“Lord Leroy, I will formally propose to you. please marry me I will definitely make you happy.”

 Leroy didn't believe what the hell he just heard. So he looked at Iona with a look of clarification, but she was just waiting for his answer with determined eyes.

After a long while, Leroy was finally able to choose what to say.

“Didn’t you say that you don’t remember the first meeting with me?”

“Yes, I said that.  But does that matter?”

“… …If that's the case, You have only seen my face just twice, then what I'm trying to say is that you haven't had a chance to have a rational feeling for me, have you? So How...”

"Ah."

Iona said with a face as if she had finally realized something. Then she added, frowning slightly.

“I didn’t mean to confess my love either.”

Leroy got used to her pouring cold water on his stern imagination. That's why he rather felt relieved and waited for her next explanation.

“Lord Leroy, I know that this wedding talk will be very unpleasant and humiliating to you. So..”

He felt bewildered when an unexpected person showed sympathy for his situation. So he could not stop her until the story reached the point of absurdity.

“What I want to make clear here is that I do not want you to take this marriage that way.”

“I’m sorry, but that wish seems difficult to come true.”

Leroy belatedly cut her off with a hard voice.

Becuase for him it was like she was saying, 'Even though things have turned out this way, let's get along as best we can.' It wasn't something he wanted to hear.

“It will be difficult, but I will try.”

“This has nothing to do with your efforts—”

“Most people would understand this marriage as a union between the ducal family and the imperial family.”

Iona suddenly raised her voice.

When Leroy reflexively stopped talking, a soft arc appeared on Iona's lips.

“It seems like a gentle solution, but in the end, it looks like the Duke bowed his head and entered the imperial family. This was because he accepted a woman with relatively inferior conditions just because she was the henchman of the crown prince.”

“… …”

“In other words, the more authority I have, the fairer the weight in the scales. People would think that the imperial family did not try to fight for strength, but truly reached out a hand of reconciliation. However, as it is a marriage that was forcibly taken on in the first place, there will be no actual request as in the case of a legitimate transaction.”

Giving away one's own power by force in exchange for harmony will certainly be accepted as a completely different feeling.

However, this was an untenable proposition. Because that was not the original intention of the prince who planned this.

The woman in front of Leroy was talking about going against the will of her lord.

She said, straining her neck.

“I will be the head of the Modrov family soon.”

“… …”

"In addition, the dowry to be given for this marriage will be the venerable family that has been with Lehmann's history for more than 200 years, its title, and the entire estate and manor that served it."

As soon as Iona finished speaking, A moment of silence followed. But Leroy's first thought was clear. This was the ultimate bullshit.

So he asked in response to Iona.

“Are you going to become the family head?”

"Yes."

“Even if you covet the title of head of the household, not in order to extort property from your parents and monopolize it, but just to give all your property to me?”

A laugh naturally erupted from his mouth.

"If you're going to cheat, say something that makes more sense."

“I didn’t expect you to believe me right away.”

Despite Leroy's negative reaction, Iona persevered.

She looked at Leroy with an unhesitating gaze and said.

“I have never told a lie in my entire life to the lord I was supposed to serve. I acted faithfully, not because I wanted to be rewarded for my loyalty, but because I was determined to do so. The time will come when the Duke will realize the weight of these words someday.”

"Even though you're talking about trust. But aren't you going against the will of your master?"

Leroy replied coldly.

Everything she said to convince him was contradictory.

In fact, most of the things he went through when he was with her were similarly embarrassing.

She kept showering him with incomprehensible favors. He couldn't believe it was real.

“I have already been more loyal to Richard-sama than necessary.”

"Then I'm sure someday, I'll regret trusting you."

“Even after I die for the duke...  would the Duke evaluate differently?”

Leroy was startled for a moment by the creepy words.

What puzzled Leroy the most was that all of this really sounded like the truth.

If the crown prince had intended to plant a watchdog in the ducal family, he wouldn't have chosen a woman who was his loyal dog. Nor would he have revealed to him that he was in a relationship with her.

'Maybe she feels betrayed by her lover and decides to betray the same way.'

Perhaps she couldn't stand the prince's order to marry another man. A stick that was too straight may break completely instead of being bent.

Throwing away that man and living happily with someone else would surely be a plausible revenge.

But even so... did the way she persuade him need to be so extreme?

Many thoughts came to Leroy's mind which he was not able to get the proper answers of.

“I've been a faithful follower of His Highness the Crown Prince for a long time, and it's only natural that you don't trust me easily. It's up to me to prove that what I said to the duke today, is sincere. But trust is not a kind of feeling that can be cultivated unilaterally.”

As if she had expected Leroy's distrust from the beginning, she calmly continued her explanation.

Just in time, a gust of wind blew up, and the chiffon hat, which had been loosely draped, floated high into the sky. Leroy reflexively closed and opened his eyes as the cold wind scratched his face.

However, the woman in front of him was only staring at him, as if she was not interested in any trivial matters.

Maybe it was the same from the moment they first met today.

“How much can the Duke invest in testing my sincerity?”

***

"Excuse me."

“… …”

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

“… …Please ask."

At the persistent question, Marsha eventually opened her closed mouth.

Jonas, who was standing next to her, hurriedly turned to her.

It was an aggressive attitude that was burdensome, but Marsha was not particularly embarrassed.

It was common for the master's backstory to be exchanged secretly in a place where only the subordinates were left.

Perhaps the opponent was thinking of digging behind Iona for the duke.

Sure enough, the next question was exactly what Marsha had expected.

“Can you tell me what kind of lady you are serving?”

“I don’t think I can give you the answer you want.”

Marsha answered coldly.

Jonas asked back, looking a little absurd.

“Are you so sharp that you already think what answer I want?”

Marsha stared blankly at Jonas for a while.

Since he seemed to have no talent for being polite, she thought it would be okay for her to let go of formality a bit.

“Usually, it's the faults one want to find in a marriage partner they don’t like.”

“I didn’t specifically want bad reviews.”

“I also live by listening to the reputation of the lady I serve. She has obviously been very successful professionally, but... …Well, there are many other rumors that will prejudice people.”

“If you say prejudice, are you saying it’s not actually like that?”

Everyone unanimously called Iona the loyal dog of the prince.

Even though it was a word that expresses closeness with the crown prince, a certain amount of contempt was bound to be mixed in when comparing people to dogs.

People thought that Iona was a woman who was not interested in anything other than being in the eyes of the prince. Infrequent access to social circles and poor personal relationships were also accepted as the same link.

Those who wanted to line up with the prince were against her naivety, and those who hated the prince avoided Iona because she was his subordinate.

Marsha thought Iona's only flaw was that she wasn't cunning enough to renew her image.

“She is a person who has suffered all her life. Because she always put others first before herself. While she is not afraid to sacrifice herself for the sake of others, she does not expect others to act as she does. There is no other kind of person who is so easy to live with loss.”

Instead of interrupting Marsha, Jonas just listened intently.

Marsha continued, looking at the far shore of the lake.

“I want my lady to be happy. I think she is the one who should be happy.”