Chapter〈006〉
“I’ll try my best.”
What came out of his mouth next was such a textbook-perfect answer—so proper, so correct.
“For what?”
“I’ll try my best to like Miss Naeri.”
“Why?”
But that wasn’t an acceptable answer. At least, not to me.
“Falling in love with someone isn’t something you can make happen just by trying, is it? I don’t think love is something that can be forced. Marrying someone you don’t love would only bring misery to both parties.”
“I’m well aware of that—thanks to my parents.”
Did that mean the previous Earl of Winchester had an unhappy marriage? Lord Winchester replied calmly. Was that why he turned out like this…?
No, wait! That’s not the point right now! Who cares about his parents’ marriage? My own marriage is at stake here!
“Then why are you still willing to marry me?”
The moment I asked that question, my heart fluttered ever so slightly.
When I realized those piercing blue eyes of Lord Winchester were staring at me without the slightest hint of wavering—when I realized that unwavering gaze was directed solely at me—my heart skipped a beat.
I realized that, even though I barely knew this man, I was… hoping. Hoping for his answer.
“Possibility,” he said.
“Possibility?”
“I thought… maybe I could come to like you.”
It wasn’t a dreamy confession like, ‘Actually, I fell for you at first sight.’ It wasn’t a romantic lie like, ‘Truth is, I’ve always liked you.’
No, it was simply a vague statement. A maybe.
“If it’s Miss Naeri…”
But it was also the most honest thing I’d ever heard.
Maybe, just maybe, I might come to like you.
And so, I couldn’t bring myself to say no.
“Oh my, oh my, oh my! You sly thing! You said there was nothing! You said it was just one night and to forget it! And now you’re just straight-up marrying Lord Winchester?!”
Thanks to my sister, who kept smacking my arm excitedly, my arm hurt.
“Stop hitting me.”
“Oh my! Are you embarrassed?”
No, I’m just in pain!
“It’s okay, it’s okay. I know exactly what this is. Your big sister’s been through it all already.”
I tried to twist my body away from her hand, but this time, she went for my torso and bumped me repeatedly.
“Enough already. Just help me pick out my dress and trousseau. That’s why we’re here.”
Our mother, who had been silently poring over a catalog, scolded my sister and pushed a different one in her direction. For days, she had worn a worried expression on her face. But when I told her I’d agreed to marry Lord Winchester, her face finally lit up. That was, perhaps, the one upside of this marriage.
“Oh, right, right. That’s why we’re here.”
Sophia nodded and picked up the catalog. I glanced over and saw an illustration of a snow-white wedding dress. Peeking at Mom, I saw her seriously engrossed in a jewelry catalog.
‘Am I really getting married?’
Even though we were looking at my wedding dress and my trousseau, it still didn’t feel real.
‘Then I’ll become Daniel’s stepmother?’
In the original novel, Daniel’s stepmother was certainly not someone as ordinary as a baron’s daughter like me. Was it an earl’s daughter? A marquess’s? I couldn’t remember exactly, but she was definitely glamorous and indulgent.
Not only that, despite being an adult, she was jealous of young Daniel’s beautiful platinum blond hair—just because she had a dirty blonde color. So she bullied Daniel and eventually sold him off to that bastard, practically.
‘Novel or not, how could I ignore a child so scrawny and frail right in front of me? He’s only six now—there’s still 14 years left until he turns 20! And if I think about how long he’d be tormented by that wretched husband, that poor child would have to suffer for twenty whole years! How could I let that happen when I know all of it?’
I was trying to rationalize accepting Lord Winchester’s proposal. To be honest, the idea of marrying him didn’t appeal to me nearly as much as the idea of getting to raise Daniel. Like buying a magazine just for the free gift.
The affections I felt for the boy I already adored were far more certain than the vague hope that a man might come to love me someday.
‘Right. I’ll just take care of him and love him for about ten years. Then I’ll divorce or run away. Lord Winchester will become a divorcee and probably end up marrying that horrible stepmother from the original story, right? That way, the novel will go back on track. And Daniel will only have to endure her for a little while…’
“Have you spoken to Baron Goffort?”
My mother’s voice abruptly pulled me out of my mental calculations.
“Oh! That.”
It had sounded like a throwaway comment as she flipped through the catalog, but Sophia quickly raised her head.
“He said he could do about 50 million pard.”
“Really?”
Unlike her earlier casual tone, Mother’s expression brightened at my sister’s answer.
“Then, since we have about 30 million pard on hand, if we shift some funds, we could gather around 100 million pard.”
“Did Lord Winchester really ask for that much dowry? He’s already wealthy—that’s excessive.”
“We haven’t discussed those details yet.”
“If they haven’t demanded it, 50 million pard should be enough, right? That was the average when I got married.”
“He’s an earl. The dowry should match his station.”
“W-Wait a minute!”
Up until now, I had just been listening quietly, but I finally realized they were talking about my dowry. Come to think of it, dowries were a thing here, weren’t they? That’s why the stepmother in the novel sold Daniel off to that bastard.
Oh no! 100 million pard?! I recently bought a fancy birthday cake for my nephew that cost less than 50,000 pard! My wedding dowry is 1 hundred million pard?! This wedding is going to bankrupt us!
“Isn’t that way too much? We still need to get the dress, the jewelry, and everything else. All that costs money too—why prepare a 100 million pard dowry on top of that?”
“These are all necessary expenses for marriage. More importantly, how about this one?”
Mom handed me the catalog she was looking at, pointing to a particular item. It was a men’s ring.
But before I noticed the design, my eyes went straight to the price written underneath.
“1.5 million pard?”
“Oh! Look at this one too. Isn’t this wedding dress gorgeous?”
Not to be outdone, Sophia shoved another catalog in front of me. Again, the price caught my eye before the design.
“600,000 pard?”
“Nope.”
Whew… Maybe I saw that wrong. Yeah, 600,000 pard for a dress is way too much—
“That’s just for the dress. The full set with the shoes and veil is 700,000 pard. You’re going to need those anyway, so it’s better to get the set.”
“That’s way too expensive!”
“But if you buy the set, you save 50,000 pard…”
Sophia’s voice trailed off slightly at my protest.
“I’ll talk to Lord Winchester.”
“Talk about what?”
“Whether all of this is really necessary for a wedding.”
“Don’t you dare. If you bring that up before the wedding, he might look down on our family. And if he starts disrespecting his in-laws now, how do you think he’ll treat his wife? I won’t let that happen.”
Mother’s expression was firm. And seeing that made my chest ache.
I wanted to fall at her feet and confess everything—tell her that I wasn’t really her daughter, that she didn’t need to go to such lengths for me.
“…But we still need to discuss it. At the very least, I should know Lord Winchester’s preferences.”
But I was a coward. I couldn’t bring myself to tell the truth.
“At the very least, I should have the freedom to choose the ring I’m going to wear. And the dress his bride will be wearing by his side.”
I snatched the catalogs from their hands as I spoke. The more beautiful things I saw, the more I began to want.
“So I’ll go and meet Lord Winchester.”
