Chapter 8. An Incompetent Household

* * *

Aster had read Camilla’s thoughts completely when she mentioned a love marriage.

There was a contradiction in her words.

‘Do you love your fiancé?’

‘I don’t love him, but I’ll probably have to marry him. It’s an imperial command.’

She had already said before that she could marry without love.

Surely, after a month, she would say, ‘I tried to love you, but I couldn’t,’ and propose breaking off the engagement.

Forcing it without accepting her terms would be the quickest way to get what he wanted. But doing so would mean he would never win her heart.

It wasn’t feasible to push things through when the situation was already delicate.

Aster pondered how to make her accept him.

Marrying her out of obligation, as she suggested, wasn’t right. It would be no different from trapping her in a cage.

Moreover, she had pointed out that they had only met three times.

Since she didn’t seem to remember that day, his proactive approach might seem strange to her.

Apart from feeling hurt that she didn’t remember, he wanted to respect her wishes.

Aster didn’t want to force Camilla into marriage. He wanted her to desire him, like that night.

After a brief contemplation, Aster decided to take the chance she offered, but in his own way.

“Alright. But I don’t like ambiguous relationships. Let’s have a real relationship for that month.”

“A real relationship?”

Camilla looked bewildered that he accepted so readily. At the same time, she reacted to the words ‘real relationship.’

Aster grinned.

“Yes. Like real lovers.”

He stood up and whispered softly in her ear.

Just like we did that night.

Camilla’s face turned crimson in an instant at the implication of his intimate whisper. Aster smiled with satisfaction.

* * *

Still feeling the lingering heat, I continued fanning myself.

Aster Blanche was a very cunning man. How could he make such a bold proposal with a smiling face?

No sooner had I suggested a contract relationship than he took it a step further, proposing a real relationship.

I recalled Aster’s confident demeanor.

‘I don’t do anything half-heartedly. Even if it’s a limited-time relationship, I intend to do it properly. It will help us get to know each other better.’

‘What’s the difference between a fake relationship and a real one?’

‘A real relationship wouldn’t just be about talking.’

Aster’s eyes had deepened as he spoke. The places his gaze touched naturally trembled.

I knew he was referring to physical relations, and I shivered.

‘Are you saying you want to continue what we did that night?’

‘I can’t accept a fake relationship that’s merely an imitation. If you don’t like it, let’s get married right now.’

Marriage if it’s not a real relationship?

How could both sides of the coin be the same!

‘Are you always this open? You were talking about purity earlier.’

‘As you said, I’m a Blanche.’

‘I didn’t know you were someone who would twist words like this.’

Is this what it feels like to fall into my own trap?

The result of criticizing him for being a Blanche turned into a contract relationship disguised as a real one.

Aster was confident. As if he was sure he could seduce me within a month.

I couldn’t refuse. If I did, he would push for marriage right away.

After all, I was also responsible. I had taken his purity without knowing he was Aster Blanche.

So this compromise was the best way to sort out our relationship.

‘Yes. It’s just for a month anyway.’

As I sorted out my complicated thoughts, I arrived at the penthouse located in the northeast of the capital. Various themed regular gatherings were held at this penthouse every week.

It was customary for noble ladies in social circles to participate in at least one gathering per week. These gatherings were popular for networking, as attendees could choose topics of interest.

Just as I was about to move to the meeting place,

“Oh my, who is this?”

I stopped in my tracks at the voice I didn’t want to hear. Without turning around, I knew it was Helen Blanche.

‘Was today her day to come?’

I had been so preoccupied with Aster that I hadn’t checked the member list, and it seemed today was Helen’s day. I had been avoiding her because she always picked fights whenever we met, but now I was in trouble.

Forcing a smile to hide my displeasure, I turned and greeted her.

“Hello, Helen?”

“Yes, hello. It’s been a while.”

She responded unusually friendly today. Her suspiciously friendly tone made me frown. Helen approached and looked me up and down, muttering.

“You look better than I expected.”

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t look fine?”

“Your fiancé has returned. I was worried about how you were holding up.”

As if she would ever genuinely worry about me. If anything, she’d curse me.

I stared at Helen, who shamelessly expressed concern. She seemed to be trying to gauge the situation between Aster and me.

‘Now I see, she deliberately timed her visit to coincide with mine.’

It was well-known that I disliked the Blanche family. Helen and Paris had significantly contributed to that sentiment.

Helen Blanche was the daughter of the Duke’s second wife and Paris’s full sister. The Duke had openly maintained two households because his first wife was infertile, and Helen and Paris were the children from that arrangement.

Aster was even more unfortunate, as he was the child of the main wife’s maid. It was tragic that the main wife died from the stress caused by her husband’s infidelity, which only made the maid’s situation more difficult.

It was inevitable that the current Duchess, who had risen from being a concubine to the main wife, would expel her.

Thinking about it, it was understandable that Aster would feel wronged to be lumped in with his family.

Separated from his mother from a young age, and born with a family ability that Paris did not have, he must have faced many hardships.

The Duke of Blanche was known for his strong desire for power, and he chose Aster over Paris, the child of his second wife, as his heir.

One could easily imagine that this made Aster’s position even more precarious.

Aster bore little resemblance to the Duke of Blanche. The only similarities were their silver hair and red eyes.

In contrast, Helen was the spitting image of the Duke of Blanche. If Paris inherited the Duke’s personality, Helen inherited both his personality and appearance.

Paris resembled the Duchess more, except for his silver hair and troublesome personality, which made him unmistakably a Blanche.

‘Aster must resemble his mother, then.’

That would explain why I didn’t recognize him as a Blanche. The Blanche family members I knew were the Duke, his second wife, and their children.

The fact that a decent young man like Aster belonged to such a dysfunctional family was astonishing. Lost in thought, I remained silent for a while, prompting Helen to speak.

“Oh dear. You seem troubled. Well, it is strange for you to become a daughter-in-law of our family.”

“What are you trying to say?”

I have no interest in talking to you.

Helen clicked her tongue at my attitude and spoke.

“Alright, let’s get straight to the point since we’re both busy. Break off your engagement with Aster.”

She bluntly suggested breaking off the engagement.

I tilted my head, unsure of her intentions.

Although I wanted to break off the engagement, I had no intention of doing so at Helen’s suggestion.

It was a kind of contrarian attitude. If they told me to do it, I didn’t want to, and if they told me not to, I wanted to.

And knowing Helen, she wouldn’t suggest something that was advantageous to me.

This meant there must be some benefit for them if I broke off the engagement with Aster.

‘Is it a succession dispute?’

The Duke of Blanche had chosen Aster, not Paris, the child of his second wife, as his heir. Until now, there hadn’t been much conflict because Aster was outside the empire, but that was no longer the case.

There would undoubtedly be subtle power struggles over the succession issue.

I decided to probe Helen’s intentions.

“I didn’t expect you to be so interested in my marriage.”

“We both don’t want to become family, do we? How could you live seeing my face every day? You’d want to leave within days.”

That sounded like a threat to make me leave. It was laughable. I had no intention of becoming an obedient daughter-in-law.

I crossed my arms and smiled.

“Helen, if you don’t want to see me, you can leave. You’ll have to get married after the debutante anyway. You can’t live off your family forever.”

“L-live off?! Are you saying you’ll kick me out?”

“I just thought the Duchess must be worried.”

“You don’t need to worry about my mom.”

“Why not? We might become family soon.”

I provoked her with a smile, and Helen snapped sharply.

“Are you really going to marry him?”

Helen spoke in a friendly tone, as if she hadn’t just been hostile.

“Oh, Camilla. Think again. Do you really want to become family with me?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Exactly. Neither do I. So if you want to break off the engagement, I’ll help you. Why would someone like you marry a guy like Aster?”

“A guy like Aster?”

My voice sharpened unintentionally. Her slander against him irritated me.

Helen didn’t notice and continued.

“What kind of guy? A sly one. He’s so cold-hearted he didn’t shed a tear when his mother died.”