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Chapter 9
The second meeting Emily recalled went like this.
On the day of that awkward encounter, fortunately, the duke stayed only one night and left. After that, there was no particular point of contact between them.
But somehow, the count had worked some kind of magic and managed to arrange an engagement between Emily and the duke.
“He really agreed to get engaged to me?”
No matter how she thought about it, Emily felt like her father was exaggerating.
However, unlike other nobles, her father had neither ambition nor courage. She couldn’t understand where such a timid man had gotten the nerve to propose marriage to someone as high-ranking as a duke.
“I was surprised myself.”
The countess, smiling happily, tucked a strand of Emily’s hair behind her ear.
“Do you dislike this engagement?”
Emily fell into thought for a moment, then shook her head.
“No, it’s fine.”
Duchess Sadi—the title had a nice ring to it. That man might have a bit of a questionable personality, but with looks, title, and wealth like his, that brat Marilyn was sure to be jealous.
“Father’s got more talent than I thought.”
“Me?”
The count tilted his head.
“Didn’t you send the proposal?”
“His Grace the Duke proposed first.”
“What?”
She had naturally assumed the proposal had come from their side. After all, compared to a duke, the House of Sinope was far in decline.
Emily tried to analyze the duke’s motive, then nodded as if she had reached a conclusion.
“It must be my beauty, then…”
At her softly spoken words, the count and countess exchanged glances.
‘What are we going to do about this delusional girl?’
‘It’s your fault for calling her pretty over and over since she was a child.’
Oblivious to how others were looking at her, Emily sighed as she looked into the mirror.
With the engagement confirmed, Charles visited the estate again. This time, she greeted him in a proper setting and attire.
“Welcome, Your Grace.”
Charles, now formally her fiancé, politely kissed the back of her hand. Emily, feeling awkward about his mannerly attitude, cleared her throat and led him to the drawing room.
Though a queen of high society, she was oddly inexperienced in love.
A stiff silence fell between them as they sat facing each other. Charles found her unfamiliar—he had grown used to the more tomboyish version of her from their first meeting.
“You seem quite different from the last time we met.”
Charles finally broke the silence. Emily, unbothered by his comment, sat upright and sipped her tea with a calm demeanor.
“This is my true self, Your Grace.”
“Hmph.” Charles leaned back on the sofa with his arms crossed.
“A shame. I liked the way you were before.”
Was her mother’s strategy wrong? Emily thought quickly and immediately changed her approach.
“In that case, I’ll keep that in mind.”
She set down her teacup and leaned back on the sofa like Charles.
‘Alright. The duke prefers approachable women. Not hard at all.’
She grinned inwardly, tucking the new piece of information into her mental notebook. Charles chuckled in disbelief at how quickly she relaxed.
“You don’t seem very intimidated by me, Lady Emily.”
“Well, we are engaged, aren’t we?”
Emily thought it would be stranger to feel nervous around one’s fiancé. In fact, she had bold aspirations to speak casually with him once they were married.
“Quite bold, aren’t you?”
“Me?”
Emily was flustered to be described that way. What if she annoyed him and he broke off the engagement? That Marilyn girl would be delighted.
‘No. I can’t let that happen.’
Snapping out of her thoughts, she straightened her posture again and folded her hands neatly in her lap. It was difficult to strike the balance between being friendly and not overly forward.
‘Ugh, he’s so picky and eccentric.’
Charles watched her sit up again and suppressed a laugh.
“Come visit my estate before the wedding. I should show you what an impressive man you’re marrying.”
The way Charles said it, clearly intending to intimidate her, was annoying. But with her lower status, Emily had no choice but to answer meekly.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Of course, as everyone knows, Emily never got to visit Charles’s estate. A few months later, the two were no longer engaged.
“That really was the end of it.”
Finishing her recollection, Emily insisted that she and Charles had no emotional exchange. But as a fellow man, Killian could sense something others might not.
Charles had definitely liked Emily.
“You don’t look very pleased.”
“You’re mistaken, madam.”
Emily glanced at him with a strange expression. It almost looked like… jealousy?
But she quickly shook her head. Jealousy was rooted in love, and she didn’t believe Killian had such feelings for her—at least not yet. Perhaps it was just a rivalry between men.
Either way, the two had spent too much time outside and now returned to the banquet hall. No matter how sour the mood, they still had to greet the emperor.
The emperor sat loftily at the head of the room, receiving bows and greetings.
“We greet the sun of the Empire.”
When their turn came, Emily and Killian stepped forward and bowed deeply to the emperor.
“Oh, welcome. It’s been a while since I granted you your title.”
The emperor, nearing sixty, looked remarkably well for his age aside from his white hair.
He greeted Killian warmly—perhaps because Killian had paid off much of the royal family’s debt with his money.
“And you must be the newlywed bride who married the marquis.”
The emperor turned his gaze to Emily.
“Yes, I am Emily Starr.”
This was her first time addressing the emperor face-to-face. He stared at her with a look that seemed to search his memory.
“Which house are you from originally?”
“The House of Sinope.”
The emperor’s gentle smile vanished at once. He looked at her with sharp eyes and spoke slowly.
“I’m sorry about what happened to your parents.”
Emily, who had been keeping her head lowered, was touched that he even knew about it—unaware of how he had actually looked at her.
“Thank you for remembering them.”
“You speak so formally.”
Killian listened stiffly to their exchange. He just wanted to get out of there. Fortunately, the emperor seemed to think Killian was just nervous and let them go sooner than expected.
“Well then, enjoy the rest of the evening.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Killian, almost as if he had been waiting for it, escorted Emily back to their table.
“What’s wrong?”
“What do you mean?”
It was hard to pinpoint, but Emily could tell he was unusually tense. The way he had practically wrapped around her while escorting her felt protective—and strange.
‘Whatever. I’ll pretend I didn’t notice. No need for a headache.’
Emily shook her head slightly and pointed to the table.
“Shall we eat something?”
Some things lost their charm the more you dug into them. Emily decided not to pursue Killian’s feelings too deeply.
Meanwhile, a young man who had been watching the two of them was in despair.
“So that woman is Lady Starr?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
It was none other than Crown Prince Lucius.
Seeing his ideal type with a stranger, he had immediately summoned his attendant to identify her. And soon after, he learned she had married the Marquis of Starr just weeks ago.
“If only I had returned to Vansent a little sooner…”
Lucius sighed and waved away the people approaching him. His sudden gloominess made others whisper in concern.
The empress, watching him from afar, clicked her tongue.
“Of all people, he falls for a married woman?”
“So it seems, Your Majesty.”
The lady-in-waiting, who had recently contacted Lucius’s aide on the empress’s orders, confirmed that he had shown interest in Emily.
“Make sure Lucius never finds out that Lady Starr was once a candidate for crown princess. Understood?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I’ll make sure everyone below us keeps their mouths shut as well.”
In truth, a few years ago, the emperor himself had considered Emily as a potential bride for the crown prince. But then, for some reason, he changed his mind, matched her with Duke Sadi instead, and eventually sent a formal letter breaking off even that engagement.
The Duke of Sadi protested strongly when he found out, but his complaints were ignored.
‘I really can’t understand that old man.’
Watching Emily reappear in high society after so long, the empress felt a lingering attachment.
Her family’s rank wasn’t ideal, but neither was bringing in a too-powerful in-law. Emily’s beauty aside, she had a kind of rare innocence not easily found in others.
Sigh.
The empress tore her gaze away from Lucius and scanned the banquet hall.
She needed a new candidate to make her son forget this hopeless crush—fast.
Ohhh…did Killian have the emperor cancel her engagement as part of their deal? Or am I reading too much into things?