it seemed like a decent choice if she wanted to live a moderately comfortable and peaceful life.
‘The problem is my parents.’
“…….”
If things did not work out, Rachel intended to simply run away from the family.
She would become estranged from the Ingrave family, but with her qualifications, she would be an extremely welcome bride in a viscount or baron’s family.
No matter what anyone said, Rachel Ingrave was one of the most beautiful women in Olsher.
And although it was only in name, outwardly she was the benefactor of Valencia and, in any case, the daughter of a marquis with personal wealth of her own.
“My lady.”
When she raised her head, Becky was approaching with a slightly stiff expression.
“What is it?”
“The Marquis and Marchioness are asking for you.”
Rachel handed over the completed list and documents as she asked.
“Do you know why they’re calling me?”
“I didn’t hear the details, but I was told that both of them just returned from the Valencia estate.”
“…….”
Feeling that what she had been expecting had finally arrived, Rachel quietly lowered her gaze. After he had successfully completed the first sealing ceremony and proven his bloodline and extraordinary ability, what naturally followed was the issue of an heir.
Her parents already had a precedent. They had dressed Rachel up beautifully and presented her before him, even subtly sounding out his intentions regarding marriage.
‘……Will it be all right?’
The last time she had seen him, he had seemed very angry.
She was worried that he might have reached the limit of his patience because of this.
“What should we do, my lady?”
“……I have to go. Let’s go.”
Rachel steeled herself as she followed Marie, her mother’s personal maid, who had been waiting outside.
Perhaps he had mocked the Marquis and Marchioness of Ingrave, or perhaps he had questioned them about her suspiciousness.
She needed to make some preparations. Her parents had said they knew nothing about her investigation, but she had no way of knowing how much he had believed them.
Knock, knock—
“My lady. The young lady has arrived.”
“Let her in.”
She entered through the door that opened immediately. Besides her parents, her younger brother, Ilya, was also present in the family sitting room.
“You called for me?”
“Yes, sit down.”
Without sparing her younger brother a glance, Rachel went to the place indicated by the Marquis and sat down. The Marquis sat opposite her, with her mother and Ilya seated on either side.
The Marquis spoke.
“I called you here today because of the engagement.”
As expected.
“Who is it?”
“Nathan Valencia. Of course, it isn’t confirmed yet. They said they would consider it.”
“……Consider it?”
For an instant, Rachel’s head shot up at the unbelievable words. The Marquis burst into laughter.
“What are you so surprised about? It’s only natural after you distinguish yourself. Of course, it is a little disappointing that we didn’t receive an immediate answer that they would proceed with it…….”
“…….”
Rachel discreetly clasped her trembling hands together. She had never expected him to say that he would consider marrying her.
But she did not believe that he was truly considering marriage with her.
As he had said, Rachel Ingrave was undoubtedly suspicious.
‘……Maybe he only said that to test me.’
Thinking that, she felt as though the breath that had been caught in her throat finally came free. The Marquis declared,
“That’s why you’ve become important, Rachel. Do your best to make Young Master Valencia think well of you. Dress yourself beautifully and show him your abilities. Make him think that he wouldn’t mind taking you as his duchess.”
“…….”
Rachel stared silently at her parents. The Marquis seemed to believe that she would obey without the slightest suspicion.
Her mother was nodding as well.
The only one showing an unexpected reaction was perhaps her younger brother, who looked somewhat flustered.
“…….”
Lowering her gaze, she spoke.
“Wouldn’t it be better for me to marry someone else?”
“What?”
“Think about it. We’ve already done enough for Valencia, so rather than becoming the Duchess, I was thinking that perhaps we could expand our influence further by forming a marriage alliance with another family.”
“……!”
Of course, Rachel had absolutely no intention of marrying the man who had appeared at the battle that day.
But she also had no excuse she could offer if Nathan Valencia came looking for her.
So, for now, she intended to buy some time and find another way. While her bewildered father was deep in thought, her mother shook her head.
“I understand what you mean, but no matter how much of a favor we’ve done for them, is there anything better than actually forming a marriage alliance? We should take this opportunity to drive the point home.”
“But there are also the opinions of those around us. Even though he was technically fake, I once stabbed my former fiancé in the back—”
“Rachel.”
Ignoring her mother’s warning, Rachel continued.
“And if the real Young Master returns and we immediately form an engagement, people will certainly talk. There’s no need to enter into a marriage that could unnecessarily become a blemish, is there?”
From the very beginning, the social circles and court were places where even flaws that were hardly flaws could become serious defects. Finally stroking his chin as he listened to the two women argue, the Marquis reached a conclusion.
“Rachel’s opinion is quite good as well. When did you grow up so much?”
“…….”
“But your mother is more correct. Our Ingrave family clearly became a benefactor of Valencia, yet the Young Master’s attitude today was unpleasant. He may be uncomfortable with the fact that, despite our favor being a favor, he is now indebted to us.”
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