Chapter 3

Now unable to turn away a guest who had already come inside, Astan let out a sigh and gestured to a seat.

“Sit down.”

As though she had been waiting for that, Gloria took a seat on the sofa. Astan sat opposite her and silently observed the woman. She wore an expression that seemed determined in its own way, but her clear face was full of drowsiness.

A while ago, she looked as though it wouldn’t be strange for her to collapse at any moment.

Deciding it would be better to send her away before she collapsed here, Astan spoke in a cool tone.

“We can talk when it’s light out, so why did you come?”

“I wouldn’t feel at ease accepting your hospitality before even telling you why I’m here.”

At that rather bold answer, Astan gave a short laugh and asked,

“So, what is the reason?”

“I will accept your proposal, Your Grace.”

“……Proposal?”

At the strange word that came out of the woman’s mouth, Astan’s brow twitched.

“Did you just say proposal?”

“Yes. You heard correctly.”

“I proposed to you?”

“Yes. You, Duke Astan von Schultzmeyer, proposed to me, Gloria McCain.”

Gloria answered with a face devoid of humor.

Am I dreaming, or is this woman talking nonsense?

At the absurd situation, Astan let out a hollow laugh.

“I’ve heard all kinds of strange things in my life, but this is a first.”

“It’s not strange. I even have proof.”

“Proof?”

“If you don’t believe me, please check for yourself.”

Saying it was not a joke, the woman held out a crumpled piece of paper. Astan took the old, worn paper, which looked as though it had been picked out of a rubbish bin, and asked,

“What is this?”

“A marriage proposal letter you sent to me, Your Grace.”

“A proposal letter?”

A proposal letter I sent? There’s no way such a thing could exist.

Unable to make any sense of this at all, Astan became increasingly confused.

As he stared closely at the blurred writing that could not even be read at a glance, Gloria kindly added,

“You see the name on the very last line, right? And the seal stamped beside it too.”

With suspicious eyes, Astan lowered his gaze to the very bottom line of the letter.

[Astan von Schultzmeyer]

Just as the woman had said, the familiar name was written there in neat, clear handwriting. The seal stamped beside it was also undeniably his own.

Then why don’t I remember this?

Puzzling over the source of the proposal letter, Astan finally spoke after a long moment.

“There seems to have been some misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding? After making me come all the way here, are you going to brush it aside with words like that?”

Gloria asked back with eyes full of disappointment. Left with nothing to say, Astan looked over the proposal letter again with an awkward expression. The letter was dated as having been sent from Schultzmeyer ducal castle seven years ago.

‘Unless someone used my name to play a prank……’

There was only one person who could have sent something like this.

Rising to his feet, Astan flung open the study door.

“Eek!”

Logan, who had been pressing his ear to the study door and eavesdropping on the conversation, jumped in surprise and fell onto his backside. Swallowing the irritation that had risen to his throat, Astan said,

“Logan, go and bring Colin here at once.”

“Huh? Ah, yes.”

Realizing instinctively that he would be struck down if he dawdled, Logan immediately dashed down the corridor. Grit. Grinding his teeth, Astan turned his head. As though telling him to check as much as he pleased, the woman was calmly looking around the study.

“Did you catch this deer with only the head mounted here yourself?”

“I did. Don’t pull on the antlers.”

“I’m sorry, I was curious. Is this old bearskin rug your taste too?”

“It was my father’s keepsake.”

“Ah, I see.”

While he struggled to keep his patience at the sight of the woman curiously examining this and that around the study, Colin came hurrying in with a disheveled appearance.

“You called for me, Your Grace.”

“Colin, is this your doing?”

Astan thr*st the proposal letter in front of the half-asleep butler’s face. Confronted with the grimy little paper, Colin looked at it in bewilderment.

Rubbing his dim eyes, Colin read through the letter, and then his gaze slowly turned toward Astan. The instant their eyes met, he quickly averted his gaze. He was clearly the culprit.

So it was Colin after all.

Under Astan’s piercing glare, Colin cleared his throat with an awkward face.

“Ahem, as the butler of the Schultzmeyer Ducal House, I simply could not bear to watch you, Your Grace, grow old as a bachelor……”

“So you sent proposal letters without a thought to a family whose name I don’t even know?”

“It is not a family whose name you don’t know. I selected them after carefully narrowing things down according to strict standards, choosing only families worthy of the ducal house’s stature……”

“Colin!”

Astan, who had shouted sharply, suddenly paused and cut himself off.

Wait a moment, didn’t he just say ‘families’?

“How many places did you send them to?”

“Roughly thirty……”

Astan sank heavily onto the sofa.

“This is enough to drive me mad.”

“Please rest assured, Your Grace. Not a single reply ever came.”

As if that made it any better. Suppressing the anger surging up inside him, Astan gave a short jerk of his head.

“Leave.”

“Have a restful night.”

Colin made a quick escape. With a face that had suddenly grown exhausted, Astan looked at Gloria.

“You heard that?”

“Yes. The butler of the Schultzmeyer Ducal House sent a proposal letter to my family.”

“That’s right. To thirty houses at once, including your family.”

“And I was the first to reply.”

Gloria smiled brightly. There was an ease about her, like someone who had won a wager. Though it irked him, Astan had not the slightest intention of being dragged along at her pace, so he tried to counterattack.

“Miss, how old are you this year?”

“I’ll be twenty soon.”

“Then that means you were thirteen when you received the proposal letter.”

“That’s how political marriages are, aren’t they? And I was also more mature than others my age.”

“Ha.”

He had thought from first impressions that she would not be easy, but the woman was far cleverer than he had expected. Realizing he could not win against her in words, he decided to push with rank and age instead.

“Did you receive your parents’ permission?”

“In the Empire, any adult over the age of twenty has the right to make their own decisions.”

“You just said you’re not there yet.”

“Would it be all right if I answer again in ten days?”

“So you mean to stay here for ten days.”

“If you, Your Grace, do not turn me out into this bitter winter.”

“……”

It was certain. This woman had come here specifically to turn his insides upside down.

Should I just throw her out?

Astan glanced out the window at the heavy snow falling in thick flakes and was briefly tempted. With his head beginning to throb, he picked up the bottle and poured the liquor straight down his throat, then set the empty bottle down and asked irritably,

“So, you want to marry me?”

“To be precise, would you say that you wish to marry, Your Grace, and I have accepted your proposal?”

“I fail to see the difference.”

“It’s a lady’s pride, I suppose.”

Gloria raised her chin as high as she could, pretending to be dignified. Mocking the awkward gesture, Astan gave a shrug.

“Why should I believe what you say?”

“What?”

For the first time, her shameless face showed signs of confusion. Watching her blink her large eyes and hesitate, Astan asked again in a teasing voice,

“I mean, how am I supposed to know whether you are trulythe Earl McCain’s daughter, or a fraud pretending to be Earl McCain’s daughter?”

“……”

Gloria’s lips parted, then closed, then parted again. Judging by how they trembled, it seemed she could not think of what to say. Or perhaps there was too much to say and she could not sort it out.

Tilting his head crookedly, Astan waited for the woman to open her mouth. Thinking that the expressions changing moment by moment across her face made for rather entertaining viewing.

After a long while, the woman finally spoke.

“Ah, I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. This is the first time anyone has asked me to prove my identity.”

“Not at all. So, your answer?”

“This.”

Gloria replied, pointing a finger at the proposal letter lying on the table.

“Wouldn’t the fact that I came here carrying a proposal letter sent directly by the butler of the Schultzmeyer Duchy be answer enough?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t think it’s enough at all.”

“In what way?”

“This proposal letter may well be genuine. But there’s no way to know how you came by it, is there? You could have stolen it from the McCain family, picked it up after it was thrown away, or perhaps someone sent you to approach me.”

Astan fixed the woman with a sharp gaze.