‘Well, this is awkward.’
Trying my best to act as though nothing was wrong and not let my agitation show, I lifted my teacup and swallowed hard.
‘Of all people, she had to beat up that man.’
There was a reason I found these Valentine siblings so uncomfortable.
‘Let’s start with the eldest daughter, Sylvia.’
Our relationship had gone sour back in the academy.
More precisely, it had started when I refused to join her faction.
As the daughter of a count, she had always been unable to stand not being at the center of high society. And to someone like her, I, the daughter of a Marquis, had been a thorn in her side.
So I suppose she thought she could somehow deal with me by bringing me into her circle instead…
Unfortunately, I had never been particularly interested in social activities, even back then.
‘So when I refused, the bullying started… Well, I suppose you could call it bullying, though it was mostly just ostracizing me.’
For someone like me, who preferred isolation and keeping to myself, it actually made it easier to focus on my studies.
So I ignored her.
Which only made the bullying continue even more.
The reason she suddenly changed her attitude was after I inherited the marquisate.
“Don’t you think you should start looking for a marriage partner, too, Marquis? All your peers already have fiancés or lovers.”
“I don’t really have any interest.”
“Oh, don’t be like that. That’s why I’m going to personally help you, Marquis.”
And what she suddenly thrust in front of me was none other than her younger brother—the potato sitting right over there.
Gerold Valentine.
He was four years younger than me and a young nobleman notorious for his bad reputation in high society.
And she had the nerve to present that brother of hers as a potential husband for me.
‘Her intentions are way too obvious.’
She was clearly after the marquisate and the wealth of House Zaherette that I possessed.
The Valentine Count’s family, Sylvia’s maiden family, was not particularly wealthy.
If her younger brother, who could not inherit the title, married me and somehow took over the marquisate, they would not only be able to receive financial support from House Zaherette but also gain a powerful ally in the form of a marquis house.
‘That’s why I turned them down.’
But these siblings knew nothing of the word give up.
I had even heard that Gerold himself, not just Sylvia, went around behind my back talking as though he were actually my lover.
On top of that, he kept sending me ridiculous love letters, and whenever we happened to run into each other, he persistently flirted with me.
I had been thinking that enough was enough.
‘Well, she really beat the crap out of him.’
Honestly, a small part of me thought he deserved it.
“I’m absolutely furious! Even if he isn’t exceptionally handsome, he has a face that isn’t exactly embarrassing to look at, and she made such a complete mess of it!”
Sylvia shouted so excitedly that she looked as though she might faint at any moment.
Beside her, I looked at the Young Master, who was still huffing angrily.
Maybe it was because I had recently had the privilege of meeting a truly angelic man?
‘That’s supposed to be handsome…?’
Even if I coated my mouth in honey before saying it, there was simply no way I could call that face handsome.
Of course, I knew I wasn’t exactly qualified to judge other people’s appearances, but still.
He was a head shorter than me, while he looked like he was three times as wide. His body was the sort that looked as though a strong gust of wind might send him rolling away.
And his face was positively overflowing with malice.
‘And that’s not all. He’s also notorious for having a terrible reputation with women, not to mention the rumors that he’s practically addicted to drinking and gambling behind closed doors. Does she really not know?’
There were countless reasons why I couldn’t accept this marriage proposal, but in truth, there was one reason above all.
The fact that he was Sylvia Valentine’s younger brother.
“Haaah. Erna, I’m just going to speak casually with you from now on.”
Sylvia, who had been huffing in anger, took a deep breath before continuing in what was supposedly a gentler voice.
“I know Gerold isn’t exactly your ideal type. But that doesn’t mean you can treat someone like this. And like I told you before, marriage isn’t something you can decide on your own. So I hope you won’t be so stubborn about it.”
I took a moment to compose myself before raising my head and answering calmly.
“First of all, I would like to apologize to Young Master Valentine. It seems there was a slight difference in how we understood the situation, but after seeing him again today, I admit that my response was excessive.”
Then I turned my gaze toward Sylvia.
“And I’ll speak casually with you as well, Sylvia. My marriage is my own decision to make. So I’d appreciate it if you didn’t interfere in this matter anymore.”
“‘Your own decision’? What do you think you can do on your own? Just because you inherited the title, what have you actually accomplished? All you do is run a single business.”
There was an increasingly irritated edge to Sylvia’s voice.
“Since we’re on the subject, I still remember what you said on the day of our academy graduation. You declared in front of everyone who was worried about your future that you had no intention of ever getting married, didn’t you?”
Sylvia gave a small sigh, placed one hand against her chest, and shook her head.
“The academy is a major marriage market, too. Do you know how much everyone talked about you behind your back back then? Of course, I understood why you made that decision. Your father, the former Marquis, died suddenly in battle, and there was no adult left to arrange a marriage for you. It wasn’t your fault.”
“……”
“But Erna. Things are different now from when you had just inherited the marquisate and weren’t prepared for anything. Your family has finally gotten back on its feet, and your business is doing fairly well, too, isn’t it? It’s about time you found a partner to spend the rest of your life with. Marriage is an important duty for nobles, after all—to continue the family line. As the top student you were at the academy, you should know that better than anyone, shouldn’t you?”
Sylvia suddenly grabbed my hand as though she were genuinely worried.
“You’re my precious friend. I’m really worried that you might grow old all alone, shut away in some corner of your room…”
“Thank you for worrying about me. But this really is my business. I’ll say it again. I’ll make my own choices.”
I quickly pulled my hand free.
I was sorry, but I was reaching my limit.
‘You think I don’t know you?’
Even after all these years, Sylvia had not changed much from her academy days.
She was the sort of person who always used others to force her will through, then pretended to be sad or concerned whenever the situation became unfavorable, using the act to slip away.
Having watched her up close and experienced it myself, there was no way I would fall for it again.
‘Besides, I’m a Marquis. My situation is different from that of ordinary young noblewomen.’
In my case, I had the right to decide for myself when it came to marriage.
“You’re going to miss your chance to marry if you keep living like this. Then you might end up having to marry an older man who already has children. Would you really like that? If that’s the case, you might as well marry Gerol—”
“Yes. Even so, I’m not marrying your brother. So please stop coming here on visits like this, and stop all these schemes behind my back.”
“What? What do you mean, ‘schemes’?”
“I have ears, too. I know you and your brother have been subtly spreading rumors about me behind my back.”
Sylvia flinched, as though I had hit the bull’s-eye.
Her expression practically said, How did this dense girl figure it out?
‘Sorry, but I have two eyes and two ears as well. Maybe even more than you do.’
There was a reason I had simply let the strange rumors circulating behind my back go unchecked.
‘Because it was annoying.’
I might not have been particularly beautiful, but with the background of a prestigious family and my considerable wealth, there was no shortage of people who wanted to court me.
It wasn’t that I had never received romantic confessions.
Marriage proposals had been pouring in since before I even graduated from the academy.
Of course, I had rejected every single one.
But rejecting marriage proposals was quite a tedious process in itself.
In the midst of all that, the schemes of the Valentine siblings, who were after House Zaherette, had actually been somewhat useful.
It was simply that they had gradually taken things too far.
I straightened my posture and spoke firmly.
“Even if I remain unmarried until I become a bent old woman, as you put it, I will never marry Young Master Valentine.”
“Ugh…”
At my unequivocal rejection, Sylvia bit her red lips.
She looked as though she had never imagined I would reject her brother so coldly.
‘What? Did she think that if all the other marriage proposals dried up, I’d have no choice but to marry him?’
She trembled with anger so intensely that anyone watching might have thought she was the one who had been rejected.
The confidence in her eyes, which had been so imposing moments ago, had already turned cold.
“I was trying to help you. You’re the one who rejected my goodwill. Just you wait. I guarantee you’ll regret what happened today.”
“Yes. I’ll somehow take responsibility for that, Countess Oscar.”
“I’m not saying this lightly. You would do well to remember this, Your Excellency. I’ll make sure you feel it in your bones what exactly you’ve meddled with.”
I told you, I wasn’t the one who started anything.
I was just sitting here, and you people suddenly came charging in demanding that I marry him.
‘All I did was reject you.’
But Sylvia looked like she had absolutely no intention of listening to my side of things and had already finished preparing to leave.
I was hoping she would disappear as quickly as possible when—
“Come to think of it, Your Excellency. You aren’t wearing your ring today, are you? The ring you always wear.”
“Huh?”
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