Chapter 7
“She used to be so arrogant, but now she’s watching my reaction—how refreshing that feels!”
Ena vented her frustration with Clara, mixing in some colorful language. She’d long forgotten her dignity as a noblewoman.
“I heard Dyur invited Kaiden Verder to the wedding?”
“Mother, about that…”
“Well, good. Chloe, go and crush those two brats’ pride. While you’re at it, it’d be even better if you remarried.”
Now Ena began to babble about Chloe and Kaiden’s future together.
Where they’d hold the wedding, which neighborhood their newlywed home would be in, how many children they’d have…
Chloe knew she should tell her mother that wasn’t going to happen, but it was hard to get the words out when Ena looked so happy. After all, Chloe too had long dreamed of knocking Melvin and Dyur off their high horses.
But I have to say it.
Because there was no future between her and Kaiden Verder.
“Mother, listen…”
Chloe had just opened her mouth to speak when—
“Miss Chloe, a carriage has arrived for you.”
“A carriage?”
Chloe looked puzzled. She wasn’t expecting anyone. Why a carriage?
“Um, based on the emblem on the carriage, it seems to be from the House of Verder.”
“…What?”
“They said they’ve come to escort you…”
Before the butler could finish speaking, Chloe bolted from the study like a bullet.
Outside, a carriage drawn by two sleek black horses stood in front of the mansion. On its side was the eagle emblem—unmistakably that of the House of Verder.
“Why…?”
As Chloe stepped back in disbelief, the carriage door clicked open. Then, a pair of long legs stepped out, followed by Kaiden, dressed in a deep navy suit.
“Gasp.”
Gasps escaped from the servants who had gathered. With his sleek black hair combed back and his perfectly tailored three-piece suit, Kaiden looked so stunning he took everyone’s breath away.
He placed his right hand over his chest and bowed politely—perfect gentlemanly manners.
“Apologies for showing up unannounced. I had something important to say and came despite the rudeness.”
“I told you last time, didn’t I? I have nothing more to say to you.”
Kaiden coming all the way to her home, the curious eyes of the servants—all of it was overwhelming. Chloe, emotionally drained, just wanted him to go away.
But, as always, life never went the way she wanted.
“Chloe, you can’t leave a guest standing out here. Invite him in.”
“…He’s not a guest. He’ll be gone soon, so don’t mind him.”
“Lovers shouldn’t drag out a fight. Just make up quickly—it’ll be better for you.”
“I told you, it’s not like that.”
Apparently, to Ena, this looked like some kind of lovers’ quarrel.
“Well, that won’t do. He came all this way. You should at least show some courtesy.”
“……”
Chloe was speechless at Ena’s excited chatter. No matter how many times she tried to explain, her mother wouldn’t listen.
This is insane.
The servants surrounding her and Kaiden, her mother watching with hopeful eyes, and then…
“……”
Even Clara, her mother’s enemy, watching the scene from the second-floor window.
“…Fine. Let’s move somewhere else to talk.”
“You’ve made the right choice.”
In the end, Chloe had no choice but to take Kaiden’s arm and board the carriage.
* * *
Kaiden took her to a quiet café on the outskirts of the capital. It catered exclusively to high-ranking nobles, so it was luxurious and very private.
“First, I’ll return the dress.”
“I told you it was fine. Chloe, you’re surprisingly stubborn.”
“It’s not stubbornness. I just don’t want anything to do with you.”
Chloe placed the box containing the dress on the table and spoke bluntly, making her displeasure clear.
“So why exactly did you come to my house?”
Chloe assumed he had come to apologize. After all, dragging her into something as huge as marriage—any reasonable person would feel some guilt.
But she had forgotten one thing.
Kaiden Verder was not a reasonable man.
“I came to make a formal proposal.”
“A proposal… what kind of—?”
“To marry me.”
“Pfft!”
Chloe was so shocked she spit out the tea she had just sipped. Kaiden, who was sitting directly across from her, ended up wearing all of it.
She hastily pulled tissues from the table and handed them to him.
“S-sorry.”
“It’s alright.”
Kaiden’s voice was calm, but the twitching corner of his eye betrayed him.
“Why would you say something like that out of nowhere? ‘Let’s get married’—you can’t just blurt out something that absurd!”
He said it so calmly, as if he were picking a dinner menu. Had she not been listening carefully, she might’ve just replied, “Sure.”
Kaiden wiped his face with a tissue and began speaking again.
“I know I didn’t explain enough last time. I didn’t consider your perspective. That’s why I’m here now—to explain properly and make an official proposal.”
“You’re seriously talking about marriage?”
“Yes.”
“Hah…”
Watching Kaiden nod so resolutely, Chloe rubbed her forehead.
Her anger hadn’t just stemmed from his lack of explanation. It was his attitude—treating marriage like a game, ignoring her difficult past and her feelings.
“That’s not even the point anymore.”
“Weren’t you angry because I didn’t explain in advance?”
“That was part of it… but I was angry because you didn’t respect my situation or my wishes, and just forced me into your plan.”
“I see.”
Kaiden roughly crumpled the damp tissue and placed it on the table.
“That’s why this time, I’ve come fully prepared—to explain everything, and to respect your position.”
“……”
Where did it all go wrong? She opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Talking to this lunatic wasn’t going to be easy.
“This proposal isn’t a bad deal for you, either. It will benefit both of us.”
“…Fine. Let’s hear just how ‘kind’ your explanation is.”
Right. Forget thinking. Just shut off your brain and listen. Chloe straightened her posture. Soon, Kaiden began to explain.
“I have two half-brothers. Technically, I’m the legitimate heir, so I should inherit the title. But as you know, none of them plan to give it up easily.”
“I’m aware.”
The Duke of Verder’s legal wife had been childless for five years after their marriage. In desperation for an heir, the duke had taken a second wife—a practice now banned, but legal twenty years ago. Luckily for the duke, the second wife gave birth to a son, and the law was abolished soon after.
The second wife, having given birth to a son, received all of the duke’s favor. Enraged, the legal wife spent ten grueling years trying to conceive, and finally gave birth to Kaiden Verder, the legitimate heir.
But her efforts were in vain—because the second wife went on to have another son. The duchess’s health rapidly deteriorated afterward.
Because of all this, Kaiden had to fight for his place as heir. Though he was the rightful son by law, it was almost impossible to dismantle the power his half-brothers and their mother had built during the ten years before his birth.
Of course, it didn’t help that the Duke himself seemed to be watching the succession fight as if it were a thrilling drama.
Chloe already knew the messy details of the Verder family quite well.
“He’s always taken everything from me. But who would’ve thought—even my bride?”
“…Wait. Don’t tell me—”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Kaiden set down his teacup with a sharp clink.
“My former fiancée is marrying my older brother. At that hotel where we first met.”
Chloe’s pupils widened in pure shock. She had known that noble life wasn’t as glamorous as it seemed—but to find another family messier than her own?
