WGMFTR | Chapter 4

Episode 4

Still, this wasn’t right. At the very least, she needed time to think calmly.

Lydia spoke as she struggled to compose herself.

“Still, please give me some time. I need a little time to think.”

“It would be quite a problem if my condition were to suddenly worsen tomorrow while you’re still thinking, wouldn’t it?”

“Why are you saying that like it’s someone else’s problem and pushing the responsibility onto me!”

Lydia now clutched her hair and spoke in a half-sobbing tone.

Damn marquis. When she tried to think realistically, he would stab at her conscience with his words—masterfully.

Knowing someone was suffering from such a curse and leaving them alone would undoubtedly leave her with lifelong guilt.

“…I’ll do it. It really feels like a crazy thing, but I’ll get married. I’ll do it. But you must give me that ring. That’s something I, no—my family, has been searching for across generations.”

Lydia, mumbling and invoking Solem’s name as she buried her face in her hands, made Ilian faintly smile.

Understanding this woman wasn’t difficult.

Entice her with the thing she most desired, shake her with guilt, and drive the wedge in—then she’d be caught without escape.

Reading the myriad emotions in her innocently upturned eyes was far too easy.

‘Rather, I should think of how to use her. Not be swayed like this.’

That was where the misstep began. A shrewd person would instead realize that she was the Marquis of Esteban’s only lifeline and use that to her advantage.

Making deals, negotiating, and securing her stake would have been the rational move.

If she were like one of the many women Ilian met in social circles, she would’ve jumped at the chance to use this as an excuse to become the Marchioness of Esteban for life.

She was a woman with an unusually pure and delicate heart. You could tell from the question she suddenly asked, as if she had just made up her mind.

“Then, can I buy the ring with money first? I’ll give you however much you want. I just can’t relax knowing it’s still in someone else’s hands. I’ll definitely break the curse for you.”

“You really know nothing at all.”

She had heard the rumors swirling in the capital, but she hadn’t grasped the true weight of “Esteban.” There’s even a saying among the people:

“…The day Esteban’s gold mines dry up, the Kingdom of Cronon will fall. Haven’t you heard that?”

“I did hear that the Marquisate of Esteban is extremely rich. That’s why the family crest is golden too.”

Hearing her parrot half-baked information made him feel oddly frustrated.

It was a different kind of frustration than listening to senile nobles babble in meetings.

“Esteban has accumulated more wealth than the royal family.”

He thought she’d take the hint and ask for some other material reward. But the woman utterly shattered Ilian’s expectations for the first time in a long while.

“If the ring is impossible, then… I have one request…”

“What is it?”

“You mentioned the royal archive earlier. Could I also read some of the books there?”

He had never seen someone’s eyes light up more at the mention of books than at money.

But Lydia truly, sincerely seemed to care more about gaining access to the royal archives than anything else he had mentioned.

“…Is that your demand?”

“Yes. I’ve already collected all the ancient texts available to the public, but places like the royal archive are completely inaccessible. If I could get in, there might be more books to study magic, and maybe even clues about your curse…”

“That’s no problem. I can give you access right away.”

“Really?”

And Ilian’s assumption turned out to be true. Her hesitant expression brightened immediately, worried as she was that he might find it difficult to grant access to the royal archive.

Ilian felt he probably wouldn’t see her face light up this brightly even if he told Princess Yulina that he’d marry her.

“If it’s magical literature you’re after, I could also find more books for you personally.”

“That would be amazing. There’s a limit to what I can find on my own. But if I search under your name, I might get my hands on rarer texts.”

Lydia truly felt like her heart might burst. Such luck was unbelievable.

At this rate, maybe even a marriage she never cared about and never planned on could be worth going through with—just this once.

Magic was her identity, and also the thing she missed even without knowing what exactly she longed for, having been born into a world that lacked it.

In short, it was a presence she wanted to understand completely, inside and out.

Even knowing she could never reach the full truth, she studied relentlessly, proud that she was continuing her grandmother’s knowledge and will.

She took pride in trying to become a person worthy of the name “Solem’s descendant.”

Of course, the most important thing was retrieving Solem’s ring from the Marquis of Esteban.

“Anything else?”

Ilian Esteban wondered why he kept asking so generously.

He was used to calculating profit and loss, so Lydia’s attitude may have been exasperating to him.

Why couldn’t she just act cunning and agree with whatever he said?

Everyone who knew who he was always tried to gain something from him. Why wouldn’t she also attempt to get something great from him?

“Whether it’s the royal archive or rare books, none of that is a big deal to me. I can easily get whatever you want.”

It was an unspoken challenge: go ahead, ask for something else. Surely you also have a hidden desire like everyone else.

But that implication scattered meaninglessly as the woman gave a faint smile and shook her head.

“I’m fine.”

It was unsatisfying, but there was no helping it.

He should’ve been pleased that she agreed—relatively easily—to lift his curse. But instead, all he felt was an inexplicable dissatisfaction.

Ilian Esteban brushed it off, assuming it was just the exhaustion from the curse pressing down on him.

“Then let’s go.”

“Huh? Go where?”

“To the Esteban estate.”

“Right now?”

Lydia’s face once again filled with disbelief. This man had the remarkable ability to become unlikable the moment he started becoming likable.

Whether Lydia frowned or not, Ilian Esteban spoke as if it were obvious.

“You’re not planning to stay here, are you?”

“But…”

Lydia still couldn’t grasp the reality. The “Esteban family” sounded like something from another world to someone who’d lived far from aristocratic society.

So honestly, the thought of blindly following him scared her more.

“For now, I can just keep quiet, right? I won’t tell anyone. I have to take care of my cat at home, pack my things, and I can’t just leave this shop unattended…”

Come to think of it, if she were to leave, there were mountains of things she had to take care of in advance.

“Does the shop inventory need to be managed by someone constantly?”

“No. It’s fine as long as no one touches anything carelessly.”

“I’ll take care of that. Then we’ll stop by your place, pack what you need, and I’ll have people move the rest to the estate.”

Only bewilderment remained in the face of such a string of unilateral decisions.

Even as she nodded at the marquis’s questioning gaze as if to ask, “This is okay, right?” she still felt like it wasn’t. But he was already extending a gloved hand.

“I’m counting on you, future Marchioness.”

“Can’t you just call me by my name? That title feels awkward and weird.”

As Lydia scrunched up her face in discomfort, the Marquis of Esteban gave a faint, fleeting smile.

“Alright. Then, Lydia.”

It was just him saying her name properly—but for some reason, it made her feel ticklish inside.

Lydia finally took his hand.

Through the thin glove, she felt a lukewarm warmth. It was the kind of warmth that, faint as it was, gave her a bit of strength as she prepared to step into an unknown world.