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CHAPTER~01
“Haaaah…….”
Elisha Lowell sank deep into the sofa in the reception room and let out a sigh so heavy it felt as if the ground might collapse.
In her hand, she was tightly clutching a small glass vial filled with a pink liquid.
Her blue eyes trembled with unease.
‘Does this…… really work?’
What she was staring at now was a love potion.
It was something she had obtained with great difficulty after asking around everywhere.
Seeing how mysteriously it shimmered, it felt like it might have some kind of effect…….
Elisha suddenly recalled the potion’s effect, which the merchant had explained in a hushed voice.
‘Once you drink this, you will inevitably fall in love with the first person of the opposite sex you see afterward.’
‘Without any conditions? Anyone at all?’
‘Yes. No matter their age, their appearance, or their personality.’
The suspicious merchant had egged Elisha on, saying that if she wanted, she could even become an Empress.
At the same time, he had subtly frightened her.
‘But never let anyone find out. If you do, miss, your head will go flying!’
‘H-Hiiik…….’
‘Ahahaha, did I scare you?’
Even though she trembled violently, Elisha ended up buying the potion.
Of course, she had no intention of giving it to anyone else.
In truth, this potion—
Was something she had bought to drink herself.
* * *
A few days earlier, at the Burns baronial family’s dinner table.
“Ahem, Elisha. A marriage proposal has come for you.”
“P-Pardon? F-For me?”
At the sudden news delivered by her uncle, Elisha almost dropped her fork.
Her cousin, Lila Burns, who was sitting beside her, made a huge fuss.
“Kyaa! Sister! Oh my goodness! Finally!”
Lila covered her mouth with a silk-gloved hand and screamed.
“A marriage proposal for my sister! Lila is so touched!”
Lila even used her distinctive third-person way of speaking as her eyes welled up with tears.
To hear this from Lila, who had a doll-like pretty face and received men’s attention every single day.
It somehow felt like she was being teased, but Elisha could only smile awkwardly.
Lila wiggled in her seat and turned to look at the Baron of Burns.
“Father, who is it? Please tell us quickly. This is the first time Sister has ever received a man’s attention. Lila is so, so curious!”
Lila gently grabbed Elisha’s shoulder and leaned closer.
“You’re curious too, right, Sister? What kind of wonderful man could he be?”
“U-Uh…….”
Elisha was curious as well, deep down.
Quiet and timid, she was not someone who stood out much in high society.
To think that a marriage proposal would come to someone like her.
‘If possible, I hope he’s someone wonderful…….’
Her hand clenched tightly around her skirt.
However, the name that came out of the baron’s mouth—
“It is the Marquis Montis.”
“……Pardon?”
In an instant, Elisha went blank.
The Marquis Montis.
Wasn’t he a middle-aged bachelor in his late forties?
Balding, with a waist wider than his height, and not a trace of charm to be found!
On top of that, he was notorious for being obsessed with women, making him the number-one man young ladies avoided.
From beside her, she heard Lila stifle a laugh.
“The Marquis Montis? With Sister?”
“Yes. He said he took a liking to the way you quietly sat in a certain salon.”
“Oh my, so he noticed that.”
Lila looked like she was having the time of her life.
Elisha looked at her uncle with flustered eyes.
She would rather live alone for the rest of her life than marry the Marquis Montis while sober.
“U-Uncle. I’m not thinking about marriage just yet—”
“Elisha, this is a chance to become a marchioness.”
He had already been promised a great deal of wealth by the marquis.
“Do you think opportunities like this are common for someone like you, who has no title to inherit? I took you in and raised you even though you were an orphan. It’s time you repaid that kindness.”
“B-But…….”
“Father is right, Sister. You debuted ages ago. You should hurry up and get married.”
With pressure coming from both sides, Elisha could say nothing.
In the end, right there and then, Elisha was decided upon as the future Marchioness Montis.
* * *
And so, once again, in the Burns family’s reception room.
“Hoo…….”
Elisha let out yet another sigh as she stared at the potion.
She had sighed so many times she couldn’t even count them.
Today was the day she would meet the Marquis Montis for the first time.
She planned to drink this just before meeting him.
‘If I genuinely fall in love with the marquis, maybe it’ll be a little better.’
This was the conclusion Elisha had reached after racking her brain.
But imagining herself clinging desperately to the old and fat Marquis Montis, claiming she loved him.
No matter how much she tried to steel herself, her eyes kept growing wet.
“Why is my life like this…….”
Elisha clutched her head and lamented.
She had lost her mother at birth, and at ten years old, her father—who had been chronically ill—had passed away as well.
Her paternal relatives snatched away her father’s count title and turned their backs on her.
In the end, Elisha had to grow up in her uncle’s household, constantly watching others’ moods.
‘If my parents were still alive…… this kind of absurd marriage proposal would never have happened.’
When she thought of her father, Count Lowell, tears threatened to fall.
At that moment.
“Sister! Sister!”
“Hiiik!”
At the sudden noise, Elisha sprang up from the sofa and then plopped back down.
At the same time, Lila came rushing in, flustered.
Overexcited, Lila bounced on her feet as if she were wearing shoes heated red-hot.
“What are you doing here? Hurry up and come! The Lindbergh Young Duke is coming!”
“Y-Young Duke?”
“Yes! Blaine Lindbergh, the Young Duke of Lindbergh! Lila’s husband!”
Lila tapped her chest impatiently.
Of course, Elisha knew of Blaine Lindbergh.
Who in the Empire didn’t know the Sword Master who appeared once in a hundred years?
But husband?
Elisha tilted her head in confusion.
“You’re not married yet……. Don’t tell me you did something with the Young Duke behind Uncle’s back—?”
“Hey! What are you talking about! It’s just an expression! Anyway, forget it. Just get up already!”
“O-Ow ow ow ow! W-Wait a second……!”
When Lila grabbed her cheek and pulled, Elisha had no choice but to be dragged along.
“He’s busy going around subjugating magical beasts with the knight order. Why would he suddenly come to Lila’s house? To see Lila, obviously!”
Lila chattered on excitedly without stopping.
Blaine’s visit had not been scheduled.
The maids hurried to tidy up the mansion, and there were far too few hands to help Lila get ready.
Lila had dragged Elisha along, intending to at least have her brush her hair.
However.
“Young ladies, the Young Duke of Lindbergh has arrived.”
With the butler’s announcement, Blaine entered.
In that instant, the air in the reception room changed.
He looked as though he had just stepped out of a painting.
Beneath jet-black hair as dark as midnight, violet eyes shone vividly.
The tailored uniform falling along his broad shoulders emphasized his masculine build.
‘Wow…….’
Without realizing it, Elisha swallowed her breath.
Blaine looked exactly like the prince from fairy tales she had imagined as a child.
Lila hurriedly bent her knees in greeting.
“Y-Young Duke. Welcome.”
Lila greeted him in the softest voice she could manage.
Elisha also hastily bowed her head.
“Please forgive the rudeness of my sudden visit.”
A low, gentle voice reached her ears.
When Elisha slightly lifted her head, her eyes met clear violet ones.
Flustered, she quickly lowered her head again.
Meanwhile, Lila straightened her back and sent Blaine a coy smile.
“But what brings the Young Duke to Lila’s home today?”
“Ah, I have something to discuss with the Baron of Burns.”
“Father will be here shortly. In the meantime, Lila will serve you some tea—”
“No, that’s quite all right. I’ll wait alone.”
At Blaine’s polite refusal, Lila looked slightly taken aback.
Until now, no man had ever refused Lila’s kindness.
She had thought Blaine would be no different.
“I fear my lack of conversation skills may bore a lady. I will drink tea alone, so I ask for your understanding.”
Blaine did not budge, even in the face of Lila’s smile.
In the end, Lila left the reception room without gaining anything, and Elisha hurriedly followed after her.
“Ha! This is ridiculous. How could anyone reject Lila?”
Lila stomped down the corridor, fuming.
It seemed the shock of being rejected by a man for the first time in her life was quite severe.
“I should’ve changed into a different dress and worn diamond jewelry instead of pearls! Then the Young Duke would definitely have had tea with Lila!”
Listening to Lila’s complaining, Elisha followed behind her blankly.
Blaine’s figure still lingered vividly in her mind.
‘So someone that wonderful really exists in this world. ……He’s so different from someone else.’
The image of the Marquis Montis suddenly appeared in her mind, flailing his limbs like an octopus.
Elisha grabbed her cheeks and shook her head violently.
After seeing a man as perfectly handsome as if sculpted from marble, she felt even more keenly just how miserable her own prospective groom was.
This was definitely not something she could do while sane.
I need to get the potion…….
‘……Huh?’
Absentmindedly feeling around inside her clothes, Elisha froze on the spot.
Her doe-like eyes widened as if they might pop out.
‘M-My potion…… where did it go?!’
