2. Arrogant Contract

It started then. Nigel Gragford’s bizarre behavior. From the day after his visit, fresh flower baskets were delivered every morning to the Berthe mansion.

They were mostly roses, but the colors changed each time. Pink, red, and occasionally white. After noon, a box of freshly baked, savory cookies would arrive, and right after dinner, tea leaves good for sound sleep would be delivered.

The sender was always Nigel Gragford. The mansion’s servants, and even Viscount Berthe, were so surprised they nearly choked on their water. Rosia was also bewildered by the sudden barrage of gifts.

Was he trying to change Rosia’s mind with these gifts? Rosia placed a couple of fragrant tea leaves on her palm. The scent was similar to the faint fragrance she had sensed from Nigel. With her other hand propping her chin, she pondered for a long while about why the Grand Duke, who had only spoken sharp words with that pretty mouth of his, was so desperate for her attention.

The total time she had spent with Nigel would barely amount to two hours. It would be fair to say they had never made eye contact or had a proper conversation. If he had explained his reasons before this gift offensive, she might have at least tried to understand. But he would not tell her.

Love at first sight, he said. That man didn’t seem like someone who would fall in love at first sight. Rather, he seemed like someone you would only consider after thoroughly examining him from head to toe. Rosia’s intuition told her this.

After much contemplation, Rosia didn’t brew the tea leaves. She sealed them back in the glass jar and tucked it deep inside her wardrobe.

It was an inevitable choice as Nigel’s scent kept lingering in her nose. However, she put his flowers in vases before they wilted. The flowers had done nothing wrong. If she had thrown them away, it would have been unfair to the person who had carefully tended to them. The elegantly packaged cookies were distributed evenly among the servants.

“Miss, are you sure it’s alright? They’re gifts from His Highness the Grand Duke after all.”

The nanny asked anxiously, holding a packet containing several cookies. Rosia looked at her nanny while contemplating what to do with the last few remaining cookies.

“It’s too much for me to eat alone.”

“But you haven’t kept any for yourself, Miss.”

The nanny sighed, looking down at the packet.

“I wonder what His Highness the Grand Duke is thinking.”

While Rosia was also curious about the Grand Duke of Gragford’s intentions, she decided not to be hasty. If the Grand Duke was truly desperate, he would have revealed his reasons first. If not, he would surely stop this strange behavior soon enough. Besides, Rosia was known for her exceptional patience. She picked up a cookie, cut it in half, and handed it to her nanny with a bright smile.

“Don’t worry too much, Nanny. It’s probably just a passing shower anyway.”

Rosia maintained the same method of handling the gifts afterward. Nigel, too, persisted in sending gifts without giving up.

She met Nigel again after ten days. It was at a garden party hosted by the Berthe family. It was to show that the family was still going strong. It was also something the Viscount had personally requested. So Rosia put considerable effort into this party. She spent a long time on the taste and presentation of food, tea, desserts, and garden maintenance.

In particular, she had decided to display several of her landscape and animal paintings in the garden, which was a meaningful opportunity for Rosia, who had dreamed of being a painter since childhood. Though it wasn’t a gathering of particularly distinguished nobles, Rosia did her very best.

However, making all her efforts seem futile, the weather that had been bright all morning quickly turned gloomy. Since they couldn’t let the guests get caught in the rain, they had to end the party.

Rosia, with a disappointed face, wrapped up her conversations with people to some extent, then went to personally collect the vases that had been placed in the garden.

The uninvited guest, Nigel, was sitting there alone in noble solitude. He matched perfectly with the table covered in a snow-white tablecloth, as if they had been born together. It had been a mistake to place the vase she cherished in the inner garden where people rarely visited, worried it might get damaged. Nigel tapped the flowers in the vase with his fingertip.

Rosia hurriedly approached, anxious that Nigel might drop the vase. Nigel raised his gaze as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“Did you receive the gifts well?”

Without any greeting, he went straight to the point. Nigel still looked at Rosia with eyes that seemed to look down on others. Rosia gave a slight curtsy and then looked up at the sky full of dark clouds. It seemed a shower was about to pass.

“Can they be called gifts when I didn’t want them?”

“You’re quite particular, unlike your appearance. I’ll take that as a thank you.”

Nigel muttered while brushing back his slightly fallen bangs. Rosia glanced at him briefly while carefully adjusting her crooked bonnet. When she tightened the ribbon attached under the bonnet a bit more, her chin tensed up.

“What brings you here?”

Rosia turned her body sideways to face Nigel directly. Raindrops began to fall one by one. Nigel responded while resting his chin on his hand.

“I came to see you. Personally. Do you like flowers?”

“Flowers……”

Rosia suddenly came to her senses. The roses she had tended to this morning were neatly arranged in a white vase. She reached for the vase before the carefully tended flowers could get soaked, but Nigel was faster. He grabbed the vase with a leisurely gesture. Rosia looked at him with slightly parted lips.

“That’s my vase. Please return it.”

“These are the flowers I gave you. So they’re mine as well.”

Nigel’s eyes scanned the roses.

“You tended to them carefully.”

“……Please give it back.”

Rosia somehow felt heat rising in her neck. Despite having just said these were unwanted gifts, she had been caught openly taking careful care of the roses from Nigel. Rosia unconsciously gripped the ribbon of her bonnet tightly.

The raindrops that had been falling one or two at a time had now turned into steady streams. Rosia’s ivory dress was getting gradually wet.

“You’re really strange.”

Nigel’s voice was also becoming damp. The raindrops that ran down his golden hair fell like tears. Rosia momentarily held her breath. Could there be a painting more beautiful and melancholic than a beautiful person in the falling rain? Rosia pressed down her bonnet to block her view.

“We’ll get soaked, Your Highness. The party is over now that it’s raining.”

“I didn’t come here for some mere garden party, Lady Berthe.”

Nigel stood up. The vase was placed where he had been sitting. Rosia was curious about Nigel’s intentions in engaging in such a useless battle of nerves.

“Are you going to lie again about coming to see me?”

“Do I appear to you as a man who only tells lies?”

“To be honest, yes.”

Nigel’s smooth brow instantly furrowed. He wore an expression of wonder, like an explorer who had discovered a strange animal. He also looked as if he found Rosia’s attitude completely incomprehensible.

“Let me ask you again, do you know who I am?”

“Grand Duke Nigel Gragford, a prince of this kingdom and the ruler of the Principality of Dianta.”

Rosia answered precisely, as if reading from a book. Nigel’s already furrowed brow deepened completely. He reached out with his long fingers and pulled up Rosia’s bonnet. This revealed her previously hidden view, and Rosia’s surprised hazelnut eyes looked at Nigel. Only then did Nigel smile crookedly, looking satisfied.

“That’s better. Do I need to teach you that you should look people in the eyes when talking to them?”

“It’s raining.”

“And?”

“I just didn’t like raindrops hitting my face.”

Rosia calmly replied and fixed her disheveled bonnet. Water droplets collected on the bonnet fell with soft plops. Nigel stood with his arms crossed, staring at her intently.

“Lady Berthe, I have a proposal for you.”

“I won’t accept it.”

Rosia cut him off immediately. Though Nigel looked somewhat hurt in his pride, he continued undeterred.

“Meet with me for just one month.”

“……Are you suggesting some kind of contract relationship?”

Rosia looked up at Nigel with surprised eyes. Nigel’s rain-soaked hair now hung limply, making him look even more lonely. Nigel nodded once.

“You’ll surely end up wanting to marry me so badly that you’ll be prostrating yourself at my feet.”

“You really enjoy taking great risks, Your Highness.”

Though Rosia wanted to leave this place quickly, her opponent was a Grand Duke. She didn’t have the power to ignore the Grand Duke, no matter how nonsensical his words were. Nigel probably knew this better than anyone. That’s why he could casually propose marriage and let a woman he claimed to have fallen in love at first sight get soaked in the drizzling rain.