Episode 22
The church, emptied in a rush as people poured out, gave off a somewhat bleak feeling. The building itself was old and worn to begin with, and as he had said, it had been decorated simply, which only added to that impression.
Cold stone walls and floor, old pews. Between them, only the red wedding aisle lay brazenly and refreshingly down the center, as if unaware of the mood. The moment Isaac confirmed that Sasha had come in with him, he abruptly pulled away the arm that had, without his realizing it, been awkwardly draped around her shoulders.
“Thank you.”
Isaac walked over to the pews and sat down with a thud. Then, making no attempt to hide how plainly tired and irritated he was, he let out a sigh.
“Are you tired?”
“Yes. I had no idea it would be this hectic.”
“For someone saying that, you danced quite well.”
“…….”
“I’m joking.”
The woman answered shamelessly, with a face that did not look in the least as if she were joking. Isaac glanced sideways at her and sat a little farther away.
“At least I found it much more fun than the dance I had at the Hampshire residence. Ah, that’s a secret from them.”
“…….”
At her words, Isaac’s brows rose slightly. He asked, as if spitting the words out.
“I take it the Hampshire son wasn’t much to your liking?”
“Pardon? No. As a person, he was truly nice. Mm, to be precise…… he was shy, so he was rather cute.”
The woman said it calmly.
“More importantly, that party. Quite a lot of officers came.”
“…….”
“I wondered if perhaps you might be there too, Captain, but I was disappointed that you weren’t.”
“……Why would I go to a place like that?”
The church’s chilly indoor air struck him. Isaac felt as though his senses were belatedly returning a little. He replied with a surly expression and glanced at her.
Their eyes met. Kind-looking green eyes, moderately intelligent, seemingly considerate. Those eyes, with long lashes and a rather pretty shape.
Isaac stared at her eyes, then suddenly asked.
“If I refuse, what happens?”
Sasha raised her brows at his question, which came straight at her without warning. Then she answered without seeming particularly surprised.
“I would have to look for another gentleman.”
“……Another soldier?”
“Another soldier?”
“I seem to recall you saying something about soldiers last time.”
“Ah, that. Well…….”
Sasha closed her mouth for a moment. She looked at him as if wondering whether she had to tell him even this much, then said,
“The ducal house has no real influence over the military, you see.”
“Because of the treasonous plot your great-grandfather tried to stir up?”
“Oh. So you do know. I suppose it makes sense, since you serve there yourself. Yes. You’re right, Captain. It’s famous that the former Duke Grayson, my great-grandfather, joined hands with the military and tried to do something about the royal family. The family line has somehow managed to continue, but people’s eyes are still the same, so even what few military connections the ducal house had have all been cut off.”
The woman answered in a composed tone.
“The first option that came to mind was the military. The ducal house can hardly exert any influence there anymore, since its connections to the army have been nearly severed. And your family, Captain, is neither tied to the ducal house in business, nor particularly close socially.”
“…….”
“What I mean is, the circles we belong to are somewhat different. That is, your grandmother is also a highly respected lady, isn’t she? But with our family…….”
“Yes. I understand what you mean.”
Isaac said, hastily cutting off her words as they continued. Sasha nodded, visibly relieved.
“So, after considering those two conditions, I happened to be the one who fit them. That is why you suddenly came to me and proposed marriage.”
“Actually, there are more reasons besides those two.”
Isaac shot her a look as if to ask what they were, and Sasha answered clearly.
“We have no interest in each other.”
“…….”
“Far from interest, you’re uncomfortable with me, Captain. Even now, simply because I’m close to you, you’re leaning your body back as if it makes you uncomfortable.”
Now his face flushed red. Sasha, whether he did or not, continued sharply.
“It’s a political marriage that must end without lingering attachment. Could there be any better condition than that? Since we don’t have the slightest interest in each other, let alone fall for one another, I thought it was the best possible arrangement.”
“……Why does it have to be a political marriage?”
Isaac, who had been listening to her words with a strange expression, asked. Sasha looked at him as if to say, “Pardon?”
“Is there no option of simply marrying the child of a more influential and respectable family and living an ordinary married life? That would be far more stable than becoming a divorced woman.”
“……No.”
Sasha cut him off and denied it at once.
Sasha considered for a moment. An ideal marriage? To her, it was a phrase that felt more like a trap.
To Sasha, marriage was nothing more than a prerequisite for receiving the inheritance she ought to receive. Like a hurdle in a race, it was merely a condition she had to clear.
Besides, if I have an ordinary marriage, I’d have to keep living with that man. What I truly want is—
Freedom.
“I dislike marriage.”
Sasha said it rather sharply.
“Isn’t it terribly suffocating? Having to live with one person for the rest of your life. I mean, it feels like a kind of shackle.”
She said whatever came to mind.
“That doesn’t mean I’m a flirt. Absolutely not. I simply…… want to live alone. I’ve lived in that mansion for nearly ten years without the freedom to go out. Of course, Grandmother did so under the pretext of doing it for my sake, but still…….”
“……Is remaining single the ideal you dream of?”
Isaac asked, as if drawing the conclusion in her stead.
Sasha stared at him, then nodded.
“Yes. Aren’t you the same, Captain?”
The woman asked back, blinking her green eyes.
Then she gazed quietly at Isaac, who said nothing.
“……Could it be that you really dream of an ideal love marriage…….”
“No. Absolutely not. I simply haven’t thought about marriage at all in my life until now. I thought things like marriage would be something my half-brother Edmund would be doing soon enough.”
“If you’ve never thought about it at all, that means you may come to feel that way someday.”
The woman calmly arranged Isaac’s confusion for him as she spoke.
She moved her eyes as if pondering for a moment, then said,
“Don’t worry. Even if you do come to feel that way, it’s fine. The marriage will be for exactly one year, and if someone you truly love appears in the middle of it, you may see her.”
“……Pardon?”
“It’s quite irritating, but people are still much more lenient toward a man’s remarriage. It likely wouldn’t be too much of a burden for the lady in question either.”
Isaac raised his eyebrows. All of a sudden, someone he loved and whatnot. It was difficult to follow.
“I haven’t even accepted yet, and I think you’re getting far ahead of yourself.”
“I thought it might help with your decision. I’m keeping various possibilities open.”
“…….”
The woman blinked calmly and looked at him.
It was the same face she had worn when he first saw her. A smiling face whose thoughts could not be read.
Isaac simply could not understand her. He thought he had dealt with all sorts of people, but while the woman behaved like the type he hated most, at times she also acted in a way that oddly made him feel a sense of kinship.
Yes. For instance, like a few days ago, when her face had turned red and she had fired off words rapidly at him.
“……What about you?”
Isaac, who had been looking at the floor with a somewhat displeased expression, asked.
When the woman looked at him as if to ask what he meant, he continued.
“You, of all people. What if you later come to like someone else…….”
“Oh. You don’t have to worry about that. Of course, in the process of choosing gentlemen suitable for marriage, there were a few whose handsome appearances caught my eye, but when I actually spoke with them…… people like that were burdensome in their own way.”
The woman spoke quite sharply.
Felix, his adjutant, had said that perhaps she had fallen for those good looks of his. Those words circled around in his head.
Fallen for him? As if. That woman had no interest whatsoever in his outward appearance. Yes. She neither liked it nor disliked it. Even when looking at this large build, which some women found intimidating just to see, and even when looking at these gloomy eyes that others had shuddered at and called sinister, she showed no hesitation at all.
“In any case, what matters most to me is safely maintaining the marriage for one year and inheriting…… inheriting the mansion. So I will absolutely not create any scandals that might harm the marriage.”
“You told me I could have a romance.”
“I didn’t mean you should do so openly.”
The woman replied, then giggled as if wondering what on earth this conversation even was.
Isaac silently tucked in his chin and stared at the woman.
Looking at the woman’s green eyes, which shone with innocent curiosity and not a trace of malice, he let out a low sigh.
“At any rate, I understand.”