“He’s late,” said Anne, peering outside with a suspicious look on her face.
The gentleman went to announce their arrival and had not yet come back.
Normally, there should be a welcoming reception, but the garden and the mansion were quiet.
“You wait here, Lady Sereia, I’ll go inside and check.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No, you can’t. I’m going to go just to check. It is really disrespectful to make us wait without even welcoming, no matter how superior their position is.”
There was no doubt that they knew of Sereia’s arrival today. The fact that there was no welcome at all meant that she was not welcome here.
“But it will be humiliating to be kept waiting for so long, isn’t it? I mean, I’m tired and I want to go to my room and rest. I don’t want to waste time.”
On the Frontier Count’s part, they may have had no choice but to consent to the marriage with Sereia on the orders of the royal family. But even if that was the case, they couldn’t have just turned her away.
Anne finally agreed, albeit reluctantly. She helped Sereia to get off the carriage and put her feet on the ground.
Right then the door of the mansion opened with a loud bang. A man wearing a dark blue frock coat appeared.
He was tall and stout. Tanned skin. He has golden hair with a slight quirk and two clear azure eyes, though they tend to droop a little. The bridge of his nose was high while his lips are slightly thick but well-shaped.
Despite being used to seeing her former fiancé’s dazzling good looks, Sereia gasped at the man’s heroic and flamboyant appearance.
“So you are Lady Sereia Palma. …You look as the rumor says,” said the man looking at Sereia from head to toe.
“…Rumor?”
The man’s well-shaped lips twisted into a smile. “Dull, plain.”
“Hey…! Wait a minute― Don’t be rude!”
Anne, who was standing beside Sereia, raise her voice at the man’s words.
“Rude, you said?”
“Not only rude, you also insult her! How dare you insult Lady Sereia without even greeting her?”
“Rude or insult, I heard you’re interfering with Princess Cornelia’s love life, and even still pursued Harold Randall even after he said goodbye to you? Do you even have the pride to feel insulted?”
The man approached Sereia with a wry smile. Stopping right in front of her and looked down with his azure eyes.
“Since this is the royal’s order, I will marry you. But don’t make a mistake by thinking you can win my heart. I have a lover. But because of my status, I am unable to marry her. It is because of that I have to accept this matter.”
“…And…that mean…?”
“I am not married to you. I am married to my lover. You will only be my display wife. You will not be the one I love and the mother of my heir.”
Anne clicked her tongue, and Sereia grabbed her arm.
They hadn’t introduced themselves, but from the way they were talking, the man in front of her was probably Dirk Hertl, the frontier count.
No matter how rude he was, this man was not someone a servant should yell at.
“I don’t intend to let you into the house either. I’ve heard you’re a vicious woman. There’s a hut at the end of the garden. You will live there.”
Sereia’s eyes moved towards the garden.
“Show her around.”
A middle-aged woman, who must be a servant of the Hertl family, appeared.
She replied, “Yes, my Lord.”
Before turning around and disappearing into the house, Dirk Hertl once again glanced at Sereia.
* * *
Sereia’s initial image when she heard “hut” from Dirk Hertl’s mouth was that of a stable or something like that, but in fact, it wasn’t that bad. It was a fairly large stone-walled building consisting of three rooms. The interior was simple but clean.
“Meals will be prepared for Lady Sereia every hour, so please have your maid come and get them. If you need anything else, please let me know. Also, you are not allowed to leave the house.”
The Hertl maid gave Sereia instructions in a calm tone of voice.
Once the maid left, Sereia finally released Anne’s arm from her grasp.
“What, what, what, what!? What the hell does this mean? I don’t understand at all!”
The girl must have been desperately trying to hold back. Anne’s face was so red that Sereia feared steam would come out of her head.
“What does this mean?”
Anne’s lips twitched when Sereia repeated her question.
“How can you be this calm? That thing is going to be Lady Sereia’s husband. That thing! Unbelievable!”
“Well, yes, I’m just a display wife, but…”
“Be more angry!”
“I’m not angry, I’m…surprised…I don’t know what to call him, but he’s like trash. He’s so refreshingly disgusting, I’m impressed.”
Unlike her previous persona, Dirk Hertl was actually very good-looking. But he didn’t seem to have the ‘kindness’ that Sereia expected.
“Don’t make a mistake by thinking you can win my heart. I almost laughed out loud when he said that.”
Sereia let out a chuckle.
Well, at least she didn’t have to be afraid to ask for help.
“There’s no point in getting angry. Of course, it’s smaller than living in a mansion, but I think it’s easier to live here. For now, let’s bring in the luggage in the carriage.”
Anne let out a long sigh at Sereia’s instructions.
“Yes,” the girl replied, her shoulders slumping sadly.
“…Lady Sereia has no luck with men at all, isn’t she? For example Lord Harold. He wasn’t kind either, he had a cold personality. No matter how good a man’s face and status is, it’s still a pity if they have a bad personality.”
“…He’s…”
“…Lady Sereia?”
“Nothing.”
He does look like that from the outside, but he actually has a lot of kindness in him.
If they were still engaged, Sereia would not have wanted Anne to misunderstand Harold, but now, it did not matter. The two were no longer engaged.
There was no need to cover for Harold anymore, since Anne would never see him again.
