Chapter 45
Only then did his backside, which had been shifting as though he might indignantly throw off his seat and stand at any moment, return to its place.
I continued speaking calmly again.
“This proposal letter truly came from Grand Duke Barietsch, and it’s true that we cannot refuse his proposal.”
“Ahem.”
They were words he could not deny, even if he did not want to admit them. A cough that had quickly softened returned.
“Although what he sent was a wedding proposal letter, suggest that we begin with an engagement first, then make that happen. We’ll buy time in the meantime.”
“…Buy time?”
“Yes, breaking off an engagement is far easier than divorce.”
“……”
“First, we buy time with an engagement, and during that time, we find a suitable excuse to break it off. Or it would be fine to make him bring up breaking off the engagement first.”
After my words, Father remained silent all along. However, he looked much more composed than when I first entered the office.
He was surely gauging whether the proposal I had just made would be a good move against Grand Duke Barietsch.
Instead of Father, who had sunk into thought, Mother, whose tears had stopped at some point, carefully asked me.
“Giselle, what exactly do you mean by… making him break it off?”
“I don’t know why he suddenly sent me a proposal letter, but it doesn’t seem he proposed because there was discussion exchanged between our families. He probably happened to see my appearance through some chance and liked it, then sent the letter without warning.”
“Certainly… That must be so. Until the proposal letter suddenly flew in, we had no point of contact with House Barietsch.”
Mother readily accepted my guess and nodded.
Without missing that timing, I began laying out the plan I had prepared for a long time.
“Once the engagement is made, I plan to disappoint the other party.”
“Disappoint…?”
“In other words, I’ll do things an ordinary gentleman or a man with common sense would dislike. For example… things like getting engaged and then, instead of being chaste, setting my eyes on another man.”
“……”
For an instant, Mother’s blue eyes grew indescribably large. As though something that must never happen had just unfolded right before her eyes.
Certainly, a woman who looked elsewhere at someone other than her fiancé was a terrible thing to Mother. For a noblewoman, chastity was a virtue naturally demanded.
For Mother’s mental health, which had fallen into shock, I also put a relatively moderate method into words.
“Or there may be other methods. I could be excessively extravagant and burdensome, or conversely, I could be excessively frugal and look unsightly.”
“……”
“If I act foolish and frustrating, or if I’m boring and dull, so I can’t be a conversation partner at all, a man’s heart is bound to cool easily.”
“Are you saying you’ll deliberately act that way and make the other party mention breaking off the engagement first?”
Then, after a long while, Father, who had finally opened his mouth, suddenly asked. I quietly nodded.
“That’s right. Other than the things I mentioned, there are many ways to make someone dislike a person. If we buy time with the engagement like that and continue doing things he would dislike, won’t he grow tired of me someday? Then he’ll soon want to break off the engagement with me.”
“……”
“If Grand Duke Barietsch wants to break off the engagement first, there will be no retaliation, and both our family and I will be safe.”
“……”
“I think this is quite a good method. What do you two think?”
Father and Mother did not accept my proposal. However, that did not mean they particularly refuted my opinion or presented other opinions either.
They must know as well. That the method I proposed was the best. That there was no other way to safely run away from the misfortune called Barietsch.
After the silence, Father quietly opened his mouth. With a face just slightly less despairing than at first.
“…For now, I’ve heard your opinion well. I think I need time to think about this matter. I’ll call you once a decision has been made, so wait until then.”
“Understood, Father.”
With an obedient farewell, I took the proposal letter and quietly left the office.
As soon as the door closed, a hurried conversation continued behind my back. But I returned to my room, pretending not to have heard anything.
One month later, my engagement to the main culprit who had completely ruined my twentieth birthday was arranged.
During that time, Father and Mother devised countless other methods to prevent the marriage. But in the end, they came to agree that my proposal was the safest and most appropriate.
It took well over half a month to reach that conclusion, and persuading Raven, who wanted marriage and not an engagement, required a full week by itself.
And so, after about a month, I succeeded in becoming engaged to Raven.
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