“Welcome. Please sit here, Brigadier General Winchester.”

“Greetings, Countess. Have you been well?”

“My goodness? Hoho. Of course. Both my husband and I are in good health.”

The Countess smiled brightly as she offered him a seat.

“Though you’re Lucas’s close friend, I never expected we’d have breakfast together like this.”

“I apologize for staying overnight in someone’s home without the owner present.”

“What do you mean without the owner? You were trying to bring our Karina home, weren’t you? We should be the ones apologizing. Now, please sit.”

The Countess again offered Dominic a seat. Usually when dining with family, the Countess sat to the right of the Count who took the head seat, while Lucas sat on the opposite side. Karina’s seat was next to the Countess.

But today was slightly different. Lucas sat next to the Countess, and Dominic was seated in Lucas’s usual place. Dominic sat where she indicated. The Countess’s smile deepened.

Seeing his mother like this, Lucas shook his head.

Though his mother didn’t know much about Dominic, he knew his friend well.

Dominic and Karina were opposites. They were like water and oil, incompatible in every way.

Moreover, Dominic had long had another woman he liked. Olivia Lindid. A properly raised refined lady was Dominic’s ideal type. And his sister matched neither the word ‘refined’ nor ‘lady’.

―This one? You have to try to know if it’s good or bad.

Unlike Lucas who could clearly predict the outcome without trying, the Countess was somewhat persistent. And the Count tacitly approved of this fact.

Though Karina was clever and a good girl who was popular regardless of gender, considering the marriage market situation, her somewhat progressive tendencies were unlikely to be received positively. Being free-spirited and stubborn, the Count and Countess had already been privately worried about Karina’s marriage prospects.

‘Dominic Winchester would be excellent.’

He was close friends with Lucas and the second son of the Winchester marquis family, so his background was impeccable. When their eyes met, the Countess smiled gracefully with crescent eyes.

Just then, Karina opened the dining room door and entered. Seeing Lucas in her seat, Karina frowned and let out a soft sigh.

In the awkward atmosphere, Karina sat next to Dominic.

“Now then, let’s all have breakfast.”

The Count said this while looking contentedly at Dominic and Karina.

* * *

After finishing the meal, the maids brought out tea. During the meal, the Count and Countess addressed Dominic several times. Though most questions were about naval life in relation to Lucas, other topics were occasionally mixed in. Needless to say, the latter were the topics the Count and Countess were really curious about.

“As you know, Lucas keeps putting off marriage saying he has no such thoughts yet. Does his friend Brigadier General Winchester have similar thoughts?”

“Mother, isn’t that kind of question a bit too personal?”

“I can’t even ask this much of my son’s friend? Was I perhaps rude, Brigadier General?”

“Not at all. I don’t think so.”

Dominic glanced sideways. Since entering the dining room, Karina hadn’t even looked his way and had silently focused only on eating. Now she was staring intently at her tea.

“There is a woman I like.”

“Oh, my. Is that so?”

“Yes. I plan to propose soon.”

The Count and Countess weren’t the only ones surprised by Dominic’s words. Lucas’s eyes nearly popped out.

“P-propose?”

To Olivia Lindid?

“Is it that surprising? Even I can have someone I like.”

“No, I know that fact well. You told me before. But proposing?”

When did things progress so far?

Just a few weeks ago, he thought he heard about a failed attempt at a kiss.

Lucas frowned. He hadn’t seen him with Lady Lindid much yesterday either. Rather, she had spent most of her time with another man.

“Aren’t you thinking too hastily?”

Lucas chimed in, worried about his friend. From what he had seen, Olivia Lindid seemed to be in a close relationship with someone else. Making a hasty proposal in such circumstances could lead to unfavorable results.

“No. It’s not hasty. I’ve thought it through thoroughly.”

Dominic said in a calm tone while taking a sip of tea.

“As an adult, one should take responsibility for their actions.”

At those words, the Countess’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Does that mean there’s something you need to take responsibility for with a certain lady?”

“Yes, Countess.”

The Crawford Countess was visibly disappointed. Seeing him express his intentions so precisely before them, it seemed any hopes for a relationship with Karina were impossible from the start.

It would be rude to keep trying to match Karina with a man who already had someone he liked. The Countess closed and opened her eyes once in disappointment as she turned her gaze to her daughter. Unlike Lucas’s words about them being like water and oil, the two actually seemed quite well-matched.

“Oh my. Karina. Are you still feeling unwell? Though they said you drank a lot yesterday.”

The Countess, who had been late to notice her daughter’s condition due to focusing on Dominic, spoke in surprise.

Karina’s face was deathly pale.

“Are you alright? As the Countess said, you don’t look well.”

Karina’s body jolted at Dominic’s voice from beside her. She shook her head and spoke rapidly.

“No. I’m fine. Thank you for your concern. I think I’m just feeling a bit sick, but please don’t worry about it.”

With that, Karina quickly rose from her seat.

“I know it seems impolite with a guest present, but I’ll go up first. I’m not feeling well, so I think I need to rest more.”

“Should I call the physician?”

“No, Father. It’s not that serious. I’ll feel better after some sleep.”

As Karina was about to leave, almost like she was fleeing,

“Lady Crawford?”

Karina broke into a cold sweat at Dominic’s sudden call.

“Y-yes?”

“When would it be good to meet next time? I thought it might be easier for you to manage your schedule if we set the appointment in advance.”

Karina desperately communicated with her eyes to Dominic.

Please read the situation!

But Dominic’s expression remained unwavering. Rather, it was the Count and Countess who were surprised.

“What do you mean, Brigadier General? Setting up a meeting? Could it be…?”

The Count trailed off as he looked at his daughter. He knew she met and associated freely with many men, but he wondered if she could be involved with even Dominic Winchester.

But Dominic simply nodded at the Count’s words.

“Ah. Lady Crawford has been helping me.”

He hesitated for a moment. Given how things had turned out, should he tell the Count and Countess right now?

However, a shred of reason stopped that action. He couldn’t handle his relationship with Karina so hastily and informally.

First, he needed to go to his parents and speak with them, then follow proper procedures between the families.

‘She probably thinks the same way.’

But even though he understood this logically, he didn’t casually brush it off as nothing like Karina wanted.

He felt somewhat hurt by her behavior. Both at dawn and in the dining room. Wasn’t she acting like she wanted to completely deny what happened yesterday?

Dominic frowned as he watched Karina panic as soon as he finished speaking. He had only revealed a slight acquaintance to prevent future problems, yet she wore such a troubled expression again.

Meanwhile, the Count placed his hand on his forehead after hearing Dominic’s story.

“Really, young people these days are beyond understanding. Well, is this ‘help’ truly useful? I’ve told her several times to stop now that she’s of marriageable age, but she won’t listen.”

The Count’s words lengthened from embarrassment. However, Dominic smiled gently and responded politely to the Count.

“You need not worry about that. Lady Crawford has been truly of great help.”

Karina pressed her lips together at Dominic’s response, which seemed to ask if that wasn’t right.

Warning signals kept going off in her head. Though his usual polite demeanor remained the same as always, she instinctively felt something was going wrong even as she faced his smiling expression.

‘This is bad.’

Despite clearly understanding her signals, Dominic insisted on mentioning their relationship out of what seemed like pure stubbornness.

She couldn’t understand why at all. Olivia was already misunderstanding her relationship with Dominic. Such talk would be better left unsaid considering his relationship with Olivia.

Karina gave a vague response, worried he might say something wrong.

“T-that’s something we can discuss later. For now, I’ll go rest. I’ll see you another time, Brigadier General.”

Lifting her skirts and giving a curtsey, Karina left the dining room. The sound of her rushing away could be heard through the door gap.

“Oh my. She’s not usually like this… She must really not be feeling well. Hoho, you understand, don’t you, Brigadier General?”

The Countess said this while trying to hide her embarrassment, implying that normally her daughter wouldn’t run through corridors so uncouthly. Dominic smiled again and nodded.

“Yes. I understand well.”