But since she had her head bowed, he couldn’t see the expression on her face.

…Though he could probably guess.

Desolation, shame, despair.

Those emotions were clearly reflected in her breathing and tone.

Lucas had never paid much attention to people’s feelings. Not that he felt the need to, but it was simply his nature.

Yet, Giselle’s emotions were conveyed to him vividly.

Even without seeing her expression, just listening to her voice was enough.

“How much?”

Lucas adjusted his cravat, asking in a calm, matter-of-fact tone.

“He borrowed another 30 million larcs. From that, uh, Count Maurice.”

He looked at her with a composed expression. Giselle was still keeping her head bowed.

As if she were the guilty one.

Silently observing her demeanor, Lucas parted his lips.

“If it’s just that amount of money, I can lend you more…”

“No. Even after the marriage, this kind of thing will be repeated.”

Giselle cut off Lucas’ words, raising her head to look at him. Her calm, deep blue gaze met his green eyes, which looked as if they could burst into tears at any moment.

“This way, my father… my family will cling to you, not Count Maurice. They will try to be a parasite to you, Senior.”

“…”

“The problem is not just the sudden increase in debt. Of course, I’m not saying 30 million larcs is nothing. But anyway, if you marry me, the things you’ll have to deal with will be even more… more…”

She trailed off, lowering her gaze again. She felt utterly wretched.

What was even harder to bear was the fact that the person watching her in this state was Lucas, this man.

“Let’s pretend the conversation we had yesterday never happened. …I’m sorry, President.”

Giselle managed to choke out the words, then quickly turned and left the office.

“Wait! Antici…”

Lucas hurriedly tried to follow Giselle, but was forced to stop as he heard footsteps approaching from beyond the door.

“Haha! So, this evening, oof! Pr-President!”

Bursting in with a loud voice was Schnickel, the head of the accounting team. He was chattering with a subordinate when he suddenly startled and rushed over to Lucas.

“President, what brings you here? No, I mean, please have a seat over here! Anticia! Where did you go? I must serve the President tea.”

Schnickel ushered Lucas in an overly enthusiastic manner, raising his voice to call for Giselle.

“President, what brings you here? No, I mean, please have a seat over here! Anticia! Where did you go? You must serve the President tea.”

Schnickel ushered Lucas in an overly enthusiastic manner, raising his voice to call for Giselle.

“President, just wait a moment. I’ll have Anticia bring you tea right away…”

“It’s fine. It’s not even past lunchtime yet, and I’ve already kept you from resting properly. I’ll take my leave now, so please rest easy. It wasn’t an urgent matter that brought me here.”

“But, President…”

Schnickel tried to stop Lucas as he was about to leave the office. His eyes were brimming with the desire to impress the President.

Despite Schnickel’s attempts to detain him, Lucas furrowed his brow and turned back to look at him.

“Mr. Schnickel.”

“Yes? Yes, President!”

Schnickel responded enthusiastically to the President’s address, but the words that followed were far from what he had expected.

“Miss Anticia is an employee in charge of accounting work. She was not hired to serve tea.”

“…Huh?”

Confused by the unexpected statement, Schnickel’s face contorted. Lucas cast a cold gaze at him and then left the office.

A muffled sound of complaint could be heard from behind the closed door, but Lucas paid no heed. What was more important was finding Giselle, who had carelessly dropped that bombshell and then left.

“Where on earth did she go?”

He frowned, running a hand through his hair. He couldn’t find her anywhere in the building.

‘Did she go to the park?’

Just as Lucas was about to head towards the nearby park, he was approached by a frantic secretary.

“President, there you are! I have something urgent to discuss with you…”

Hearing the urgency in the secretary’s voice, Lucas let out a sigh and turned to face him.

* * *

“Have a good evening.”

Giselle bid farewell to her co-workers and crossed the building lobby.

But she soon stopped and turned around. Her green gaze was directed towards somewhere upstairs.

“What are you standing there for? Aren’t you leaving?”

One of her closest colleagues, who was about to head home, asked her.

“Ah, I’m… I’m going. Have a good evening.”

Giselle stammered in response, then quickly turned and hurried on her way.

As if she was afraid someone might catch a glimpse of her heart, her steps quickened.

“Yeah, the Senior must have understood my point.”

Giselle nodded as she walked briskly.

The entire afternoon had been uneventful. Lucas had not summoned her to his office.

Surely, he must have realized by now the drawbacks of marrying her outweigh the benefits.

“Good job. I can’t drag an innocent person into this mess.”

If she and Lucas were to get married, he would have to shoulder so much.

Just looking at her father’s recent large borrowing from Count Maurice was enough to predict what would happen.

…It would be even worse for Lucas.

After all, Lucas was much wealthier than the old Count.

“…Phew. But why do I feel so strange?”

It wasn’t as if there was anything wrong with her heart, yet something in her chest was throbbing. On one hand, it felt as if a gaping hole had opened in the center of her chest.

She waited for the omnibus, letting her body go limp. No, it would be more accurate to say that the strength had drained out of her against her will.

The street was bustling with people waiting for the omnibus. Thinking that they would all be boarding the same carriage made her feel dizzy.

Moreover, today, she was particularly mentally exhausted.

“…Maybe I’ll just walk.”

Giselle muttered to herself as she stood there in a daze.

At that moment, the sound of hooves reached her ears, and soon the omnibus approached.

Whoa, whoa.

Before the driver could even stop the carriage, people rushed to board it.

Giselle was jostled and pushed around, eventually finding herself pushed to the back.

Normally, she would have stubbornly elbowed her way through the crowd to board the omnibus, but today, she had no such drive.

By the time the omnibus, now filled with people, departed, she was the only one left on the street.

The sun was setting, and darkness was slowly enveloping the area.

Giselle gazed at the western sky bathed in the sunset glow, then turned her body.

It would surely take at least an hour to walk home, but today, she just wanted to walk.

Though it had been merely a fleeting dream, it had not been unpleasant.

To lose sleep over a proposal that was not even from a loved one.

She didn’t want to erase that dream by being jostled around on the omnibus. If possible, she wanted to hold onto it a little longer.

* * *

Giselle arrived home after the darkness had fully settled.

“Miss, you’re back!”

The butler hurried to greet her. Giselle was puzzled by his unusual behavior and widened her eyes.

Given his old age and the fact that he had nowhere else to go, he remained in this household, but the daughter of an employer who couldn’t even pay him on time had no reason to be so warmly welcomed.

“A little late…”

“Miss! Have you just arrived?”

Just as Giselle was about to respond with a puzzled expression, the nanny came rushing out from inside the house with an anxious look on her face.

Her appearance was vastly different from her usual slow, hobbling gait due to her aging knees.

“…Nanny?”

“Why are you so late! You had us so worried!”

“Uh, sorry. I’m a little late, aren’t I?”

Giselle responded with an even more bewildered expression, looking back and forth between the butler and the nanny. Their uncharacteristic fidgeting and concern was unusual.

“Goodness, did something happen again?”

She asked them pointedly as she observed their behavior, recalling the times when they had acted this way in the past.

When her father had made unreasonable investments, or when someone had swindled him.

Or when her stepmother or half-brother had indulged in extravagance beyond their means, and the debt collectors had come calling.

None of those situations were ever reassuring.

“Who is it this time? Father? Or, mother? William?”

“Oh my, what are you saying, Miss? It’s nothing like that.”

Her nanny said, calming the pale-faced Giselle, then gently pushing her forward.

“First, you should go wash up and change your clothes, Miss. Ah! And do your makeup properly as well.”

“What’s the…? Why would I need to put on makeup in the evening?”

Giselle was being ushered towards the stairs when she suddenly stopped, her expression hardening.

Another possibility had occurred to her besides the scenarios she had just thought of. Changing clothes and putting on makeup at this time of day…

“Don’t tell me Count Maurice has come again?”