The Duke’s Fake First Love - Chapter 4

Chapter 2.2

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

One week later, Alice brought me the information I’d requested.

“…I truly don’t understand you sometimes.”

As I took the envelope she offered and scanned its contents, my suspicions were confirmed.

‘Just as I thought.’

Every piece of clothing Louis had recently purchased for the duke’s household was black. Black uniforms, black tailcoats, hats, shoes, even canes… He bought everything in black except for the gloves.

‘The day I ran into him at the mansion, he was dressed all in black too.’

It was only natural.

Ever since his parents and older brother died, Louis had only worn black at official events.

‘There were even rumors that he fell out of favor with the emperor and was sent to the battlefield because of it.’

The reason he fell out of favor was that the emperor was the one who orchestrated the deaths of Louis’s parents and brother. So, when he kept showing up to official events in black, almost like he was openly protesting, it must have really gotten under the emperor’s skin.

“You’re not interested in Duke Arvan or anything, are you?”

“Who knows.”

If I told her I had already received a marriage proposal from him, she would probably faint. Instead, I vaguely explained how he had helped me at the mansion.

“…The duke did that?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s not the type to show kindness to just anyone. That’s strange.”

Alice tilted her head, puzzled.

If you only heard my explanation, it would sound like Louis had some sort of interest in me. However, what he wanted from me wasn’t something as shallow as sentiment.

‘What Louis really wants from me is information.’

The kind of information he would need to avenge his family.

‘If I was drunk that night and accidentally slipped some convincing information, then it all adds up.’

If I had mentioned a few useful pieces of information, and Louis spent the entire night verifying them, then proposed to me afterward…

Right now, that seemed like the most plausible theory.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“Honestly, I don’t want to get involved. There’s nothing good in it for me.”

I barely managed to avoid one trap, and I had no desire to step into another one. The problem was, I’d already pretended to be his first love, and I’d probably said a lot of unnecessary nonsense.

‘…If I turn down his proposal now and refuse to help with his revenge, he’ll probably kill me.’

Even if I refused the proposal, I would have to pretend I was willing to help him with the revenge. Then, I could bide my time and look for a chance to escape to another country. Whether it was a good thing or not, Louis hadn’t contacted me at all for over a week.

It would be nice if he just forgot about me like this.

Knock, knock.

Just then, a maid entered after knocking, announcing that it was time for the meal.

The teacups and snacks in front of us were cleared away, and dishes more fitting for lunch began to appear one by one.

“Remember that dress we ordered together for the imperial banquet a while back?”

Alice spoke up, breaking the silence that had hung over the meal.

“It looks like they finished the dress a lot sooner than we thought.”

Originally, it was supposed to be a dress I’d have tailored with my fiancé, not Alice. But because he was off fooling around with another woman and stood me up, I ended up going with her instead.

“If you’ve got time to waste running around, you might as well go check on the dress.”

“Alright, I can do that.”

Since skipping the imperial banquet wasn’t an option, I had to make sure the dress was ready. We were in the middle of picking a day to visit the atelier when the door suddenly flew open.

“Move aside!”

It was Count Bellasi who came storming in.

“You’ve returned earlier than scheduled. I hope your trip was—”

Alice and I had just gotten up to greet him when—

Slap!

—A sharp sound echoed as my head whipped to the side.

“Father!”

Alice stepped in to hold back Count Bellasi, who was clearly furious.

‘He must’ve just heard about the engagement being called off.’

I lowered my gaze indifferently, piecing together the reason for his outburst. He had likely abandoned his business trip and rushed back the moment he learned I had broken off the engagement.

“You foolish girl! How could you do something like this on your own? Breaking off your engagement?”

“Father! Please, calm down….”

“Calm down? You expect me to calm down right now? Not only did you ruin a perfectly arranged deal, but you also destroyed your reputation! What am I supposed to do with you now?!”

“I’ll take care of her! The capital is in chaos right now, just let me handle things until it settles down…!”

“You’ll take care of her?”

Count Bellasi scowled, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“The Emperor’s planning to marry her off to some old baron. What exactly do you think you can do about that?”

After finishing his sentence, the count threw a letter bearing the imperial crest at my face.

I silently checked the contents.

Just like the count said, the emperor intended to marry me off to a nobleman who was over seventy years old. And to make it worse…

‘This man is rumored to have murdered his two previous wives under the guise of accidents.’

At this point, even Louis or my ex-fiancé seemed like better options.

“Take her. Put her in the carriage immediately.”

The count, still seething, roughly grabbed my arm and shoved me toward a knight standing nearby. Alice, who had been desperately trying to intervene, was blocked by the knights and couldn’t leave the dining hall.

I was dragged away like a piece of luggage and tossed into the carriage.