chapter 1
“I heard you’re looking for a bride.”
Those were the very first words spoken by the woman who had suddenly come to see Arent.
He raised one eyebrow and looked at the woman sitting before him like a doll.
She was, quite literally, like a “doll.” Expressionless. Emotionless.
She was certainly beautiful, yet at the same time eerily still.
And such a woman had come to him and asked if he was seeking a bride.
Arent found it rather puzzling.
“Do you not know who I am?”
“You’re someone preparing for an imperial marriage.”
“Not that.”
“Joachim XII of Vinfried.”
“At least you’re not completely ignorant.”
“Please marry me.”
“Now that’s just absurd.”
Arent put on a good-natured face, though a bewildered smile crept in.
It was true—he was searching for a bride. It was also true that he had left his own country and come all the way to the Thierry Empire for a political marriage, stirring up the entire continent in the process.
But he had never expected to receive a sudden proposal like this.
After a brief moment of thought, Arent asked what seemed like a reasonable question.
“Do you perhaps have feelings for me?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t develop feelings for someone I’ve only heard about through rumors.”
That left him slightly embarrassed.
It might sound a bit immodest to say, but Arent was quite popular.
As the emperor of a nation—and a member of the Joachim imperial family, whose founding legend spoke of being blessed by the moon—Arent, with his silver hair, possessed strikingly handsome features.
His sharply sculpted face gave off a strong yet refined impression, while his thin red lips and slightly downturned eyes even reminded one of a gentle puppy.
Combined with his tall, well-proportioned physique and his easygoing personality, he was someone who both drew people in and charmed them effortlessly.
In other words, it wasn’t an unreasonable assumption for him to think this woman might have some interest in him.
Still feeling awkward—and a bit flustered—Arent asked again,
“Then why on earth are you proposing to me?”
“Because Your Majesty is the emperor of Vinfried, and the only person who can take me away from this Thierry Empire.”
“Hah. So after coming to a foreign land, I’m being treated like a carriage now? Perhaps I should just return to my country.”
“The bride Your Majesty seeks must meet three conditions, correct? First, she must have no connection whatsoever to Vinfried’s Empress Dowager. Second, she must be capable of assisting Your Majesty in governing immediately. And lastly, she must not love Your Majesty.”
At her words, the deep furrow in Arent’s brow slowly smoothed out.
The first two conditions aside… how did she know the last one?
But he couldn’t bring himself to ask.
The woman continued speaking on her own.
“I am from the Thierry Empire, so I have no connection to Vinfried’s Empress Dowager. That means I won’t become her pawn to monitor Your Majesty. And I have the ability to manage state affairs right away.”
“Overconfidence is not a good habit.”
“The Duke of Eustache has been on the battlefield for the past three years, hasn’t he? He hasn’t returned to Thierry even once. And since the previous duke and duchess had already passed away at the time, who do you think managed that vast duchy and the ducal household?”
At the mention of the Duke of Eustache, something flickered through Arent’s mind.
With a doubtful expression, he spoke carefully.
“…I heard the Duke of Eustache recently broke off an engagement.”
“Niveia Solen. He ended his engagement with the Solen family. The woman who had been bound to him as his fiancée due to their fathers’ agreement finally gave up on him.”
“…Don’t tell me that was you?”
Even at his question, the woman did not smile.
She simply continued as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“I loved the Duke of Eustache for ten years. And only now have I finally let go of that love. Do you think someone like me could love Your Majesty?”
“……”
“Your Majesty is also someone who is weary of love, aren’t you? I’m the same.”
Only then did Arent see her emotionless demeanor in a new light.
She was exhausted.
And yet, her violet eyes were full of life. She was seeking a new life—from him.
“I don’t ask more than three times, Your Majesty. If you refuse, I will go to someone else and make the same request. So let me ask you one last time.”
Will you marry me?
