These three people had quite different social standings, but they all had outgoing personalities that made them highly compatible.

‘That’s why they hang out together.’

But in the past, even when I was in the same group as them, I never allowed them to cross a certain line.

“It’s been a while.”

As much as they loved to stand out, they were always involved in the source of baseless rumors and gossip circulating in social circles.

Especially these three—they didn’t particularly like me but stuck around because of my reputation. They probably laughed the loudest when they heard about my divorce.

The reason they were acknowledging me now was also predictable.

Sure enough, a voice with a strange nuance soon flowed from Matilda’s lips, Marquis Rolls’ daughter.

“I heard you got divorced?”

The intention behind such a question was obvious. She wanted to mock me for becoming a divorcée.

That made sense since she once had feelings for my ex-husband, Alex.

In the past, both the Rolls Marquis family and the Ophelia Count family had submitted marriage proposals, but Alex chose me.

Our family fortune played a part, but I believe my appearance did too.

Although Matilda was quite pretty, she never received attention in social circles based solely on her looks like I did.

Perhaps that’s the fundamental reason why she and her group disliked me.

“And I heard you were the one who got dumped. My prediction was right. I knew you two wouldn’t last long.”

Surrounding my divorce news, newspapers and all sorts of magazines reported as if I had been divorced by Alex due to improper conduct.

Even though it wasn’t true at all.

But since shouting the truth wouldn’t change anything, I simply smiled it off.

But she didn’t stop there. Rather, seeing my minimal reaction, she attacked more fiercely.

“I told you that having a pretty face doesn’t mean you have the qualities of a good wife.”

Inferiority is a natural emotion, yet so frightening. It arises when one isn’t satisfied with what they have.

It makes a person ugly enough to dim even the things they do possess.

Just like her now.

The other two ladies in the group looked at Matilda with seemingly anxious expressions.

They could feel that her words and actions weren’t just mocking me one-sidedly but were mixed with emotion.

As if proving she still hadn’t escaped from the past of not being chosen by Alex.

Perhaps that’s why I wasn’t particularly angry either. Rather, I had to bite my lip to hold back a smile that threatened to emerge.

“Is that so? I didn’t know you were so interested in my family affairs, my lady.”

“……!”

My tongue tingled at using the social circle speech style after so long. It reminded me of the old days. We used to fight like this every day.

Though I was usually closer to stepping back and observing.

At my words, Matilda’s brow wrinkled sharply.

For a moment, hostility flashed in her eyes as she looked at me, but soon her characteristic arrogant smile appeared on her lips.

“How could I not be interested? You’re quite a celebrity.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Everyone knows you got divorced due to improper behavior, but I don’t understand how you’re already seeing men when the ink on your divorce papers is barely dry. And for money, at that.”

I had to open my eyes wide at Matilda’s words. I couldn’t understand what she was talking about.

I’m seeing men? And for money?

For the past two years, I hadn’t privately interacted with any men except business partners.

Besides that, maybe Duke Esteban, whom I promised to marry? But he and I, except for today, had never given any reason for our meetings to be exposed externally.

“You’re saying I’ve been seeing men?”

When I asked in confusion, a contemptuous smile appeared on Matilda’s lips.

Her gaze, looking at me as if watching someone making excuses, unconsciously made me frown.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

It was Haize, Count Adeline’s daughter, who interjected then.

“Oh my, don’t you read the newspaper, my lady?”

“Newspaper…?”

“This one.”

Haize handed me a newspaper with a somewhat excited expression. And on the front page, none other than my face was plastered prominently.

But not just me—next to me was a man standing sideways with his face obscured.

But why? This picture wasn’t unfamiliar.

With a strange sense of déjà vu, I tried to remember where I’d seen it before and soon realized.

After the fashion show ended, on the day Ersia slapped me, the Duke led me to the carriage and gave me a photo as a gift.

I remembered Elysion playing with the camera and giving me one picture as his gift too.

In other words, this was a photo taken by Elysion.

‘Why is it here?’

Moreover, this sensational text…

I had to suppress a laugh when I saw the text prominently placed next to the picture.

“Lady Ophelia, soon after her divorce…”

Below the grand headline was written how I met Alex, how we got married, and why we divorced.

The most striking absurdity was that the reason for the divorce was written as if I had been unilaterally divorced by Alex for failing to properly support him as a wife.

I was angry at the nonsense, but since it was a rumor that had been circulating for a while, I could overlook it.

After all, rumors can’t be stopped from spreading unless one specifically intends to clarify.

Yes, up to that point, it was fine.

But this was different.

“Lady Ophelia has been struggling with financial difficulties after her divorce due to alimony payments, and as a result, she has been working as a model to sustain her livelihood. It is also presumed that she has been meeting with numerous men, including the man in this picture, to receive sponsorship.”

‘What on earth is this nonsense?’

This newspaper was describing me as a woman who had thrown away her dignity for money.

Especially the part about financial difficulties wasn’t just insulting me—it was also directly insulting my father.

I couldn’t help but be angry. I crumpled the newspaper with all my might. I realized that when a person gets too angry, they become frighteningly calm.

“I don’t know who published such a ridiculous article.”

“Oh my, aren’t articles written with some level of fairness? I even heard there’s a photo taken with a device being secretly developed at Diamond Trading Company as evidence.”

Haize spoke in a taunting tone and then looked around. Satisfaction was evident on Matilda’s face.

I couldn’t help but laugh at her puppy-like appearance, as if seeking praise from her owner.

“What you see isn’t everything.”

At my words, a sneer settled on Matilda’s lips.

“Then who is the man in this picture? Your sponsor.”

Her gaze toward me was extremely oppressive. Her desire to trample me with all her might was evident.

‘Try to refute if you can. But no one will believe you anyway.’

In this situation, neither refuting nor retreating was particularly helpful. This was probably what they call a dilemma.

I unconsciously bit my lip hard when suddenly.

A large hand wrapped around my wrist. Not stopping there, it pulled me into an embrace.

The cool, broad chest smelled of refreshing mint. So comforting I could die buried in it.

But in the startling situation, I instinctively shuddered in resistance, and a cool voice came from above my head.

“You ladies I’m meeting for the first time seem very interested in me.”

And this voice was undoubtedly Duke Esteban’s.

When I looked up, the Duke, whose eyes met mine, smiled deeply, strengthening his hand around my waist. Then he turned to face the three women and opened his mouth.

“To think that without my knowledge, I supposedly bought this woman with money—”

“……”

“I wish that were the truth. How much money would it take to buy this woman?”

At that moment, I clearly saw the three ladies’ faces completely crumple.

They probably hadn’t expected the man in the photo to be Duke Esteban.

“But the newspaper clearly…!”

Yet the bold Matilda pushed her claim to the end even in this situation. More precisely, she was trying to place blame.

“What appears in newspapers isn’t everything.”

“……”

“Do you know that ‘Today’s Newspaper,’ which you three ladies are holding, has caused many people to jump from their mansions to their deaths due to frequent false reports?”

At the Duke’s words, the surroundings instantly became quiet. The ladies who had been rushing at me with wide eyes were now as quiet as gentle lambs.

It was a moment when I could truly feel how powerful the Duke was within the Empire.

“That’s what public opinion is. When used well, it can quickly inform many people and be useful, but at the same time, just a few carelessly written words can take the life of an innocent person.”

“……”

“One of you three is someone I’m acquainted with, and I think you know this better than anyone.”

By now, the Duke’s grip around my waist had loosened.

Taking advantage of the gap, I slipped out of his embrace and stood a little distance away, and I could see.

The Duke’s gaze clearly directed at Matilda.

“Isn’t that right, niece of Viscount Wellington?”

‘Viscount Wellington?’

Viscount Wellington. He was the owner of the newspaper company that printed ‘Today’s Newspaper.’ I never knew Matilda was his niece.

How does the Duke know such things?

Just as I was looking at him with wonder in my eyes, a voice close to desperation suddenly echoed through the place. The source of that voice was Matilda.

“But… it’s true that Lady Ophelia’s conduct wasn’t proper, isn’t it?”

“……”

“You should be careful too, Duke Esteban. Being with her might damage your reputation, and also… at the academy, she was with this man, that man…”

Before Matilda could finish her sentence. A chilling voice cut through the gap.

A voice so cold it couldn’t even be compared to the Duke’s voice until now.

“…Lady Rolls.”

They say the hottest fire isn’t red but holds a blue hue.

That’s exactly what he was like now. He was extremely cold, but rather, that more clearly revealed his anger.

At his voice, Matilda flinched and looked up, and the Duke, whose eyes met hers, said:

“Let’s stop there.”

His voice carried a threatening tone, as if saying he wouldn’t let it slide if she crossed the line further.

Even though he hadn’t shouted or threatened, just the k*lling intent he released gave me goosebumps.

I couldn’t believe that he, who was always kind to me, had such an unfamiliar side. But that wasn’t the end.

With a twisted smile on his lips, he murmured in a low tone, almost whispering:

“If the person who’s going to be my wife jumps off, I might go crazy.”

His voice and gaze as he said this were serious. As if he would actualize everything he was saying if pushed.

Silence flowed through the place for a while. The three people, including Lady Rolls, Matilda, kept alternately looking at me and the Duke with eyes mixed with surprise and fear.

That made sense because the Duke’s words just now were as good as announcing our marriage.

Meanwhile, the Duke turned his body, grabbed my wrist, and then whispered lowly:

“Let’s go.”

❀❀❀

The place the Duke brought me to by holding my hand was a fountain not far from the store.

In front of the fountain, where a stone-carved baby angel was continuously shooting streams of water, several benches were placed.

The Duke pointed to one of them and then strode over to sit there.

I followed him and sat down beside him, and at the same time, his gaze turned to me.

His eyes were lost in thought, just like before. It seemed like he had something to say.

I could roughly guess what he wanted to talk about.

Until he decided on this contract marriage, he probably didn’t know I was such a controversial woman.

Even if he got angry just now out of loyalty, he might have lost confidence in this marriage due to my reputation, which was worse than he thought.

“…I’m sorry.”

At my apology, the Duke sent me a look of incomprehension.

“What are you sorry for?”

“If you had known my reputation was this bad, you wouldn’t have made the decision to marry.”

Emotions are calculated. There’s no absolute love, no absolute friendship.

Attraction arises from a combination of various factors like the other person’s appearance, voice, personality. If it lasts long, it becomes love, and the emotion deepens with the time they spent together.

But the emotion between me and the Duke is too shallow to be called love, and the time we spent is as short as the ambiguous emotion.

Disappointment will soon eat away at the attraction, and he might regret this marriage.

“But I’d like you to believe one thing. That what you see isn’t the whole truth.”

“……”

“It might sound like an excuse, but that’s all I can say.”

With those words, I lowered my gaze. I felt like I had exposed my lowest self to him.

It was shameful and miserable.

We were clearly nothing to each other, but at this moment, I felt too ashamed of myself.

Time passed slowly for a while. It was heavy and thick, as if one second was a thousand years.

“…I know.”

At the voice that came amidst this, I unconsciously raised my head.

His eyes, which seemed lost in thought, were now directed at the fountain where the water stream had stopped.

“That you’re not that kind of person.”

“……”

“Even if those rumors were true, it wouldn’t matter.”

“…Then why did you act like that earlier?”

Earlier, he had shown an anger of an intensity he had never shown before, to the point of feeling out of character.

To the point where I thought it might be anger directed at me.

At my question, he slowly turned his head.

For some reason, at that moment, his eyes had a reddish glow. As he slowly lowered his gaze from me, he murmured:

“Just, I suddenly felt afraid.”

“……”

“And honestly, I didn’t understand well before, but now I think I do.”

“……”

“Why you’re so fixated on the position of family head.”

His gaze turned back to me. At that moment, the eyes I met were filled with fear.

That’s when I realized.

‘This man is serious about me.’

At first, I thought it was just a light emotion, but perhaps his feelings toward me are deeper than I thought.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t say all this is okay.

“So I’m afraid.”

“……”

“That you might slip away from my grasp at any moment.”

The Duke’s long, slender fingers trembled desperately, as if seeking salvation.

It’s contradictory.

That this strong man, who seems to know and hold everything, is afraid.

But perhaps because I understood the nature of that fear, and because I knew the conclusion it would bring to this relationship, I couldn’t ultimately ask him why he thought so.

“If you, after this contract marriage period ends…”

I simply moved my body before he could say anything more.

Grabbing his collar, I brought my face close to his.

“Shh, be quiet. Someone might see us.”

With those words, I placed my lips on his.

His pupils dilated greatly for a moment, seemingly surprised by the sudden contact.

But as if coaxing him, who wasn’t resisting, I showed my prettiest smile and clumsily bit his lower lip.

Just like he had done months ago.

“……!”

Even though it was just a minor stimulation, I could feel his breath becoming rough. Even the sound of his pounding heart—everything was clear.

And then he began to move. Despite knowing what this kiss meant.

With a soft sound, he closed his eyes and wrapped his hand around my nape, pulling me toward him.

Just then, the bell announcing noon rang throughout the square. And simultaneously—

Swoosh.

The fountain, which had been stopped, suddenly began to spurt fierce streams of water again.

As if Eros, caught by the face of lovers who ignored the warning, had immediately hidden after sending down rain.

In that sound filling the surroundings, our kiss deepened even more.

❀❀❀

Assel Esteban.

He had always taken pride in everything he did. The pride that he could definitely succeed in everything.

Perhaps that’s why. They say three major crises come in life, but he was unfazed.