Chapter 1 – Revenge

At dinner, Earl Warwick spoke.

“It’s time for you to get married.”

“Me?”

“Who else would I be talking about? You’re the only one in our family who hasn’t married yet.”

The Earl Warwickdom—neither particularly noble nor particularly lowly—was an ambiguous family.

Neria’s older siblings had all, miraculously, made ‘successful marriages.’ Ignoring personal flaws and focusing only on family benefit, they had all married up.

After even her immediate older sister’s marriage, Earl Warwick became more aggressive, treating his last remaining daughter, Neria, as an unmanageable burden.

According to her father’s standards, as long as the other family had more power and wealth than Warwick, even an older widower counted as a successful match.

Knowing her father’s philosophy well, Neria nervously shook one leg.

“Is there a set fiancé?”

“Not yet, but it’s been arranged for you to meet someone.”

His face showed clear disappointment that it wasn’t a confirmed engagement. He seemed to have caught a big fish, but it wasn’t something to be simply happy about, making Neria even more uneasy.

“Who is it?”

“Don’t be surprised. It’s…… Duke Aaron Denicar!”

‘Good heavens.’

Hearing such an unexpected name, Neria’s mouth dropped open. Normally, she would have been scolded for being unladylike, but Earl Warwick was in such a good mood that he just burst out laughing.

“Hahahaha!”

It was news that couldn’t help but shock.

Duke Aaron Denicar was the King’s only remaining brother and the Duke of the North, rarely seen in the capital. For the Earl Warwickdom to seek a marriage match was far too ambitious.

Like heaven and earth…… No, like heaven and the underworld.

‘Wait! Things that seem too good are usually bait!’

Neria’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. She cautiously raised her doubts.

“Father, are you sure? How? Duke Aaron is…… I mean, he’s royalty!”

“Hmph! That’s because the royal family has recognized our family’s loyalty and history.”

Neria looked at the pleased Earl Warwick with a blank stare.

‘History, huh…….’

From what Neria knew, the Earl Warwickdom began as a hereditary knight family under a powerful noble house, without any title of its own. They lived in a small village with a mill, granted by their lord, not even ruling over an estate.

Then, during a war, her grandfather joined the fight, happened to save a member of the royal family, and was promoted to Earl.

At first, he received only the title and a tiny estate, but later, Neria’s father married an heiress with vast lands.

Afterward, to bolster the Warwick family’s history, her father bought the genealogy of an old but dying noble family. He donated a large sum to the church to get documents proving their family was a branch of that old house.

With his children’s successful upward marriages, the Warwick family gained a flashy three-story mansion in the capital and more than five servants, quietly blending into noble society.

Through this series of schemes, the Earl Warwickdom naturally gained the right to enter the capital’s social circles and attend the royal New Year’s ball.

Neria heard this history at her grandfather’s funeral as a child.

All the talk about the Warwick family’s illustrious past was, in the end, driven by an inferiority complex about their bloodline, her grandfather confessed.

‘Father was so shocked, he slapped his hand over Grandfather’s mouth, committing his last act of filial disrespect.’

In any case, the fact that Aaron Denicar, such a big catch, was being considered as Neria’s match was not because the Earl Warwickdom was extraordinary.

Neria thought of the Aaron Denicar everyone talked about.

She’d never spoken to him directly, but she had seen him once from afar at the royal New Year’s event.

Aaron, who had come all the way from the cold North to see his mother, the Queen Dowager, had jet-black hair and piercing blue eyes, a very handsome and impressive man.

He wasn’t said to be sociable, but sometimes, when he smiled at someone he was talking to, the surrounding ladies collapsed like autumn leaves, clutching their hearts.

‘I never got close enough to even greet him.’

Maybe, just maybe, the Duke remembered her from passing by at that event.

He was the most eligible bachelor in the Kingdom, but strangely, no families seemed to be seriously discussing marriage with him. Perhaps the Duke was seeking true love, not just advantage.

Such fanciful thoughts made Neria’s heart flutter.

“Father. Did the Duke personally choose our family?”

“…….”

Seeing Earl Warwick’s sour, half-hearted expression, she already knew the answer.

This meeting proposal was not Duke Aaron’s idea.

“Hmm. Queen Dowager Elaine only wants to marry off her youngest son, no matter which woman it is. Isn’t that right?”

The Countess, who had finished her meal early and was now sipping wine, spoke. Her loosened tongue suggested she was already drunk.

“Hmph.”

The Earl shot his wife a sharp look.

“So what are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying there’s no need to be so triumphant. You just look foolish.”

“What did you say?”

Just as another pointless argument threatened to start, Neria secretly sighed.

There was no affection or respect in this household. It was a moment when she envied her siblings’ determination to escape through marriages disguised as upward mobility.

Fortunately, Earl Warwick didn’t seem interested in arguing with his wife. He glanced at her with a cold look, then gave Neria a stern warning.

“Anyway, it’s true that you’re to meet the Duke at least once. Prepare yourself calmly.”

“Father, do you think he’ll like me?”

“You must make it happen. If you’re my daughter, don’t bring shame to your father by being a burden to Warwick.”

Earl Warwick rubbed his hands together and smiled like a merchant.

“Now, from today until the meeting, you’ll need to control your meals.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Earl Warwick rang the bell loudly, and a servant came to take away the plate in front of Neria.

Neria snorted. Children always outsmart their parents. Expecting this, she had already hidden two small round white rolls and a tiny jar of jam in her skirt.

Earl Warwick seemed unaware that the more he tried to control his children, the more secretive they became. Neria rose gracefully and bent her knees slightly, then straightened.

“I’ll excuse myself now, Father.”

“Alright.”

Watching Earl Warwick greedily tear into his meat, Neria got up from her seat.

With a heart fluttering with a bit of anticipation.

***

That late evening, the maid Marie carefully brushed Neria’s long, chestnut-brown hair.

Neria looked in the mirror.

A gentle and demure impression. A woman with soft chestnut hair and violet eyes gazed back at her.

Neria murmured in a dreamy voice.

“What is the North like?”

“Suddenly?”

“I mean Duke Aaron Denicar. I’m supposed to meet him once. If I end up marrying him, I’ll have to go to the North.”

Neria explained brightly. Her voice was filled with excited anticipation.

But Marie, who normally would have joined in the fuss—being crazy about romance—was strangely quiet, so Neria glanced at her curiously.

“Marie, is something wrong?”

“Um, My Lady. It’s just…….”

Marie hesitated with a somewhat sour attitude. Then, with a determined expression, the maid spoke.

“My friend works for the Marquis of Beverland’s family, and recently, the young lady from that family met Duke Aaron Denicar once.”

Neria knew the Beverland Marquis’s daughter. She was called the rose of the social scene, famed for her beauty.

“But…… that afternoon, the young lady came home after only two hours, looking very upset. She said she was terribly disappointed in the Duke.”

“Why?”

High-ranking noblemen usually had at least one or two unusual flaws. Maybe bad habits, or a reputation for chasing women.

But Aaron Denicar didn’t have any particularly bad rumors that Neria had heard.

“He beats people with words.”

“……What?”

***

“Ahuuu.”

A man with thick olive-brown hair let out a deliberately exaggerated sigh.

He had been looking out the carriage window at the sunset-lit, gas-lit street, but now turned his head inside. With a painted smile at his lips, he spoke.

“Stop sighing, Dagon. The ground won’t cave in even if you do.”

“Your Grace.”

Aaron pretended not to hear the resentful tone. His loyal aide, Dagon, was fuming across from him.

“I could see Marquis Beverland’s family being a reasonable match, but the Earl Warwickdom? I didn’t expect Her Majesty the Queen Dowager to approve this, and honestly, everything about it is strange!”

“Looks like Mother changed her strategy. Now it’s a numbers game.”

Queen Dowager Elaine wanted to marry off her youngest son, but Aaron’s defenses were so strong that she failed every time.

Now, she’d lowered the standard to any second-generation hereditary noble family with an estate. For a royal marriage, it was a shocking condition.

Dagon grumbled.

“Even if it’s a numbers game, you still won’t budge, will you?”

“That’s right.”

Aaron chuckled. Dagon narrowed his eyes in persuasion.

“Couldn’t you just pick a suitable high-ranking noble lady and get married? Even if it’s with Her Majesty’s approval, if there’s too much of a gap in status, it’ll be a real headache later. Or, if there’s really no one in the country…… should we look abroad?”

Aaron lazily watched Dagon, who was now calculating the ages of princesses from neighboring countries.

“Don’t do that, Dagon. I don’t want things to turn into a diplomatic incident. And I plan to ruin this meeting too.”

“Why! She could turn out to be a decent lady once you meet her!”

“Weren’t you just saying she wasn’t suitable?”

Aaron folded his arms, watching his aide panic over his marriage.

“Our Majesty, my brother, seems to enjoy playing the dutiful son to comfort our grieving mother. If I ruin this meeting too, maybe he won’t bother me for a while.”

Aaron clicked his tongue in mock regret, thinking of the Kingdom’s King.

The King, Aaron’s only brother, suffered from a lack of affection and sought love from their mother.

Unfortunately, the Queen Dowager had two “problem children”: one was the eldest who died young and passed the throne to his younger brother, and the other was Aaron, who resembled the eldest greatly.

The King filled his emotional void by pretending to help with his unloved younger brother’s marriage.

For these reasons, Aaron had to avoid any marriage. At least for now.

He wasn’t interested in marriage anyway, so it was just as well. As a royal sibling, he could never freely choose his own path.

Instead of explaining this complicated situation, Aaron shrugged, playing the role of the royal family’s adorable troublemaker.

“Ha, Your Grace…….”

Dagon sighed again. Sensing his master’s intentions, a hint of pity appeared in his eyes.

Not wanting to darken the mood, Aaron spoke lightly.

“Don’t worry about my marriage—get your own first.”

“How could I possibly marry before you, Your Grace…….”

Ignoring the loyal aide’s lament, Aaron looked out the carriage window.

‘I’ll just hold out and hurry back to the North.’

As always, that was his plan.

At least until he faced an unexpected problem.