Chapter 8
It was the only thing that contained her sincerity of all these ridiculous theatrical lines she had said so far.
“Thank you so much. I will try not to be a nuisance to you.”
“You have already caused me enough trouble. Why don’t you go back to your place now that you’re done with your show?”
Though her sincerity did not seem to have been conveyed to him.
Since her task was done, there was no reason to stay anymore. Right when she was about to return to her father quickly, Nadia saw Lee Jiho.
He was looking at Nadia with a betrayed face. He had a shocked expression on his face.
‘What’s with his expression? Did he…. Oh, did he not get a word from father in advance?’
Lee Jiho believed Nadia would give him the laurel, but for her to give it to someone else was utterly ridiculous.
‘No matter how urgent my father is, he should have told Lee Jiho in advance.’
It wasn’t like Nadia didn’t understand his disappointment. He was willing to risk his life for success, only to be treated like this.
However, she wasn’t generous enough to show compassion to a man who betrayed her in her previous life.
Nadia, who turned away from Lee Jiho’s gaze, went straight back to her place. The festive atmosphere of the triumphal celebration was getting merrier.
The sun crossed the sunset horizon as the evening came.
It was the time for the triumphal celebration to end, and people returned home one by one.
The father and daughters of the Balazit family were also preparing to return to the mansion.
Just before getting on the carriage, the Duke patted Nadia on the shoulder and praised her for her excellent job.
“Nadia, you did a good job today. His flustered face was worth seeing. Ha ha ha!”
“My pleasure, father.”
I could feel the Callaine bore a hole on her back, but Nadia didn’t care at all.
It was when she ignored her half little sister’s glare and was about to get into the carriage, someone called out the Duke.
“Duke! I have something to tell you.”
The familiar voice heard from afar made her stop. Nadia looked back reflexively.
“Sir Jiho?”
It was none other than Lee Jiho dressed in formal attire who was approaching the Duke.
The Duke’s expression was as hard as ice as the said man was approaching close.
Considering that he was good at putting a polite facade in front of his people, the Duke of Balazit couldn’t even control his expression, which meant he wasn’t happy with the young man’s behavior.
The Duke of Balazit said.
“What’s going on? You must have been tired from coming a long way, yet you didn’t take your rest.”
“I have something urgent to ask you. I heard that the laurel wreath… of today’s celebration was definitely promised to me, but what happened?”
“Ah, about that….”
The Duke’s face showed signs of annoyance.
If your master made a change in his plan, it wasn’t his place to come and argue about it.
The Duke continued, waving his hand.
“Something came up. I’m sorry that I couldn’t give you a heads up because we had a last-minute plan change. I will find you another marriage partner, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
“I’m not here to be introduced to someone else! Why did you change your plan? I’d like to hear the reason.”
“There was a good reason for that. I don’t think it is a topic to talk about in such a place, so let’s set up a meeting another time. I’m going back for today.”
“You’re too much! I’m sure that before I went to the war–”
The Duke finally became furious at Lee Jiho’s persistent attitude.
“What do you want me to do now? The event has already ended! Are you asking me to put a notice on the Capital to meet what you wanted?!”
“······Uh.”
It was a voice that drew a line that shouldn’t be crossed.
The furious Duke’s forced him to shut up. He still needed the sponsorship of Duke Balazit.
When Lee Jiho clenched his fist without saying a word and held himself, the Duke opened his mouth again while pinching his forehead.
“Anyway, it was my mistake not to tell you in advance, so I will compensate you for that. I will pair you up with the woman you want. There are as many beautiful women as stars in the Capital.”
“….”
“You understand what I said, right?’
This time, it was a soft voice as if trying to soothe his own anger.
Nadia knew very well that was how her father handled his people.
Offering compensation of giving Lee Jiho his desired marriage so that they would be able to stop Lee Jiho from bothering him with the same issue again.
However, there was one thing that the Duke of Balazit overlooked, which was…
‘It means they didn’t get along very well from the start.’
Even before she returned to the past, there was no one who didn’t know the rivalry between Lee Jiho and Glenn Winterfell.
The two have never directly clashed with each other.
However, what the two had in common was the reason why people thought so.
Similar age, one of the war heroes, and was good looking. Nobles who loved to talk about others couldn’t help but compare both of them.
Even if they had no bad feelings about each other, the rivalry sentiment encouraged by people around them created a sense of competition that didn’t even exist before.
In addition for Marquis Winterfell’s side, Lee Jiho was a knight sponsored by his long-time enemy, Duke Balazit. Therefore, it was only natural that everyone assumed that their relationship was not nice.
‘Though at this point, the conflict between them isn’t revealed on the surface….’
Nadia remembered it took some time before their rivalry would be in the spotlight.
Lee Jiho, who had been underestimated for being a stranger from another world, was inferior to the Marquis Winterfell, a descendant of a historic, prestigious family.
Although Lee Jiho never admitted it out of pride.
Perhaps this incident would speed up the deterioration of the relationship between the two.
Wouldn’t it be a shame if something that was supposed to be his long time ago was taken away by the person whom he hated?
As if it was a rule that they could take away anything they wanted from someone more inferior.
Even if it wasn’t something that held a great value.
The conversation between the two continued while Nadia recalled things before her return to the past.
The Duke continues to speak in a soft voice.
“I’m not going to take with your rude attitude today seriously because it was probably my mistake. You should go back and take a rest.”
“…..”
“I will try to introduce you to any woman you want. There is no one big enough to refuse my request in this Capital. Do you understand?”
“…Thank you for your kind consideration.”
“I’m glad you understood.”
Even if he said so, Lee Jiho was constantly biting his lips as if he could not swallow his resentment.
However, Duke Balazit was neither attentive nor generous enough to seek the understanding of his subordinates.
As he felt that there was no more business with the young man, the Duke turned around and said.
“Nadia, Callaine. Let’s go back.”
“Yes.”
At this point, Nadia almost felt a little sorry for the treatment her ex-fiance received.
Just before getting on the carriage, Nadia inadvertently looked back.
Lee Jiho, who was still standing tall on his spot, showed an unsettling expression. At one moment, their gaze met.
“……”
“……”
But her gaze did not stay long.
After looking back for a short time, she got herself into the carriage.
And the door closed with a crackling sound.
The wagon carrying the family of Duke Balazit began to move.
As the carriage gradually moved away from his sight, Lee Jiho stood tall and stared at it for a long time.
“And then the first Miss said this.”
“What did she say? What?”
“Don’t leave us hanging and tell us.”
“I love Marquis Winterfell so much! Please accept my heart!”
“Oh my God, oh my God!”
“Wow, isn’t Marquis Winterfell not on good terms with our Duke? Is she allowed to do that?”
“The mansion hasn’t been overturned yet, so it means the Duke allowed it.”
“Wow. No parent can beat a child. That must be why. But how did she get his consent?”
“I didn’t know our Duke was so generous.”
It was not only the aristocratic society that was surprised by the open courtship of the Duke’s young daughter.
Even the maids working in the mansion were busy talking about it.
They were chatting that they didn’t even realize that they were gossiping right under Nadia’s room.
Their voices could be clearly heard in Nadia’s room which was located on the second floor.
Very clear and vivid.
“So are they really getting married? Really?”
“She has already courted him. What can she do about that? If she doesn’t marry the Winterfell family, she won’t be able to marry to any family for the rest of her life.”
“Which man would accept a woman who offered a laurel to another man? It would be a shame for the unmarried daughter, so they have to get married somehow. His Majesty also seems to be putting pressure on the Marquis.”
“No, but why? Why does she want to marry him and live in the cold North? If she just stayed still, the Duke would have introduced him to a gentleman from a good family in the Capital.”
“That’s my point. Why would she give herself the trouble…”
Nadia leaned against the window and listened to the maids’ conversation.
Even though it was considered an impudent conversation, there was no change in the color of her face.
Instead, the maid next to her was getting upset.
“T-Those impudent– I told them to watch their mouths! I’ll go down immediately and go to head–”
Nadia beckoned to the maid to stop.
“No, just let it go.”
“But if you leave it as it is, you don’t know how far the rumors will spread.”
“The rumors must have been spread in the Capital anyway, so stopping some of them wouldn’t solve anything. Moreover, it’s a good thing that things get bigger.”
“…..?”
She wanted to be a subject of rumor in the Capital?