Chapter 8
Although it had been a while since they last met, Eugenie would have recognized that face anywhere.
“M-Magnus Napier?”
The Napier family was renowned as a patron of the arts, proud of their wealth and aesthetic sensibility. Magnus Napier, the only child of the Napier family, had been Eugenie’s rival at the academy, competing fiercely for the top spot.
In many ways, this visit was even more surprising than Alfred’s or the Duke’s.
“What are you doing here, Napier?”
“I’ve come to propose to you, Eugenie Norton.”
Magnus held his chin high, as if declaring his intentions to a rival over grades. He handed over a bouquet made of peonies the size of a baby’s head, which he had somehow cultivated.
Eugenie took the bouquet in a daze but responded as sharply as she used to.
“You can just turn around and leave.”
“Ah, I expected you to react that way.”
Magnus shook his head arrogantly. The light reflected off his shining silver hair seemed to illuminate his face in a way that added to his imposing demeanor.
“But I have a promise with your mother, Missus Theodora Norton. It wouldn’t be gentlemanly to break it.”
“Why?!”
“Just because you disrespect it doesn’t mean everyone will, Norton.”
“No…! Why would my mother make a promise with you?!”
“You might say it was an excellent judgment of my abilities.”
Even so, one had to question the reliability of that judgment, given that she had chosen Peregrine Norton as her spouse…
But suddenly, Eugenie recalled her mother’s last words before she died.
‘I’ve prepared everything for you.’
‘Perfect men. Not just one, but several.’
She had thought it was just a delusional lament mixed with her dying breath. But now, seeing the men who seemed to take their proposals lightly, a chill ran down her spine.
Would they just overlook the presence of other suitors when making their proposals? Was that even possible?
‘And ‘men’?’
It wasn’t singular but plural. Could this situation be real and not a dream?
Just then, a sweet voice spoke up.
“Oh dear, am I the last to arrive?”
Standing by the door was a man with flowing cherry blossom-colored hair. While Magnus had a fine appearance, this man looked ethereally beautiful, like a character from a fairy tale.
Unlike the previous three men, Eugenie had never met this one before.
“Excuse me, who are you?”
The man bowed gracefully, as if he was a refined dancer.
“I am Cassius Lysander. I run the boutique ‘La Noir’.”
“La Noir… Oh, I’ve heard of it.”
Wasn’t that the boutique known for selling the trendiest accessories in the capital? However, the Duke, who had been silent, now had a somewhat displeased expression.
“So Missus Norton has even made a contract with someone like him.”
Alfred’s and Magnus’s expressions were similarly unwelcoming. Eugenie leaned in and whispered to Alfred.
“Do you know why they’re reacting like that?”
“La Noir has a rumor of being involved in less-than-savory activities.”
Cassius smiled pleasantly despite hearing that. However, his gaze was condescending, as if he was looking down on them.
“Please say I’m well-versed in fields not yet regulated by law. And I contribute a hundred times more to the poor than your families do.”
Magnus snorted dismissively.
“For tax evasion and other purposes, I suppose.”
“Hypocrisy is still a line, isn’t it? Anyway…”
Cassius smiled charmingly again and offered a bright yellow evening primrose bouquet.
“Lady Norton, I’ve come to propose in accordance with my contract with your mother.”
“Oh…”
“Please accept.”
What had seemed like a solution to her problems now felt like a distant memory. Four imposing men in a small room—what was going on?
“See, Eugenie? I told you you’d be overwhelmed on the day.”
“…Carter?”
Why was there a fifth voice? And not just any voice, but that of a childhood friend carrying a bouquet mixed with anemones and daisies.
“Happy birthday, Eugenie.”
“Oh… um…”
“And will you marry me too?”
Carter flashed a dazzling smile like sunshine.
Surrounded by what seemed like a garden of men, Eugenie thought,
Mother, Mother.
What on earth did you do?
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