Chapter 130. Intended Marriage
Afterwards, high society buzzed with talk of Blair's marriage prospects.
Not only at the tea gatherings where noble ladies and young misses congregated, but also at the clubs where noble men gathered, the talk of the princess's marriage prospects was loud and lively.
"Who will be the impossibly lucky bastard to become the companion of our noble and beautiful princess?"
"First of all, not you."
"What? What do I lack?"
"Are you seriously asking? Even Her Highness the Princess has eyes, unlike someone like you."
"What, you bastard?"
"Hey, but is marrying Her Highness the Princess really good fortune? You'd be having the imperial family as your in-laws, and if your wife is strong-willed, wouldn't you have to live cowering in your own home?"
"But she's pretty."
"Tsk tsk, you bastard who only looks at outward beauty."
"And you? Did you look at inner beauty when you were courting Arist of the Extreme Faction?"
The young noble scions used Blair as a weapon to exchange verbal barbs while playing card games.
They inwardly wanted to marry Blair, yet belittled her. Beneath it all lay a vulgar mindset born from the sense of deprivation at not being able to possess what they coveted.
Johan, who was playing billiards in the adjacent room, clicked his tongue upon hearing that talk while waiting for his turn.
He took his billiard cue and assumed his stance, asking Herdin a question.
"What about you?"
Herdin, who had just finished his turn and was wetting his throat with the glass of liquor beside him, looked at Johan as if asking what he was talking about.
"Marriage. You've returned after achieving distinguished merits in the war, and from what I hear, renowned ladies are lining up in front of the ducal residence waiting for you. Aren't you going to get married?"
Marriage.
Following the elders of the family, now even Ruth and Johan were bringing up that topic again.
After the victory banquet last time, Ruth had asked if there hadn't been a suitable young lady, but Herdin hadn't answered. From the start, Blair was the only one who had caught his eye.
Before he could answer, Johan's turn ended. Herdin picked up his cue and took his position, only then offering an indifferent response.
"Well."
"Or is there a lady you're waiting for?"
Herdin focused on the ball without answering.
"Anyway, hurry up and make up your mind about a suitable young lady. You need to be taken off the market quickly so the other men of Ardel can have a chance too."
He didn't know why he had to consider the circumstances of the fools being weeded out of the marriage market, but Herdin didn't bother to argue with that.
The game ended with Herdin's victory.
Johan, who had been losing consecutively in today's games, grumbled.
"You cold-hearted bastard. Can't even lose once."
"Games are fun when you win by your own fair skill. Isn't that right?"
"Yes, yes. It's all my fault for lacking skill."
Just as the two were emptying the remaining liquor in their glasses, the voices of the young noble scions came from beyond the archway once more.
"Still, the guy who becomes the royal son-in-law must have it good."
"Why that talk again all of a sudden?"
"She's insanely pretty. When else would you get to sleep with a woman like that for the rest of your life?"
"Crazy bastard. Just like a guy who only pursues outward beauty."
"She seems like she'd be beautiful on the inside too? Her chest seems like it would be warm too......"
Johan's expression hardened as he listened to them giggling and making vulgar remarks.
As Herdin's friend, he wasn't particularly fond of the imperial family, but separately from that, their words mocking Blair were unwelcome.
"Her Highness the Princess needs to have her marriage settled quickly so she won't be on those bastards' lips...... where are you going?"
Leaving Johan behind, Herdin stepped out of the room, approached the young noble making vulgar remarks, and kicked his chair over with his foot. The young noble crashed down from the sudden attack.
Not only the watching nobles, but even Johan who followed behind gaped in shock.
"What the, suddenly?"
The young scion who had fallen to the floor in a ridiculous posture rose in fury, but shut his mouth when he met Herdin's cold eyes.
"I was passing by and the chair got caught on my foot."
The space they were standing in was wide. It was spacious enough to pass without bumping into the chair.
And most importantly, Herdin's action just now wasn't his foot getting caught on the chair—it should be seen as him kicking the chair.
"That's nonsense—"
Before the young scion's protest could finish, Herdin stomped on the fallen chair. With every kick, the chair shattered into splinters.
Herdin's eyes as he mercilessly trampled the chair were intensely indifferent, which made them all the more chilling.
The nobles stared blankly at Herdin with horrified expressions. Every time the chair broke, they felt as if their own legs were being shattered.
Herdin's kicking finally stopped after he had utterly destroyed the chair.
"The chair was there, so this is the fault of the chair that got in my way, right?"
Herdin went back into the room, picked up his jacket, and leisurely walked past the frozen nobles.
"Why is he acting like that all of a sudden? Isn't he completely crazy......?"
Ignoring the murmuring voices of the nobles behind his back.
Stepping outside the club, Herdin had the waiting staff call his carriage, then lit a cigar.
It wasn't the first or second time they had verbally mocked women, yet he felt newly disgusted.
She was a woman who had nothing to do with him, so he should have just dismissed them with contempt as usual, but instead he needlessly started a fire.
He felt belated irritation at acting out of character, but he didn't regret it.
Soon, the carriage arrived.
It was Ruth who greeted him when he returned home late. He immediately brought out documents.
"Your Grace, there are documents that need your urgent review—"
Before Ruth could even finish speaking, Herdin snatched the documents he offered and commanded.
"Sort out some noble young ladies for me."
Ruth blinked at his lord's sudden command, then understood its meaning a beat late and brightened up.
He didn't know what wind had blown for Herdin, who hadn't budged despite his endless urging, but anyway, he felt relief first that he seemed to finally realize the duty of the head of the family.
"What kind of young lady do you want? If you tell me your conditions, such as family or preferences in appearance, it would be easier to narrow down the candidates."
"Anyone."
"Pardon?"
"I said anyone will do."
Herdin, who answered as if discussing someone else's business regarding taking his own wife, headed straight to his office.
It truly seemed like anyone would do.
For even I don't know what I want.
* * *
When the news spread that Herdin was seeking marriage prospects, all the imperial nobles with marriageable daughters flocked to the ducal house.
And there was someone who came seeking him even more anxiously than them.
"I heard you're looking for a marriage prospect? The capital is abuzz with talk of who will become the lady of Delmark."
Upon hearing the news, Ivan summoned Herdin to the imperial palace faster than anyone.
"How about Blair as that partner?"
Herdin's hand holding the teacup paused.
The moment he heard those words, he thought that perhaps he had been expecting this to happen ever since he gave Ruth the order to find marriage prospects.
No, perhaps...... he had intentionally guided things to turn out this way.
Ivan's attitude, which deviated not one bit from his expectation, was disillusioning, yet contradictorily, he was pleased by the proposal that didn't stray from his expectation.
"Although there was an unpleasant incident between Delmark and the imperial family, quite some time has passed now, hasn't it."
"……."
"I think it would be fine to put an end to the bad blood between us around now. I don't think there's a better way to restore the relationship between our two families than marriage. What do you think?"
On top of that, he even attached the condition of authorizing reinforcement of Delmark's troops.
Ivan hid his ulterior motive of wanting to absorb Delmark's influence, speaking as if this marriage was a grace bestowed by the imperial family solely for Delmark's honor.
However, even though his true intentions were obvious, Herdin felt no desire to refuse.
The calculation was simple.
What he would give to Ivan was the position of duchess that someone would have to occupy anyway, and Delmark's influence.
What he would gain from this deal was the reinforcement of Delmark's troops, and as a bonus, the woman who would fill the position of his wife.
Moreover, she was the sole witness to the empress's palace fire incident ten years ago.
It was a condition with no reason to refuse.
Herdin answered with that conviction.
"I will accept that marriage proposal."
* * *
The wedding preparations went smoothly.
There was much talk inside and out at the news of the union between two families that had been openly enemies, but Herdin ignored it all.
And so the grand wedding came to an end.
Having entered the bridal chamber first, Herdin wet his lips with the wine placed on the table and waited for his bride.
Since the victory banquet, this was the first time he would face her properly.
During the wedding preparations, there was no occasion to see her. Occasionally there were men who visited their fiancées acting as devoted lovers, whether for show or sincere, but that was a story unrelated to him.
At the wedding and reception, they were together the whole time, but surrounded by others, there was no time to properly converse.
My wife. Mine.
He quite liked those words.
He had snatched away the future of a woman who could have been happy beside another man, and forced her down next to him. So that the lingering guilt within her would make her miserable for the rest of her life.
Just as he became curious about what expression she, now his wife, would make upon seeing him, her husband, the sound of knocking broke the quiet silence.
"Come in."
A moment after his permission fell, the door opened carefully and Blair entered.
Wearing a negligee that revealed the curves of her body, she approached and stood beside him with eyes clearly showing tension, walking with feigned composure.
Then, taking a deep breath to steady herself, she suddenly asked.
"Should I undress......?"