“I want to choose Sir Lauderdale.”

When Diana informed Duke Winchester of her choice, he wore a troubled expression.

“Sir Lauderdale?”

There’s no reason to refuse, so why is he acting like that? Diana couldn’t help but be surprised by her father’s reaction.

This made her wait nervously for whatever answer would come from his mouth. After a moment of silence, unexpected words flowed from the Duke’s lips.

“Didn’t he reject you?”

Ah. Did he know about that?

Well, there must have been more than one or two knights who witnessed that scene. One of them would have reported it to her father. So that’s why he hadn’t considered Edwin as a marriage candidate.

If that was the case, then her father’s behavior in her previous life made sense. Who would want to make a man who had hurt their daughter into her husband?

Though she understood it logically, she couldn’t help feeling her heart grow heavy.

However, now wasn’t the time to worry about her feelings. Expressing her thoughts clearly to her father came first.

“His qualifications are flawless. If I become the family head, I think he would support me well.”

“You still haven’t given up on that idea.”

The moment he heard the word ‘family head,’ Duke Winchester’s face subtly contorted.

She had spoken seriously, but her father didn’t think much of it. A surge of frustration rose in her chest like a lump of lead.

This was a matter of life and death that required staking their entire lives. Even if he didn’t know the future, how could he show such an attitude?

“Sigh. How can you say such things? You were the one who said you’d consider it if I brought a groom to your liking.”

Diana’s voice rose in agitation because she simply couldn’t calm down.

“I said that because I was flustered by your absurd words.”

“Were you lying to me to avoid the situation?”

“I wasn’t lying. If the man you chose was decent, I was planning to give my permission. I simply thought you would be happy to get engaged since you chose the man yourself.”

“…”

It felt like talking to a massive wall. Though she knew it wasn’t something that could be easily changed, she couldn’t help but feel disappointed in her father.

He didn’t like the man she had chosen now, so what exactly was she supposed to do?

Though anger surged within her, Diana gritted her teeth and tried to maintain her composure. However, contrary to her thoughts, her heart wouldn’t calm down easily.

“Since Sir Lauderdale doesn’t please you, are you telling me to follow your opinion now?”

“If you would do that, I’d be grateful…”

It sounded like he was ultimately telling her to marry Clive, so Diana interrupted her father mid-sentence and shouted.

“Then who is better than Sir Lauderdale? If there’s a man better than him, bring him to me. I’ll marry according to your wishes.”

Knowing there wasn’t anyone, Diana boldly pushed her opinion.

“Young Master Orkney…”

As expected, Clive’s name came from the Duke’s mouth. What was so special about him that he kept pushing him as a marriage partner? Once again, Diana cut off the Duke’s words.

“Have you ever seen him properly demonstrate his abilities? The only reason you think well of him is because Count Orkney praised him as intelligent.”

Ugh. Duke Winchester pressed his forehead with his hand and shook his head, seeming like he had gotten involved in a troublesome matter.

“So that’s how you’re going to be? If it’s not Sir Lauderdale, I won’t marry for the rest of my life, so know that. Either pass the Winchester family to a collateral relative or do whatever you want. If you don’t like that, then make me the family head!”

These weren’t words spoken from the heart. They came out impulsively because Duke Winchester kept provoking her. She felt that unless she spoke this firmly, Duke Winchester wouldn’t listen to her.

“Di, Diana…”

She heard someone calling her from behind, but Diana left the study without looking back.

Usually she walked as lightly as a feather, but not today. She was extremely agitated, so her emotions showed in her footsteps as she walked to her bedroom.

Even after entering her bedroom with loud steps, her anger showed no signs of subsiding. She was angry and frustrated.

“Is changing the future not easy?”

Even after conveying her intentions to her father this clearly, would the future truly not change?

Sighing deeply, Diana pondered how to persuade her father going forward. Knowing that her father was also stubborn, she worried whether she could change his mind.

* * *

“Sir Lauderdale has accepted the engagement with you.”

Not long after, Duke Winchester delivered surprising news to Diana.

“Ac-accepted the engagement? What do you mean?”

Diana thought she had misheard. Suddenly an engagement with Edwin? What was this out-of-the-blue talk?

“Didn’t you say you would absolutely never marry anyone but Sir Lauderdale? I’m sorry for not knowing your feelings ran so deep. So I proceeded with the engagement with him according to your wishes.”

Perhaps thinking she would be delighted, the Duke seemed disappointed by Diana’s unexpected reaction.

An engagement? Between Sir Lauderdale and her? Does this make sense?

She had only imagined it but never actually thought about getting engaged to him. Hadn’t her husband been Clive in her previous life? Yet the partner could change this easily? Wasn’t this a dream?

“Did Sir Lauderdale readily agree to accept it?”

Having been rejected once before, Diana thought Edwin would reject her again this time too. But why had he changed his mind? He wouldn’t readily accept, so something was strange.

“I asked His Majesty the Emperor for a favor.”

Then completely unexpected words flowed from Duke Winchester’s mouth. A favor? Don’t tell her…

“When granting him territory to honor his achievements this time, His Majesty also proposed marriage with you.”

“Hi-His Majesty the Emperor got involved?”

Good heavens. Why did he escalate things that far? Perhaps worried about rejection? 

Duke Winchester nodded, reading Diana’s thoughts.

“If he marries you, won’t he become a member of the Winchester family in the future? So His Majesty said he hoped Edwin would accept the engagement and continue to serve the imperial family loyally.”

Who could refuse such words? This was practically threatening him to marry by putting the Emperor forward.

Even so, this wasn’t right. There was no reason to force marriage to this extent. If she had known such results would follow from words spoken in anger, she wouldn’t have uttered them so easily.

“Can’t it be undone?”

“Unless you make a grave mistake, that won’t happen.”

The Duke answered firmly. It seemed he had absolutely no intention of changing his mind unless something special happened.

Sigh. Father.

Diana sighed deeply and pressed her forehead. No matter how she thought about it, this was an absurd situation.

Did it make sense to use power to force an engagement close to blackmail without even asking Edwin’s opinion?

However, since what was done couldn’t be undone, Diana judged it would be better to end the conversation here for today.

“I think my heart was startled by the sudden engagement news. I think I need some time to collect myself.”

“Do that.”

Unlike her surprised heart, Diana’s footsteps as she walked down the corridor were light. Perhaps because the current absurd situation felt dreamlike, she was in quite an excited state.

She was really going to be engaged to Sir Lauderdale.

Diana didn’t know how many times she pinched her own cheeks. Only after pinching until her cheeks turned red could she face the reality of her engagement with Edwin.

Even knowing it was a forced engagement and an unavoidable situation, Diana couldn’t calm her excited heart. She was happy enough to fly to the sky.

However, she couldn’t completely accept those feelings honestly.

How will Sir Lauderdale think of her? Won’t he despise her because of this incident?

She hadn’t intended to force an engagement, but since it happened unintentionally, she felt sorry toward Edwin.

Should she provide an excuse first and make the engagement talk disappear? No. It’s already spilled. Sir Lauderdale also accepted the engagement.

Then doesn’t this mean marriage with Clive is out of the question?

Though she felt sorry toward Edwin, the more Diana thought about it, the more selfish desires began to bloom in her heart. Since her previous life had been unhappy, she wanted to dream of marriage with a man she admired in this life.

Moreover, if she got engaged to him, she wouldn’t have to deal with Clive anymore, so what reason was there to miss this good opportunity?

Even if she accepted the engagement, she would pay the price of not actually winning Edwin’s heart. Though she knew she might suffer emotionally in the future, Diana decided to accept her current situation.

For her father and mother, for her own life, and for her unfulfilled first love.

‘I’m sorry, Sir Lauderdale. In this life, I want to be greedy for you!’

She knew well that it was a selfish heart.

But perhaps God had taken pity on her and granted her wish. Thinking this way, Diana offered words of apology to Edwin in her heart.