Yawn-!

Oz, who was walking out while yawning wide enough to split her mouth, stopped in surprise in front of the kitchen door.

She looked up at the wall clock, wondering if she had overslept.

Six o’clock in the morning.

She had woken up at the right time.

“Why are you up so early, Miss Melly?”

“Just woke up early, that’s all.”

Melly, leaning against the shelf, said with a faint smile.

It was actually a lie.

Due to the shock of what she had witnessed the night before, Melly hadn’t been able to sleep a wink all night.

Her somewhat haggard complexion was evidence of this, but Oz, still not fully awake, didn’t notice.

“Well, it happens sometimes. But if you woke up early, you should have gone for a walk or something. Why are you here? You shouldn’t keep acting like a servant. You’re a noble lady.”

What nobility, when she was just a freeloader…

Melly answered with a bitter smile.

“I made some tea. Have a cup before you start work.”

“Oh, how kind of you.”

Oz happily poured tea from the pot Melly handed her. The steam, filled with a subtle fragrance, filled her nostrils. Oz responded to Melly’s kindness with an enraptured expression.

“Your tea always has such a lovely aroma, no matter when I drink it. No wonder the Duke only wants your tea, right?”

“…”

Melly didn’t deny it.

Contrary to his gentle and generous outward appearance, Edric was a man with a picky palate.

Especially when it came to tea, his taste was even more particular, and if it didn’t suit his palate even slightly, he wouldn’t touch it.

Melly perfectly matched his picky tastes with meticulous care and patience, counting the exact number of tea leaves, and strictly observing the proper temperature and steeping time. She alone accomplished what no one else could.

“Oh!”

Oz, who had been sipping her tea, suddenly pulled the cup away from her lips as if remembering something.

“I heard that when the Duke gets married, the Madam plans to go down to the southern estate.”

When he gets married… huh.

It was a statement that stabbed Melly’s already troubled heart, but she showed no reaction and continued the conversation.

“…Why there?”

“Why else? It’s because of the new mistress of the house.”

“…”

“Well, she doesn’t want to make things uncomfortable for her daughter-in-law. These days, it’s a world where mothers-in-law have to be mindful of their daughters-in-law, right?”

Melly, unable to find anything else to say, simply listened silently.

Although Oz was unmarried, she seemed to know a lot about modern marriage customs, probably from stories she heard from her married friends.

Melly listened with a dazed mind to Oz’s chatter about the things Madam Pelton would gain and lose upon acquiring such a great daughter-in-law, with a hint of sarcasm.

“In my opinion, someone as outstanding as Lady Rosalyn might not be the best for Madam. She might end up having to serve her instead. It would be much easier for her to welcome a slightly less capable daughter-in-law and boss her around as she pleases…”

Melly couldn’t fully agree with Oz’s words, but she nodded anyway. In fact, that was all she could do in her current state of mind.

‘Marriage, daughter-in-law…’

Each word became a sharp metal shard, mercilessly stabbing her heart. But compared to Oz’s next words, that was nothing.

“And I heard she plans to come back up in about ten months.”

“Why in ten months?”

“Because that’s when the baby will be born.”

“…Baby?”

“Oh my, didn’t you know? They say they’re setting the wedding date to match Lady Rosalyn’s menstrual cycle. So that a child can be conceived right after the wedding ceremony.”

“…”

“I wonder how beautiful their child will be? I hope it’s a son who takes after the Duke.”

“A daughter would be fine too. As long as she takes after Edric…”

Melly said with emphasis.

Recalling the shocking scene from last night, she couldn’t help but say such things.

‘This isn’t right. This can’t happen.’

She bit her lip tightly.

A short while after her encounter with Oz, Melly carefully made her way to Edric’s quarters, carrying two teacups.

Edric was sitting in an armchair by the window where the morning sunlight streamed in. Wearing a navy blue satin robe over his pajamas and reading a small book, he looked far too elegant to be a man who had just woken up.

“Um… Edric. Can we talk for a moment?”

“Of course.”

He turned his eyes from the book he was reading and smiled at Melly’s words.

His deep blue eyes gleamed like marble beads behind his gold-rimmed glasses.

“What could you want to say that brings you to my room this early in the morning?”

As he spoke with expectant eyes, Melly felt even more uncomfortable.

“Well, you see…”

Edric closed his book and took off his glasses, as if to focus on listening to Melly’s words.

“The thing is, about Ro-”

“Ah, it seems Rosalyn has taken quite a liking to you.”

Melly had finally mustered the courage to speak the truth after moving her lips several times, but in that brief moment, Edric had already started speaking.

He continued with eyes full of respect for Rosalyn.

“She said you seem like a calm and thoughtful girl. She’d like to consider you her little sister if you’re okay with it. Rosalyn doesn’t have a younger sister, you know.”

“…”

Was it really right to disappoint him when he had such a good impression of his fiancée?

Melly felt her courage draining away. But having witnessed such an inappropriate scene, she couldn’t just pretend not to know. It would be better to receive the hurt now than later.

“Edric.”

As Melly spoke in a resolute voice, Edric tilted his head to one side. His well-groomed golden hair flowed down with the movement, revealing his handsome eyebrows between his parted bangs.

Melly squeezed her eyes shut and blurted out in one breath.

“That woman, she’s in a relationship with that sworn brother who came with her yesterday.”

Her hands trembled so much that it was difficult to speak, but Melly decided that since it had come to this, she should properly inform him so he could accept the truth quickly.

“I saw them in the corridor. The two of them were kissing there. It was… a very intense kiss.”

“…”

There was no response from Edric for a while.

Instead, his tilted head had straightened at some point, and his arms were now crossed in front of his chest like a bolt.

‘Is he shocked?’

But his eyes seemed somewhat strange for that.

Rather than shocked or angry, he looked as if he had no thoughts at all.

Melly, perplexed by this unexpected reaction, chewed her lips nervously and asked just in case.

“Do you… not believe what I’m saying?”

“No. I believe you.”

He said without the slightest hesitation.

“I believe every single word you’re saying.”

“Then why are you making that face?”

Melly tilted her head, utterly confused. A chuckle escaped from Edric’s lips.

“Because it doesn’t matter.”

“…”

“Didn’t I tell you once? Marriage is a union between families. The purity of the other party is not an issue at all, Melly.”

“B-but… even so…”

“As long as the child Rosalyn bears is mine, that’s all that matters. She’s free to have a lover.”

Edric was unbelievably calm.

He continued speaking in a composed tone, as if reading a book, with an expression completely devoid of emotion.

“Melly. Most people in high society are like that. Marriage and love are separate things. Of course, it would be best if they were the same, but…”

That was something Melly knew all too well from what she had heard.

But even if it’s an arranged marriage, isn’t it still a marriage? Shouldn’t it start with trust at the very least, even if not with love? Regardless of whether it falls apart later or not.

Even a tower built on solid ground can crumble if things go wrong, so what would happen if the foundation is unstable from the start?

Is this how all the great nobles think?

Allowing such immoral acts so nonchalantly…

“…!”

Suddenly, Melly wanted to ask.

“Will you do that too? Will you… also keep a lover?”

Please, no.

Even if everyone in high society did it, not Edric. Even if he couldn’t be her love, Melly desperately hoped that he would at least remain faithful in his own marriage.

If he were to openly keep a lover after marriage, it would be as heartbreaking as him never seeing her as a woman.

“No.”

“…”

“Even if it’s tacitly allowed, it’s not a pleasant sight. Besides, it’s likely to cause troublesome situations.”

At Edric’s words, Melly unknowingly let out a sigh of relief.

At least she could confirm that her decade-long unrequited love wasn’t a waste of emotions spent on an unworthy person.

“Don’t tell me, Melly.”

Seeing Melly’s stiff shoulders relax with relief, Edric chuckled and said.

“Are you worried that I might become corrupted?”

“…”

“Don’t worry. That won’t happen.”

Edric reached out and lightly ruffled Melly’s hair.

“No one can shake me. I guarantee it.”

And with that, he opened his book again and put on his glasses.

Melly gazed for a moment at the deep blue eyes behind the thin glass barrier and the long eyelashes covering them, then soon got up and left the room.

She thought her heart would feel lighter after talking to him, but somehow it had become even more jumbled.

To think he would still marry her knowing about his fiancée’s infidelity.

It was very concerning, but she also felt relieved that he wasn’t deeply hurt. And on the other hand, he suddenly felt unfamiliar to her.

‘I knew it, but…’

Edric Pelton was a man who appeared warm on the outside, but when you touched him, he was surprisingly cold and rational.

‘No one can shake me. I guarantee it.’

His confident voice echoed in Melly’s ears all the way back to her quarters.