Before I knew it, my engagement ceremony with Masera was fast approaching.
“An estimate of the engagement ceremony budget is here. First you need to review and approve it… Also, if you could let me know who you’d like to invite, we’ll send out the invitations…”
“But we’ve already filed the marriage registration, haven’t we? Do we really need an engagement ceremony?”
Why are we doing this?
I had been questioning it all along.
The aide gave me a flimsy answer.
“It’s just for formality.”
I was the type who couldn’t let questions go unanswered. So I headed straight to the mansion library and read through a family law book thoroughly.
And I discovered that ‘as a customary practice, the marriage must be completed with a ceremony for the registration documents to be fully finalized.’
But nowhere did it say the engagement ceremony was a must.
Having finished getting ready, I gazed at the cars lining up outside the residence.
Then, checking the time, I immediately stood and made my way to Masera’s office.
Knock knock
With a knock, I opened the door and found Masera dressed in formal military uniform.
Regardless of how he felt about me, we had to enter the engagement hall together, so I had come to escort him.
“I’m here to escort you. Don’t I look great?”
I didn’t expect a response.
Masera, seated at his desk, remained expressionless and kept his eyes on the documents.
Lifting the hem of my skirt slightly, I spoke with a bright tone.
“The engagement dress you prepared is absolutely beautiful. You really have an eye for this sort of thing!”
I gave a graceful twirl to show it off, only for his face to harden completely.
“That dress was sent by your brother, Young Count Carlos.”
That damned Carlos sent this? I quickly dropped my expression.
“Oh, I meant that sarcastically. It’s actually not that great. Should I change into something else?”
Lowering his gaze with an icy look, Masera finally spoke.
“I don’t care what you wear—”
“You mean I look good no matter what? Thank you.”
“I couldn’t care less.”
“Of course, no need to thank me then?”
He managed to finish what he wanted to say, and I used my unbeatable skill: hearing only what I wanted to hear.
Still expressionless, he waved his hand.
“I have urgent documents to handle. Please just sit somewhere.”
“Where should I sit?”
“Stand, if you prefer. And I would be grateful if you could keep your mouth shut for just ten minutes.”
What should I do with that formally rude mouth of his?
In protest, I stood tall right in front of him.
About ten minutes passed like that.
Time’s up—I can speak now.
I opened my mouth.
“Please act affectionate in front of my family. Like we’re madly in-love with each other.”
“I told you not to make demands. And it hasn’t been ten minutes yet.”
“You said a marriage isn’t legally recognized until a wedding takes place, right? What if my very loving father gets upset and tries to annul the engagement?”
Masera silently looked at me.
During that silent 9.5 minutes, I had already finished examining the blueprints and papers partially visible on his desk.
In noble marriages, each side exchanges what they want.
What Masera had demanded from Count Queensguard was a barren land called ‘Nox.’
The Count offered a fake bride in exchange for a huge deal, and what he got was useless land?
[Bariesa Royal Family Estate]
From the documents, I could tell it was royal property.
Masera had a different reason for wanting land that would even cost more in taxes.
[Large-scale Development Project Plan]
If development—railways and more—was being planned there, that land held massive value.
There was a good chance that large reserves of resources were buried there.
No wonder Masera wouldn’t want this marriage to fall apart.
Of course, there’s no way money-crazed Count Queensguard didn’t know this.
I recalled something I read in a family law book and clenched my fist.
[In cases where a spouse dies within one year of marriage, the dowry is returned to the spouse’s family]
The Count was playing the long game.
He planned to reclaim the land after development started with Masera’s capital—through my death.
At least the good news is that Masera won’t kill me.
At least not for the next year.
If I want to avoid being killed by the Count within that time, and be able to negotiate even if my identity is revealed later, I need Masera’s trust.
Winning his heart is the answer, right?
“…Let’s go.”
Having finished his work, Masera stood and straightened his clothes.
I matched his long, brisk strides and said,
“Should we come up with pet names to seem like we’re madly in love?”
That way the Count wouldn’t dare lay a hand on me.
“Over my dead body.”
He said it with the most terrifying expression imaginable.
Geez, such a cranky cheese-cat.* What don’t you hate?
* * *
The banquet hall hosting the engagement ceremony was crowded with guests.
A noblewoman pointed somewhere and whispered to her companions.
“Look, House Queensguard is here.”
Where she pointed, Count Queensguard, Helene, Carlos, and Edford were surrounded by people.
It was the first time the veiled heirs of House Queensguard had shown their faces in society.
“They’re all quite attractive.”
“Looks like they take after their father.”
People couldn’t even imagine that Edford, with such a different appearance, was part of the Queensguard family.
Meanwhile, holding a glass of champagne, Carlos was staring intently at today’s star—Cynthia, standing on the stairs of the engagement venue.
Dressed in a luxurious gown and adorned with jewels, her beauty was enough to catch the eyes of every man in the hall.
Standing beside her was Masera, looking somewhat stern but wearing a faint smile.
“I’ve never seen such a perfect couple. Like a painting.”
Even from a distance, their dazzling looks earned them endless praise.
Carlos felt a strange twist in his gut.
Just then, Helene’s fiancé, Duke Rukanosa, appeared at the banquet.
With dark hair and ice-blue eyes, he was a tall and handsome man.
“Thank you, Duke, for coming to my sister’s engagement.”
Helene blushed as she spoke, and the Duke gave a slight nod.
“It was only natural. I have ties to Brigadier General Vicente as well.”
The Duke glanced around the hall.
This residence had once belonged to his uncle, the former Commander-in-Chief.
He had once aspired to follow in his uncle’s footsteps, but he could never surpass Masera’s talent.
From then on, the label of ‘the one who lost to a war orphan’ followed him.
He felt both inferiority and superiority toward Masera.
Masera marrying Cynthia Queensguard was clearly to disrupt and block his plans.
“How have you been, Duke?”
Count Queensguard warmly greeted the Duke with proper etiquette.
Their handshake was charged with subtle tension.
“It’s been a while.”
Count Queensguard was a shrewd man.
He had told the Duke that after sending Masera a fake bride, he would dispose of her before the one-year marriage law period ended.
It was an offer the Duke welcomed.
‘A war orphan, no matter how hard he tries, can never become the real deal like me.’
Holding a fake in his hands, Masera would chase illusions forever and eventually be the one losing.
Just as the Duke basked in his sense of victory, he spotted Cynthia descending the stairs.
Her hair, golden under the chandelier light, turned completely silver under the lower lights.
‘So that’s the fake bride?’
There was a tale in the Bariesa Royal Family that sometimes, by the blessing of the winter god, a child as white as snow would be born.
The Count had picked the perfect fake—or so he thought.
As Cynthia drew closer, the Duke’s eyes gradually widened.
“Hello, Duke. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
With a bright smile, she looked exactly like Princess Margarita, whom he had seen long ago in the palace when he was just a boy.
💟 Translator Notes 💟
* ‘cheese cat’ is what Koreans call orange tabby cats (their coloring looks like cheese). Korean cheese cats have a completely different vibe than American orange cats.
🐈 American ‘Orange Cats’
– loveble idiots. (think, orange cat brain vibes)
🐈 Korean ‘Cheese Cats’ (치즈 고양이)
– prickly, proud, and temperamental
basically fiery little tsunderes, often used as a metaphor for a cute but bratty and hard-to-please personality.
—Cynthia uses this term often
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