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Chapter 37
Part 3. He Didn’t Expect This from Her!
“Why did I start liking Viola?”
If anyone asked, Ezekiel would answer simply:
…Because he thought her awkward wink was cute.
The day before he was to leave for the capital, Ezekiel sat in his study, recalling that moment.
She had boldly shown up and made him the absurd proposal of a contract marriage. And with it, that clumsy little wink.
Strangely, it stirred something in him.
“If I had sent her away that day, I would have lost the chance forever.”
Thinking about it made his heart sink. If he hadn’t seen her face, he would never have reconsidered his rejection of the contract marriage.
“Though I didn’t expect her to stand her ground in front of my house either.”
She had barged in, stirred up his quiet mansion, and boldly declared that the one thing she had ever wanted in life was that marriage.
Her elegance, as if wrapped in a light violet fragrance, her freshness.
The peachy blush on her cheeks, her lips that sometimes pouted adorably.
Ah, if he let his guard down, just thinking about her made his heart restless again.
“She was the opposite of me.”
Her liveliness and brightness were refreshing.
Even seeing her face alone, he was slightly flustered—she was his ideal type. He even regretted initially rejecting the contract marriage.
He tried to reason logically, asking questions, but everything she did or said afterward perfectly fit his heart.
“Truly,”
There were so many things he wanted to say.
With his mind cleared, Ezekiel tapped the pen in his hand and briefly defined all those emotions.
“Viola Starace. She’s far too precious to rot in that family.”
He wanted to give her the surname Vetra and rescue her from hell.
When drafting the contract, he had felt a mixture of light sympathy and mild affection.
He retraced the scales of his precarious emotions, wondering when they had tipped fully toward fondness.
“I can’t tell. It just happened naturally.”
He hadn’t realized that his curt words had hurt Viola.
And on the day they were bound together under the Vetra name—the wedding day—Ezekiel was already being harassed by the troublesome little squires who had arrived early in the morning.
-
“Your Highness, there’s a commotion outside the Duke’s mansion. They’re clinging to the nobles, claiming to be the parents of the new Dogaresa.”
They were members of the Starace family he had seen at the Viscount’s ball. He ordered them discreetly dealt with.
He wanted Viola, who had endured the world’s storms, to now live peacefully within his walls.
“Yet here I am, restraining Viola and letting her wither inside.”
He squeezed his eyes shut.
He hadn’t realized that wanting her to live comfortably could appear arrogant to the other person.
His gaze landed on the vase on the study’s fireplace. The yellow tulips inside were wilting.
Seeing the delicate petals fall brought a bitter taste to his throat.
“Alfredo, get rid of these.”
Calling his butler, Ezekiel removed the wilted tulips.
“By the time we return, we should replace the dining table.”
“How many meters would you like it?”
“Prepare a table small and close enough so that Viola and I can touch noses.”
He made his resolve.
After sleeping, he dressed in his outing clothes, bathed in the bright morning sunlight.
“Since we’re traveling far, make sure the lady doesn’t get low blood sugar—send some dessert this morning.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
A little while later, he quietly approached Viola’s room.
The fearsome globe sat in a corner of the room, and she chatted happily while nibbling on sweet pie.
“Oh dear! You’ve sent me this again.”
Watching Viola babble to Anna, Ezekiel’s face softened with quiet joy.
They say one shouldn’t make another person their paradise, but it had happened uncontrollably.
He could only nurture that paradise carefully. Then someday, perhaps she would pity him and bloom even a single flower for him. Please.
“Ugh. Motion sickness!”
Was it the bumpy gravel road that made the carriage queasy?
As soon as we arrived in the capital, I leaped out of the carriage to breathe the cool air.
“Haa… haa… ha.”
“Hooaaah.”
I met eyes with the person next to me. Michele, who had been flapping her lips like a fish, quickly looked away.
“You get motion sickness too?”
“Hmph! I may be twelve, but of course I can get motion sickness—Ughhh!”
“Exactly, exactly. Throw it all up.”
“Ugh, uuugh, kwueeeek!”
Michele, having vomited heavily as soon as we arrived, retreated into a room.
This happened as soon as we arrived at the Vetra Duke’s capital mansion, where we would stay during the maid selection period.
“Ugh. Can’t someone make a carriage stable enough not to sway?”
“The lady repeats exactly what he said.”
Ezekiel and I stood side by side, staring at the firmly closed doors on the second floor.
“She’s prideful, so it will take time for her to recover.”
“A few days?”
“Probably half a day.”
“Were you like this when you were young?”
“I had no pride, so I threw up on the nanny’s back.”
“Poor nanny.”
While waiting for Michele to recover, we prepared for the selection contest starting in three days.
Oli and butler Alfredo, who had come with us to the capital, emphasized:
“Normally, maids are chosen through connections. But Princess Giovanna expanded the personal maid selection nationwide.”
“Do you know what that means?”
Both of them asked from either side.
“She’s extremely strict?”
“Correct.”
“The princess has no one around her that she likes.”
“Instead, she’s decided to gather all the talented people from across the country.”
“Even if chosen, she won’t hesitate to reject them.”
I didn’t know which side to answer. I nodded to both while turning my head.
“Have you prepared the application forms?”
“Anna went out briefly to fetch them. She should get them from the palace.”
“The registration deadline is tomorrow.”
Soon, Anna returned with the forms from the palace. We carefully filled out the documents.
“We must go to the palace with a renewed mindset.”
Anna, as if determined, groomed me from head to toe.
“Michele! Are you really not going?”
“No answer.”
“On the way back, I’ll bring something delicious for the young master.”
Oli stayed behind to guard the mansion, while Ezekiel, Anna, Alfredo, and I headed toward the palace.
“There will be a lot of people, right?”
“Probably.”
“The forms are received over there.”
The temporary tent of the palace interior ministry, where the applications were collected, was empty.
“Why is no one here?”
The ministry staff guarding the tent answered lazily:
“Because Princess Giovanna often selects and rejects, people are cautious.”
“Cautious?”
“They wait to see the competition rate and rush at the last minute if it looks okay. It’s hard to get selected, but no one wants to risk it for nothing.”
I see… a sad reason behind it.
“This time, there will be about twenty people. The princess dislikes opportunists joining late.”
The staff smiled tiredly.
“Those who rush in at the last minute will be eliminated in the first round.”
Ezekiel seemed about to say something about this but held it back. Somehow, I understood what he might have been thinking:
“That’s why so few maids get chosen!”
But that was someone else’s problem.
I submitted my carefully prepared documents.
“Participants, come here to receive your palace passes in advance.”
“We’ll wait here. We’ll be back.”
Following the ministry staff, I received the pass she handed me.
However, someone else also extended their hand for the same pass.
“Ah, sorry. I thought it was mine.”
“It’s okay…”
I instinctively replied, but when I looked at the person next to me, my blood ran cold.
“Camilla?”
“Viola?! What are you doing here?”
Camilla narrowed her eyes sharply, clearly flustered.
I was equally shocked.
“My cousin… is participating in the maid selection?”
