WGMFTR | Chapter 12

Episode 12

Actually, what I “heard” about the wedding wasn’t the end of it.

The marquis declared an immense and generous financial support, but when it came to the details, he consistently maintained an attitude of “figure it out yourselves.”

So the butler and head maid gave up on him and had recently begun approaching Lydia one after another to ask about the wedding details.

Unable to endure the pestering, Lydia went to find Ilian.

<They keep asking me how to proceed with the wedding, but I don’t know either!>

<Then just say you don’t know. Just go with whatever’s the best.>

<How can you be so unmotivated and insincere?>

He, who spent nearly half the day out of the mansion, only said such indifferent things.

In truth, she could just choose anything, but even that was starting to hit a limit.

<You might see them more often than me from now on, so take this chance to get friendly. Especially the butler, he’s been around since I was a child.>

Even when Lydia protested for him to do something about it, his attitude remained extremely insincere.

From questions like what kind of flowers should be used to decorate the wedding hall, to their eager pledge that they would pressure the tailor into making whatever dress she wanted on time.

Faced with people who only asked for instructions, Lydia couldn’t find anything to say.

Their ambitious intent to bring life back to the mansion through this wedding, since there hadn’t even been a proper ball in a while, even made Lydia a little afraid.

No matter how she looked at it, Lydia couldn’t shake the feeling that this was getting far too big for what she thought would be a simple contract marriage.

Baroness Schnette, seemingly unaware of Lydia’s complicated feelings, asked brightly.

“Come to think of it, I heard Their Majesties the King and Queen are attending the wedding. Is that true?”

“Yes, I heard they are.”

Lydia awkwardly smiled and repeated what she had merely overheard.

“Oh my, what an incredible honor. It’ll be like a royal wedding.”

Whether it was just the baroness or all nobles in general, she seemed to harbor a deep admiration for the royal family.

That was evident from how she often boasted of her personal acquaintance with the current queen.

Objectively speaking, it seemed like nothing more than exchanging a few words during the tea parties the queen occasionally held with several noble ladies.

“Don’t hold the teacup like that. Loosen your grip a bit. Just enough so you don’t drop it.”

“Is this the right way?”

“Yes, like that. You’re a very quick and excellent learner.”

Though it was hard to say etiquette lessons were fun, Lydia was enthusiastic in her studies regardless of the field.

“It’s thanks to the baroness’s good teaching.”

“Ahem. Well. I suppose I am a good teacher. Among my students, the one who married last year…”

And in the past few days, Lydia had already figured out the baroness’s personality.

Since she was easily pleased with even the smallest praise, understanding her character was much easier compared to the marquis.

He was someone whose thoughts and feelings were always hard to guess.

“Baroness Schnette. If today’s lesson is over, I’d like to borrow my fiancée for a bit, would that be alright?”

As if he had sensed he was being thought of, Ilian Esteban himself walked in, his dazzling blond hair flowing.

Holding Lydia’s hand barehanded had now become quite natural.

To the point where she couldn’t understand why she had resisted it at all at first, the marquis would take Lydia’s hand as if it were the most natural thing, pretending not to notice.

“Oh, Marquis. Of course.”

The baroness’s face turned red as she pretended to hide it with her fan, unable to take her eyes off the marquis.

“Then.”

Regardless of the baroness’s burdensome gaze, Ilian gave a half-hearted nod and escorted Lydia away without a change in expression.

Only then did Lydia notice that his stiff attitude, despite feigning indifference, was a little different from usual.

“Is something wrong?”

As soon as she followed him out, Lydia asked. He slowed his steps for a moment, looked down at her, then turned his gaze forward again.

“No. Nothing.”

His short reply carried an air that didn’t allow for further questions.

Since he was acting like this, Lydia had no choice but to find a different topic amidst the awkward atmosphere.

Suddenly, the conversation with the baroness came to mind.

“Marquis. Come to think of it, I heard high-ranking nobles are usually expected to meet Their Majesties before the wedding.”

“There’s no need.”

The curt reply came quickly. But Lydia recalled the mysterious letters that arrived every morning whenever they had breakfast together lately.

And how he would dismiss the tray with the letters with an indifferent wave, not even looking at them.

“I don’t think that’s true. That fancy paper you keep ignoring every day—those are invitations from the palace, aren’t they?”

Thanks to Baroness Schnette, Lydia was slowly realizing just how much of a stir news of her and the marquis’s marriage had caused, and how she was at the center of some enormous rumor.

“…You have sharp eyes.”

His refusal to deny it confirmed her suspicion. Lydia quickly continued, worried he might change the topic.

“Besides that, I also heard I should originally be inviting noble ladies from prestigious families to introduce myself.”

“The baroness has been saying a bunch of unnecessary things. I asked her to give etiquette lessons.”

“I’m not completely shameless, you know. Since I’m living comfortably in your mansion, I wouldn’t want to cause trouble for you.”

“Whatever you do, you alone won’t tarnish the Esteban name.”

That remark hurt a little. Lydia quickly felt wronged.

Wasn’t the etiquette training also meant for her to temporarily fulfill the role of the marquis’s wife properly?

“It’s written in the contract, isn’t it? That while you’ll be treated as the marquis’s wife, you’ll have no obligations. It’s just a position assigned out of necessity.”

“…That’s true, but still.”

“Did the baroness fill your head with nonsense?”

His sudden halt and tone carried a hint of reproach, leaving Lydia genuinely flustered.

“She said it would be good to get close to the royal family, build my position as the marquis’s wife, and make use of that status in social circles.”

“I just…”

She really didn’t know how to respond. It was true that she had listened to what the baroness said.

Especially about the great responsibilities of a hostess in a noble family as prestigious as Esteban.

So even if it was fake, she thought maybe she should try to find something she could do.

“Our condition is only one. You break the curse, and I give you the ring.”

“I know. You were the one who took the Solem heirloom hostage in the first place. I never once thought about using the status given to me for any personal gain.”

A grand, extravagant, but hollow marriage. She understood that was the point.

That she would be granted no real authority or duty.

She had no complaints about that. In fact, it was reassuring.

But the marquis didn’t seem like such a cold or cruel person, and there were such things as basic human decency.

So, aside from it being a deal, she just wanted to do her best.

“Lydia, just do what you’re supposed to do.”

Ilian knew Lydia wasn’t an opportunist.

That was precisely why he had deliberately cut off any ties to the noisy social world on her behalf.

It was also why he had ordered the butler not to deliver any messages from other noble families to her.

Because he could clearly see that if she carried the Esteban name without knowing how to wield it, she’d be easily used by even worse opportunists than the baroness.

“So, you don’t have to say it like that. I already know.”

Ilian looked down at Lydia’s head bowed low with a shrinking voice, and tried to suppress the irritation whose cause clearly lay elsewhere.

‘Is Madeline Ines planning to be an obstacle to the very end?’

The woman who claimed to be his mother had finally caught wind of the marriage and abruptly notified them of a visit. That ruined mood hadn’t improved all morning.

Even though she was supposedly the mother and matriarch of the current Esteban marquis, her letter began with how it was unacceptable for her to hear of the wedding from others—and he had burned it as soon as he read it.

Still, his displeasure at that woman, who held no real position in the marquisate anymore, didn’t subside.

Ilian ran his fingers roughly through his blond hair and spoke in a much softer tone, almost sighing.

“The visit to the royal archive will have to be postponed.”

This was, in fact, the very reason he had called Lydia out.

Having heard that the king and queen were away from the palace, he believed this was the perfect chance to visit the royal archive with Lydia without any interruptions.

The queen, upon hearing Lydia had visited the palace, would no doubt want to see her.

It was likely the queen who kept sending those invitations to the palace.

But talking to the queen would only make Lydia uncomfortable and offer nothing of value.

‘I went out of my way to help her avoid a confrontation…’

The queen, who secretly wished for her own daughter to become the Marchioness of Esteban, was probably feeling a bit resentful as well.

Was it that Lydia, blindly walking into the storm, was frustrating?

Or that it was maddening how both the queen and Princess Madeline kept interfering with what he was doing?

He didn’t even know which feeling was closer to the truth.

“Don’t concern yourself with the king or queen. I’ll take care of it.”

“…Marquis.”

Ilian let go of Lydia’s hand and left first with a stiff tone, feeling that if he stayed any longer, he might end up taking out his anger on the wrong person.