‘How can you be so sure?’
‘He’s not the type to be rattled by one cancelled wedding. He might care about business losses, but efficiency is what he values above all else. He won’t bother retaliating against a woman with no power.’
Hearing it laid out that way, it made a certain kind of sense.
A man of his stature stooping to pressure a powerless woman would only invite unflattering talk. His reputation would suffer far more from that than from a runaway bride.
‘But what if the ducal house goes out of their way to track you down?’
‘Hmm. Do you really think they would?’
Amelia had smiled with quiet amusement as she said it, and something about that expression had struck Liz as slightly odd. At the time, though, she had no other choice.
After that, the Bonecia house assured her they would handle the lawsuits entirely, and she had accepted the offer. Thanks to that, every dispute that had been on the verge of erupting into family feuds and legal battles was neatly resolved.
Marriage proposals didn’t come back after being cut off, but that hardly mattered. She had always carried a heavy responsibility to support her family, too heavy to spare even a thought for the luxury of marrying into a better house.
And yet, she had naively held up her end of the bargain with Amelia, trusting that nothing would go wrong. This was where that had gotten her.
“Get out.”
The low, near-commanding voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Liz blinked.
Click. The moment the carriage door opened, the lively noise of the harbor and a warm, salty breeze rushed in together.
Liz nearly fainted at the sight of the massive ship moored before her.
“This is…… a harbor.”
Glancing around, she recognized Melsen Harbor at the far edge of Bergen. It was packed with people preparing to board, a ship ready to depart at any moment. Ladies with lace parasols and gentlemen in silk hats, porters hauling trunks behind them. Liz’s gaze shifted to the man sitting across from her, looking perfectly at ease.
“Why are we here?”
“You ask a great many questions. The ceremony is over. A honeymoon is the natural next step.”
The colour drained from Liz’s face at his unruffled reply.
The moment the wedding ended, reporters had swarmed in with their flashing cameras, and the chaos of the hall had nearly knocked the sense out of her. She had fled the church in a daze, and the last place she had expected to end up was a harbor.
“We depart soon. Get out.”
“Wait.”
Liz grabbed his firm shoulder before he could step out. He dropped back into his seat, and the slight narrowing of his brow told her he was displeased. She flinched but pulled the carriage door shut and gathered her courage.
“You’ve had your fun. The wedding is done, so I’d like us to part ways here. No reporters followed us, fortunately, so quietly going our separate ways is the wisest course of action.”
“Quite ruthless, true to your reputation as a wedding saboteur. It hasn’t even been an hour since you made your vows before God, and already you want to walk away.”
The dry remark stung, but she had gone along with enough of this.
Reminding herself that she had been swept along by his lead while her head was spinning, Liz smoothed the uncomfortable dress and began pulling out the hair ornaments the maids had carefully arranged, one by one.
“I understand you’re upset, but I hope you’ll accept that I’ve shown a reasonable degree of goodwill for the sake of your dignity. I know your feelings are still raw, but from here on, you’ll need to take this up with the Bonecia marquisate……”
“You were showing goodwill for the sake of my dignity?”
Johann’s expression turned cold with something close to incredulity. Even that alone was enough to make his handsome face go frost-sharp.
“Then you’ll have to show that goodwill all the way through. There are two ships waiting to depart out there.”
“……What?”
Before she could make sense of that, he pulled his lips into a slow curve.
“One is a passenger liner heading south through Raybon Kingdom to Simond, at the far end of the southern archipelago. The other is a vessel bound for the western continent through the Gallia Confederation.”
Liz went quiet as the meaning sank in.
Both routes headed south and west, but that wasn’t what made her heart lurch. The westbound route was exactly where Amelia had fled.
He had answered so casually, as though he already knew where Amelia had gone. Her heart hammered.
“If you don’t board the ship I’ve chosen for our honeymoon to the southern continent, I may find myself inclined to chase down the bride who ran away. I suppose the world would need to see just how far the Ashworth house’s reach extends, to restore my dignity.”
“Th… that can’t happen!”
Cold sweat slid down the back of Liz’s neck.
‘I need you to stall for time, at least until I reach the Gallia Confederation. That’s my one condition.’
She had assumed both families would spend their time demanding to know Amelia’s whereabouts or scrambling to figure out their next move. Tracking down where Amelia had gone alone would take considerable time.
He had already figured out everything.
No. More than that, she had never, not for a single moment, imagined the cool and rational duke she had only ever heard about in the press would behave like this.
The silence stretched. Johann tilted his head, planted both forearms on his thighs, and leaned his face closer. His handsome face came near without warning, and Liz recoiled. His expression stiffened with clear dissatisfaction.
“Or I could simply visit Baron Russell Clairmont to collect the thirty trillion Berics this marriage cost me.”
“……!”
That was exactly the kind of thing her father would crumble under.
Color bled from Liz’s face.
Their family was already teetering on the edge of losing the title entirely by her father’s generation. Thirty trillion Berics was a sum they could never cover. Her family could end up dragged off to prison.
A disaster. This was why she had tried to refuse. Liz let out a pained sound and forced herself to speak.
“If it’s money you want, I’ll repay it. I’ll work my whole life if I have to.”
“I’ve heard there’s no shortage of noble houses with grievances against the Clairmont family. With your prospects of marriage completely blocked, I genuinely cannot imagine how a lady in your position plans to cover such a sum.”
The blunt pressure of knowing exactly where she stood shut her up completely.
“And you don’t seem to be aware yet. Our marriage has been officially registered.”
“What?”
Liz stared at him in disbelief. He drew a thin document from his br*ast pocket and unfolded it. Both their names were written there, along with signatures. She couldn’t recall signing anything, and she had no idea when the paperwork had been submitted to the courts in the middle of all that chaos.
“In other words, since the marriage has already been solemnized, it is now a settled fact.”
She had been played.
Liz gripped her skirts. This man was more dangerous than anyone she had ever faced, by far.
To keep her promise to Amelia and protect her family, she had no choice but to do as he said.
The only way to undo this was an annulment suit or a divorce.
She turned the options over in her mind, searching for the best path forward, when something shifted in the duke’s otherwise impassive face. A flicker of displeasure crossed it.
“Interesting. Any other woman would be desperate not to lose the chance of becoming Duchess Ashworth, whatever the circumstances. You could live in comfort for the rest of your life, and you still don’t want it?”
“I’m not like other women. I’d rather be someone who can stand on her own than depend on anyone else.”
“That almost sounds like you’re saying the role of duchess would make that impossible.”
“The most important duty of a duchess is producing an heir. Once there’s a child, comfortable living would follow, but……”
Liz caught herself mid-sentence and pressed her lips together. She had nearly said something she couldn’t take back, that fulfilling that particular duty would be difficult for her. The moment she went quiet, a curious look settled over the duke’s face.
With nowhere to turn, Liz steadied her breathing and put forward a compromise.
“All right. If the marriage is already legally binding, I’ll do my part as your wife. But maintaining this marriage for a lifetime far exceeds the value of thirty trillion Berics, doesn’t it? The time and effort required to fulfill the duties and responsibilities that come with being Duchess Ashworth are worth considerably more than that.”
“It sounds as though you’re asking me to put a price on the position of Duchess Ashworth.”
Something like interest stirred in his sharp eyes.
Her hands weren’t entirely steady, but appealing to the emotions of a man this calculating about losses and gains would get her nowhere. A business proposition was far more rational.
“Spoken like the true Golden Lion of Walter Street. I thought you might have overlooked the risks I would be taking on as your wife.”
She laid out the cost of what the role of duchess demanded and the opportunity cost of surrendering a free life. Something unreadable crossed his face.
“Then let’s do this. If no heir is produced within five years of marriage, the debt will be considered settled and this marriage annulled.”
“And if you’re the one who asks for a divorce first? Would the debt be cancelled then as well?”
“That would be a result of my own change of heart, so yes, all obligations would be waived immediately.”
The easy answer made Liz’s eyes flicker.
His gaze curved in a subtle, calculated way, as though he were handing her a generous choice.
“Well then. Have you finished thinking it over?”
Liz had been running the numbers in her head just as hard as any duke. She forced the corners of her trembling mouth upward.
“……When you put it that way, I suppose I have no choice. I look forward to working with you, Your Grace.”
Translator
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Ravingcrow1118
So Liz thinks she is infertile. That’s kind of sad. It’s one thing when you have the choice to not have children, but if you are told you can’t, it’s worse since your choice was taken from you.