I’m sure he’s gone mad. There’s no other way to explain it. Yes, he’s crazy.

Ilion has finally gone mad!

“Is there nothing you like?”

I’ve always dreamed of wearing jewels on all ten fingers, but never! Truly! Did I ever wish for it to actually happen.

Well, of course, I did think it would be nice to have that many jewels, a little, yes, quite a bit, but not like this.

“Or should I just buy them all for you?”

Ilion, leaning against the sofa and drinking tea, asked me in a tone as if he was considering buying squid along with beer at the market.

And I, with rings on every finger, looked at Ilion while trying to suppress the urge to scream.

“While your words are delightful, why the sudden jewels…?”

“Didn’t I promise? To buy a new engagement ring to replace the lost one. Ah, right. You said it was stolen?”

I felt a cold sweat running down my back.

I thought Ilion’s behavior was strange these past few days… but today, I couldn’t make any sense of it.

Why? What on earth is he planning?

“I don’t need so many jewels.”

“That can’t be.”

“Pardon?”

“Soon, you’ll be the Duchess.”

“…Well, yes, that’s true. Hahaha.”

Am I imagining things, or did the word ‘Duchess’ carry an unusual weight?

“Since we’re here, it would be good to fit the engagement ring again.”

“Are you perhaps proposing to me?”

I expected a straightforward denial, but Ilion replied nonchalantly.

“If you wish.”

Did I just mishear something? What did he just say?

“A, a proposal?”

“Yes. Come to think of it, did I kneel and ask you to put on the ring?”

“Y, yes, you did.”

He must have eaten something terribly wrong this morning. If not, maybe his head turned because of a curse!

The accessories on my hands began to feel like shackles, becoming heavier with Ilion’s incomprehensible actions.

“Oh my, the Duke is truly romantic.”

The jeweler, who was helping me choose rings, blushed and spoke enviously.

No, shopkeeper. This isn’t romantic; it’s terrifying.

What kind of man declares a proposal with such arrogance?

Moreover, the fundamental issue with Ilion was more profound. A man who would never utter the word ‘proposal’ was now speaking of it.

Regardless of the manner, the problem was that a word that would never come from his mouth did.

“Do you have a preferred design? I’ll use it as a reference when crafting.”

The jeweler asked me with a smile.

There was no way I had a preferred design. The fact that there was an engagement ring felt like a distant memory, and now a proposal!

Is it about how much profit the jeweler made? The jeweler in front of me seemed to be making a considerable profit, though.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t gauge Ilion’s intentions. Today, more than ever, I found it difficult to manage my expressions as I observed him.

His expression was no different from usual.

If only his words matched his expression, I could suspect he might have taken the wrong medicine somewhere…

Ilion pondered for a moment and then spoke,

“As for the design… the cost doesn’t matter. Please make it with extremely lavish craftsmanship and extremely lavish jewels.”

“……”

Somehow, Ilion’s words gave me a sense of déjà vu. They were the exact words I emphasized when fitting a dress. Seeing Ilion recite them as if he had memorized them, I was left speechless for a moment.

If he’s not the one who’s crazy, then I must be.

Yes, I must be the crazy one.

“Why aren’t you eating anything?”

Well, I can concede that the jewels might be for an imperial banquet.

But why bring me to a café? And a café famous for desserts at that?

Besides, what are you doing now, Duke?

Ilion was holding a fork with a piece of cake, bringing it to my lips as if to feed me.

Could there be poison in the cake?

“I can eat by myself…”

“I know. But you won’t refuse my kindness, will you?”

“……”

Kindness, you say. I hope your idea of kindness aligns with mine.

Reluctantly, I accepted the cake he offered. It felt like chewing sand…

“Delicious.”

What is this? It’s too delicious!

Enchanted by the sweet cake that made my mouth happy, I gazed at it with sparkling eyes.

Having been unable to leave the house for days, the long-awaited sugar rush was incredibly welcome.

Oh, was the world always such a beautiful place?

Right, for world peace, carbohydrates must rule mankind.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes!”

“Will you eat more?”

“Yes!”

“Then I’ll prepare the contract.”

“Yes! …Yes?”

No, no, wait a minute. What are you talking about?

“A contract? What are you going to buy?”

“This.”

“This, as in, this café?”

“Yes.”

Don’t say such things like it’s beer and squid!

***

“Ah, I’m exhausted.”

Ilion’s eccentricity didn’t end with that one day. It continued the next day and the day after.

In a famous clothing store, he uttered lines like “From here to here,” which don’t even appear in recent romance novels, and yesterday, he actually presented a café acquisition contract in front of me.

After dragging me around for days, making me anxious, he now asked if there were any books I wanted to buy and led me here.

No, Duke. Aren’t you busy? Don’t you have work?

“Sigh…”

The bookstore, boasting the largest scale in the capital, resembled a library, and I was taking a break under the pretext of finding a book in a corner of that bookstore, avoiding Ilion’s watchful eye.

If only I could become a book here and forever remain wedged between the shelves.

“You’re going to make a hole in the ground, auntie.”

“Sigh…”

“If you sigh like that, you’ll lose your luck.”

“Why is he doing this?”

“I’m curious why you’re like this, auntie.”

Ah really, this little brat!

“You, stop! I’m not an auntie, okay?”

I had been ignoring being called auntie, but the persistent talking made it impossible to ignore.

“But you are an auntie, aren’t you? And this is my seat.”

“Where is that written?”

In response to my question, the child pointed to a sign next to her.

[Reserved for Alice]

“…There really is… such a thing?”

Beneath the sign, there was a small explanation written in smaller letters.

[This is the space for our cute and lovely daughter ‘Alice,’ who loves books. We ask for your generous understanding.]

“…You must be the owner’s daughter. Sorry.”

I apologized while slightly moving aside.

“Um, sorry, but I have nowhere else to go. Can I stay here for a bit?”

It’s a good spot to hide from Ilion’s eyes and there’s no one around.

Putting on a pitiful expression, I asked, and Alice answered primly.

“Alright. I’ll show mercy to you today, auntie, because I feel sorry for you.”

“……”

I’m not an auntie.

Alice was holding a thick book. It seemed to be related to the history of the Empire.

“Do you like books?”

“Yes.”

“I like books too.”

“What book did you come to buy?”

“Romance novels.”

When I answered confidently, Alice looked at me and sneered.

“Romance novels are for fools.”

“…No, they’re not! You haven’t even read them!”

“No, I have. That’s why I know.”

“Ha, that’s because you’re too young to understand love.”

Alice closed her book with a snap and looked at me.

“They’re all ridiculous novels where noble men who lacks nothing swarm around an ordinary protagonist like flies. Isn’t that foolish?”

I must have stepped on a landmine, as Alice seemed slightly angry.

“Even so, it’s fun…”

“Though they’re all nonsense, the most unrealistic thing is the arranged marriage. Why would that nobleman marry someone from a family far inferior to his own? Unless there’s something wrong with him…”

“That’s true…”

Somehow, I felt like the lines between the child and the adult had been swapped. Compared to my poor language skills, Alice’s words flowed smoothly.

I couldn’t think of a proper rebuttal. Thinking of Ilion, her words seemed so accurate that I ended up nodding.

However, not wanting to defend Ilion and having my taste insulted were two different matters.

“But still, it’s a novel, and I read it because I like it. There’s no need to speak so harshly.”

I managed to reply, and Alice muttered, still looking at me disdainfully.

“Alright. Since you say it’s your preference, I won’t say more. Just don’t underestimate me because I’m young. I’ve read most of the novels in this bookstore.”

You underestimated me first.

“Okay… sorry.”

But I couldn’t say anything against her forcefulness.

While I was quietly browsing the shelves, I suddenly got curious and asked the child.

“What, you said romance novels are for fools, but you ended up reading them too?”

Alice flinched at my question and replied primly.

“I only read them because they were there.”

Though she tried to cover it with plausible words, in the end, it meant she read them too. Quite a lot, it seems.

No wonder she seemed so knowledgeable about romance novels.

Suppressing a smile, I asked Alice.

“Hey, do you perhaps have someone you like?”

“Why would I tell you that, auntie?”

“I’m not an auntie. I’m 22 years old. So at least call me sister…”

“…It seems your conscience has worn out, auntie. I’m 10 years old.”

Why am I being reprimanded about conscience by a 10-year-old?

Of course, I have been feeling lately that my conscience has become a bit dull.

But it hurts when you get hit! Stop hitting me!

“Why was the auntie sighing so deeply here?”

“……”

Yeah, go ahead and call me auntie.

Giving up on correcting the title, I began to complain to the ten-year-old child.

“The man I’m engaged to suddenly started acting strange. I’m also going to have an arranged marriage. Just like you.”

“That’s unfortunate… How do you know I’m going to have an arranged marriage?”

The child, who had been shaking her head with a sympathetic expression, was startled and asked back.

I had a hunch since she seemed to share the same opinion about arranged marriages as I did, and it turned out to be correct.

Though it was just a lucky guess, I explained to the child as if it was nothing.

“There’s something like that. You know, how comrades recognize each other?”

“…I don’t want to become comrades with you, auntie.”