CCP Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“…Well, in any case, there are more than enough single men in the world.”

After hearing her out, Cassian gave a slow nod.

Then he pointed out the obvious.

“Then why come to me now instead of finding a husband who knows how to listen when the time comes?”

“My family, Your Highness.”

Wilhelmina answered without hesitation.

“As I mentioned, I have a few rather chaotic but lovable siblings. I also have several nieces and nephews. I don’t want to become someone who ruins their prospects.”

Indeed.

As she had said, the high society of Brighton was notorious for being conservative.

As for Wilhelmina herself, there would be no serious problem with her future life. Even if all of Winster talked about her, she could live with it.

It would certainly be annoying, but nothing more.

However, the reputation of a family with a woman notorious for promiscuity before marriage was bound to suffer greatly.

The House of Priestley was no exception.

If anything, given how old and prestigious their lineage was, they were more likely to attract even harsher ridicule.

“Very well.”

Cassian nodded.

“I understand why you need this ‘contract,’
Miss Priestley.”

His voice was languid, in a way that was almost pleasant to listen to.

“There is hardly anything better than a shocking marriage announcement for erasing a ruined reputation from people’s minds. Besides, who would dare gossip about a woman married to a member of the Brighton royal family—especially the man known as the Massacre of the Open Sea? Unless they have a death wish.”

Hmm.

Judging by his words, he seemed perfectly aware of the heroic rumors surrounding his reputation in high society.

“There will still be obstacles for you to overcome, of course, but I don’t think they’ll be much of a problem for you. You seem quite intelligent, Miss Priestley.”

Cassian twisted his lips into a smile.

Then he lightly tapped the tip of his index finger against the ebony desk.

Tap. Tap.

The sound was almost cheerful.

Yet Wilhelmina instinctively recognized it as a kind of prompting.

So this was the Duke of Clifford, Cassian Winchester, a man whose favorite pastime was supposedly hunting down pirates.

After actually speaking with him, Wilhelmina discovered that he had mastered the art of nonverbal communication.

He possessed an almost innate talent for provoking another person’s agitation and impatience with nothing more than a glance, the degree of a smile, or the slightest movement of a finger.

If he had been born a woman, he would surely have become the darling of high society.

No.

He might have gone even further and wrapped the entire Kingdom of Brighton around his little finger.

“But that’s how the world works, isn’t it?”
The man who, owing to the limitations of his birth, had failed to become the flower of high society and had instead become a massacre-maker upon the sea offered his advice with a radiant, beautiful smile.

“There is no such thing as a contract that benefits only one side, Miss Priestley.

Within your reasoning, the reason you need to restore your reputation and the method by which you intend to do so are both perfectly clear and specific.

Unfortunately, to me, this amounts to nothing more than charity work.”

Was it really necessary to say something like that so gently?

Almost as if he were patiently explaining something to a child?

Still, Wilhelmina supposed she could learn something about his character from that.
“And I’m a sailor far more accustomed to plunder than charity.”

What an irritating man.

But when it came to being irritating, Miss Wilhelmina was certainly no slouch either—not by the standards of all Winster society.

“I don’t believe I ever said I was finished explaining, Your Highness.”

She, too, was perfectly capable of telling someone Don’t interrupt me in the most elegant and elaborate way imaginable.

“…You’re still not finished?”

It was an obvious attempt to embarrass her.

Compared with all the various insults this man had thrown at her so far, however, it was almost laughably feeble.

Wilhelmina couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“No, I’m not.”

When her laughter subsided, Wilhelmina straightened her posture.

Then, for the first time, she looked directly into the man’s eyes and spoke.

“As you just said, Your Highness, this damnable contract has the entire honor of my beloved family riding on it. But if that were all there was to it, would I really have gone to the trouble of coming to see you at this ungodly hour?”

“Do I look like the sort of foolishly romantic person who would rely on the sympathy or generosity of others that I happened to receive by good fortune?”

“……”

“Yes, I’ll say this without hesitation: I would rather die than watch my scandal cause trouble for my family.”

For such a thoroughly selfish and personal reason, marriage to Cassian was absolutely necessary for her.

“And I think…”

Wilhelmina did not avert her eyes from the silver-gray gaze that seemed to be piercing through her, searching for the truth.

Instead, she willingly met it with her most dazzling smile.

“I think Your Highness is in desperate need of a marriage to me as well.”

Silence.

The only sounds filling the dim study were the faint crackling of candle flames consuming their wicks and the taut tension stretching between the two of them.

Cassian slowly unclasped his hands from atop the table and leaned deeply back into his chair.

The languid, arrogant smile that had lingered across his extraordinarily beautiful face was gone without a trace.

In its place was a cold, keen gaze—
Like that of a predator just before it closed its jaws around its prey.

“A marriage is desperately necessary for me…”

Unlike before, his voice had dropped low.
It seemed to crawl slowly across the surface of the ebony desk.

“Miss Priestley, after presenting yourself as such a noble and devoted advocate of singlehood, it appears you take quite an interest in other people’s marriages.”

“Am I really the only one?”

Wilhelmina casually shrugged.

“All of Brighton’s distinguished high society spends every night losing sleep and gossiping about Your Highness’s marital prospects.”

“But I imagine what matters to Your Highness is something far more urgent and tangible than the idle speculation of the infamous—”

She paused.

“—pardon me, the distinguished high society.”

Only a little over a month ago.

The young king had died.

His death had thrown all of Brighton into profound confusion.

As if fate itself had conspired against the kingdom, the queen had passed away only a few months before him.

It was nothing short of a national disaster.
As a result, the enormous kingdom now had only one person left sitting upon its throne:

A young queen who had not yet reached adulthood.

Cassian had been listening to all of this impassively with his arms crossed.

Then he casually interjected.

“She is fifteen. There are only three years left until she comes of age.”

“Whether it’s three years or one, a regent is still necessary.”

Wilhelmina continued calmly.

“And His Late Majesty designated his youngest brother as regent in his final will.”

That was the man sitting before her.

The Duke of Clifford.

The moment he received the news, he returned to Winster.

That had been on the second day after the king’s death, and by now both the state funeral and the official mourning period had come to an end.

And yet he was still not the regent.
Because Parliament had not approved it.

“Why do you suppose Parliament has continued delaying the passage of the Regency Act?”

“My second brother, I assume. I know, Miss Priestley. I know very well.”

“No.”

Wilhelmina cut him off without hesitation.
“You don’t know nearly enough, Your Highness.”

“His Highness Edward was still stirring up trouble all over West Winster as recently as today. Unfortunately, that is as far as your knowledge goes.”

“If you truly knew enough, you would have understood from the beginning why I came here.”

“What did the Duke of Priestley hear?”

It was nice when someone was quick to understand.

Thinking that, Wilhelmina smiled.

“About the justification you cannot avoid.”

“The justification I cannot avoid.”

“For example…”

She tilted her head slightly.

“‘A young unmarried man who cannot even establish a family of his own cannot possibly be entrusted with the actual governance of an entire kingdom.’”

“Hah.”

Cassian gave a derisive snort.

He could hardly be blamed.

The argument being used against him was excessively conservative, old-fashioned, and above all, unbearably tedious.

“And yet, it is perfectly suited to deceiving the old-fashioned fools of Brighton whose brains have apparently turned to stone.”

Of course, there was no nobleman insane enough to hold the standard of ‘incomplete’ against a war hero who had spent years crushing pirates’ skulls upon the open sea.

But if the person wielding that standard was Edward—the first in line to the throne—

That changed everything.