Chapter 1 Part 2 – Marriage Life 

TL Note: If the characters that you have read in this story in the last 2 updates (Prologue and Chapter 1 Part 1) before this are Johannes and Eloise, please start reading them again in the mentioned chapters, for I have mixed up the raws of this novel, hence I translated the wrong novel. But if it has been Eli and Ruby, please disregard this note.

TL Note: I am very sorry and hopping for your kind understanding 🫶

***

“Eli!”

Kane rushed into Eli’s office with a newspaper in his hand.

“Is this for real?”

Eli briefly glanced at Kane before focusing back on the letter in front of him. Kane nonchalantly placed the newspaper on Eli’s desk as if he were throwing it.

“It came out well,” Eli responded after reading the headline.

“Did you plant it?” Kane asked.

“If you’re going to do it, you might as well make it grand,” Eli replied, unfazed by his friend’s reaction.

“Did you really fall in love at first sight?”

“It’s an effective excuse, you know.”

Eli responded, his words slightly soured by Kane’s choice of words.

“Effective? Are you seriously telling me you found any woman who wouldn’t be a bother?”

“She was the one who made the proposal,” Eli clarified.

“Anyway! You accepted it?”

“She asked me to.”

“Really, what if you end up marrying just any woman? I thought you’d have some standards!”

“It doesn’t matter to me.”

 Eli appeared truly untroubled by it, leaving Kane with nothing more to say.

“What about the Dowager Marchioness?”

“As you can see.” Eli shook the letter from the Dowager Marchioness in his hand. Kane had been observing it since he came in.

The letter that had just arrived contained the Dowager Marchioness’s anxious feelings. 

“What for?”

“She wants to talk to me.”

“Why?”

“Probably to clarify things.”

“Marquis, it’s time for you to go.”

Eli’s secretary, Leton, informed them.

“Where are you going?

“To the battlefield.”

With those words, Eli left the office.

***

“My Lady, you’re already here “

Eli, who had been in front of the Marquis Grit’s carriage, noticed Ruby approaching and greeted her.

“… Yes.”

Ruby replied shyly, unable to take her eyes off the scene she had always dreamt of.

“Ruby.”

Lynn quietly called her name.

“Oh, this is my friend, Lynn.”

Only then did Ruby regain her composure and introduced Lynn to Eli.

“We’ve been close friends since childhood. She is the daughter of Viscount Remus.”

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Eli Grit.”

Lynn greeted politely, trying to contain her excitement. However, the twitching corners of her mouth couldn’t be hidden.

“Shall we go then?”

“Oh, yes.”

Ruby took Eli’s hand and boarded the carriage. Eli, who had also given a courteous bow to Lynn, boarded the carriage shortly after, and it departed.
The farewell greeting, which they thought would continue, ended rather blandly, leaving Lyn with a disappointed expression, hoping there would be more opportunities in the future.

“So you’re staying here in the capital?” Eli asked Ruby

“Oh, yes. Our family doesn’t have a separate mansion in the capital.”

“That’s unusual.”

It was common for families aiming for social and political advancement to have a separate mansion in the capital. Rainier House used to have one as well. However, it had been abandoned for decades before being sold.

Eli had already known all these details, even though he pretended to ask casually. After all, he had thought of Ruby as a potential marriage partner, considering such aspects of her family.

“By the way, I think we should move up the wedding date.”

“The wedding date?”

“Yes. There’s something that requires my prompt attention.”

Considering dress preparation, jewelry, guest lists, and food preparations, even if they set the date as soon as possible, it would still take a minimum of two months. For nobility, especially for high-ranking aristocrats, it often took even longer.

However, the wedding of the two was set for two weeks from now.

Was it even possible to have it sooner than this?

Ruby began to have doubts.

“So, we may have to skip a lot of things. Is that okay?”

Although it was phrased as a question, it sounded more like a notification of things that had already been decided.

Even if that wasn’t the intention, Ruby would have gone along with Eli’s words.

“It’s fine.”

She knew better than anyone why he was marrying her.

***
“Welcome. Marquis Grit, Lady Rainier.”

The carriage arrived at a designer’s shop specializing in high-ranking nobles’ clothes.

“Congratulations on your wedding. It’s an honor for us to create your garments,” said the designer, Bella, as she ushered the two inside.

“We’re short on time, so let’s start with the fitting,” Bella said.

“Alright. Would the Marquis prefer to use his previous measurements?” Eli nodded, and Bella guided Ruby further inside.

Bella was well accustomed to the quick pace set by Eli.

“What about the dress?”

“It’s right here.” Having received a prior message from Eli, Bella came prepared with the dresses.

“We have them sorted by style.”

“Which is the fastest dress you can get altered to fit my lady here?” Ruby was somewhat puzzled.

“You don’t want a custom-made dress?”

“We don’t have time for that.” 

Bella seemed to understand and nodded.

He was a man she barely knew.

He’d always been a workaholic. She wondered if it was because he was suddenly getting married, but this wedding didn’t seem to be any different.

“I think these two will do, and they should be sufficient with some added jewelry.”

“Let’s make sure to choose the one that my wife likes. The deadline is until this weekend.”

“This weekend?” The time remaining was at most a few days
.
“I’ll double the fee, so you can make it as splendid as a wedding dress. Do you know what I mean?”

“I understand.”

She would make more money herself, but she couldn’t help but feel sorry for Ruby.

“You can choose between these two dresses. As I mentioned earlier, we don’t have time to make a custom dress for you.”

When Ruby came out after her measurements, Eli explained, “Ah… I’ll go with this one.”

She picked the one that seemed the least objectionable.

“We’ll make it as a splendid dress suitable for a wedding.”

Bella’s words made Ruby smile as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

***

“Ruby!”

Ruby, who had chosen a dress and jewelry, returned to the Remus residence, and Lynn immediately rushed over.

“Lynn.”

“Did everything go well? But who is this gentleman?” Lynn asked, eying the stranger.

“Uh…”

Lord Grit and Ruby went out together, but it seemed someone else had brought her back. Lynn inquired cautiously.

“He’s Lord Grit’s assistant, Mr. Leton,” Ruby explained.

“Ah, I’m Lynn Remus. But… why did Lord Grit leave, and Mr. Leton brought you here?”

“Lord Grit had urgent matters to attend to, so he left first. He ordered me to ensure that Lady Rainier is well taken care of,” Leton replied.

“I see,” Lynn responded, but her expression was still somewhat uncertain.

“I’m heading inside now. Thank you,” Ruby said and offered a quick farewell, leading Lynn inside.

“But seriously, how busy could he be? Leaving during your wedding preparations?” Lynn mumbled, a little agitated.

“You know, he’s the Emperor’s right-hand man. I’m sure there are more important things than a wedding.”

“That’s what’s wrong with this system! Even on their wedding day, they can’t take a break. If high-ranking nobles work so hard, think of the lower-ranking ones…”

In the midst of her passionate explanation, Lynn realized she had veered off-topic and coughed awkwardly.

“Lynn, it’s okay, and besides, he bought an insane number of expensive jewels. I don’t even know where to start with them.”

[“I have some business to attend to, so I should go and check it out. My secretary, Leton, will assist you with the jewelry.”]

Eli had brought Ruby to the jewelers himself, giving her a bit of an escort and alleviating her disappointment at his departure.

[I received instructions from Lord Grit to purchase all the most expensive jewels.]

Ruby had no need to select jewelry herself; his assistant, Leton, had purchased a variety of expensive gems, categorized by type.

Therefore, everything she had mentioned was a mix of falsehoods and truths.

“…Really?”

“Really. I felt worried about keeping them myself, as I might lose them, so I asked Marquis Grit to keep it for me.”

“I’ll come with you when you try on dresses. I want to see what you picked out.”

Lynn still seemed skeptical, but she didn’t push Ruby to explain further.

“Okay. I want you to pick out the gem that looks best on me.”

After all, Lord Grit wouldn’t be interested in the dress when the time came to try it on, and there was a possibility he wouldn’t come at all. Ruby swallowed hard at the pangs of disappointment she felt.

***
On the day before the wedding, Ruby visited Grit Marquess’s estate with Lynn.

“Nice to meet you both. I am Damon, the steward of Marquis Grit.”

Ruby and Lynn nodded politely in response to Damon’s courteous greeting.

“The wedding dress is this way.”

Damon led them to a room where a transformed white wedding dress hung

Ruby was awestruck at how Bella’s skills had transformed the previously plain dress into something magnificent.

“Is this your wedding dress? It’s not the one you showed me.”

Not knowing the situation, Lynn was dissatisfied with the entirely different design of the dress Ruby had been shown earlier.

“We had to make do due to the urgency of the wedding.”

Ruby replied with an awkward smile, unable to reveal the full truth.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh?”

“It’s your one and only wedding day. Is it really okay to have it like this?”

Surprisingly, Lynn seemed more concerned than Ruby about the change in dress.

Only then did Ruby realize her position. The wedding was the bride’s day. It was meant to be a special day that wasn’t compromised by other matters. That’s what a typical bride would think.

“Alright then.”

Ruby smiled widely. It would be a lie to say she felt no disappointment, but her words were sincere when she said it was fine.

There were times when she couldn’t even imagine being on Eli’s side.

But now, they were even riding in a carriage together, and he had escorted her. Just that fact felt like a dream. Ruby reminded herself not to expect too much.

“Okay, fine…let’s go inside and try it on.”

Lynn tried to change the atmosphere with a hopeful smile.

“Okay.”

With the help of the maids, Ruby quickly changed into the wedding dress.

“What kind of jewelry will you choose?”

The maids had a wide array of expensive jewelry laid out in a large box. The price of each gem was beyond imagination, and if Ruby were still Lady Rainier, she would have had to choose carefully since she could only afford one piece at most.

“You don’t need to worry about the cost. These are the kind of jewels that are only fitting for Marquis Grit’s wife.”

In response to Ruby’s concern that there were too many jewels, Leton provided the answer. Ruby couldn’t help but feel the vast gap between the two families. 

“Then I’ll go with rubies.”

Ruby decided on a large ruby necklace and earrings, adorned with small, transparent diamonds set in a petal-like design that perfectly complemented her white wedding dress.

Ruby wore a satisfied smile.