Chapter 1 (Part 3)

“…What?”

The man, who had been anxiously examining her complexion, stiffened.

Sellakia bit her tongue to suppress a laugh. She knew from accumulated experience that greater joy awaited her like an unopened gift.

“You’re joking again, aren’t you?”

The man awkwardly withdrew his hand from her face. His voice, testing the waters of her intentions, was cautious.

“Don’t joke even in this situation. Do you know how worried I was?”

“You must not have heard the news yet. Unfortunately, I have lost my memory.”

The man’s hazel eyes, filled with suspicion, were stained with shock. At a loss, he suddenly picked Sellakia up.

In the blink of an eye, Sellakia found herself seated on the long, soft couch in the middle of the reception room.

Even though she had said she lost her memory, he treated her as if she were someone with a broken leg. His innocent kindness finally made Sellakia burst into laughter. She felt the muscles in her face, which had been tense, relax gently.

“You really haven’t changed over the years, Chester. Always making me laugh.”

Chester looked at Sellakia, who was laughing merrily, and sighed gently.

“I knew it would be like this. Well, it’s a relief. Seeing you joke as usual puts my mind at ease.”

Chester plopped down weakly on the seat opposite her.

“Every time I came to the ducal residence, I was only told I couldn’t see you. There were posters in the square looking for a woman with your description. What on earth happened during that time?”

It seemed the Ducal House had desperately tried to hide Sellakia’s mysterious disappearance. After all, the ominous rumor of a newlywed Duchess vanishing wouldn’t benefit them in the least.

Sellakia nodded absentmindedly, quickly wiping the smile off her face.

“Don’t misunderstand, Chester. I wasn’t lying. I really did lose my memory.”

“Stop it, Sellakia. How can you say you’ve lost your memory when you recognize me like this?”

“I remember most things. I just lost the memory of one week.”

“A week?”

“Yes. I only lost the memory of the week right before I disappeared.”

A shadow fell over Sellakia’s face, from which all traces of laughter had completely disappeared. Chester, who had not entirely erased his faint doubt, was the same.

“Disappeared? It’s already been half a month since I visited the Seidon estate to see you. So where on earth have you been all this time?”

“In the cabin of an elderly couple who found me by the sea. They treated and cared for me. It seems I was washed ashore by the waves. Thanks to them, I was saved.”

“The seaside? Why were you there… You weren’t thinking of doing something bad, were you?”

Chester, seemingly agitated, stirred. His intense movements caused the teacup on the table to rattle. Sellakia held the cup to prevent it from tipping over and shook her head.

“Don’t you know me by now? If I were going to die, I wouldn’t have lived until now. On the day my parents passed away, I would have…”

“Sellakia Lensch!”

Chester shouted loudly. It was the first time he had ever raised his voice so much.

Sellakia blinked her round eyes and then let out a soft laugh.

“Listen to the end, Chester. What I’m saying is, I didn’t have such thoughts even then. You know how I endured at the Lensch Viscount family. Do you think someone like me, now the Duchess, would think of dying?”

Chester seemed to accept Sellakia’s words as his eyes softened.

However, the stability he regained was shattered by Sellakia’s next words.

“So isn’t it more plausible that my death was fabricated rather than me having caused it myself?”

Chester’s face turned pale.

“What do you mean… Who on earth would commit such a heinous act?”

“I can’t be sure since I don’t remember. But there is one person who comes to mind.”

Chester’s eyes widened, urging her to answer. In contrast, Sellakia spoke calmly, as if discussing someone else’s affairs.

“Isn’t it obvious? If I die, it would disrupt the succession of the Duke’s title. It must be the acting Duke who aimed for that.”

Sellakia leisurely moistened her dry lips with Chester’s teacup. She hadn’t called for a servant, so she didn’t have her own cup.

While Sellakia leisurely savored the aroma of the tea, Chester asked chillingly.

“Where is that bastard now?”

“The acting Duke? Hmm. Probably in the office, I guess?”

“Not in the underground prison?”

Chester seemed to have no intention of rebuking Sellakia for the rudeness of using someone else’s teacup.

Whether it was because they had been close since childhood or because he was too enraged to care about such trivialities, it was hard to tell.

“Well, indeed. The crime is particularly vile for the Duke’s household to handle independently. It’s more reasonable to send him to the capital for execution.”

Sellakia flinched, her body stiffening while holding the teacup. It was an eerie voice, hard to believe it came from Chester.

“Chester, calm down. As you can see, I’m fine.”

“If I had known you would face such a terrible ordeal, I would have opposed this marriage with my life.”

The words she had spoken sincerely moments ago, assuring she was fine, didn’t come out this time. Her mouth felt rough, as if filled with sand instead of tea.

Why wouldn’t it be? If Sellakia had known she would be caught in such a dreadful incident, she would have extended her life a little longer, living quietly at the Lensch Viscountcy.

There was only one reason Sellakia accepted the marriage proposal from the Seidon Ducal House, whose motives she couldn’t fathom.

She wanted to live.

To live a slightly better life.

* * *

“This is a marriage proposal addressed to you.”

Sellakia blankly stared at the crest imprinted on the envelope she received.

Two ornate tridents crossed above a surging sea serpent.

There was only one house in the empire, excluding the Imperial Family, that could use such a prestigious crest.

“Why has the Seidon Dukedom… sent this to me?”

Sellakia couldn’t hide her bewildered feelings and questioned back. Normally, she wouldn’t dare talk back to the Viscount of Lensch, but now she couldn’t help but ask.

The Seidon Dukedom wielded power comparable to the Imperial Family. Its legacy, intertwined with the history of the Pangaea Empire, was known to all, and its immense wealth, amassed through trade, was unrivaled.

Without considering anything else, they were not a suitable match for her. Especially considering her position as the unwanted child of the Lensch Viscountcy.

“Will you accept it?”

However, the Viscount of Lensch seemed to have no intention of resolving her doubts.

Was it really a question with options?

For her, who had long passed the ideal age for marriage, the only marriage proposal the Viscount of Lensch had ever presented was this one, from the Seidon Ducal House.

Sellakia quietly bowed her head.

“Yes. I will, Viscount.”

She didn’t feel any particular emotion, just as her expression remained indifferent.

Chester, her longtime friend who occasionally visited her, was the one who got angry on her behalf.

“The Seidon Dukedom, then, do you mean Tenus Seidon?”

“With only two members left in the Seidon family, and only one eligible to marry me, it must be him.”

“Marrying at this point, what on earth is the Young Master of Seidon thinking?”

Sellakia nodded quietly in agreement. The Young Master, who was expected to marry and secure the dukedom as soon as he became an adult, had been silent for years after his coming-of-age ceremony.

“Sellakia, have you ever met him?”

“You’re not seriously asking out of curiosity, are you?”

Sellakia glared at Chester. How could she have met the Duke, who was said to be at the academy, when she spent all her time in her room at the Viscountcy?

“Then why has he sent you a marriage proposal?”

“Hmm. Who knows.”

Sellakia shrugged her shoulders.

“It must be for that reason, right?”

For strategic reasons.

If not for that, there was no way to explain the eccentricity of the Seidon family.

Currently, the Seidon Dukedom was under the regency of Tenus Seidon’s uncle until Tenus could legally inherit the title. That was the official reason, but human greed knows no bounds.

Sellakia had learned from her tutor through history books about those who couldn’t let go of their positions due to greed, and she had also read about them in novels for fun.

Tenus’s uncle was probably not much different from those characters in the books. So, this marriage seemed to be Tenus’s strategy to use Sellakia to ease his uncle’s vigilance, at least that was her guess.

She, being of humble origin and unable to rely on the help of relatives, was probably suitable for a decoy.

Even Sellakia, who stayed in her room, knew this, so Chester, who helped with his family’s trading business and was sharp, certainly knew it too.

Chester’s smooth face was terribly wrinkled.

“You might get caught in a power struggle regardless of your will. Are you still thinking of going through with this marriage?”

“Marriage is something I have to do anyway. Political marriages are no big deal in noble families. There won’t be a better opportunity for me than this. Why would I refuse?”

Sellakia answered contemplatively, like an old lady who had experienced marriage nine times. Whenever she responded like this, Chester couldn’t hide his displeased expression.

This time, Chester furrowed his eyebrows deeply, stroking his chin as if pondering something. Then he cautiously spoke, watching Sellakia’s reaction.

“If you’re okay with it, I’ll speak to my father and propose to you in the name of our family.”