Had there ever been another time when waiting for the sermon to end felt this long? The pastor’s already drawn-out speaking habit was even less helpful. Richard, who had been moving only his lips insincerely throughout the hymns, hurriedly left the church building before the marchioness could approach him.

While waiting near the entrance, offering light greetings to passing people, he saw Olivia Jennings and her sister walking toward him with Marchioness Avery.

Richard greeted the three with a skillful smile, like someone who had never been flustered from the beginning. In contrast, Olivia Jennings’ eyes looking his way seemed complex, as if containing quite a few stories.

In a situation where he had many questions but couldn’t approach recklessly, Richard didn’t forget to offer a greeting filled with joy to his aunt.

“I thought you’d surely have busy matters today as well?”

“How could I forget when your words are more frightening than divine punishment? I was simply trying not to interfere since you seemed to be having an enjoyable time.”

“It’s not that I interfered with your enjoyable time?”

“What harsh words.”

“Well, I did have an enjoyable time. I met a very interesting young lady recently.”

Richard’s gaze naturally flowed sideways following the marchioness. Beside Viscountess Sally Cornell, who was lightly shaking her head, stood the ‘interesting young lady’ Olivia Jennings.

I wonder if you’d still find her so appealing after discovering the young lady’s true nature. Richard hid such inner thoughts and merely smiled.

“I heard you’ve also met this young lady?”

“Ah, yes. I’ve been meeting her quite frequently lately. It’s a pleasure, Miss Jennings. I cannot help but express my gratitude for creating an enjoyable time for my aunt in place of her inadequate nephew.”

It was a polite greeting as if there were no special circumstances between them at all. Similarly, Olivia Jennings’ eyes were unusually heated as she offered an ordinary greeting like a well-behaved young lady, saying it was nothing special.

Though he could more than imagine that she had much to say after being caught by the tiger-like marchioness, seeing the ‘modest Miss Olivia Jennings’ who was rarely encountered, he felt an impulse to postpone helping her escape from those clutches.

“Don’t just say it with words, but escort Miss Jennings home. We came together in my carriage, but the viscountess and I have something to discuss separately.”

Heaven, no, the marchioness is helping. Richard had no choice but to return to being a ‘gentleman’ and bow his head. If there were things to discuss, he had them too, so his own carriage, where they could avoid others’ gazes, would be better.

Richard, who had seen off the carriage carrying his aunt and Viscountess Cornell, opened his carriage door and looked at Olivia Jennings. Standing beside the open door with his hand extended, he recalled that there had been a similar incident relatively recently.

“Why are you smiling like that?”

Olivia, who hadn’t missed the subtle change in expression, raised one eyebrow. Though their time together hadn’t been long, she clearly remembered that when Richard Dalton smiled like that, it had rarely been a pleasant matter for her.

“It’s nothing.”

“You don’t have an ordinary face.”

“Since you’ve been reduced to riding in the same carriage as someone who can’t even provide inspiration, it somehow seems like an unfortunate situation for the writer.”

It was the moment when the slight sympathy for Richard Dalton that had built up while being with Marchioness Avery began to disappear. Olivia, conscious of the gazes around her, boarded his carriage without any particular response.

Richard, who had finished a brief conversation with the coachman, sat facing Olivia in the opposite seat. The sharply piercing gaze already indicated how annoyed Olivia Jennings had become.

“Don’t call me a writer where there are ears to hear.”

Of course, she hadn’t expected that the first story she would hear would be something like this.

“Is that all you have to say?”

“What are your thoughts, Lord Dalton?”

“Right now I’m just…… thinking that there won’t be a dull moment on the way.”

With the coachman’s vigorous whip, the carriage carrying the two began racing through the middle of the sacred Sunday afternoon.

“Have you made any progress?”

“With what?”

His face, pretending to know nothing as he asked back, was as peaceful as a lake. Olivia, who had become able to not get as angry at Richard Dalton’s evasiveness as before, uncrossed her arms and elaborated.

“‘A gentleman better than Ronald Collins.'”

Ah, that. Richard still acted like someone who had received an unexpected question and took his time before beginning to speak.

“I’m looking, starting from those close by, but there haven’t been any notable results yet.”

Though it sounded like words spoken carelessly, it was true. For the past few days, Richard had been exercising unprecedented curiosity about the men around him.

It was a deep contemplation he had never had even about women. However, among those long, long names he had thoroughly examined from boarding school friends onward, there was no man worth placing beside Olivia Jennings—that is, no man who, when placed beside her, would seem to lessen his own concerns about Olivia Jennings.

He couldn’t help but seriously admire how his aunt could create such long and comprehensive lists every season. Though he didn’t know by what criteria she selected those young ladies, if he had known that the results involved such a difficult process, he wouldn’t have just casually tucked them away. If he had known such a future awaited, it might have been better to learn a little from her side.

“Whoever it is, you’d better hurry.”

“Haste makes waste. Why should I hurry?”

“You ask such a question even seeing me in this carriage?”

Richard shrugged, and Olivia was incredulous. Now that the greenhouse’s magic had worn off, she was beginning to suspect that Richard’s proposal at the time had been a scheme to smooth over the situation and tie her down. When she thought about it, it was a very reasonable inference.

“What does Miss Jennings being in this carriage have to do with us needing to hurry our plan?”

“Do you really think my sister has something to discuss separately with the marchioness? And what about riding in the marchioness’s carriage together in the first place? Anyone can see that the marchioness is trying to match us two……!”

“Two?”

“It seems like she’s trying to pair us up.”

She knew that Richard Dalton wasn’t one to enjoy reading romance novels, but it didn’t make sense that he would be this ignorant about his own aunt’s affairs. So there was no way he wouldn’t know what she knew.

“Would that be so wrong?”

Olivia looked at him with a disgusted face at his excessively calm counter-question. Two people were caught in the trap, but only one truly grasped the seriousness of the situation. At a time when they should be working together to solve the problem—such a nonchalant expression.

“Of course it would be wrong.”

“Why?”

“Because such a thing won’t happen.”

“Then isn’t that fine? No matter how much my aunt encourages it, if such a thing won’t happen, what’s there to worry about?”

“What have you been listening to? I’m saying the marchioness seems to have high expectations. Receiving that person’s attention is difficult enough, but I want to avoid earning her hatred even more. I don’t want to give hope for something that won’t work out.”

Olivia didn’t give a detailed explanation of what conversations had gone on for how long during that extremely uncomfortable tea time. She had only belatedly learned that the official first meeting between Olivia Jennings and Marchioness Rose Avery had taken place there, and that the process had been very arduous.

In any case, Olivia must have properly grasped the marchioness through those few meetings. Earning that person’s attention was an extremely tiresome matter, but earning her hatred and turning her into an enemy was something to be avoided even more. Richard, who could be called an expert regarding Marchioness Avery, smiled and bowed slightly.

“We’ll be meeting frequently from now on anyway. Though I do have a personal promise I made with my aunt, more importantly, it’s because of the proposal I made to you, Miss Jennings. We can’t do anything if we have to worry about my aunt’s eyes every time.”

“There are more discreet methods too. It’s not like the three of us will be meeting, so do we really need to face each other?”

The three of us meeting. She’s a lady more shocking than the stories she writes. Richard swallowed his laughter and put on a serious face.

“Though I’m well aware of your preference for discretion, since you’ve accepted the proposal, I’d like you to follow my methods.”

Instead of getting angry, Olivia took a deep breath. When she decided to follow Richard’s plan, she hadn’t failed to anticipate this degree of difficulty. If she wasn’t going to quit, she couldn’t back down here.

“……Fine. But you’ll have to bear the matter of Marchioness Avery entirely on your own.”

“My aunt has been like this for more than a day or two, so leave it to me.”

Exactly. Olivia was curious about that. The reason why Richard Dalton had remained single until now, to the extent that the marchioness would step forward so directly. Setting aside her own case, what was the reason why a man who lacked nothing in terms of background or appearance had remained single until now?

Could the ‘rotten aspects’ the marchioness spoke of be serious enough obstacles to marriage? What could be so rotten and to what extent?