And the voice that broke the long silence was Severus.

Adeline raised her head, startled by the familiar voice.

Severus glanced briefly at Adeline and then shifted his gaze to the Duke.

The two facing each other. The Duke set down the teacup he had been holding with a noble hand.

“It’s as you see. I have married Adeline. We met for the first time in Horn, fell in love at first sight, and spent a season together. At a villa, that is.”

Severus’s brow furrowed deeply at the mention of spending a season together.

“You spent a season under the same roof with my daughter? With the daughter of the Credion Marquis family! With the daughter of this Severus?”

The Marquis’s expression hardened instantly as he questioned the Duke again.

As a central nobleman, there were procedures and etiquette for marriage. First, send a proposal to the family to get permission from both sides.

Then choose an auspicious date for the ceremony, and before the wedding, report to His Majesty for permission.

But these two had casually ignored such procedures.

“There are procedures to follow for everything!”

“I was a bit hasty, so I did it briefly. His Majesty has also approved this marriage relationship.”

“What?”

Severus let out a laugh mixed with a sigh.

“You disguised my only daughter, the heir to the Credion Marquis family, as a commoner ‘Del’?”

“That’s…”

When the name ‘Del’ came up, the Duke’s expression seemed to change subtly.

“There were so many who coveted this person.”

He then erased even that expression and leaned back deep into the sofa.

It was an extremely impertinent attitude, but Casius held a higher position than the Marquis. He held the only Duke title in the empire.

“Marquis, do you want to marry off your only daughter to a madman?”

“Duke! You should watch your words…!”

The Marquis stood up, pushing the table at words that anyone would recognize as referring to the Crown Prince.

“The Crown Prince has already had two former fiancées. You should know better than I how those two ended up.”

Severus’s mouth tensed.

The Crown Prince’s former fiancées were all women killed by his hand.

They were young ladies from prestigious central noble families, but they were all found dead within months of their engagement ceremonies.

‘They say His Highness the Crown Prince has quite a nasty habit with his hands.’

‘They said the bruises on the fiancées’ faces never faded. The Crown Prince’s palace was always noisy with screams, they say.’

The rumors circulating were all terrible.

Most of the fiancées were said to have died cruelly, beaten to death.

Severus bit his lip, not unaware of this.

“Would it be alright to send precious Adeline to such a place? The Torpeo Duke family is better than the palace.”

The Marquis, who had stood up, sat down again and drained the teacup in front of him in one gulp.

As if still not quenched, he poured more tea.

In fact, the Duke’s words were not wrong. He was the person with the highest position in the empire after the Crown Prince.

‘But.’

If there was one thing that bothered him, it was that this man was the head of the Torpeo Duke family.

What kind of family was the Torpeo Duke family?

It was a family that had produced many empresses throughout history, and even the previous empress was from the Torpeo Duke family. Although she ended her life miserably as a deposed empress.

Even setting aside these stories, they should not have been entangled with the Torpeo family.

It was the mother of the Crown Prince, who would become the future emperor, the Empress, who was deeply connected with the Credion Marquis family.

How did things turn out like this?

The Marquis’s brow twitched as he closed his eyes.

When someone said they had seen a woman similar to Adeline in Horn, he should have issued a search warrant then.

If he had, these two would not have eloped like this.

Severus opened his closed eyelids.

He averted his gaze from Casius, who was maintaining eye contact with a straight gaze without the slightest movement.

Adeline sitting next to him with her head bowed.

The Marquis, who had been staring at his daughter, lit his tobacco pipe.

As he inhaled deeply from the lit pipe and exhaled, smoke spread thickly around the three of them.

After staring at Adeline for a long time like that, the Marquis opened his lips.

“Duke.”

At the sound of Severus calling Casius, not only the Duke but also Adeline’s gaze turned to the Marquis in that instant.

“Didn’t you have a woman you were engaged to?”

Adeline’s eyes shook violently at the Marquis’s question that exceeded expectations.

A fiancée?

Adeline blinked her eyes, unable to believe what she had heard with her own ears.

She looked back and forth between the Duke and the Marquis.

It was the first time she had heard that the Duke had a fiancée. He rarely showed himself in social circles.

When the Crown Prince came of age. The grand birthday party held at the palace was probably his first entry into society.

But perhaps because of his striking appearance, Casius captured the hearts of numerous noble ladies with just one attendance.

Although it was the family from which the deposed empress came, he was from the empire’s only ducal family.

Therefore, many women dreaming of social advancement sent love letters, but.

‘The person in question didn’t seem interested in women. Probably.’

So naturally, there were no rumors of scandal that would be common for a noble man.

But such a man had a fiancée?

Her mind was in a whirl for a moment, and then suddenly a woman flashed through Adeline’s mind.

No way.

Come to think of it, there was just one time when the Duke had a scandal.

The only noble family party that he, who detested parties, had attended.

‘The Estilen Count family.’

There was a time when Casius attended a party hosted by the young lady named Larie at the Count’s house.

The Duke left the party when it was in full swing. And according to rumors, someone saw him and Larie entering the greenhouse together.

“They say the two got engaged.”

“Oh my, indeed. That baron’s daughter saw them on the terrace. She said the two didn’t come out of the greenhouse for a long time. And then they returned one by one as the party was ending.”

“It’s all the same. I thought the Torpeo Duke wasn’t interested in women either. But looking at him choosing the daughter of the Estilen Count family, he’s not without ambition, is he?”

“The two of them suit each other quite well. Whether you look at their family status or appearance.”

After that, for a while, the two were said to be engaged, causing a stir in social circles.

Of course, neither the Torpeo Duke family nor the Estilen Count family added any active explanation or clarification.

So she thought it was just one of those groundless rumors, but.

Adeline turned her body sharply towards the Duke.

Despite her gaze that seemed to demand an explanation, Casius, who showed no sign of agitation.

“A fiancée…”

His lips curled into a sneer as he seemed to mutter, chewing on the words.

“Marquis, you even know the family’s confidential information.”

Severus frowned at Casius’s following words.

In public, there were many rumors about the union of the Estilen Count family and the Torpeo Duke family.

But the union of the two families was decided quite a long time ago. It was a political marriage as usual. A verbal promise of a political marriage made by the elders of the two families.

The serious talk about the engagement ceremony came up after the scandal between Casius and Larie.

It was confidential information that only those directly involved in the family would know.

But the Credion Marquis knew about it.

“That’s right. I almost had a fiancée. I had an accident before the engagement ceremony. So it’s an old story now.”

The Marquis, who had been listening to the Duke’s nonchalant story, unfolded his arms that had been crossed.

Then he straightened his back that had been leaning back.

“It’s just a past relationship?”

He asked the Duke.

Casius looked at Severus like that and then raised the corners of his mouth.

“That’s right. It was just talk of marriage between families. My true match is here. Only Adeline, the only daughter of the Credion Marquis family.”

The Duke gently took one of Adeline’s hands and showed it to the Marquis.

Adeline was dazed even at such an action by Casius.

To think that the story of that rumor was true.

People secretly called the Estilen Count’s daughter the Duke’s fiancée, but.

‘Was it really true?’

She never imagined that Casius, no, her husband, had a fiancée.

Perhaps because of the repeated shocks, Adeline’s hardened face showed no sign of relaxing.