Had there ever been such peaceful times after marriage?

A smile lingered at the corners of Diana’s lips as she enjoyed tea time with her close lady friends. Though she had met with them often even after marriage, why did their faces feel so welcome now?

Diana felt at peace just by looking at her close lady friends. She must have forgotten the comfort of daily life for a while because of the time she spent with an anxious heart.

“Who has Lady Winchester been keeping an eye on lately? From what I hear, Duke Winchester seems to favor young master Orkney. Will you become engaged to him?”

It wasn’t surprising at all that Clive’s name came from Lady Early’s mouth. He belonged to the category of decent men before marriage, after all.

“Well.”

Diana neither praised Clive nor spoke ill of him. She kept her words to a minimum.

“Aren’t you and young master Orkney close?”

“We’ve just known each other since childhood, that’s all.”

“Ah. Well, everyone has different preferred styles. So what style do you like, Lady Winchester?”

“I want a man who can give me trust, not a scheming man who hides his true feelings.”

Diana’s answer indirectly revealed that Clive was a scheming man, so the ladies exchanged bewildered glances.

They had known each other for over ten years. So even without asking more, they could already guess Diana’s thoughts.

‘We didn’t see him that way, but young master Orkney must not be that great.’

 As expected, the ladies’ eyes said exactly that. Diana deliberately pretended not to notice those looks.

She hoped they would change the rumors about Clive a little. His reputation needed to fall so there would be fewer women like Diana who got fooled by outward appearances.

Diana continued the conversation with a satisfied smile.

“By any chance, are there any young masters who you feel have favorable feelings toward me?”

This time it would be better to choose a man who truly loves me. She asked the ladies with that thought.

She could feel when someone had favorable feelings toward her, but she couldn’t be certain. To avoid misunderstanding, she needed to exchange opinions with others.

“I know of about two men interested in you, Lady Winchester. Young master Tankerville and young master Townsend.”

“Doesn’t Lord Huntley also have interest in Lady Winchester?”

“Excluding the conditions I possess, would he truly have feelings for me?”

Embarrassingly, the most popular lady in high society was Diana herself.

Lustrous brown hair, deep and large eyes reminiscent of the blue sea. Her harmoniously arranged features were flawlessly beautiful, but unfortunately Diana wasn’t popular solely due to her own charm.

The reason many people wanted to marry Diana was because the man who married her could become Duke Winchester. Who would refuse the chance to become the head of a noble house?

So whenever she attended balls, men blinded by power would compete to approach Diana. There were also many men who lingered around trying to strike up conversations somehow.

Of course, not everyone coveted power. According to rumors, there were some men who admired Diana and tried to win her favor.

The problem was that she couldn’t distinguish whether they were pretending to like her while being attracted to her conditions like Clive, or whether they actually liked her. So she couldn’t help but feel confused whenever she conversed with men.

“Lady Winchester, why do you lack confidence so much? Of course your conditions are good, but even without them, many men would like you.”

“I want to choose a man who wants only me, not what I possess. It’s not easy to discern that.”

It would be nice if there was a good man who could replace Clive, but most such men already had fiancées.

“Do you have any men you could recommend?”

“The most popular among the ladies would have to be Lord Lauderdale, wouldn’t it? Lady Winchester, you know Lord Lauderdale, don’t you?”

The moment Edwin’s name was heard, her heart began to pound. Just hearing his name made her heart flutter so much she couldn’t stay calm.

Edwin Lauderdale. In fact, he was the man Diana had kept in her heart for a long time.

He was currently the captain of the Imperial Knights and called the Empire’s Sword, but before that, he had also been a knight belonging to the Winchester family. Diana had continued to harbor unrequited love for him since those days.

Black eyes reminiscent of black pearls, deep black hair that brought to mind the dark night sky. Handsome looks captivating enough to draw attention. His sharp and imposing atmosphere often captured many people’s gazes.

Called the Empire’s hero, despite being of common birth, he had risen to the position of knight captain through skill alone, and his achievements were recognized with the barony of Lauderdale.

As a result, the current Edwin had become the Empire’s best marriage prospect, possessing wealth, honor, power, ability, and even looks.

So many nobles wanted to match their daughters with him that he could be called an object of admiration among many women.

But she remembered that in her previous life, he had remained single.

Countless ladies had continuously thrown themselves at him, but Edwin hadn’t even glanced at them.

There were even rumors that he might prefer men, but Diana could say for certain that wasn’t the case. He absolutely didn’t like men.

He had a woman he kept in his heart. So Diana often thought that Edwin might have never married his whole life because he couldn’t forget his first love.

She could have easily found out who that person was, but Diana didn’t. She didn’t want to be consumed by unbearable jealousy.

Then she tried to live her own life without paying attention to him. Since she had been rejected long ago, she thought of him only as a distant man.

Very few people knew that she had been rejected by him. All the witnesses had kept their mouths shut, so those rumors wouldn’t have spread outside.

So it was natural for Lady Early to mention him. Currently, he was the most talked-about marriage prospect among the ladies.

“We do know each other, but we weren’t particularly close.”

She tried to answer calmly, but Diana’s voice trembled slightly.

“Really? I thought you two were quite close. Some were jealous of you, but I guess it was all a misunderstanding.”

“Yes, it was a misunderstanding.”

How nice it would have been if it wasn’t a misunderstanding, even if it meant receiving jealousy. While she briefly had such thoughts, praise for Edwin continued.

“There are rumors that if he achieves merit on this expedition, he’ll receive territory.”

“Again? It hasn’t been long since he received his title and territory.”

“That’s right. Doesn’t that mean he has His Majesty the Emperor’s trust?”

“So what? Everyone knows he has no interest in women. Right?”

“That’s why everyone feels sorry for him. He won’t let anyone get close, so they’re just stamping their feet from afar.”

The ladies’ gazes simultaneously turned to Diana. They seemed to want her to tell them if she knew anything about Edwin.

Because he can’t forget the woman of his first love. She could tell them at least that much, but she didn’t tell the ladies because she didn’t want stories about him to be consumed as light gossip in high society. So Diana hastily changed the subject.

“Rather than that, I’d like you to recommend someone decent among those who have proposed to me recently. I’ll have conversations with them myself, but I’d like to hear other people’s opinions too.”

Since rumors about Clive were also very good, she didn’t want to find a spouse based on rumors alone. It would be better to hear other ladies’ opinions and find a husband by having conversations with them directly.

“That’s right. You should be careful when choosing a spouse.”

“Depending on who I choose as a spouse, my life changes… It makes me feel somewhat resentful.”

Unexpected words flowed from Lady Cavan’s mouth. The surprised ladies’ gazes naturally turned to her.

Diana also felt not just resentful but even bitter, but who would have thought Lady Cavan had similar thoughts to her own…

“I’ve often had such thoughts too.”

When her life from her previous existence came to mind, a regretful sigh naturally flowed from Diana’s lips.

“Lady Winchester will at least become a person of the Winchester family, but we have to follow our husband’s family, so we have many concerns whenever we choose marriage prospects.”

“It would be nice if I could become the family head instead.”

Before they knew it, the atmosphere had changed from time spent choosing marriage prospects to time spent lamenting life.

“If that were possible, it would have changed long ago.”

“Why are the laws unfavorable to us?”

“Exactly.”

Of course, not everyone thought the same way.

“It’s not like we can become one just because we want to. Besides, being a family head would be troublesome.”

“That’s right.”

Some showed reluctance and offered opposing opinions. But their words didn’t reach Diana’s ears. Only Lady Cavan’s words kept circling in her head.

Did it make sense that life changed according to one’s husband, just like she said?

When she recalled meeting Clive, that worst of men, and having the Winchester house stolen from her, anger surged up.

She couldn’t contain her indignant feelings. She needed something definite that would prevent Clive, that bastard, from coveting the Winchester house.

Would it be better to change the law instead? There was a possibility of being disliked by protesting to the Imperial family, but the desire to make such an argument began to seep in.

That would be much better than being betrayed by Clive and having her whole family murdered and her house stolen.

Why should she have to give up all power and titles to her husband in the first place? Did it make sense that her life would change depending on who she chose as her husband?

No matter how much property she might inherit, money was useless as long as she had to live a life dependent on others.

Moreover, if Diana could become the family head, men with ambition might not approach her at all. Since there were no men in the Empire with lower titles than their wives, everyone would be reluctant.

It would be better to try it first!

A light of firm determination appeared on Diana’s face.