After the meal, Riley went outside with Gibnen.

Gibnen agreed to take her to the mansion. Just like last time, they held hands and walked.

“You must have had a hard time keeping your seat.”

“……Did you come because you were worried about me?”

“Yeah. I was worried.”

Riley said in a hesitant, careful voice.

“I know what you’re worried about. There won’t be any harm to you or your family. No longer…… I’m not going to live being bossed around by my uncle. You don’t have to worry.”

At Riley’s words, Gibnen stopped walking.

He then frowned, looking displeased, and lightly tapped Riley’s forehead with his forefinger.

“I hope you didn’t take what I said that way.”

“……That’s not what you meant?”

“What I was worried about was that you might go there without me knowing and suffer. That’s what I was worried about.”

“……Ah.”

“I’ve been worrying about something unnecessary. Did you worry about me by any chance? That I might harm me and my family? Was that what worried you?”

“I won’t be bossed around by my uncle. But I don’t have the confidence to control my uncle. My uncle is sly and selfish. Always obsessed with using others. Even this marriage……”

“The Count can’t handle me and my family, even if he struggles all his life to rob us. Because he can’t even earn money properly. A count who’s gone mad over a mere dowry? He’s not fit to rob me and my family in the first place.”

“……. ”

“It’s a needless worry.”

“But they are still my family. Even though I hate to admit it, legally they are. I don’t know what they will do with your and my name.”

Gibnen sighed and stroked Riley’s head.

“You’re naive.”

“……. ”

“Don’t think of them as family. Legal family? I will annul that as soon as we get married.”

He gripped Riley’s hand tightly.

“Remember, now the only family you have is me.”

Riley could not say anything.

The family he spoke of and the family she thought of were too different.

Even bloodrelated relatives had not become real family.

Let alone Gibnen, a complete stranger. She never expected to become family with him in the first place. Of course, he was kind and more than generous, but this was more akin to support from a guardian than a real family.

Even the marriage was not based on affection and trust but merely a means drawn up for mutual convenience and benefit.

‘……We can never be a family.’

To Riley, Gibnen and this place were just temporary.

Because she knew that this relationship was not eternal, that she would have to leave this house eventually. They were together now because their interests aligned, but this imperfect relationship would break the moment those interests misaligned.

A perfect superior and subordinate.

A relationship that was too clearly tilted. She knew well that such a relationship could never last long.

Riley imagined a future without Gibnen. A future she would inevitably face.

‘……What are we?’

They slept together, kissed, lived together, but were neither family nor lovers. Neither loved each other. It was a strange relationship. Something ambiguous that couldn’t be defined with words.

It was more like an enjoyable relationship. Roleplaying? Something like that. Setting roles and living according to the expected behavior of those roles.

Could the word ‘family’ ever be appropriate for such a relationship? What was this relationship to begin with?

Even if they married and formed a conjugal bond and fulfilled their duties and had a child, this relationship would remain a question mark for life. It would never become real. It was just a play. It wouldn’t last long.

Riley envisioned her distant future.

Nothing came to mind. What she was doing, who she was with, where she was. Nothing at all.

The only thing she could be sure of was that Gibnen Lianster would not exist in her distant future.

‘Are you in my future?’

Unanswered questions floated in her mind.

(This is a time delimiter.)
The atmosphere in Baroness Adalin’s household was strange.

After Gibnen and Riley had left together, Baron Ryan and his wife were both relieved and wary at the affectionate appearance of the two, more so than they had anticipated.

They were relieved that a breakup would not occur, yet worried about the future.

“Riley is acting so arrogant already… Honestly, I’m worried. What if she commits any folly later on?”

Baroness agreed with her concern.

‘It’s not like we can be together for a lifetime, and we can’t abandon her right away either…’

“For now, settling in the capital and establishing our footing is our top priority. As for what comes next… we’ll have to think about it then. No matter how much Riley may hate us, she can’t do anything about it right now.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Even if Riley marries into the Lianster family and enters the central aristocracy, the fact that the family has no power will be a major stumbling block in her future life. The background of being a Baron’s daughter will be better than being an orphan, so she won’t be able to do anything to us right away.”

“…Do you think so?”