Descending the stairs and entering the drawing room, Giselle’s father, stepmother, and William were seated with Lucas, and they all turned to look at her.

“Giselle, welcome.”

Her stepmother spoke first, her voice still in that unfamiliar gentle tone.

“The President has come to fetch you, sister.”

This unnatural kindness was not limited to her stepmother alone.

Even William, who had always ignored Giselle and hurled abuse at her, was addressing her with the affectionate tone of a caring brother.

Giselle nearly let out an involuntary chuckle at their nonchalant change in attitude, but her father interjected before she could.

“Hmm, it’s not very proper for an unmarried man and woman to be going about together.”

Giselle looked at her father. When their eyes met, he averted his gaze sheepishly.

It was laughable that he was now acting like he cherished his daughter, when he had tried to sell her off to an old man as a condition for debt forgiveness.

Truthfully, the contradictory behavior displayed by her father was not limited to just that.

「After all, he’s just a commoner with a bit more money, isn’t he? Tsk, our Anticia is marrying into a family with no roots.」

Giselle recalled her father’s grumbling, his lips curling as he tried to conceal his displeasure at the news of her marriage to Lucas.

He wanted to welcome the wealthy son-in-law, but couldn’t help but boast about his noble lineage, as if that were a more respectable act.

She wanted to ask him if shoving his daughter into the position of a second wife to an old nobleman was truly an action befitting of those with ‘roots.’

But she had to restrain herself from voicing that question, not wanting to provoke her father’s outbursts.

“Oh, what’s the problem? It’s a wonderful match. Besides, they’re engaged, so this is perfectly fine.”

At that moment, her stepmother quickly interjected, glancing at Lucas, as if worried her husband might have offended him somehow.

“Hmm…”

The baron seemed slightly offended by his wife’s attitude, furrowing his brow, but he didn’t say anything further.

He must have known well enough that Lucas’ presence was too prominent to simply dismiss, just because he was not a nobleman.

The reporters gathered outside the mansion were proof of that.

Honestly, when had the Anticia name been spoken of by so many people before?

The hollow title of baron was nothing more than a relic of the past, worthless in an era of burgeoning industry.

It was an age where ‘money’ reigned supreme.

In that sense, Lucas could be considered the highest authority within the kingdom.

“Have you finished your preparations, Giselle?”

At that moment, Lucas, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, rose from his seat and addressed Giselle.

‘Giselle’

Standing there dazedly, watching her family’s ridiculous display, Giselle involuntarily shuddered at the sound of her name that he spoke so naturally.

Miss Anticia, or Anticia.

She had always been addressed that way by him, but this affectionate calling from his lips, despite their agreement, was something she had yet to fully get used to.

“Giselle?”

Lucas called her again, a smile playing on his lips. His voice was gentle, but his gaze held a demanding quality.

“Ah! Yes, I’m all ready.”

Giselle finally snapped out of it and quickly nodded. Then, her eyes widening, she asked him again.

“But… are you here to go to the office with me?”

Surely, that couldn’t be.

Her green eyes conveyed that sentiment. Lucas met her gaze, then chuckled and replied in an even more affectionate tone.

“Of course. What if you get accosted by the reporters again? So for the time being, no, until we get married, I’ll be accompanying you to and from work.”

Lucas approached Giselle and held out his hand. Watching this, her stepmother opened her painted lips and exclaimed admiringly.

“How caring and attentive he is! Giselle, you’re so lucky. Who would have thought you’d marry such a wonderful man? Even when you insisted on going to the academy, where it’s just full of men…”

The stepmother trailed off, then her eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had figured something out.

“Could it be that you had this plan in mind even when you stubbornly insisted on going to the academy? I thought you’d just keep studying and never marry, but…”

The stepmother’s voice was kind, yet tinged with something twisted. She was trying to play the role of a good mother, but couldn’t fully conceal her jealousy and envy.

But Giselle had no intention of getting angry at her stepmother. Instead, she took Lucas’ outstretched hand and smiled at him.

“If Senior does this for me, I’ll feel much more at ease. I was already worried about how I was going to leave the house today.”

“Then it’s a good thing I came.”

Lucas replied with a smile to Giselle’s words, then escorted her.

* * *

As they crossed the garden, Giselle glanced around quickly and then asked Lucas in a low voice.

“But really, what brought you here?”

It couldn’t be that he had come just to accompany her to work, as he had said, to prevent her from being accosted again.

There must be something he wanted to gain by coming here so early in the morning.

Giselle was not naive enough to simply believe his words at face value.

However, contrary to her conviction, Lucas stopped in his tracks and furrowed his brow with a displeased expression.

“What more is there? I just told you — I’ll be accompanying you to and from work until we’re married. To prevent you from being harassed by the reporters again.”

“Is that all? Is that really all there is to it? Were you truly sincere in saying that?”

“So you think I was lying and making up excuses, having some other ulterior motive?”

Lucas asked with a humorless laugh. Giselle averted her eyes, avoiding his gaze that seemed to convey exasperation. He then sighed and gestured towards the gate.

The reporters were still out there, peeking at them with their cameras, waiting for them to come out.

“Did you think you could just break through that crowd and get into the carriage alone?”

“…”

“It seems my future wife is quite the strongwoman. Confident enough to single-handedly fend off all those men, even in a lady’s body.”

“That’s not it… Who said I was going to boldly go out the front door? I was planning to sneak out the back.”

Giselle explained, her face flushing at his teasing tone. But Lucas merely snorted and tilted his head.

“Sneak out the back? Well, I wonder if that’s even possible.”

The condescending way he looked at her, as if she were a naive child, stung Giselle’s pride, and she puffed out her cheeks indignantly.

“Of course it’s possible! I slipped out the back just fine yesterday.”

She retorted, squaring her shoulders defiantly. But once again, Lucas merely snorted.

‘This man is unbelievable!’

Giselle’s eyes flashed with irritation at his attitude, and just as she was about to speak up, Lucas opened his mouth again.

“It seems you haven’t read the newspaper today.”

“…The newspaper? Don’t tell me there’s something in today’s newspaper you want to mention? Well, if that’s the case, I’m afraid I’ve already read through all the major papers.”

She replied with an air of self-importance, concealing the embarrassment of having spat out her tea because of the cringe-worthy headlines.

“But there’s nothing in any of them about the conversation we’re having right now.”

Besides, no matter how starved they were for content, who would write an article about the back door of someone’s house?

Who would even read such an article?

However, despite Giselle’s observation, Lucas chuckled leisurely and asked.

“How many newspapers did you say you read? Four? Or was it five?”

“That’s enough, why do you need to read more?”

The major newspapers sold in the capital were all she had looked through. Giselle frowned, interrupting her own rebuttal.

“Surely you don’t mean you’ve been reading some trashy tabloids as well?”

At her question, Lucas responded with a simple chuckle.

Giselle looked at him with wide eyes, her mouth agape, then took a step back, as if she had encountered some sinister deviant.

“Unbelievable. You’re reading those kinds of things?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Profitable information can come from anywhere, even the scraps of paper thrown in the trash.”

Lucas raised an eyebrow as he looked at Giselle, who had taken a step back from him, and then beckoned her to come closer with a flick of his finger.

However, Giselle pretended not to notice his gesture, averting her gaze and responding reluctantly.

“Ah, yes.”

“What’s with that insolent expression? It seems like you’re looking at me strangely.”

“Haha… No way. Why would I look at you strangely, senior?”

She awkwardly smiled at Lucas, who was looking at her with raised eyebrows, and then brushed her cheek with her hand. Her cheeks were burning with embarrassment.

The thought of a third-rate newspaper immediately brought to mind some lewd content, which made her feel ashamed.

The man who supposedly read such a newspaper, however, looked so calm.

While Giselle was internally flustered and barely holding back the urge to let out a sigh, Lucas spoke again.

“One of those newspapers had a picture of you sneaking out through the back door. It looked like you were escaping after doing something bad.”

“What?”

Giselle momentarily forgot her embarrassment and frowned.

She had checked to make sure no one was there before leaving through the back door yesterday. But apparently, someone had secretly watched her and even taken a photo without her knowing.