~Chapter 88~
‘Seriously, people just won’t leave me alone.’
Annoyed, Dietrich turned around.
“Eva, what kind of rudeness is this…”
But Dietrich couldn’t finish scolding his sister.
Because behind Evangeline, there was a lady being dragged by her wrist—Lady Laritte.
“W-wait a second…!”
Laritte was pulled into the room and couldn’t hide her confusion.
Dietrich called out blankly.
“Lady Ansie?”
At his call, Laritte’s pink eyes looked quietly at Dietrich.
Then she gave an awkward smile.
“Um… hello, Duke.”
“….”
Dietrich’s lips parted.
The person who had been in his head all day had suddenly become real, standing in front of him.
He had so many questions.
Did she really decide to marry Gregory?
Had he just imagined that there was a bond of respect between them, even if not romantic love?
…Could it be, she still liked Gregory?
But none of those questions came out.
To be more exact, he didn’t have the courage to ask.
‘If Lady Ansie truly wants to marry young master Gusto…’
…He felt like he would really be empty inside.
“Brother, listen to me!”
At that moment, Evangeline jumped in.
“Lari didn’t even know that young master Gusto had filed for marriage!”
“What do you mean?” Dietrich asked, confused.
“To file for marriage, you need the family’s identifying phrase, right?”
“….”
Laritte glanced away.
Dietrich’s face grew serious.
“Don’t tell me, young master Gusto knew Lady Ansie’s identifying phrase?”
“Um, well…”
“That phrase is supposed to be strictly managed by the family. It shouldn’t be leaked to outsiders…”
Dietrich’s face became more and more severe, then his eyes flashed as he asked,
“Did he threaten Lady Ansie to get it?”
“….”
Laritte couldn’t say she’d foolishly told Gregory herself back when she followed him everywhere.
‘I’ll just keep my mouth shut.’
So Laritte stayed silent and let Dietrich misunderstand.
Evangeline got angry again.
“So today, Lari went to the Marriage Bureau and the High Temple, but the temple was really uncooperative!”
“Uncooperative? How?”
“Chief Priest Evans himself came out and said he couldn’t show her the marriage registration!”
Evangeline fumed.
“Lari is the bride—does this make any sense?!”
“Why? Usually, the people involved can see the papers, right?”
“They said the rules changed. Because of disputes between families, now both sides have to agree before seeing it.”
Dietrich’s blue eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Isn’t that strange? Why did the rule change just when Lari’s registration was filed?”
“True…”
That made Dietrich think hard.
A lot of it was suspicious.
It was one thing for the temple to change their rules, but the timing was just too perfect.
It almost looked like the temple was working to make sure Laritte couldn’t check the marriage registration Gregory had filed.
‘Is the Gusto family working with the temple?’
But there was no proof of that.
For now, Dietrich put that aside.
He needed to confirm something else first.
“So, Lady Ansie…”
Dietrich spoke carefully.
“Do you not want to marry young master Gusto?”
For some reason, waiting for Laritte’s answer felt endless.
Then, Laritte said,
“Of course not!”
All her usual quietness vanished as she nodded firmly.
“I have no feelings for him. Not now, and not ever.”
“…I see.”
Dietrich felt a huge weight lift from his heart.
“Understood.”
He nodded lightly.
“Since Lady Ansie says she doesn’t agree to the marriage, we’ll have to check if there are legal problems with what happened.”
At that moment,
Laritte’s eyes shone faintly.
That light was called hope.
‘Lady Ansie… really…’
Dietrich felt strangely moved.
‘She has no feelings for young master Gusto.’
Even though things were so urgent, that fact made him happy.
…Even though he knew he shouldn’t be thinking that.
“Don’t worry. The Claudius Duke’s family will support you.”
Dietrich forced his voice to stay calm so he wouldn’t give himself away.
“You’re my sister’s only friend, after all.”
“….”
Laritte stared at Dietrich blankly.
Everyone else just treated the whole thing as gossip.
No one had cared about how hard it was for her.
Really, there was no reason Dietrich had to help her.
They were barely connected—only through Evangeline.
And yet—
‘He’s… helping me.’
It felt like someone was reaching out a hand to her, when she’d been drifting alone in the ocean.
Evangeline suddenly hugged Laritte.
“See? I told you my brother would help!”
“…Thank you.”
For the first time, Laritte’s always-calm voice wavered.
Her face blushed, and her eyes grew damp.
She was probably overwhelmed by emotion.
“Lari, are you crying?” Evangeline fussed, patting her back.
“Don’t cry, okay?”
“No, I’m not crying…”
Laritte shook her head, trying to smile.
Dietrich looked at her with feelings he couldn’t put into words.
He felt relief that Laritte didn’t like another man.
He felt sorry for her pain.
And he felt anger and hatred toward Gregory, who kept clinging to her.
All his feelings tangled together and left him confused.
At that moment—
‘I see.’
Dietrich realized.
‘It’s not just because Eva’s friend is in trouble that I’m upset.’
If Laritte had just been his sister’s friend, he wouldn’t have felt like this.
‘I have real feelings for Lady Ansie.’
Knowing that suddenly made him feel better.
‘If that’s true…’
His blue eyes sharpened.
Even if it was meddling, he didn’t care.
Dietrich decided he would not just stand by and watch Laritte become Gregory’s wife.
Once he decided, he moved quickly.
“Investigate young master Gusto’s marriage registration for anything suspicious,”
Dietrich ordered, eyes cold.
“No matter how small.”
He used all of the Duke Claudius family’s influence to start an investigation, but the results weren’t good.
The marriage registration filed at the Marriage Bureau was perfect—no errors.
The High Temple refused to show the marriage registration at all.
“Can’t we just demand to see the registration?”
“It’s… difficult to demand it without evidence,” the aide replied awkwardly.
“If we push too hard, the temple and the Duke’s house could end up fighting.”
Dietrich stood up right away.
“Then I’ll go and ask myself.”
“D-Duke!”
The panicked aide grabbed Dietrich’s clothes.
“Please give us a little more time! We’ll try to negotiate as much as we can…!”
“One week,”
Dietrich said coldly.
