Episode 33
Isaac recalled the marriage meetings of his that had failed time and again. And he turned over in his mind the words he had wanted to say to those women, yet could never bring himself to utter.
Not everyone was like that, but marriages between nobles were, for the most part, essentially a kind of cooperative partnership devoid of love.
Just as it had been with his father and the first wife, Edmund’s birth mother.
And so Isaac had wanted to ask the same of them.
A clean, transactional marriage in which they never interfered with each other. One where, without any unnecessary emotional exchange, they would take only the benefits that came from marriage.
Emotional exchange.
Isaac thought of the earl and his mother, who used to stroll through the backyard on holidays.
He remembered them walking through the backyard hand in hand, affectionate regardless of who in the mansion might be watching, and then his half-brother Edmund, standing quietly near the window and staring down at them.
“First, let’s agree to cooperate with private gatherings whenever necessary.”
“Private gatherings?”
“Yes. Things like family gatherings or meetings with friends. I’d been meaning to ask you, actually. Do you have family gatherings often?”
At that exceedingly personal question, Isaac shifted his gaze away.
Family gatherings, she said.
There probably were such things. Perhaps. When Isaac remained silent for quite some time, Sasha asked in his stead.
“When was the last time your whole family gathered?”
“At Edmund’s funeral.”
Isaac answered bluntly. The moment he did, he realized his mistake.
“About your brother…”
“It’s fine. It’s already in the past.”
“No, it isn’t. It hasn’t even been a year.”
Sasha spoke as if trying to encourage him.
For some reason, Isaac could not bear it. Instead of replying, he gulped down his coffee, which had already gone half cold.
“So…”
Realizing that Isaac did not want to continue speaking on that subject, Sasha quickly changed the topic.
“As things stand, there are no regular family gatherings, then?”
“I don’t know. There might be.”
Before he knew it, Isaac answered in a brusque tone, his expression sharp, as if spitting the words out.
“They may be meeting at the main house once a year among themselves, for all I know.”
“……”
“Ever since I entered the military academy, I’ve hardly gone home. Even when I was waiting for my assignment, I stayed at a nearby hotel if I had to, but never over there…”
Isaac found himself spilling the words out in a rush, then realized what he was doing.
He had been the one to say it, yet Isaac shot Sasha a glance as though glaring at her for no reason. His mouth would not obey him.
“…It seems I said more than was necessary. Please forget it.”
Though he said “please forget it,” his tone was closer to “forget it.”
Even after seeing his defensive and curt attitude, Sasha showed no particular reaction and merely looked straight at him. Soon, she nodded obediently.
“All right. Then there are no regular family gatherings on the captain’s side that we need to pay particular attention to.”
She spoke in an entirely formal tone, as if simply organizing the information.
It was exactly like when she had said, with an indifferent face, “Apologize to the man you hit.”
“What about your side?”
Feeling something twist strangely inside him, Isaac frowned and asked her in return.
“Actually, um… my side is a little more troublesome. About once a month, I have dinner with my uncle’s family. And every weekend I go to Sunday service, where I sometimes run into them as well. The service lasts almost an hour, sometimes up to two if it’s long. Usually the duchess—my aunt—comes to the service. I sit beside her and listen to the sermon with her, then usually ride in her carriage back to the Dilton mansion, serve her a cup of tea, and see her off.”
“Do I have to attend that service as well?”
“No. The service is fine. I think it would be enough if you attended the monthly family gatherings occasionally. In any case, Captain, you’ll be my fiancé from now on, so even if not every time, it would look more natural if I brought you with me now and then.”
After finishing, Sasha sighed with a briefly complicated expression.
In truth, the duke and duchess were not the major problem. On the surface, they were not the sort of people who would say anything to Isaac.
The problem was Jeffrey.
The only son of the duke and duchess, their sole heir, the young duke.
That scoundrel.
Jeffrey was the very model of an arrogant, dissolute noble, as if he had been made by gathering together every bad quality the nobility possessed.
She was already worried about just how rude he would be to Isaac.
“I should tell you in advance.”
In the end, Sasha cautiously began.
“My cousin… the young duke may be extremely rude to you, Captain. He might bring those friends of his from that gentlemen’s club or whatever it is and try to humiliate you.”
“Humiliate me? How?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know much about it, but apparently he enjoys creating situations that are terribly shameful for another man and insulting them that way. Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—I’ve never seen it in person.”
And yet, had she not “suffered” it directly not long ago?
Sasha recalled the painting in question, and her expression went cold. The hand with which she had slapped Jeffrey across the cheek seemed to sting all over again.
“It’s fine. Men throwing their weight around is as common in this world as stones underfoot.”
Watching Isaac speak as if he were accustomed to people’s exclusion and harassment, Sasha felt something strange.
How can he be so composed? Though he acted more sensitive and uneasy than anyone else, there was something detached about him.
Enough to make her worry for no reason.
“All right. Then I’ll add a clause about cooperating with regular private gatherings. And…”
The conversation continued in her clear voice.
Isaac stared blankly at her face as she went on speaking in that calm, careful manner.
There was no need to bring up things like how he hoped they would refrain from emotional exchange as much as possible.
From the beginning, this sham marriage had been premised on such conditions.
In front of others, she would act as though she loved him more passionately than anyone, but when the two of them were alone, she would treat him with the utmost businesslike courtesy.
Just like now.
“What exactly is the range of what’s allowed in front of other people?”
Isaac had been watching her bluntly when he cut off what she was saying and asked quietly.
The woman blinked and fell silent for a moment, then answered smoothly.
“Enough physical contact that anyone would think we were lovers? Linking arms, or looking at each other and smiling.”
Looking at each other and smiling.
At those last words of hers, Isaac tightened his jaw and nodded.
“Understood. Only that much.”
He repeated it several times in his head.
“I think it’s good to set clear boundaries.”