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Chapter 31
“You mean to tell me you’ve sent out so many marriage proposals, yet not one positive reply came back? No wonder Diane is upset. Don’t worry—if the Marquis of Redwood has been proposing so many matches, then surely one of those offers will soon go to the man Diane mentioned before.”
Elaena replied as if she didn’t already know what Diane meant.
The day she’d heard that Lyle planned to come with a proposal, Diane had burst into tears, confessing that the man she truly liked was someone else.
“No… that won’t happen.”
Diane’s lips trembled before she answered weakly. The furniture shop was empty except for her and Elaena. Everyone else had discreetly stepped out so the noble ladies could browse in peace.
After a moment of hesitation, Diane confessed her secret.
“The person I like… isn’t of a rank my father would ever consider suitable.”
Nathan Hennet. The second son of a rural viscount family on the frontier—without even a title of his own, and worse, a botanist by profession. His humble circumstances would never satisfy her father.
The day of the arranged proposal with Grand Duke Grant, she’d been so shocked she wept uncontrollably. Now, she was slowly trying to let go of her feelings.
“I even foolishly hoped Father might one day send a proposal to him. But I don’t think such silly thoughts anymore. This morning, at breakfast with my whole family, Father said something…”
“What did he say?”
“That if all the noble families in the capital reject my matches, he’ll send me to a convent.”
“What? That’s absurd!”
Elaena shot to her feet in outrage. Startled by her fiery reaction, Diane blinked wide-eyed, then gave a faint, defeated smile.
“I can’t help it. If Father decides that’s what’s best, I have no power to refuse. Still, I’m glad I’ll be able to attend your wedding before leaving for the convent.”
“Even if he’s your father, how can he just decide your future like that?”
Elaena grabbed Diane’s hands tightly.
“Are you really okay with that? You said you love someone! How can you just go to a convent and grow old there without ever marrying him?”
“If that’s Father’s decision—”
“Don’t say that!”
Elaena held Diane’s face so she couldn’t look away.
“Do you mean that? Truly?”
Diane couldn’t lie to Elaena. She quietly shook her head.
Elaena sighed and released her.
“Don’t give up on your own future so easily. No matter what your father says, you’re the one who has to live that life. Make a choice that won’t leave you unhappy. Right now your family may seem frightening, but if you just let yourself get swept along, all that’ll remain later is regret.”
Fixing what’s already been lost takes far more courage than standing up now. Elaena thought grimly that even if Diane had managed to avoid marrying Lyle, this same situation would repeat again unless she changed.
“I’m sorry. I must sound pathetic. People always say I have no redeeming qualities except my looks.”
“Who said that? And you just listened quietly to such awful words?”
“But they’re right… I keep wishing all the men Father proposes to would refuse. Because I don’t want to be anyone’s wife but his…”
“So you’d rather go to a convent?”
“Yes.”
“Diane!”
Elaena couldn’t hold back her shout any longer. The timid tone in Diane’s voice revealed just how little she’d been valued in her own home, and rage flared in Elaena’s chest.
“That’s not the only choice you have.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean Nathan. You could have a future with him, couldn’t you?”
Diane gave a weak smile.
“Not for me.”
Nathan spent most of his time on his family’s estate, only coming to the Academy during the winter and summer research terms. Now that winter had come, he must have returned as a research professor.
“He must have heard by now—about the broken proposal with the Grand Duke, and about my father frantically sending proposals to every noble in the capital. The rumors are everywhere.”
Yet none of his letters mentioned any of it.
“…You’ve been writing to him?”
“Yes. We exchange letters through a carrier pigeon—her name’s Kuku. She’s very clever.”
Diane smiled faintly, her eyes soft.
“Maybe even after I go to the convent, we could still write… at least until he finds a wife.”
“Listen to me, Diane. You’re not going to a convent.”
Right now, many declined proposals came from families weighing political benefits. But Diane was still the daughter of a marquis—a valuable name in the marriage market.
Sooner or later, someone would accept. Or someone would propose on their own.
“What if you spoke to Nathan first?”
“No. I can’t burden him.”
It’s not a burden, Elaena thought, pressing down her frustration.
If Diane married someone else, Nathan Hennet would collapse into despair, bury himself in research, achieve remarkable discoveries—and then take his own life.
No, for Nathan’s sake too, this needed to change.
“So what if it’s a burden? He should feel it! You can’t just stir up someone’s heart and then pretend nothing happened—that’s cowardly.”
“Elaena…”
“No, we’re not stopping here. Let’s go to the Academy. We’ll talk to him face to face.”
Diane went pale.
“Wh-what? But—”
“He’s in the capital, isn’t he?”
“Yes, but… we’ve only actually met once…”
Flustered, Diane rushed to explain their first meeting.
It had been years ago, at a ball.
Nathan hadn’t gone there for socializing, but to secretly collect a rare plant that grew only in that mansion’s garden.
Diane had slipped out of the ballroom and headed for the garden—where she found him rustling in the dark.
Startled, she cried out, and Nathan, distracted, accidentally cut his own hand. Diane used her handkerchief to stop the bleeding, but when she heard someone approaching, she panicked and fled before being caught with a strange man.
The handkerchief returned days later—
Coo, coo.
There had been a soft tapping at her window, and when she opened it, a white pigeon stood there, a letter and her laundered handkerchief tied to its leg.
“Since then, we’ve exchanged letters,” Diane said softly.
Elaena already knew this story but listened patiently.
“Diane, seeing him only once is a problem. If you meet him again, he might disappoint you.”
“No. I don’t think he will.”
“How can you be sure? Honestly, I don’t even know if he’s the right person for you. But that’s not the point—your feelings are what matter.”
Elaena clasped her hands again.
“So meet him. You have the right to choose your own future. Don’t just wait for others to decide it for you. If it doesn’t feel right, end it cleanly. Tell him not to write anymore.”
She meant every word.
Knowing Diane’s circumstances, Elaena couldn’t stand Nathan’s passive behavior—just exchanging letters while doing nothing.
A coward. A weak, selfish coward.
He had shaken Diane’s heart and yet refused to take any action. No amount of angry words could ease her irritation.
“Lady Winchester, Lady Redwood,” called the furniture shop owner. “The light-colored furniture you requested is ready upstairs.”
Elaena waved a hand apologetically.
“I’m sorry, but I have to leave now. I’ll come back in a few days, if that’s all right.”
The owner nodded cheerfully. Elaena grabbed Diane’s hand and led her out of the shop.
“E-Elaena…”
“Do as I said, Diane. If you meet him in person, you’ll understand your own heart more clearly.”
Diane couldn’t answer, but after a moment, she gave a faint nod.
