Ada Felton, the former Duchess, said during breakfast.
Mellie’s hand, which was peeling the flesh from the golden-grilled swordfish, suddenly stopped.
“When Edric gets married, a new person will come in. The house will definitely become more lively and better. After all, a husband, wife, and children should live in the house. That’s the most ideal family.”
Edric smiled and lightly agreed.
“Then there will be four now. Including Rosaline.”
Ada smiled kindly and shook her head.
“There will be four someday. But it seems like it will take a few years for that to happen.”
“… … .”
“I plan to go down to the duchy right after your wedding.”
Mellie had already heard this from Oz.
Edric opened his eyes wide as if he had never heard of it before, but soon burst into laughter.
“Mother, you…”
“… … .”
“What do you mean? You should continue to live with us.”
“No, that can’t be. I should enjoy my life now, too. I have no intention of staying here and bothering you two.”
“No one will think that Mother is bothering us. In fact, she would rather like it. Rosaline praised mother so much and said that you are more comfortable than the Marchioness Adele.”
“What a wonderful child.”
Mellie felt complicated as she listened to the affectionate exchange between the duchess and Edric about Rosaline.
However, it was now out of her hands.
What more could she do if she had nothing to do with it?
“So live with us, Mother. Together.”
Edric urged her again.
“No. But that’s not right.”
Mrs. Felton was surprisingly stubborn.
“A person must know when to leave. I have already decided. Besides, the southern regions are warm even in the middle of winter, so I think it will be good for my health.”
Suddenly, the lady and Mellie’s eyes met in midair.
Mellie thought that the lady’s gaze lingered on her a little longer today.
“Before I go down, I plan to find a match for Mellie too. I promised it to your mother, Jasmine Enwood, with my whole heart.”
“You don’t have to do that… … .”
Ada Felton didn’t give Mellie a chance to refuse, and continued with an elegant smile.
“A suitable match has come along.”
“… … .”
“Lord Blair, the master of the Blair family, has shown interest in you. He said he saw you at the birthday party of Countess Cecilia the other day. He really liked you.”
Mellie didn’t remember seeing him at that banquet. However, she knew that he was a self-made merchant and was wealthier than most nobles.
“The age difference is a bit of a flaw, but he seems very upright and honest. How about it? Would you like to meet him once?”
“… … .”
“If you don’t feel like it, you don’t have to. I just thought he was a good person, so I asked your opinion.”
It would have been better if you had forced me into it.
When she gave me a choice with such an affectionate smile, it was painfully hard for Mellie to refuse.
Mellie hesitated for a moment, but soon made up her mind.
She had to meet Lord Blair, if only for the sake of the duchess who had raised her so well. She could think about marriage later. Not all encounters lead to marriage.
“Yes, I will… … .”
“Firstly, mother.”
A powerful voice covered Mellie’s small voice.
“Please give her some time to think.”
“… … .”
“It must be sudden for Mellie, too. Isn’t it?”
Edric said, looking back at Mellie. His eyes were gently curved, but the blue pupils inside them were pretending to be firm.
***
After cleaning up from the meal, Mellie climbed the stairs to return to her quarters. After turning the corner twice, she saw Edric leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
“What? Have you been waiting for me?”
Mellie approached him, tilting her head, and he uncrossed his arms and stood up.
“Let’s talk for a moment.”
His gentle expression was no different than usual. He must have had something to talk about.
Mellie would then patiently listen until his emotional trash can was completely emptied.
Today, with the same intention, she followed him obediently as he headed to her room.
As usual, he plopped down on Mellie’s bed. Mellie stared blankly at him as he leaned back on the sheets as if it were his own room, and then she sat down on a chair far away.
She never sat in the same bed with him.
Was it when she was ten?
She had slept in the same bed with him once. The two of them jumped up and down on the bed together and then lay down.
They looked at each other and laughed out loud because they enjoyed the feeling of the spring bouncing back with all their might. It was a moment of innocence for both of them, just like children. However, that moment never came again. They were caught by her mother who had just come in with the laundry.
After politely sending Edric out, her mother scolded Mellie harshly.
‘Don’t think that you and the young duke are the same just because you live in the same house. He lives in a completely different world from us.’
Her mother emphasized that fact to Mellie until the moment she died. In addition, there were the negative effects of marriages with different social statuses.
Her mother was the daughter of a fairly famous count, but then she married Mellie’s father, who was of a lowly noble family and suffered throughout their married life.
Since it was advice that came from her own experience, Mellie had no choice but to listen carefully.
“Will you meet him? That person named Blair?”
Edric broke Mellie’s thoughts.
She could tell right from the word ‘ that person’, that Edric did not like him very much.
Why?
Mellie was puzzled for a moment, but then a convincing reason came to her mind.
It was natural for him, who had grown up as a noble to the core, to feel uncomfortable with a new rich man.
“Well. I haven’t decided yet.”
“You haven’t decided… …”
Edric repeated Mellie’s words.
“So you’re saying that you don’t want to meet him?”
“If that’s the only option I have, then I can’t do that.”
“Why don’t you have a choice? Just keep living here. Rosaline agreed to it as well.”
“… … .”
Mellie shook her head.
“I don’t think that’s right.”
Although she found it strange that Edric’s expression was more subdued than usual, Mellie didn’t change her mind.
“It’s just that I’m uncomfortable. Even if Miss Rosaline liked me.”
She was serious.
What could she do by living in the house of the man she had a crush on?
On top of that, he would be someone else’s man now. Isn’t it wrong to continue to have a crush on someone else’s man?
Even if she couldn’t give up on him right away, she needed to get out of his sight.
“Then… … .”
Edric thought for a moment and said.
“I’ll give you another option.”
“… … ?”
“I’ll get you a house in the capital. You can live there.”
Mellie was puzzled by Edric’s unexpectedly stubborn attitude.
Why on earth did he do this? Because he felt bad for his sister-like friend?
Or because he didn’t have anyone to listen to him?
Of course, he couldn’t always sit up straight in an elegant suit. Sometimes, there had to be a moment when he could just lie down comfortably in his pajamas. Mellie was the one who could treat him as he was, just as he was, without his cumbersome pretense.
Even if it wasn’t, and it was truly sincere consideration, Mellie was a woman with a strong sense of judgment.
Some women think they can be friends with married men for life, but at least she wasn’t.
“Edric for now,”
Mellie said after letting out a small sigh.
“I’ll decide what to do about it after I meet Lord Blair.”
Even though she was talking while looking at the hem of her skirt, she could feel Edric’s gaze.
It didn’t seem to be a very kind gaze.
“What if he is okay when you meet?”
Edric said. His voice sounded cold for some reason.
“If he’s okay… … .”
Mellie couldn’t continue.
If he’s okay, I mean… … . She didn’t even think about that. Because he couldn’t be okay.
While she was hesitating how to answer without revealing her true feelings, Edric opened his mouth.
“Think carefully, Mellie.”
The voice, which had suddenly become soft, strangely shook Mellie’s heart.
“This marriage kind of marriage is fixed, the moment you met that man. In this kind of blind date, the one who has the choice is not you, but the man.”
“… … .”
“That kind of businessperson is not your match, Mellie.”
Mellie bit her lip and looked at Edric. His blue eyes, resembling lapis lazuli, seemed to be filled only with her.
It was an absurd thought… … . No matter how much she thought about it, it couldn’t be true, but a ray of suspicion rose in Mellie’s heart.
What could be the real reason he was doing this? Could it be that he liked me as much as I liked him… … .
“You deserve someone much better.”
“… … .”
“Trust me. I’ll find you a better groom.”
‘Wake up, Mellie Enwood. The feelings he has for you is friendship at best, and pity at worst.’
Edric got up from his seat and approached Mellie. He lowered himself in front of her and looked up at her.
“Tell my mother that you won’t meet him. Okay?”
Eyes that rippled like the ocean. A voice that was as sweet as a whisper. It was an overly tempting attitude to persuade a friend who was like a younger sister, but Mellie didn’t want to do something stupid like trying to find another possibility there.
But regardless, Mellie wasn’t sure about her decision to go on a blind date.
As Edric had said, she thought that if it was a blind date that was directly related to marriage, she should go carefully.
It wasn’t the kind of thing she could lightly attend as a way to repay the previous duchess.
“I’ll think about it.”
That was the best Mellie could say.
