Chapter 7

Having left the Earl’s mansion, the Grand Duke climbed into the carriage and accepted two boxes from Carlton.

“These are the finest from the capital’s best boutique.”

As Carlton said, the jewelry was elegantly crafted. Inside each box was a necklace—one set with sapphires, which the Marchioness favored, and the other with emeralds that matched Arisha’s olive-colored eyes.

“Not bad, considering it was all prepared in a rush.”

The fact that the Marchioness liked sapphires was something the Earl Hysenta had told him, but the Grand Duke already knew it beforehand. He may have seen her often, but as a noble, he still needed to confirm it once more.

Right after spending that unforgettable night with Arisha, Baron had found out both Evelyn’s identity and Arisha’s. The platinum hair that reached her waist, the fair skin unlike that of capital nobles, and the olive-colored eyes—finding Arisha had not been difficult.

“Did you contact the Marquisate?”

“Yes. I sent someone this morning.”

“Good. What about the gift for the Marquis?”

“It is ready.”

Satisfied with the perfect preparations, Baron nodded with a pleased expression. The horse he planned to give the Marquis as a present was, according to plan, originally intended as a gift for the Emperor. Baron trusted that his cousin would understand.

Baron tapped the ring case in his jacket pocket as he gazed out the window.

*** 

“Oh my, how beautiful.”

The Marchioness Berloni couldn’t help but smile as she opened the box. The necklace inside sparkled, set densely with sapphires, and her eyes shone as she gazed at it.

“I hope it pleases you, Marchioness. It’s just a small token.”

His voice was gentle, completely different from when he’d pressured the Earl Hysenta, and the Marchioness responded with an elegant smile.

“Small? It’s far too beautiful for that.”

“I’m glad you like it, Lady Berloni. Ah, the gift for the Marquis is outside.”

“My present? There’s another gift?”

Baron nodded with a smile.

“The Andalusian. I hope it pleases you.”

“Oh, the Andalusian horse? The proud and beautiful Andalusian with gray fur?”

The Marquis’s eyes sparkled at the mention of the famous horse that any horse lover would covet. To bring as a present a horse he’d spent years trying to acquire—he was so excited he could barely sit still, wanting to go out and see it immediately.

“I should have brought something even better, but I apologize, Marquis.”

“I can say with certainty, there could be no better gift for me than the Andalusian, Your Grace.”

It seemed the information about the Marquis’s only hobby being collecting fine horses was accurate. The sunshine-like smile that filled the Marquis’s face was proof enough.

“Arisha, I hope you like your gift as well.”

As he looked at her with gentle eyes, Arisha forced a smile, awkwardly tugging at the corners of her lips. ‘Arisha’—she had never given him her name, nor her family. So why was the Grand Duke looking at her so affectionately, calling her by name? She couldn’t understand it at all.

“May I speak with His Grace alone for a moment?”

“Of course. Go for a walk in the garden or something.”

With the Marchioness’s permission, Arisha signaled Baron to stand and left the drawing room. Out in the garden, Arisha took a deep breath of fresh air, filling her lungs.

While Arisha struggled to organize her thoughts and regain her composure, Baron appeared with a relaxed expression.

“It’s good. I needed time to talk with you alone anyway.”

Unlike her own flustered state, he looked completely at ease, and Arisha’s eyes narrowed unconsciously.

“I can’t understand what’s happening here, Your Grace.”

“Ah, I thought you might not know my name, so I’ll tell you. It’s Baron, Arisha.”

His voice was as warm as if he were addressing a lover, and Arisha was left momentarily speechless.

“What I’m asking is why you’ve come to our house and brought such valuable gifts, Your Grace.”

Even though he’d told her his name, Arisha deliberately continued to call him ‘Your Grace,’ and Baron smiled gently.

“That’s because I intend to propose to you.”

“……”

A proposal? A proposal? 

Arisha stared at Baron in shock, at a loss for words.

“Yes, I suppose it wasn’t a very grand proposal.”

With a sigh, Baron glanced around. The Marquis’s staff, perhaps reading the mood, had left the two of them alone. As Baron reached for the ring case in his jacket, Arisha quickly grabbed his arm.

“Your Grace, we met at the masquerade.”

“I know.”

Baron nodded at Arisha’s urgent words. In his eyes, there was a look that seemed to say, ‘What’s the problem?’ and Arisha’s eyelashes trembled.

“In the capital, masquerades are considered a kind of escape. That’s why no one asks about names or families there.”

At those words, Baron’s dark eyebrows twitched. The disappointment spreading across his face pricked Arisha’s conscience, but she only looked at him more firmly.

It was just one night, and now he was proposing? From Arisha’s point of view, it was bewildering. Of course, it was true she hadn’t been able to forget him and had spent many nights tormented by thoughts of him. But to suddenly talk about marriage—this was a completely different matter.

“I do know. I know that in the capital, people enjoy such free-spirited… relationships. And I know it’s not considered immoral.”

Arisha looked at him as if to say, ‘Then why are you doing this?’

“But I grew up in the North my whole life. It’s different from the capital.”

The North—a territory so cold the skin stings, where it snows every day in winter. Arisha wasn’t ignorant of the North. In that freezing place, people, regardless of status, were said to be loyal to their partners for life.

But that was the North, and here they were speaking in the capital. And what had happened between the two of them had also happened in the capital. So Arisha believed it was right to follow the customs of the capital in matters between them.

“But the masquerade was held in the capital. So you should follow the capital’s rules.”

At Arisha’s firm, decisive tone, Baron ran his tongue around his mouth, a bitter taste rising. He hadn’t failed to anticipate that Arisha might react this way. Though he’d grown up in the North, Baron wasn’t completely ignorant of the capital’s noble society.

Still, Baron had held onto a little hope. Maybe Arisha had enjoyed their night together so much she couldn’t forget him, maybe she was waiting desperately for another moment with him.

But seeing Arisha’s attitude, he realized that had been his own delusion. Just as Baron was about to apologize for overstepping, Arisha spoke.

“Your Grace, I… am not a woman who suits you.”

Arisha murmured, her face flushed. Saying aloud what had troubled her for so many nights made her cheeks burn.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Just as you grew up in the North and naturally accepts the customs of the North, so do I, Your Grace. I was raised in the capital, and I’m used to its customs. I’ve lived according to those customs as well.”

“……”

After confirming that Baron was listening intently, Arisha lowered her flushed face and continued.

“To you, Your Grace, who grew up in the North, my past might seem far too wild. In the noble society of the capital, it’s nothing at all… but, Your Grace, you are a northern noble.”

Just as Baron had done after the masquerade, Arisha too had thought of him every night. The way his hands had caressed her, the look in his eyes behind the mask, and even his dazzling silver hair that shone like moonlight on the dark terrace—

All of it seemed etched into her memory, never fading. But as always, she thought it was just a night’s amusement. In the capital’s social circles, to say one couldn’t forget someone after a single night was only something to be laughed at.

But what about this Grand Duke from the North? He had found her, bringing a pile of gifts. Judging by the bulge in his jacket pocket, he’d even brought a ring.

That fact both tickled and frightened Arisha’s heart. She feared he might judge her past as dissolute, or think of her as an immoral woman, and she shrank back a little.

‘It really can’t be, after all.’

Just as Arisha was about to say she should go back inside, Baron stepped closer, closing the distance between them, and lowered his head to claim her lips.

“!”

Their kiss, without the magic potion, was gentle and soft. It wasn’t a hurried or urgent kiss, but the affectionate and loving kind shared between lovers. Arisha felt her heart melt as she wrapped both hands around his cheeks.

“Hnn…”

As Baron’s lips parted from hers with a soft sound and left a light kiss on her neck, a sigh escaped Arisha’s lips.

“This is as far as I should go.”

Baron, leaving his regret behind, stepped away from Arisha. Although their first night had been on a terrace, he didn’t want their second time to be in the garden. He wanted to hold Arisha in the bedroom he had prepared for his future partner in his castle in the North.

After taking a deep breath to shake off inappropriate thoughts, Baron looked down at Arisha. Seeing her cheeks flushed not from desire but from excitement, he found her even more endearing and slowly knelt before her.

“I, Baron Frontica, kneel before you, Arisha Berloni, and ask: will you swear eternity with me before God and become my partner?”

It was a proposal with no embellishments, but it was sincere. Arisha looked at the sparkling diamond ring before her eyes and slowly nodded.

“Yes. I will.”

Their wedding was officiated by none other than the High Priest, thanks to a special favor from the Emperor. Upon hearing the news of their marriage, the Emperor, grateful that Arisha had saved his cousin from dying alone, even bestowed one of the royal treasures upon her as a gift.

Not only that, but the Emperor attended the wedding in person and stayed until the very end, making Arisha’s wedding the envy of all the young ladies.

The ceremony was so grand that nearly all the nobles of the capital were invited, except for one—Evelyn Hysenta did not appear.