The Kingdom’s Most Eligible Groom and the Ragged Miss

[Who is the Woman Chosen by the Kingdom’s Most Eligible Groom?]
[The Fortunate Rise of the Ragged Miss to Become the Mistress of the Taylor Household]
[This Man’s Love Transcends Rank and Poverty!]

“…Cough!”

Giselle took a quick glance at the newspaper the nanny had brought, then immediately spat out the tea she had just sipped. The nanny, who had been merrily smiling, was startled and hurried to her side.

“My goodness, Miss! Are you alright?”

“Cough! Yes, I’m fine.”

“Was the tea too hot? It should have cooled down enough…”

The nanny looked distressed, thinking Giselle might have burned her mouth. Giselle hastily waved her hand, not wanting the nanny to feel too guilty.

“It’s not that, it’s because of this newspaper article.”

More precisely, it was because of the large headlines dominating the front page.

She didn’t even need to read the article itself. Just seeing the bold headlines was enough to guess the content.

It was a story that had been circulating around her for the past few days, so it was hardly surprising.

“What’s wrong with the newspaper article? Oh dear, our Miss is getting shy again, it seems.”

The nanny speculated on the reason for Giselle’s reaction and smiled again.

“I’m not being shy…”

Hmm. Giselle tried to refute the nanny’s words but ended up swallowing a sigh, then picked up the teacup again.

The bitter taste of the tea was completely lost on her. No, she didn’t have the energy to even appreciate it.

She stood up from her seat and walked to the window, slightly parting the curtains to peek outside.

Men were loitering beyond the short fence. It was a sight she had become accustomed to seeing over the past few days.

“Goodness…”

“The reporters are here early again today.”

The nanny approached from behind Giselle, glancing out the window and clicking her tongue.

“They’ve already announced the marriage news to both families. I wonder what more they could want to report… Will you be going out the back door again today?”

“Yes, that’s best. There might be reporters on that side too.”

It would still be better than going out the front. Giselle shook her head, remembering the unpleasant incident a few days ago when she had gone out without a second thought and was accosted by the reporters.

The movement caused the strands of hair to shift, briefly revealing the bruise on her forehead.

It was an injury caused by someone’s camera that had been shoved towards her that day. Days had passed, but the mark was still there.

The fortunate thing was that since then, the reporters had not been as aggressively swarming as they had been that day.

It was as if they were holding back their crazed rush, even towards the people, no, the animals coming out of this house.

As if someone had put pressure on them.

「Is it the reporters doing this?」

Lucas’ simple question, directed at Giselle’s disheveled appearance as she arrived at the office, was straightforward.

Despite looking as if she had just escaped from some kidnapping, his attitude was no different from his usual self.

Aside from that simple question about the reporters.

But Giselle held no resentment towards Lucas.

Now that they had agreed to marry, there was no reason for any new emotions to suddenly arise between them.

‘But did he at least warn the reporters in some way?’

Perhaps he thought it wouldn’t do for his future wife to be seen as a laughingstock by others.

Giselle peeked at the reporters loitering inside the house, then closed the curtain and turned away.

Even though the reporters’ fervor had calmed down a bit, she still didn’t have the courage to boldly go out the front door. So she planned to quietly leave through the back door, avoiding attention as much as possible.

“Nanny, my outer coat please…”

Just then, a commotion could be heard outside.

— Mr. Lucas Taylor has arrived!

Amidst the gasps, cheers, and shouts, his name rang out clearly. Even the firmly closed window couldn’t block his presence.

Giselle took the coat from her nanny, but hurried to the window and opened the curtain.

A car was parked amidst the murmuring reporters gathered near the iron gate.

…A car?

Even without the reporters loudly calling out Lucas’ name, she knew whose car that was.

And who was currently sitting in that car.

She unconsciously opened her mouth, her eyes wide.

“Impossible. Why is Senior here…”

As Giselle muttered to herself, the car door opened and the driver and a secretary got out. While the driver held the reporters back, the secretary approached the rear door and opened it.

— It’s really Mr. Taylor!

Someone cried out in shock, even though they had been shouting Lucas’ name until now. The sound of their murmuring was vividly transmitted through the closed window.

Amidst the collective surprise, Lucas calmly emerged from the car alone.

His dark hair was briefly ruffled by the breeze.

Following the strands of hair, his deep blue gaze was directed straight at her.

As if he had noticed Giselle standing at the window, watching him.

Gazing up precisely towards her bedroom.

“…!”

The moment their eyes met, Giselle quickly crouched down, hiding behind the window sill and covering her head with her hands.

“Miss, why are you suddenly doing that?”

The nanny looked puzzled at Giselle’s actions, then quickly fussed over her.

“Oh dear, your dress will get wrinkled if you do that!”

“Ah… I’m sorry.”

Realizing she had been crouching behind the window like a child playing hide-and-seek, Giselle hastily stood up. The nanny came over and started fixing her attire again.

‘What was I thinking? Why did I hide?’

Leaving her appearance to the nanny, Giselle frowned and stomped her feet. She could feel the nanny glancing at her strangely, but she couldn’t pretend to be calm either.

Her face was burning.

If she could, she would have torn her hair out and thrown a tantrum.

Why did she do that?

If their eyes had met, she could have just naturally bowed her head in greeting and turned away.

No, she might not have even needed to greet him. The eye contact could have been just her imagination.

There was quite a distance between the man standing outside the gate and herself at the second-floor bedroom window, after all.

“Goodness…”

Please, I hope he did not see it.

I hope he didn’t notice my foolish behavior.

Giselle sighed, then cautiously turned her gaze back out the window.

But his figure was nowhere to be found, except for the murmuring reporters.

‘Where did he go so quickly?’

Just as Giselle was about to step closer to the window, curious, the sound of hurried footsteps approached, and a knock came before the door opened without her permission.

“Miss, I apologize for the rudeness.”

The owner of the footsteps was the head maid. Giselle turned to face the maid, abandoning her move towards the window.

There was no reason for the maid to come to her bedroom this early in the morning. Moreover, this was the time when she would be attending to her parents’ and half-brother’s meals.

If she had to guess the reason for the maid’s urgent visit, there was only one man who came to mind.

“Mr. Taylor has come to visit. Please go down to the first floor.”

“The President, no, Senior has come?”

Despite having just seen him with her own eyes, Giselle still asked the maid. The situation was so bewildering. What business could he have visiting her home so early in the morning?

“Yes, Miss. Please hurry. Everyone is waiting.”

The flustered maid continued to urge Giselle, who could only blink in confusion. Seeing this, the nanny clapped her hands and chimed in with an excited voice.

“He couldn’t even wait until you went to the office to see you, coming here in the morning… Mr. Taylor must be utterly smitten with you, Miss. Go on down, and oh! Your makeup needs to be touched up!”

The nanny busily retouched Giselle’s makeup and re-styled her hair.

“If I had known, I would have made your makeup a bit more radiant. Miss, should I add something more to your hair? How about this accessory?”

The nanny smiled widely, taking out a hair ornament from the vanity, the largest and most elaborate one Giselle owned, though it wasn’t particularly valuable.

“No, that’s too much. I’ll go as I am.”

Giselle waved her hand to stop the nanny from putting the elaborate accessory in her hair, then took a deep breath.

She had no idea why he had come here in the morning. It was certainly not because he had fallen head over heels for her, as the nanny had suggested.

‘…I’ll find out when I go.’

Shaking off the restlessness in her chest, she took another deep breath and left the room.

* * *