Chapter 9
Decarno’s words were as smooth as ever, and just as close to the truth.
In fact, if one looked only at what Evangeline had shown over the past two years in both her family and high society, the matter was already settled.
And on top of that, she was the only woman acknowledged by the previous Duchess herself—the princess of the strict and noble northern Duchy of Nyx.
Even so, because this was such an important matter, it was true that leaving it as it was felt somewhat uneasy.
“Still, this is a marriage that will happen only once. We should take a little more time…”
“She is a woman who has never disappointed us once, except for this incident.”
“Your Grace.”
“I hate troublesome matters. Let’s end this here.”
When the Duke frowned and pressed at his forehead, even Count Lian had no choice but to close his mouth.
Through the long fingers resting against his temple, Decarno’s sharp gaze swept over them one by one.
“If you wish to say something like that to me again, then you will have to give up not only the jewels you are wearing now, but also every piece of land and every business right bearing the name of Teze.”
“…Hng.”
“Then I will take that as your agreement.”
It was a very elegant way of telling them that if they understood, they should leave now.
Everyone here, in one way or another, was living off the ducal house.
If he wanted to, the head of the house could ruin their fortunes in an instant.
They were quick at calculating such things, so everyone turned and disappeared without a sound.
Only Count Lian kept casting displeased glances until the very end, but even he could do nothing.
Only after the hesitant footsteps faded and the door closed did the Duke lean his head back against the chair.
“Hah.”
Love, of all things.
It was almost laughable.
When one stood in a position like his, one heard all kinds of nonsense.
But he had never expected to hear something as absurd as that.
No, absurd was the only word for it.
He could not think of any other way to describe it.
Evangeline O’Hara was… simply convenient.
Even if something like this happened, it would not damage her value as a future Duchess.
If he was going to marry anyway given his age and position, then there was no better match than Evangeline.
He did not even particularly need his mother’s approval.
Evangeline was elegant, rational, and skilled at concealing her emotions.
She was excellent at handling people, and at times even controlling them with ease.
She was also well read, and never out of place in any conversation.
That was all.
“…Yes.”
With his head still tilted back, Decarno slowly opened his eyes.
Of course, he could not say he liked everything about her.
The scratch now on her cheek was irritating, but it would soon heal until there was no trace of it left.
So there could not be anything more than that.
There had to be nothing more than that.
That was what this arrangement had always been for.
It was an uncertain conclusion, but the Duke was not a man who revisited decisions once made.
He also no longer wanted his thoughts to become any more complicated.
Without hesitation, Decarno signed the sales contract he had been reviewing just moments before.
The Lodhka Plains and vineyards in the south.
Even if they were the most fertile lands in the Bellice Empire, he felt no attachment to them.
It was an acceptable price to return Evangeline to the perfect position of future Duchess.
Chapter 9 (#2)
“It is an honor to meet you, Your Grace, Duke Tese. I am—”
“I know who you are, Lady Ohara.”
Looking back now, her first meeting with him had been perfectly ordinary.
Or rather, both families had gone to great lengths to make it look ordinary.
Her father had donated an enormous sum to a hunting society no one had ever heard of before and became an honorary member. She had attended with him.
A membership that allowed a guest cost twice as much as an individual one, but to her father it was pocket change.
The late Duchess had done her part as well, though she had been less enthusiastic than Count Ohara.
She had practically forced her son—who had already been made an honorary member of countless organizations—to attend the hunting club’s banquet.
She had used excuses like the Duke’s forests having too many wild animals.
But what she truly wanted her son to catch was certainly not a few animals.
That was how she met him.
On the second-floor balcony overlooking the river, Decarno had spoken her name.
Perhaps that had been both the beginning and the whole story.
They became acquainted.
Their conversations gradually became more frequent.
And before she knew it, she had become part of House Tese.
Throughout all that time, Decarno had never once disappointed her.
No matter the situation, he always remained composed and impeccably mannered.
He had never once been rude.
He never made careless remarks, nor did he cast the obvious admiring glances that so many men directed at her.
Sometimes he smiled faintly.
But she had never sensed any emotion behind those smiles.
Perhaps that was why she occasionally wondered why he had chosen to marry her.
Today, she finally learned the answer.
“Because it’s convenient.”
“…So that really was the reason.”
The words she had overheard outside his study kept echoing endlessly in Evangeline’s mind.
It was a marriage built on money and power.
In a way, that answer should have been obvious.
So why did she feel so painfully empty?
She had walked away after hearing only that much, so she did not know what he had said afterward.
No…
In truth, she could guess.
To him, she was simply a convenient future Duchess.
Even if House Ohara had lost its wealth and influence, he had probably concluded that her value as a Duchess still outweighed everything else.
He was a man who calculated everything so thoroughly that she could almost picture the reasoning he had gone through.
“Haa…”
She abruptly stood and opened the drawers of her dressing table, taking out every piece of jewelry she owned.
Still unsatisfied, she reached deeper into the drawer.
Only when her fingers touched the hard wooden bottom did she suddenly regain her senses.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
The fact that I still have some value left… should I be happy about that?
She slowly sat down before the dressing table and looked into the mirror.
Her pale face resembled one of the porcelain dolls her father had bought for her when she was a child.
If not for the red scratch across her cheek, she would hardly have looked alive at all.
…
Absentmindedly, Evangeline traced the wound with her fingertips.
It no longer hurt.
It seemed to have healed.
Instead, another place ached.
Her hand slid from her cheek to her chest.
The place that had once been filled with her foolish hopes now felt unbearably empty.
Why did I ever think… that man might see me as someone special?
Embarrassed by the thought, she lowered her eyes.
Perhaps…
Just perhaps…
She had wondered if there was another reason he refused to cast her aside.
After all, this was Decarno Tese.
Unless there was some extraordinary reason, the meticulous man she had known for the past two years would never knowingly accept such a disadvantage.
Thinking that had made her heart race all on its own.
“…How pathetic.”
A bitter smile crossed her lips.
Even at a time like this, she had allowed herself to hope for something so foolish.
She really had become weak.
The truth was, she herself had never been in a position to expect those kinds of feelings from him.
Because she had always seen Decarno as nothing more than the perfect Duke.
Even without her father’s insistence, she had acknowledged that there was no better husband in the Empire.
From the moment they first met, he had been refined and impeccable.
Compared to the reckless, boastful young noblemen she had encountered, Decarno stood completely apart.
She had liked that about him.
Even if she could never expect love, that was no different from most noble marriages.
Someone like Decarno, who understood dignity and honored promises, would at least fulfill his duties as a husband.
If only he devoted even one-tenth of the effort and time he spent being the perfect Duke to being her husband, she would have wanted nothing more.
That was why she had also done everything she could as the future Duchess.
And before she knew it, only three months remained until the wedding.
Though she could no longer say with confidence that the day would ever come.
…
The pink eyes reflected in the mirror blinked slowly.
She refused to look away, as if trying to engrave this reality into her memory.
There were no jewels left to adorn her.
No tiara remained to make her shine.
She did not know how much lower she would still fall.
But for now, this was where she stood.
She herself had become the Duke’s delicate line between profit and loss.
◇ ◆ ◇
After returning from the Duke of Tese’s estate, Count Lian took to his bed for three days.
Not because he was truly ill.
The anger festering inside him simply refused to subside.
That brat has gotten far too arrogant because everyone keeps indulging him.
The more he thought about it, the more his teeth ground together.
No matter that Decarno was the Duke—he was still young enough to be Count Lian’s nephew.
The way the young Duke had frowned at him before all their relatives, as though issuing him a warning, had been unbearably arrogant.
If it were up to him, he would forget the whole affair and never see the young man again.
But that was impossible.
Does he really think House Tese belongs to him alone?
