The Creditor Is My Husband? - Chapter 52

「Let’s enter the hall together.」

He had made an unexpected proposal.

To break tradition and enter the wedding hall together.

「What do you mean? Is that allowed? People will talk…」

Breaking tradition means volunteering to be criticized.

Giselle’s experience of enduring all sorts of nasty comments when she entered the academy, which had been almost like a forbidden zone for women, was a prime example.

But to enter a wedding without holding her father’s hand?

Of course, people would gossip. It was easy to predict that not only she but Lucas as well would not be free from such whispers.

「What does it matter what people say? As long as you and I are happy with it, that’s all that matters.」

「But, still…」

「You’re no longer going to be an Anticia, but a Taylor. My wife. Giselle Taylor.」

Lucas’s gaze as he looked at her was arrogant. But it was an arrogance that was well-deserved.

「Being a ‘Taylor’ will give you the freedom to do whatever you want. I promise you that, as the head of the Taylor family.」

Recalling the man’s promise once again, Giselle lightly placed her fingertips on the hand he extended. She felt Lucas grip her hand a little more firmly.

As if he would never let go of that hand.

* * *

“Who would have thought that Giselle, that girl, would become the mistress of the Taylor family? We thought she was just running around like a wild colt, hanging out with boys.”

“It seems she didn’t just run around aimlessly, but jumped into bed. As you can see, she succeeded, didn’t she?”

A few noble ladies with Anticia blood whispered softly and burst into mocking laughter. But contrary to their laughing lips, their cheeks twitched with jealousy and envy.

Baron Anticia was said to be drowning in debt and on the verge of bankruptcy. It had been a long time since they had cut off contact with him, fearing he might ask for money.

Most of the people attending this wedding under the pretext of being Anticia’s relatives were like that.

However, they had all hurriedly gathered at the Taylor family mansion without anyone taking the lead, and calmly smiled and offered congratulations to the Baron and Baroness Anticia.

“Sigh… If I had known this would happen, I should have entered the academy too.”

A young noble lady fanned herself, looking around, and bit her lip.

As if she had no doubt that if she had entered the academy, she would have been the protagonist of this wedding.

“……”

Amidst such rampant talk, only the area around Giana Dalton remained utterly quiet.

Not even casual chatter about the beautiful weather or trivial gossip could be heard.

They just exchanged glances with each other, keeping their mouths firmly shut, wary of Giana’s mood.

“Ahem, Lady Dalton. You look even more beautiful today. Incomparably so compared to that Anticia girl.”

In the midst of this, a man plucked up the courage to speak. He was the son of a certain viscount who had been following Giana around lately.

Giana, who had been staring straight ahead with a cold expression, glanced at the man at his words. Seemingly emboldened by eliciting a reaction from her, the man continued more boastfully.

“Honestly, I don’t understand President Taylor. Anticia isn’t such a great beauty, nor is she the daughter of a wealthy family.”

“Rather, she’s just full of debt. I heard rumors that President Taylor paid off all of Baron Anticia’s debts.”

Another man quickly chimed in, seizing the opportunity. Of course, he didn’t forget to look around to see if any of the Taylor family members were present.

“I wonder what President Taylor sees in such a woman to even marry her. Tsk, even during her days at the academy, she had no charm at all, just full of spite… Eek!”

The viscount’s son who had started the conversation clicked his tongue, then suddenly gasped in shock upon seeing someone. At the same time, a look of embarrassment spread across the faces of those who had been listening to his story.

It was because of a young man who had approached them without making a sound.

“Ah, haha. Young Baron Anticia. Um… how long have you been standing there?”

“Should I say I’ve been here since I heard the story about President Taylor paying off all my father’s debts? My hearing is quite good compared to others.”

William sat down heavily in the empty seat next to Giana, tapping his ear with his finger. Giana looked at him with narrowed eyes.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Dalton. I’d like to formally greet such a beautiful lady, but given the circumstances, I’ll have to skip the formalities.”

“I don’t understand why Young Master Anticia is here. Shouldn’t you be up front with the bride’s family?”

“Ah, yes. That’s true, but you seemed to be having such an interesting conversation.”

As William replied in a calm tone, the men who had been badmouthing Giselle just moments ago quietly stood up from their seats.

But Giana kept her gaze fixed on William, as if she didn’t care whether they left or not.

William, who was smiling without any sign of displeasure despite having heard the slander about his half-sister, was quite handsome. Although not enough to catch the eye of Giana, who had long harbored a one-sided love for Lucas.

Still, his existence intrigued her from the perspective of being ‘Giselle Anticia’s’ family.

A half-sibling, sharing half the same blood.

…And if her guess was correct, someone not at all favorable towards that woman.

The corners of Giana’s mouth twisted upwards. She smirked and then extended her hand towards him.

“I wonder. Doesn’t a gentleman’s courtesy towards a lady know no bounds of place?”

“If that’s the case, I’d be delighted to greet you properly.”

William gently grasped her fingertips and brought her hand to his lips.

“It seems we might have quite a lot in common to talk about, Lady Dalton.”

He spoke in a low voice after releasing her hand. Giana raised her eyes to look at William intently, and instead of answering, she just slightly raised the corner of her lips.

As if that was enough, William stood up from his seat and continued as if nothing had happened.

“I should return to my seat now. It is my only sister’s wedding, after all.”

Giana nodded slightly towards William, then looked ahead again with a cold expression.

The wedding was about to begin.

…A wedding that should have rightfully been hers, but was stolen from her.

* * *

“Are you nervous?”

“…Pardon?”

Giselle, who had been staring straight ahead in tension, turned to look at Lucas when he said something. The thin veil fluttered with her breath.

“I asked if you’re nervous. No, that was a silly question to ask.”

He started to repeat his question but then chuckled. It seemed like a pointless question when he could clearly see her trembling. Instead, Lucas called out to her again.

“Giselle.”

“……?”

“Keep your mouth shut tight. Don’t cry out in surprise.”

“What? What do you mean…!”

Just as Giselle was about to ask what he meant, not understanding his words, he suddenly gripped her hand tightly.

Not enough to make her hand ache numbly, but enough for her to clearly feel the pressure of his grip.

Perhaps as a reaction to this,

She felt the tension drain from her body, leaving her feeling relaxed.

“Feel a bit less nervous now?”

Lucas asked in a low voice, still holding her hand. It seemed his unexpected action was intended to help relieve her tension.

She smiled slightly, then nodded. Then, she wriggled her hand a bit and gripped his hand firmly in return.

This seemed to surprise Lucas, who flinched momentarily before chuckling and squeezing her hand again.

Their hands firmly clasped together.

Giselle looked down quietly at his hand holding hers, then took a deep breath.

The veil fluttered slightly with her breath. As Lucas watched this, the person in charge of the wedding ceremony approached and carefully spoke.

“Are you both ready?”

Lucas nodded once, and then Giselle nodded once. Then, with three short fanfare sounds, the heavy doors that had been tightly closed began to open.

“The bride and groom are entering!”

Bright light poured through the opened doors, as if blessing the start of their new life together.

“Shall we go in now?”

Lucas turned to Giselle and asked in a small voice. Giselle looked at him quietly, then nodded before they took their first step together.

Onto their path, beautifully strewn with pink petals that matched the color of her hair.

* * *

“Now, these two have become husband and wife in the name of God.”

Giselle was fiddling with her ring when she suddenly felt her earlobe heat up and rubbed her ear with her hand.

The Archbishop’s words of blessing had been long. Nevertheless, she couldn’t properly remember a single thing from that long blessing.

Even though the wedding had just ended moments ago.

Well, she couldn’t remember what state of mind she was in when she answered and acted from the moment she entered holding Lucas’s hand until she signed the marriage certificate.

The only things she could remember were the Archbishop’s final declaration at the end of the blessing.

…Now these two have become husband and wife.

And the wedding ring Lucas had placed on her finger, that was all.

No.

Even before that, his intense gaze as he lifted the veil from my head and looked at me while making our vows.

「I swear to live as your faithful husband.」