Epilogue (Part 9)

“So, when exactly are you planning to get married?”  

The question was asked in a voice that sounded genuinely curious, causing Eden’s lips to stiffen slightly. He avoided Gustav’s bright, expectant gaze and quietly moved one of his chess pieces.  

It was Gustav who was surprised by Eden’s uncharacteristic evasiveness. Stroking his lips thoughtfully, Gustav carefully observed his nephew.  

“Have you proposed? No, have you at least sent a proposal letter?”  

“……”  

“Damn it, Eden. Did you even confess to her in the first place?”  

“Your Majesty.”  

Gustav waved his hand dismissively at Eden’s low voice, which sounded almost like a reprimand.  

“I was just curious, that’s all. Both of you are of marriageable age. Especially you—you have no sense of duty as a Duke. Don’t you think you should decide on an heir as soon as possible? Honestly, it’s amazing that the elders of the Felice household have left you alone for this long.”  

Sigh. Eden let out a low breath as he leaned back against the chair. His usually composed, handsome face was now uncharacteristically filled with worry.  

The elders of the household leaving him alone? Of course, they hadn’t. Ever since he became the sole heir of the ducal family, they had constantly pushed daughters of noble families in front of him, begging him to meet them just once.  

After he became the Duke and began consolidating the power of the Felice household one step at a time, earning the nickname “The Iron-Blooded Duke,” they hadn’t been as aggressive as before. However, even now, whenever he encountered them, they would still subtly bring up marriage.  

“Why do you keep sighing like that? Hm? Don’t tell me the elders are against Dame Onyx. Should I issue an imperial edict and wipe them all out?”  

“That’s not it.”  

The worry on Eden’s face deepened further.  

‘It doesn’t matter if she’s not a woman of noble blood, Your Grace. Please, just bring us any woman.’  

In truth, the elders’ stubborn insistence that the noble bloodline of the ducal family be preserved had long since been abandoned. They were even prepared to accept a foreign slave if that was the woman Eden chose, going so far as to discuss ways to fabricate the nonexistent woman’s status.  

And even if they did oppose Sienna, their objections would never reach her ears. What right did they have to oppose or criticize his woman?  

The problem wasn’t anything like that. What tormented him and kept him from even bringing up the topic of marriage was Sienna’s feelings.  

At some point, he had begun envisioning a future with her. But it seemed that Sienna wasn’t doing the same.  

That was exactly what made him uneasy. Every time he subtly brought up the topic of the future, she would quietly avert her gaze and change the subject as if avoiding it. Even when she occasionally stayed at the ducal residence at his invitation, she rarely stayed longer than a few days before returning to her own home.  

She had no problem staying for months at the villa, so why wouldn’t she stay longer at the main residence? He wanted to give her the duchess’s room, but she adamantly refused, so he always had to prepare a guest room for her. Though, in truth, they spent more nights together in his bedroom than apart.  

He wanted to give her everything—the duchess’s room, all the treasures stored in the underground vaults of the ducal estate. He wanted to call her his wife and for her to think of the Felice ducal residence as her home.  

He had thought that if Sienna only wanted a romantic relationship, he would be fine staying by her side as her lover for the rest of his life. But the greed nurtured by her overflowing affection grew on its own, constantly craving more.  

Was he truly not a part of the future she envisioned? He knew it was premature to think this way, considering they hadn’t even been lovers for that long, but he liked Sienna so much that his impatience wouldn’t subside easily.  

‘This is getting interesting again.’  

Gustav’s lips twitched as he noticed the worry on his nephew’s face. Between the complaints of Eden’s aide about how the Duke rarely stayed at the estate, and Eden’s behavior—acting like a lovesick puppy every time Sienna Onyx was mentioned—it was clear that his feelings for her hadn’t cooled. If anything, it seemed to be the opposite.  

If that were the case, it was a problem Gustav could solve. It was simple. All he had to do was issue an imperial edict to arrange the marriage between Sienna Onyx and Eden Felice. If the emperor himself stepped in to broker the marriage, there was no way she could refuse, regardless of her feelings for Eden.  

However, that would have to remain a last resort, only if Eden ultimately failed to win over her heart. Forcing someone’s feelings could lead to unforeseen consequences. And Gustav didn’t want Eden to endure an unhappy marriage.  

He tried to feign ignorance, but teasing Eden had become such a long-standing habit for Gustav that the words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them.  

“Does Sienna Onyx dislike you?”  

“…That’s not the case.”  

They exchanged words of love several times a day. Though it was always him who said it first, every time he did, Sienna would blush and respond in a small voice. There was no falsehood in her voice.  

He was aware of how pathetic it was to be worrying about things like this when he hadn’t even brought up the subject of marriage concretely, let alone proposed. But he couldn’t help hesitating, afraid that Sienna might feel burdened by his proposal or that a premature proposal might impose some kind of obligation on her.  

It was all because he was a coward.  

“What if she doesn’t really want to marry me?”  

The anxiety that had been steadily piling up in his heart finally spilled out. It was the first time he had voiced such weakness to his uncle since the accident involving the previous Duke and duchess when he was a child. Gustav, seemingly surprised, paused mid-gesture and looked at him with wide eyes.  

“Eden.”  

The emperor, who always wore a playful smile in front of him, now looked more serious than ever. That alone gave Gustav an air of imperial dignity befitting the ruler of the empire. Leaning slightly forward, he spoke to Eden with a solemn tone.  

“If you don’t express yourself, misunderstandings will only grow.”  

It was advice born from his own experience with the empress, whom he had met through an arranged marriage. After many misunderstandings and conflicts, they had eventually come to understand each other’s hearts.  

If only they had talked more, if only he had been more honest with his feelings and less hesitant to express them, perhaps the empress wouldn’t have been hurt as much. It was a regret he reflected on too late.  

While the relationship between Sienna and Eden was different from that of himself and the empress, the essence was the same. The longer Eden agonized without expressing his true feelings, the more their relationship would subtly but surely start to twist.  

“Sometimes, honesty solves everything, Eden. Remember that.”  

With those words, the emperor offered no further advice to Eden. That much was enough.  

Then, with his usual mischievous expression, he joked about issuing an imperial edict to marry Sienna to Eden. Eden immediately rejected the suggestion, saying that he loved even Sienna’s freedom, which made Gustav’s heart ticklish as well.  

‘I should visit the Empress’s palace later.’  

It was one of those days when he missed his wife for no particular reason.  

* * *  

Sienna knew well that avoiding the matter wasn’t always the best solution. It had only been recently that she began to catch glimpses of Eden’s thoughts.  

The way he would look at her with an unreadable expression, only to replace whatever he wanted to say with a simple “I love you.” The way he would hold her hand while they fell asleep or woke up together, kissing it, and how he would linger on her left ring finger, often touching or pressing his lips to it as if lost in thought.  

Calling the ducal residence “our house,” constantly trying to give her the duchess’s room, and even the butler and the staff of the ducal household treating her as more than just a guest—she couldn’t help but notice.  

During her last visit, the head maid had approached her, asking what color she thought the curtains and cushions should be changed to. The butler had casually sought her opinion on what plants should be placed in the newly renovated garden, even mentioning with a sly smile that there was a perfect spot at the edge of the estate for building a greenhouse.  

At this point, wouldn’t it be strange if she didn’t realize that everyone was already treating her as Eden’s partner?  

Did Eden really want to spend the rest of his life with her? The logical conclusion was “yes,” but Sienna still couldn’t completely shake off an old complex that had taken root deep in her heart.  

Even though she had been granted a title and was now called a Baroness, it was hard to say she had fully overcome the discrimination she had faced in the past as a commoner.  

A commoner duchess. While there were precedents, they weren’t exactly common. She wondered if she could really pull it off.

She knew it was a premature worry. But giving up on Eden wasn’t an option either. Just imagining another woman by his side brought tears to her eyes.  

She would have to muster the resolve to face everything with love. But what if she grew tired along the way? Worse, what if Eden grew tired of her first? She didn’t think she could bear it.  

She knew it was pointless to worry about such things when he hadn’t even proposed yet, but she couldn’t help herself.  

So, did she want to be proposed to or not? She was frustrated because she couldn’t even figure out her own feelings.