1. The Duchess of Roxburgh’s Public Marriage Proposal

Hurried footsteps accompanied the rapid opening of the wooden door.

The pleasantly floating air was disturbed by the impatient intruder, and a cool breeze rushed in through the open doorway.

Roen, who had been enjoying a peaceful afternoon rest, sighed and closed the book she was reading.

Her elegantly arched eyebrows trembled slightly.

‘Has he finally arrived?’

It had been a month.

After parting with the Duke of Reushden in the Recluse’s Forest, Roen had spent the entire month sitting here waiting for him.

It seemed he had finally appeared.

Roen slowly raised her head, hiding her tension.

However, disappointment soon seeped into her emerald eyes, hidden behind thick golden eyelashes.

The person who entered the shop was not the Duke of Reushden whom she had been waiting for, but Cecil.

As if she had encountered a gust of wind on her way to the shop, not only her hair but also the apron over her dress was disheveled.

“What on earth happened to you?”

Cecil hurriedly entered the shop, quickly tidying her tangled hair and clothes.

“Master! Guess what I’ve brought!”

Judging by how she hid her hands behind her back, she seemed to be concealing something.

“Cecil, calm down. You’ll pass out at this rate.”

Despite her master’s admonition, Cecil still couldn’t hide her excitement.

Well, her impatient personality wasn’t anything new, but Roen worried she might hurt herself in her haste.

“I’m sorry, Master. I was just too eager.”

“Why? Did Paella refuse to publish my public marriage proposal advertisement to the Duke of Reushden?”

“Not at all. She’s desperate to help with anything related to the Roxburgh duchy. Actually, whenever I visit the newspaper office, she suggests using even stronger wording, saying it’s such an interesting advertisement. That’s why she put it right on the front page.”

Roen thought of Paella, the owner of the famous newspaper ‘Great Moment.’

Given her personality, she would certainly have published a more radical marriage proposal in the newspaper than the current one.

“That’s good then.”

Her connection with Paella went back five years.

It was the Roxburgh duchy that had supported the nearly bankrupt newspaper to reach its current reputation and position.

Fortunately, Paella was a brilliant businesswoman who simply lacked funds.

And Roen needed a means to influence public opinion in the Adrian Empire.

In other words, the newspaper ‘Great Moment’ was the result of their combined interests.

Paella had an exceptional talent for reading people’s vanity and desires, and utilizing that talent to the fullest, she turned ‘Great Moment’ into the Adrian Empire’s top newspaper within five years.

So when Roen asked to publish this outrageous public marriage proposal advertisement, Paella
put it on the front page without any hesitation.

“Come to think of it, that newspaper is practically yours…”

“Shh, Cecil. Mind your words.”

At Roen’s warning, Cecil seemed to realize her mistake and quickly surveyed the shop.

Fortunately, being Friday afternoon, the shop was quiet.

“Still, it was an unreasonable request. Publishing an article about the Duchess of Roxburgh publicly proposing to the Duke of Reushden.”

It could potentially damage the reputation they had built up until now.

“Far from damaging our reputation, I hear they’re being flooded with advertising inquiries.”

“That’s fortunate then.”

“By the way, the streets are quiet. I heard there’s a ball hosted by His Majesty tonight, so
everyone must be going there.”

“I suppose so. Come to think of it, the Founding Day is a month away. Things will get busy.”

“It’s the empire’s greatest festival period. Will there be a sword competition this year too?”

At the mention of the sword competition, Roen’s brow furrowed slightly.

“I suppose so. It’s a tradition that has continued for 200 years.”

“Will you compete again this time? I’d prefer if you didn’t participate this year. How about hiring a reliable mercenary to go in your place?”

She seemed concerned about the attempted assassination incident at Uriel Square recently.

“Why are you suddenly asking about that? Don’t waste your breath.”

It meant she would obviously compete.
Cecil sighed at those words.

“How nice it would be if you had blood relatives who could participate in the sword competition! You should have had more children. Having just you alone—I heard your parents had a good relationship.”

For a moment, Roen’s lips tensed subtly.

Cecil didn’t know that the Duchess, who had carried her with blood poisoning for ten months, became unable to bear any more children after giving birth.

“Are you being naive, or just uninformed? The purpose of physical intimacy between men and women isn’t just procreation. Parents also have the right to pleasure.”

While Roen maintained an indifferent expression, Cecil, who had unintentionally heard about the former Duke and Duchess’s intimate life, clearly felt differently.

Her face turned red instantly.

“I’m sorry. I spoke out of turn.”

“You’re an adult now, nothing should be taboo. Don’t worry about it. But why did you rush in here?”

“Oh right, look at me. This is what I’m talking about. Here. On my way back from the newspaper office, I ran into the butler on the street. He’s not someone who would normally come here, but he seemed urgent and asked me to deliver this to you. He said it was from the Imperial Palace.”

“Smith?”

Roen quickly took the envelope from Cecil.

The envelope bore the seal of Zonderburgh, symbolizing the imperial family, stamped in red wax.

Roen took out a fire manastone from the leather pouch she always carried and melted the red seal on the envelope.

Her expression was grave as she read the contents of the letter from the Emperor.

“What is it? Does he want more money? He’s such a greedy person. He just collected so much gold in taxes recently.”

Cecil expressed her discontent with an anxious expression.

“I don’t think that’s it. Now that the conquest wars are over, taxes that would have gone to military supplies will just pile up in the imperial treasury, so he probably won’t extort more. It just says to come to the Imperial Palace tomorrow morning.”

“You’re going to have an audience with His Majesty tomorrow?”

“Yes. He seems to have something important to discuss.”

Cecil’s expression darkened further.

There was no reason for the palace to summon her master, with whom they had no special relationship, unless it was about taxes.

“Surely he’s not still insisting on making you his empress?”

Roen chuckled at Cecil’s words.

“That’s ancient history. Why are you still bringing that up? And in case you’ve forgotten, His Majesty got engaged half a year ago.”

When Edwin Zonderburgh VIII, now Emperor, was still Crown Prince, he had once mentioned an engagement to Roen, the sole heir of the Roxburgh duchy.

Although it had been dismissed due to an incident ten years ago, Edwin would occasionally bring up the topic whenever Roen attended balls hosted by the imperial family.

Outwardly, the nobles treated Edwin’s words as a joke, but behind her back, the criticism against Roen became more persistent and cruel.

Sometimes she wondered if the Emperor deliberately tormented her, knowing this full well.

“His Majesty does have an unusual personality. Sometimes he seems to have sadistic tendencies. The type who enjoys tormenting people.”

He did have something sinister about him, it was true.

Thinking about it, he hadn’t seemed so twisted when he was Crown Prince.

During the time they learned swordsmanship and horseback riding together, he had appeared like a prince from a fairy tale to young Roen.

Well, he was actually a Crown Prince.

“Are you saying His Majesty is a pervert?”

Cecil’s brown eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Roen couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“You’re really something. I wouldn’t know. Whether His Majesty has such preferences. Well, I’m not curious either.”

Roen suppressed her laughter and gazed at the open door with indifferent eyes.

“It seems he’s not showing up today either.”

The sun was already setting.

“Yes. He seems to be more patient than I expected. No one has ever made me wait like this before.”

Roen’s smile deepened.

In truth, after returning from the Recluse’s Forest, she had regretted her hasty proposal. She should have acted more cautiously…

As time passed, and a month went by, her regret turned to anxiety, and impatience gripped the back of her neck.

In the end, instead of waiting, she made the first move.

“My goodness, so that’s why you put out a public marriage proposal in the newspaper?”

I hereby make a public proposal of marriage to Jean Saint Louis, Duke of Reushden.

-Duchess of Roxburgh-

“That’s right. But I’m surprised there’s been no reaction at all.”

Beyond impatience, she was now filled with anticipation.

She thought that as a merchant running a small general store, he wouldn’t know she was the monstrous Duchess of Roxburgh, and would storm into the duchy demanding an explanation.

However, the Duke of Reushden hadn’t shown his face at either the Roxburgh mansion or the general store.

Could he possibly have not seen the newspaper?

The question seemed plausible.

No matter how disinterested he might be in social circles, he couldn’t possibly not read newspapers.

She had confirmed through Paella that ‘Great Moment’ was delivered to the Reushden mansion at 6 AM every morning.

‘So he’s ignoring me…’

Roen habitually fidgeted with her index finger.

It was where she had bitten herself to create a wound in order to reveal her secret to Jean.

“But when did it start?”

“What?”

“When you fell in love with Duke Reushden at first sight. I just can’t figure it out. Ah, now I understand. It was during the victory parade, wasn’t it?”

Cecil’s eyes lit up as if she had just realized.

“Yes and no.”

“What? What does that even mean? Please tell me. I’m dying of curiosity here.”

Her ambiguous answer seemed to have piqued Cecil’s curiosity.

The impatient Cecil stamped her feet, begging for an explanation.

Despite the difference in status, Cecil, who was also the daughter of Roen’s nanny, was like a sister to her.

So Cecil’s childish behavior was merely endearing.

“I saw him in the Recluse’s Forest. The day I went to find the Peacock’s Tears.”

“You really saw the Duke there?”