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A wine glass with intricate gold-inlaid patterns fell to the floor with a crisp sound. Beitram couldn’t help but doubt his ears, though he knew he had heard correctly.
“Who did what?”
The air itself seemed to hold its breath at his ominous voice, which resembled a growling beast. Quido, who knew his master’s temperament very well, bowed his masked face even deeper.
“Last evening at Isabel Belzak’s engagement party, Lucienne Bickman proposed to a young duke from Freemont.”
Beitram abruptly stood up before Quido finished speaking. His face, illuminated by the light, was completely distorted.
“Since when have they known each other?”
“They just met.”
“What?”
“She said she fell in love at first sight and proposed.”
Quido’s head was throbbing just the same. It wasn’t the first time Lucienne had taken bold actions, but he never expected her to do something this unpredictable.
In Edmus, it was customary for men to propose. Usually, they would bring necessary items to the woman’s house, or make a declaration in front of people after an implicit agreement had already been reached. Lucienne’s case violated all these customs.
“How did the duke respond? What kind of man is he?”
Quido recalled the words of the person who had delivered the rumor.
The duke had tried to dismiss Lucienne’s proposal as a rash impulse, but Lucienne refused to back down. She recited a string of mythological or historical figures who were said to have fallen in love at first sight and lived happily ever after, and boldly stated that this was the first time in her life she had felt such emotions.
“If you have any regard for a lady’s honor, please don’t make a mockery of the purity of my feelings. I beg you to give me a chance to prove my heart.”
Like a skilled shepherd herding sheep, she invited the duke to the Bickman mansion. Rejecting a woman’s proposal made with such courage in front of everyone would be an action reserved for one’s worst enemy. The duke had no choice but to accept her invitation, like a beast caught in a trap.
“Was this man worthy of Lucienne falling in love at first sight?”
Beitram had to exhale an empty breath after asking, as he couldn’t comprehend it.
The Lucienne he had observed was someone who controlled her emotions well. Since the day Kirhin died and she held a knife to him, she had only expressed her emotions through her eyes, never crossing the line with her actions.
Yet he knew well that her hatred toward him hadn’t disappeared. She always had the eyes of a predator waiting for an opportunity.
“From the moment he entered, every woman in the hall couldn’t take their eyes off him. According to rumors, he received his title for his great achievements in the recent Freemont civil war. He has become the wealthiest nobleman in Freemont after inheriting the fallen Duncan family’s assets. He’s essentially a trusted confidant of Freemont III.”
“Is he from Freemont?”
“That’s unknown, but it’s clear he’s not of noble birth. There was no family named Diconmeyer anywhere.”
Beitram paced around with an irritable frown.
“Find out more about the duke. Gather every piece of information within reach.”
“Yes.”
Quido bowed respectfully and disappeared. Beitram took a deep breath and sat back in his chair. He felt a violent urge to destroy everything around him.
He could have dealt with the Nix merchant group long ago. But he hadn’t for two reasons. First, they were more capable than Folluk, and second, because of Quido’s suggestion.
Quido had been left with a large, indelible scar at the corner of his mouth after having his face slashed by Kirhin’s sword. It was a hideous sight that could make anyone faint upon suddenly encountering him. Beitram had intended to dispose of Quido, who had missed his target and killed innocent Kirhin instead, but he refrained because Quido seemed likely to die anyway.
Quido recovered after about half a year. Beitram, who had many concerns regarding the Freemont civil war, ultimately couldn’t dismiss him.
‘I have a good method.’
One day, Quido spoke up while Beitram was contemplating how to deal with the Nix merchant group. His words made Beitram’s eyes widen despite his initial indifferent response.
‘Marry Lucienne Bickman.’
There was no need to ask further. The issues that would be resolved naturally unfolded in his mind.
He let out a small laugh and asked:
‘Lucienne wouldn’t accept it willingly.’
‘It will take time. If you regularly visit the Bickman mansion, rumors will naturally spread. And we’ll encourage stories about the Bickman family curse. Then no one will readily propose to Lucienne Bickman. After letting time pass and allowing the Nix merchant group to grow……’
‘Then I’ll marry her when the time is right.’
‘Your wife’s condition isn’t good, so it shouldn’t take many years. In the meantime, it would be good to use Lucienne’s desire for revenge to make her focus more on the merchant group.’
It was quite a good idea. If he dealt with Folluk at that time and merged his forces with the Nix merchant group, no one in Edmus would dare challenge them.
Until now, the plan had been flowing very well. The Nix merchant group had truly become one of the most prominent merchant groups in Edmus, and Cecilie’s breath, which had been as precarious as a candle with a burnt wick, had ceased at an appropriate time without them needing to intervene.
People thought Lucienne was his lover, and young men who had been interested in her all cut ties due to his pressure. Even the most persistent Chester Storms.
Lucienne couldn’t have noticed his plan. She was intelligent and had excellent business acumen, but she had not the slightest skill in matters of romance.
Moreover, she couldn’t have imagined that he, whom she considered her brother’s enemy, would be making such calculations about her.
For Beitram, she was the only woman he had ever found interesting, so he had been looking forward to a pleasant married life.
And now this Lucienne had proposed to a nobleman from the Grand Duchy overnight with the absurd excuse of love at first sight. It was truly unbelievable.
Did she feel pressured by rumors connecting her to me? Is she trying to divert people’s attention with an even more shocking rumor?
Either way, she definitely didn’t propose on impulse. There must be a clear, undisclosed reason. Lucienne wasn’t the type to cause such waves without thinking.
“……Duke Diconmeyer.”
Beitram drank straight from the bottle without a glass. The alcohol flowing down his throat set his chest ablaze. He had no idea how to quell this rising fire.
* * *
“No, that color is too dark. Something brighter. Have the flowers arrived? Shanti, you need to move the vase to its proper place right away.”
The servants moved in unison under Maya’s command. They had been turning the house upside down for three days already, and though they should have been tired, there was no one in this mansion who could overcome Maya, who was whipping them forward with manic enthusiasm.
Well, there was one person, but she had been lying on the sofa like someone whose soul had departed, letting Maya do as she pleased.
“Um, I’d like Miss to choose which desserts to serve the guest.”
The chef cautiously approached with a plate. It contained honey pudding, which was Lucienne’s favorite, a pie made with plum jam, a cake made with chestnuts stored for winter mixed with meringue, and a tart topped with seasonal fruits, all looking delicious.
Maya observed Lucienne, who gave no response. She was lying like a dead person, staring only at the ceiling. Unable to press her, Maya bit her lip.
On the day in question, Maya, who had been full of expectations, instantly sensed that something had happened when she saw Lucienne’s expression upon returning home. However, that expression seemed angry, sad, and happy all at once, making it impossible to guess what emotions she was harboring.
Her hair and clothes were wet, so Maya thought she might have encountered some trouble and served her while thoroughly badmouthing Isabel, but Maya soon realized her words weren’t reaching Lucienne’s ears at all. Lucienne was deeply immersed in her own thoughts.
She only learned the next day that her mistress was the protagonist of an incredible proposal—and the one who had done the proposing. When she went out to the market, maids from other houses had rushed up to her.
Returning without even completing half her shopping, she stood before Lucienne with Brook.
‘Miss, is it true that you personally proposed to a duke from the Grand Duchy?’
Brook’s face was already pale. The entire city was ridiculing her mistress for being frivolous. Lucienne, who had been sitting quietly in her office staring at a corner, only regained focus after Maya asked anxiously for the third time.
‘It’s true.’
‘Oh my goodness, Miss. You should be receiving proposals, not making them! If you were in such a hurry, you could have at least done it privately. Why did you have to do it so openly in front of everyone! Now people are talking about nothing but your proposal whenever they gather!’
‘That’s good. If it’s become so well-known, it can’t be undone.’
Maya could only hold her forehead at Lucienne’s calm murmur as she continued to stare somewhere into space.
From what she heard, the person her mistress had proposed to was a high-ranking nobleman from Freemont, and she had proposed saying she fell in love at first sight. There were persistent rumors that he was an exceptionally handsome man.
At first, she thought her innocent mistress, who had never been in love, had acted on a momentary impulse, but something seemed off.
The mistress she knew wasn’t that type of person, and ever since returning from Isabel’s engagement party, she had been constantly lost in thought with an inscrutable expression. She certainly didn’t look like someone carried away by passionate emotions.
There must be a reason. And that reason was likely connected to the merchant group or Count Balshwin. So Maya asked just one thing:
‘Do you truly want to marry him?’
At that question, Lucienne’s beautiful eyes wavered. Maya felt she would never forget Lucienne’s expression at that moment. It was somehow sad enough to chill a corner of her heart, yet very mature.
‘……I want to. But I probably can’t.’
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Mimizareader
I looked at the chapter number and laughed, I can’t believe this much suffering is in just a 100 chapters. And omg the audacity of that Blashwin piece of garbage is remarkable. I can’t believe he actually planned to marry her, actually she should’ve done so, it would be easier to assassinate him that way. I hate him so much. No, Quido is the actual trash, if Blashwin is the villian, Quido is the devil.