.jpg)
IGF 4
Roselyn, who had been staring blankly into space, finally took a closer look at the man before her. His face was neither handsome nor particularly ugly. His hair was dark brown, and within his deep double eyelids, yellowish-green eyes shimmered as if coated in oil. The way his nostrils flared when he wore a cryptic smile and his uneven teeth were also striking. As Isaac stood to face her, his height seemed similar to or slightly greater than Roselyn's, but his narrow shoulders and protruding belly felt out of place for a knight.
To think she had to marry a man she met for the first time today tomorrow. Moreover, there was something unsettling about the way Isaac looked at her, triggering an instinctive sense of repulsion.
“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Roselyn Bluebell.”
Urged by Selena, who was glaring sharply from behind Isaac, Roselyn lifted the hem of her skirt with a lack of sincerity. After giving a cursory greeting, Roselyn looked forward with indifferent eyes. Isaac licked his lips as if salivating and stepped closer to her.
“You are quite the beauty, just as I heard, Countess.”
“It is her one and only merit. I am glad you find Roselyn's face to your liking, Sir Holton.”
“Haha. I doubt there is a man more blessed than I these days. It is all thanks to the Countess's grace, is it not?”
As Selena spoke kindly while setting down her teacup, Isaac bowed his head toward her. Roselyn's expression stiffened subtly at the conversation between the two, which sounded as if they were appraising an object. She took a step back to avoid Isaac, who had approached to grab her face.
“My. I didn't expect her to play hard to get. Tsk.”
At the gesture of rejection, Isaac's face twisted violently. Grinding his teeth as if angry, he scanned Roselyn from head to toe.
“She may not be obedient, but she looks like she'll be fun to tame. Well, she becomes mine tomorrow, so I can endure it for a day.”
“The child's lack of education has offended you, Sir. I shall apologize on her behalf.”
“Since the Countess puts it that way, I shall overlook it this once. Haha!”
“Merien? Come in and take Roselyn back.”
The two were a perfectly matched pair, showing no hesitation in insulting her right in front of her. Roselyn thought with a vacant expression that it would be better if those two just married each other. In truth, the fact that tomorrow was her wedding didn't feel real. This was because, as the days passed, she spent more and more time feeling as if she were floating in a void.
Would she feel even a shred of reality once the wedding was over? The mere thought of marrying the man before her made her feel nauseous, but there was one positive point she could find solace in. Once the wedding was held and the title was successfully transferred to her husband as Selena desired, she would be able to get her mother's keepsakes back from a satisfied Selena. Roselyn endured these past few days thinking only of that.
I'm only thinking about getting my mother's things back. I'll think about what comes next, next. Repeating the resolve she had held onto, Roselyn followed the maid's lead back to her room.
The Count's estate, which had been bustling since early morning, quickly became noisy in the afternoon as guests began to arrive one by one. The nobles attending as guests covered their mouths with fans decorated with lavish feathers, gossiping about the banquet hall, which was more crudely decorated than expected.
“The decorations on the walls are so shabby. Surely the family's fortunes haven't declined recently?”
“Oh, goodness. Surely not. Isn't the Countess of Bluebell on close terms with Lady Rowin? Besides, she always appears so glamorous.”
“True, if the family's fortunes had declined, Lady Rowin wouldn't have kept them close.”
“But why is the banquet hall decorated like this...”
Another noblewoman whispered to the lady who was looking at the ceiling with a dissatisfied expression. It was Viscountess Regnol, famous in social circles for her loose tongue. With sparkling eyes, she began to rattle off the gossip she had recently heard.
“I heard somewhere that Lady Roselyn was so insistent on marrying quickly that the preparations were insufficient.”
“Is that true?”
“So I've heard! They say the young lady, who was in a convent, suddenly brought a husband candidate and practically threw herself on the floor, begging to marry as soon as she reached adulthood.”
“My goodness...”
The noblewomen frowned at the unbelievable story. It was only natural, as the appearance of the groom did not match the story at all. That the daughter of the Bluebell family, who was said to be so beautiful, would be so obsessed with a low-ranking knight who was utterly ordinary and even had a belly?
“If that rumor is true, Sir Holton must have saved the Empire in his previous life.”
“How awful. To think she threw herself on the floor to marry such an unremarkable man? I truly cannot believe it.”
Seeing the expressions of the noblewomen who doubted her information, Viscountess Regnol felt her pride wounded. To think they would react this way after she gave them such golden information! She certainly hadn't made the story up. It was a story she had heard directly from none other than the Countess of Bluebell, Selena. To make them believe her, she added flesh to the rumor with a confident expression.
“I'm sure you all know the reason why Lady Roselyn lived in a convent until now, right?”
“I believe I've heard. That she was sent there because she was impulsive and lacked modesty, and there were fears she might cause a scandal before reaching adulthood?”
Viscountess Regnol fluttered her fan as if to say exactly. She leaned closer to the noblewomen, glancing around and whispering.
“Apparently, she couldn't fix those habits and sneaked out of the convent. And then, she caught the eye of Sir Holton...!”
“Oh my...”
“Good heavens.”
With such a provocative story, the truth was no longer important. The women, their faces flushed, gathered closer to hear Viscountess Regnol's tale. Only then did Viscountess Regnol wear a satisfied smile, thoroughly enjoying the situation where everyone was hanging on her every word.
Meanwhile, on the other side, a small group of people who felt pity for Roselyn were conversing. Among them were some who did not think well of the Countess, Selena. The ladies who clearly remembered the fresh image of Roselyn from her childhood sighed with looks of genuine pity.
“Who would have thought Lady Roselyn would end up marrying someone from such a humble background?”
“It seems Lady Roselyn's wandering was too great after the previous Count and Countess passed away so suddenly.”
“Of course, the current Countess must have tried to embrace Lady Roselyn in her own way, but it must have been woefully insufficient.”
They murmured, subtly blaming Selena. The topic of conversation soon shifted to the diverging fates of two girls who had once been promising stars of the social circle.
“I can still clearly see the image of the violet and the blue rose standing together. Fate is truly a cruel thing.”
The blue rose referred to Roselyn, and the violet referred to Violet of the Marquess Russell's house. Those who had personally seen the beauty and striking etiquette of the two girls had all agreed that they would one day dominate the social circle. As if meeting people's expectations, Violet and Roselyn had also maintained a lovely friendship and interacted actively until the Count and Countess Bluebell passed away.
However, the fates of the two had now clearly diverged. While Roselyn was in the convent, Violet—who had always been compared to Roselyn and told she was slightly lacking compared to the Bluebell daughter—was now blooming as the most beautiful flower of the Empire's social circle in name and truth. Moreover, unlike the Bluebell family's position, which was narrowing due to the Count's absence, the House of Marquess Russell was soaring high, having taken on several national projects.
“One is marrying a low-ranking knight without a title, while the other might become royalty?”
“Does that mean the rumor is true? That the daughter of Marquess Russell will become the Crown Princess?”
“Whether it is His Highness the Crown Prince or Prince Aiden, it is certain that rumors are circulating that she will form a marriage tie with the Imperial Family.”
“It must be Lady Rowin's wish, right?”
It was an open secret that Violet Russell harbored feelings for the second prince, Aiden, and that the Emperor had recently ordered Aiden, who had been on the border, to return to the capital. Because of this, speculations were rampant about which of the two the marriage talks with Violet Russell would proceed with. Half the people believed becoming the Crown Princess was the right move for power, while the other half believed it was wiser to choose the second prince over the Crown Prince, whose position was unstable due to his fragility and frequent illnesses.
However, even those divided in opinion did not deny one fact: that the influence of the Emperor's mistress, Lady Rowin, must have played a part in these marriage talks.
.jpg)