Previously
Euclid declines staying in the capital, citing his young nephews in the North, and reveals he will stay at the Rodion estate which is staffed by the Imperial family. Evgenia shocks her family by declaring the North her new home and expressing no desire to return to the capital or see the Crown Prince.
Overwhelmed by embarrassment, Euclid hastily turned away and climbed into the carriage. Inside, his assistant Delano had long since passed out drunk, thoroughly done in by the sweet, high-grade wine produced on the Basilian estate.
Euclid chuckled softly at Delano’s drunken mumblings, but soon let out a sigh as silence settled over the carriage.
Though he usually preferred the quiet, at this moment, Euclid found himself wishing Delano would keep chattering about anything. His mind was restless, haunted by the memory of the young lady who had stared at him so intently throughout the meal.
He recalled that self-conscious moment earlier when he had paid unusual attention to his attire, only to feel embarrassed about it afterward.
Hoping to shake off how strange he was acting, Euclid shook his head, thinking back to the conversation he had shared with Duke Basilian before heading to the dining hall.
When summoned to the Duke’s office, Euclid had assumed it was to finalize the prenuptial agreement before the wedding. Yet despite their prior discussion, the Duke had taken a long time to speak, circling around the matter before finally broaching the subject.
It was a question Delano, Euclid’s assistant, had voiced repeatedly with suspicion.
At the time, Euclid had dismissed it, remarking that since both sides had agreed to the match, he had no wish to hear anything that might cast doubt upon it.
That had been his honest stance. He felt he had no right to question Duke Basilian’s motives, whatever they might be—even if it were a trap. After all, under any circumstances, it was unlikely there could be a problem greater than his own burdens.
If anyone had walked into a trap here, it was Duke Basilian himself.
Euclid believed that prying into the Duke’s true motives might cast doubt not only on Duke Basilian, but also on Delano, who had always admired the Duke as an extraordinary man.
And so he lowered his gaze and answered carefully.
Hearing Euclid’s reply, Duke Basilian let out a laugh as if relieved, though his expression soon turned grave once more.
No one had anticipated the Crown Prince’s flat rejection of Evgenia.
Duke Basilian’s expression darkened as he recalled the Crown Prince’s cold treatment of his daughter.
Euclid nodded, though he couldn't quite grasp why the Duke would suddenly bring up his niece. However, the Duke’s next words took him aback.
The Duke nodded slowly.
For years, the Imperial family had expressed a desire to unite with the Duchy of Basilia through marriage, yet they had never sent a formal proposal. The moment an alternative to Evgenia appeared, they acted.
It could only be interpreted as a clear reflection of the Crown Prince’s will.
Even with his limited grasp of the rumors surrounding Evgenia and the Crown Prince, Euclid could easily imagine how shocked Duke Basilian must have been.
It also explained why the Duke was rushing to secure his daughter’s marriage.
Euclid’s eyes dimmed at the unexpected news.
He had assumed this marriage was entirely the Duke’s doing and that the young lady had been forced into it.
Only now did he fully realize the feelings Evgenia had been fighting back when she looked on the verge of tears in the hallway.
An ache tightened in his chest. If this marriage was truly her way of finding closure, he wondered whether going through with it would be an irreversible mistake.
Euclid muttered to himself, catching the words too late. He gave a firm shake of his head, his jaw clenching.
It was too late to call off the arrangements. Doing so would mean forfeiting the Basilians’ trust and potentially making enemies of them. What was more, his family’s debts, his young nephews, the servants at the manor, and the people of his estate were all relying on him.
( ‘Really?’ )
The question echoed faintly in his mind, but he shoved it aside.
At that moment, a question about himself surfaced in Euclid’s mind.
Though Euclid had readily rattled off reasons why the marriage proposal couldn't be halted, he hesitated to answer the lingering questions that demanded the truth.
Just as he found himself unable to fathom the reason and fell into confusion—
Fortunately, Euclid was spared the glaring voice of his inner thoughts.
Instead—
A voice rang out, laden with irritation, as if certain that no guest would ever visit a place abandoned even by its own master for so long.
The angry tone, primed to drive away any visitor at a moment’s notice under the assumption they had lost their way so late in the evening, made Euclid’s face harden.
No, his expression had already turned cold the moment he entered the grounds of the Rodion estate.
The man who had behaved like a greenhorn beneath someone’s mere gaze was nowhere to be seen here.
Taking over for Delano, who remained dead to the world despite the commotion between the guards and the coachman at the estate gates, Euclid opened the carriage door himself.
Unable to believe the coachman’s words, the guard let out a foolish gasp upon seeing Euclid’s face.
As if his face had never hardened in the first place, Euclid offered a gentle smile and gave a slight nod. Then, he moved to shut the carriage door.
Baffled, the guard hastily called out again.
Had Delano not been drunk, he would have demanded to know why the master of the estate had to account for visiting his own home.
Even the guard, having blurted out the question, seemed to realize his blunder belatedly and hesitated, though he neither bowed his head in apology nor withdrew his inquiry.
To him, ferreting out the reason behind the Duke’s sudden appearance in the capital was a far more urgent duty than risking a reprimand for his insolence.
Naturally, that did not mean Euclid was obliged to satisfy his curiosity.
It was a polite yet unmistakable command.
The guard paused briefly, sensing instinctively that he shouldn't step out of line any further, and stepped back to signal for the gate to open.
Only then did Euclid close the carriage door and lean heavily against the seat. A cold sigh slipped from his lips.
Even from inside the enclosed carriage, he could sense the entire residence thrown into disarray, scrambling to respond to the sudden arrival of its master, who had appeared without any prior notice or communication.
As the nominal master of the house, Euclid himself was no stranger to this unease. It felt as though he were in someone else’s home.
( ‘No, to be honest, that is precisely what it is.’ )
That was why he hadn't felt the least bit offended when Duke Basilian completely forgot that the Rodion family even had an estate in the capital.
This place was nothing more than a title—the residence of the Duchy of Rodion in name alone. For more than five hundred years since the first emperor gifted this estate, it had remained virtually uninhabited.