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Chapter 4
A luxurious black carriage bearing a lion crest rolled through the front gates of House Nine.
The carriage stopped before the mansion entrance, and when the door opened, Hayden stepped out slowly.
“Thank you for coming all this way.”
“Welcome.”
“Thank you for inviting me.”
Having already been informed of his arrival, Marquis Nine and his wife personally came out to greet him with smiles.
“It’s been quite a while, Hayden.”
“It has indeed.”
Hayden briefly exchanged greetings with Theo Nine, the young marquis and his close friend.
“Welcome.”
Julia Nine, who had been excitedly dressing up since morning after hearing Hayden would visit today, shyly gathered the hem of her skirt and greeted him.
“Thank you for the warm welcome.”
“Come now, we shouldn’t stand around outside. Let’s head in, Duke.”
As Marquis Nine and Hayden walked side by side, the marchioness, Theo, and Julia followed behind.
While walking, Julia secretly glanced at Hayden conversing with her father and quietly wished that somehow, today, she might get a chance to speak with him alone.
Marquis Nine and Hayden entered the marquis’s office and began discussing business matters.
In truth, that was the primary purpose of Hayden’s visit today.
Knock knock knock—
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of knocking.
When the marquis gave permission to enter, Julia stepped gracefully inside carrying a tray filled with tea and light refreshments.
“Please have something while you talk.”
Approaching her father and Hayden, Julia spoke shyly while holding the tray of snacks.
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
Julia first set down the plate of cookies before safely placing a teacup before her father.
However, she failed to place Hayden’s cup down as smoothly.
While lowering the cup, she accidentally spilled some tea onto her own hand.
“Ah! Hot!”
“Julia! Are you alright?!”
Startled, Julia grabbed her right hand.
The marquis shot to his feet in panic and immediately seized his daughter’s wrist, anxiously examining it from every angle.
“F-first wipe it—! No, cold water! No, a physician!”
Terrified that something might happen to his precious only daughter’s hand, Marquis Nine began babbling incoherently.
Watching this, Hayden sighed inwardly.
The marquis was generally an excellent man.
Except whenever his daughter was involved.
Hayden noticed a neatly folded handkerchief resting on Julia’s tray for some unknown reason, so he picked it up and handed it to her.
“Use this for now.”
“Thank you, Duke.”
Julia shyly accepted the handkerchief Hayden offered and pressed it against her hand.
Watching the scene, Marquis Nine smiled inwardly.
‘The two of them really do look perfect together.’
‘I honestly think they suit each other so well. But Duke Roelrn doesn’t seem interested in our Julia at all. If he’d had feelings for her, he would’ve accepted immediately back at her debutante.’
The marquis recalled how shyly Julia had once asked him if she could receive Duke Roelrn’s escort for her seventeenth-year debutante.
Naturally, he had proudly told her to leave everything to him.
At the time, he genuinely believed Hayden might harbor some affection for Julia.
But Duke Roelrn had firmly refused.
When the marquis broke the news to Julia that the duke declined, she cried so much and refused to eat, leaving him utterly distraught.
Parents could never win against their children.
In the end, throwing dignity aside, Marquis Nine repeatedly begged Hayden.
Since the marquis had been his late father’s close friend, Hayden eventually relented after being practically pleaded with several times.
Though not before firmly saying:
“This will be the first and last time.”
Still, Julia had debuted brilliantly at seventeen while escorted by Duke Roelrn himself.
She had looked incredibly happy.
Watching her then, Marquis Nine had felt complicated emotions.
Truthfully, he never expected Hayden to reject the request so decisively.
Deep down, he’d assumed the duke liked Julia.
He’d simply thought Hayden’s cold personality made him bad at expressing it.
‘At least Julia is still the only noble lady he keeps close…’
But that was all.
The level of kindness one might show to a close friend’s younger sister.
Perhaps even less than that.
‘Still, lately Julia’s grown even more beautiful now that she’s nearing adulthood.’
Marquis Nine gazed at Julia listening attentively to Hayden’s recommendation that she visit a physician.
Honestly, she was truly beautiful.
‘Hm?’
Suddenly, the handkerchief wrapped around Julia’s hand caught his attention.
‘Come to think of it…’
The embroidery was small and difficult to see clearly, but it was unmistakably the Roelrn ducal crest.
‘Just as I thought!’
Marquis Nine nearly burst into a triumphant grin.
If it had been an ordinary handkerchief without embroidery, he would’ve dismissed it as mere gentlemanly manners.
But a handkerchief embroidered with one’s family crest was entirely different.
Such handkerchiefs were only given to women one cherished—lovers, wives, or women held dear.
The same applied to women as well.
‘So Duke Roelrn fooled me all this time! Look at him carrying that around secretly, only to hand it over the moment an opportunity appeared! Did he think nobody would notice such tiny embroidery?’
The marquis, who had long hoped to make Hayden his son-in-law, rejoiced inwardly at the thought that his wish might finally come true.
‘My wife was right! Those rumors saying Duke Roelrn would propose once Julia came of age! I wasn’t sure since it only circulated among the young ladies, but seeing this today confirms it! So despite refusing so stubbornly during the debutante… when exactly did he start liking our Julia?’
Trying to calm his excitement, Marquis Nine carefully observed Hayden listening to Julia chatter.
‘Hmm. But no matter how I look at it, that’s not the face of a man looking at the woman he loves.’
Hayden’s expression was far too blank.
No emotion.
No reaction whatsoever.
Could he have accidentally handed over the handkerchief without thinking?
‘No. Impossible. Duke Roelrn knows perfectly well what such a gesture means. There’s no way he’d make that kind of mistake.’
Glancing repeatedly between the handkerchief and Hayden’s expression, the marquis weighed the possibilities.
Adding in all the long-standing rumors surrounding Julia and Hayden, he eventually arrived at one conclusion:
Hayden liked Julia.
Thinking about it again, imagining the perpetually expressionless duke smiling brightly because of love was nearly impossible anyway.
‘Perhaps it’s because he’s a knight. He rarely shows emotions and can be rather stiff. And since there are no older women in the ducal household, maybe he simply doesn’t know how to express himself. Besides, there must’ve been signs all this time if noble ladies were already spreading rumors that he’d propose once Julia came of age. Rumors don’t emerge from nothing.’
Watching Hayden respond to Julia’s lengthy conversation with short answers, Marquis Nine silently shook his head.
‘No wonder I misunderstood and thought he didn’t like her.’
‘This won’t do. I should arrange opportunities for them—or casually bring it up myself.’
It seemed healthier for everyone if things were settled clearly.
That expressionless face only caused confusion.
And once things became official, he planned to quietly advise Hayden to soften his expressions more around Julia.
After all, his daughter had suffered emotionally for years over this.
Surely that was a father’s privilege.
“Father, I should get going now. I’ve interrupted your conversation long enough.”
Hearing Julia’s voice, Marquis Nine snapped out of his thoughts and looked toward her.
The two of them truly looked perfect standing together.
“Very well. Go have your hand treated properly, Julia. We can’t have such beautiful hands scarred.”
“I already asked the duke earlier, and he said it probably won’t scar. But he still told me to see a physician just in case. You heard him earlier too, Father.”
“Oh? Did I? I must’ve been distracted for a moment. Duke Roelrn, are you certain there won’t be scarring?”
“Yes. There’s no need to worry about Lady Nine’s hand. Still, it would be best for her to see a physician.”
Though Hayden answered with his usual expressionless face, inwardly he was slightly irritated.
Thanks to Julia Nine, not only had the flow of business discussion been interrupted, but they’d wasted several minutes on pointless chatter ever since she claimed to have burned her hand.
If she’d truly been hurt badly enough to matter, she wouldn’t be calmly standing here chatting.
At a glance, her hand looked perfectly fine.
There was absolutely no chance of scarring.
Which meant—
He really wished she would leave already.
“It’s best to follow Duke Roelrn’s advice. Go receive treatment and rest. I’ll come see you once our discussion is finished.”
“Yes, Father. Please continue your conversation.”
Covering her lips shyly with the hand wrapped in the handkerchief, Julia left the room.
Marquis Nine once more caught sight of the crest visible from his angle and reaffirmed his certainty.
No matter how he looked at it, it was definitely the Roelrn family crest.
‘It’s certain. Absolutely certain!’
Once again, Marquis Nine celebrated wildly in his heart.
However—
Had he known that the handkerchief actually originated from the tray Julia herself brought in, his face would’ve gone pale from embarrassment.
Embroidering another family’s crest onto a handkerchief without permission was not merely rude—it was humiliating.
Because he’d been too busy checking his daughter’s hand, the marquis never noticed where the handkerchief came from.
Naturally, he assumed Hayden had been carrying it himself.
After all, Hayden had personally handed it to Julia.
Completely unaware that a future embarrassment was brewing, Marquis Nine struggled to suppress his excitement at the prospect of gaining the Empire’s most desirable bachelor as a son-in-law.
“Now then, Duke. Since Julia brought refreshments with such sincerity, let’s continue our discussion over tea.”
At the marquis’s urging, Hayden lifted the tea to his lips.
And once again became certain.
Julia Nine’s hand absolutely would not scar.
The following day, after reporting to the Tower Master and revising the contract accordingly, Yvenne sealed the new documents inside a magically secured envelope and headed toward the First Knight Order.
‘Did I arrive too early?’
Hehe. I must’ve come early without realizing it because I was excited about the ducal snacks again.
Humming cheerfully at the thought of eating the Roelrn family’s desserts for a second consecutive day, Yvenne approached the First Knight Order headquarters.
And there—
‘Holy shit, what the hell?!’
An uninvited guest had arrived before her.
