MWWHCMD~01

CHAPTER~01

Should I Take Her?

—

The hurried echo of footsteps rang through the bustling exhibition hall filled with businessmen.

At the end of that sound stood a man.

Even amidst the crowd, he was impossible to miss — a strikingly handsome figure with radiant blond hair and eyes as deep as the blue sea. His tall stature and well-built frame only added to his commanding presence.

Sensing someone quickly approaching, the man turned his head slightly.

He spotted his secretary, Blan, weaving through the crowd. Gesturing lightly with his eyes, he signaled him to wait. But Blan shook his head frantically, his expression tense.

After a brief pause, the man excused himself from the businessmen he’d been speaking with and strode toward his subordinate.

“What is it?”

His low voice carried a faint but sharp edge.

Blan hesitated, glancing around. Then, covering his mouth with his hand, he leaned close and whispered something.

As he listened, the man’s fine brows gradually furrowed.

“So…”

He stopped for a moment, then finished in a calm voice.

“My father… died.”

Blan didn’t answer. It wasn’t a question that required one.

The man let out a quiet sigh, his lips tightening.

They hadn’t been a particularly affectionate family, but still — hearing of his father’s death so suddenly must have been unsettling.

At least, that’s what Blan thought.

“Wait for me here,” the man said simply.

Blan’s eyes widened. “Y-you’re not going back right away?”

“I came all the way here. I should finish the contract first.”

“Sir…?”

“It’s not like my father will come back from hell just because I rush home, is it?”

Leaving his dumbfounded secretary behind, the man returned to the group of businessmen and resumed the discussion — smiling with such ease that no one would ever guess he had just received news of his father’s death.

Blan clicked his tongue quietly as he watched.

What a monster.

A true lunatic for money.

That man was none other than Cedric Glaston — the powerful heir of the Glaston family, the grandson of a tycoon so rich that people joked he could buy the crown of Harrington if he wished.

—

The soft patter of rain against the window filled the silence of the cabin until a knock broke through.

“We’ll be arriving in Lucerne soon, sir. You may wish to prepare,” said the attendant.

Blan, instead of the man with his eyes closed beside him, nodded politely in response. The attendant bowed and quietly left.

Blan, having neatly organized the documents in his lap, glanced toward Cedric.

“So, about your marriage — have you given it any thought, sir?”

Cedric slowly opened his eyes, though they had never truly been asleep. The vivid blue in them was calm and sharp.

There was only one reason Blan would bring up marriage.

“If you marry a proper lady from a respectable family and build a decent household, I’ll pass the company to you.”

Those were the words of Carlyle Glaston, Cedric’s grandfather. Not long after Cedric’s father fell ill, the old man had given both his grandsons — Cedric and his half-brother Derrick — a condition for inheritance.

On the surface, it sounded reasonable: “If you can’t even manage a family, how can you run a company?”

But Cedric knew better.

His grandfather was calculating the profits that could be gained from his grandsons’ marriages.

After all, Carlyle Glaston wasn’t just anyone.

Born a commoner, he had read the tides of the era faster than anyone, clawing his way from the bottom to become the King of Steel. A man like that never made a move without calculating what he stood to gain.

To Cedric, already expanding the family business into shipbuilding and maritime trade, the inheritance wasn’t much of an incentive. It wasn’t about the prize — it was about principle.

The Glaston name was his. It always had been.

And now they wanted to hand it to that idiot half-brother and his scheming stepmother?

Never.

The Glaston legacy belonged to him — as it always should.

So even amid his busy schedule, Cedric had been meeting women nonstop to find a suitable match.

Unfortunately, not one of them had impressed him.

It wasn’t that he expected destiny or romance — such sentimental nonsense was for cheap novels.

To him, marriage was simply a transaction — a means to strengthen alliances and reap greater profit.

In other words, he hadn’t found a woman who met his standards: someone advantageous enough to be worth the trouble of marriage, yet harmless to his life.

He had planned to take more time to choose carefully.

But fate, it seemed, would not wait.

Annoyance flickered across his face as he clicked his tongue and lowered his gaze.

Blan, watching him cautiously, added another piece of news.

“And… Lord Derrick’s engagement has been arranged with the Leroy Duchy.”

“The Leroy Duchess’s daughter?”

The Leroy family — nobility with ties to the royal bloodline.

Though the aristocracy had declined in the face of rampant capitalism, a connection to the royal family still carried weight.

The Leroys had one daughter — or so people said.

She had been frail since childhood and had lived secluded in the duchy’s estate for her health, never once appearing in society.

“So she’s not dead after all?” Cedric muttered dryly.

“I heard her health has improved a lot. She’s even attending the funeral.”

Cedric’s lips twisted.

No wonder Derrick and his stepmother had been so quiet lately — they were busy scheming.

This was getting irritating.

“Well, we can’t just sit still either,” Blan said quickly. “I’ll start compiling a list of eligible young ladies—”

“No. Anyone won’t do. They brought in the Duke’s daughter. What good is some count’s or marquis’s daughter against that?”

“True, but your business success already puts you far ahead of them. Even without a higher title, you’re practically guaranteed to be heir—”

Blan fell silent when he met those cold, glacial blue eyes.

He finally realized what his superior was thinking.

Cedric Glaston never did anything halfway. Whatever task he took, he completed flawlessly. Whatever game he entered, he dominated completely.

That damned perfectionism.

Blan swallowed. “Then what will you do, sir? To match the Duke’s daughter, you’d need someone of royal blood, but the royal family is…”

“Full of unpleasant, dark-haired men,” Cedric cut him off sharply.

Before Blan could think of another idea, the train began to slow as it entered Lucerne Station.

Cedric rose from his seat.

First things first — the funeral.

As he fastened his jacket, his blue eyes gleamed with an unreadable light.

When they exited the cabin, the attendant waiting outside bowed and opened the private exit for them.

Cedric stepped down onto the familiar, loathsome soil of Lucerne.

That was when a voice drifted from the next carriage.

“Thank you for the hard work, my lady.”

Cedric turned his head without much thought.

A small figure had just stepped onto the platform — a young woman.

Even among the bustling crowd of passengers, she stood out. Perhaps it was her pale skin against her dark brown hair, or the mix of fear and curiosity shimmering in her eyes despite her noble attire.

Or maybe… it was simply because she was breathtakingly beautiful — the kind of beauty that turned heads wherever she went.

“Oh… that must be her,” Blan whispered as he noticed where Cedric was looking. “The Leroy Lady.”

Surrounded by attendants and guards, the young woman made her way through the platform.

Cedric’s eyes narrowed as he watched her pass.

In that instant, a dangerous yet certain thought came to him — a perfect way to win this game.

Then… should I take her?