-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: The Worn-Out Male Lead Picked the Wrong Opponent
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Before I knew it, the engagement ceremony between Masera and me had arrived.
"The budget for the engagement ceremony is about this much. Please review it and approve. And if you let us know who you'd like to invite, we'll prepare the invitations..."
"But we've already registered our marriage, right? Do we really need to have an engagement ceremony too?"
Why bother?
I'd been wondering about that all along.
My aide gave a half-hearted answer.
"It's just for formality's sake."
I can't stand not knowing things, so I headed to the mansion's library and pored over the family law books.
I discovered that 'marriage registration documents receive final approval only after the customary wedding ceremony is completed.'
But there was nothing saying an engagement ceremony was absolutely necessary?
After finishing my preparations, lost in thought, I gazed at the line of cars pulling into the mansion one after another.
Then I checked the clock and immediately stood up, heading straight to Masera's office.
Knock knock-
As I knocked and opened the door, there was Masera in his formal uniform.
Regardless of his feelings toward me, we had to enter the engagement hall together, so I'd come to escort him first.
"I'm here to escort you. Looking sharp, right?"
I didn't expect a reply.
Masera, seated at his desk, kept his expressionless face fixed on the documents.
I lifted the hem of my skirt slightly and let out an excited voice.
"This engagement dress you prepared for me is so beautiful. You have such a great eye!"
As I spun around in the dress, showing it off with a flourish, his face completely darkened.
"That dress was sent by your brother, Karos the Vice Count."
Damn, sent by that Karos? I quickly hardened my expression.
"Oh, that was sarcasm. It's not that great. Should I wear something else?"
Masera coolly lowered his eyes and opened his mouth.
"I don't care what you..."
"No matter what I wear, I'll look pretty, right? Thanks."
"...have no interest in."
"You mean it's so obvious I don't need to thank you?"
Masera finally said what he wanted to say, and I used my invincible skill of interpreting it the way I wanted to hear.
His still-expressionless face waved a hand dismissively.
"I have urgent documents to handle, so just sit there."
"Where should I sit?"
"Stand or whatever. And it would be great if you could keep quiet for at least ten minutes."
What to do with this politely rude man.
As a sign of protest, I stood ramrod straight in front of him.
About ten minutes passed like that.
Now I could speak. I opened my mouth.
"Please be affectionate in front of my family. Like we're hopelessly in love."
"I told you not to make demands of me. And it's not even ten minutes yet."
"Legally, the marriage isn't fully recognized until the wedding ceremony, right? What if my doting father gets upset and calls off the engagement?"
Masera looked at me silently.
During that silent 9.5 minutes, I'd already glanced at the blueprints and documents on Masera's desk and finished analyzing them.
In marriages between families, they exchange what each wants, and what Masera had demanded from the Queensguard Count was the barren land called 'Knox.'
The Count had paid an enormous price for what he thought was a sham marriage, only to receive worthless land in return.
From the documents, it was land once owned by the royal family.
The real reason Masera wanted this land—which would likely incur more taxes—was something else.
Developing that land—including a railroad—meant it held tremendous value.
There was probably a massive deposit of resources there. So from Masera's perspective, this marriage falling apart would be a problem.
Of course, the money-obsessed Queensguard Count wouldn't be unaware of this.
I recalled something from the family law book and clenched my fist tightly.
The Count was drawing up a grand scheme.
After development began with Masera's capital, he planned to reclaim the land.
Through my death.
The silver lining was that Masera had no reason to kill me.
At least not within the first year of marriage.
To avoid being murdered by the Count within that year—and to have leverage for negotiation even if my true identity was exposed later—I needed Masera's trust.
Winning this man's heart within that time would be the answer.
"...Let's go."
Masera finished his business, stood up, and straightened his clothes.
I matched his wide, quick strides as we walked and said,
"Shall we come up with a pet name to make us look like a hopelessly loving couple?"
That way, the Count wouldn't dare touch me carelessly.
"I'd hate that even if I died."
He said it with the scariest face in the world.
Aw, he's like a prickly cheese cat. What's so hateful about everything?
The banquet hall where the engagement ceremony was held was packed with guests.
One noblewoman pointed somewhere and said to her companions,
"Look, the Queensguard family has arrived."
In the direction she pointed, the Queensguard Count, Helen, Karos, and Edford were surrounded by people.
It was also the first time the veiled scions of the Queensguard family were showing their faces in high society.
"What fine figures they all are."
"The children must take after their father."
No one thought Edford, whose appearance was on a completely different level, was part of the Queensguard family.
Meanwhile, Karos, holding a glass of champagne, stared intently at Cynthia, today's star standing on the staircase of the engagement hall.
Adorned beautifully in an expensive dress and jewelry, she was captivating enough to draw the gazes of all the men.
Standing beside her was Masera, who looked somewhat cold but wore a faint smile on his lips.
"I've never seen such a handsome couple. They look like a painting."
Even from afar, the two shone brightly, and the crowd's praises continued.
For some reason, Karos felt a twist of irritation in his gut.
At that moment, Helen's fiancé, the Lecanosa Duke, made his appearance in the banquet hall.
He was a tall, handsome man with black hair and gray eyes.
"Thank you for attending my sister's engagement ceremony, Your Grace."
The duke nodded slightly at Helen's words, her cheeks flushed.
"It was only natural. And I have ties to Vicente Brigadier General as well."
The duke looked around the banquet hall.
This mansion had once belonged to his uncle, the former Commander-in-Chief.
He had once dreamed of becoming Commander-in-Chief like his uncle, but he could never surpass Masera's abilities.
After that, the label of 'defeated by a war orphan' stuck to him.
He felt inferior to Masera, yet also superior in his own way.
Masera's marriage to Cynthia Queensguard was surely to thwart his plans after seeing through them.
"Your Grace, I hope you've been well."
The Queensguard Count welcomed the duke warmly, exchanging courtesies.
The eyes of the two shaking hands intertwined strangely.
"It's been a while."
The Queensguard Count was a man of great resourcefulness.
After sending a fake bride to Masera, he had told the duke he planned to dispose of her before the one-year marriage law period ended.
This was a most welcome proposal for the duke as well.
'A war orphan like him can try all he wants, but he can never become the real deal like me.'
With the fake in hand, Masera would chase illusions forever and ultimately become the loser.
As he savored his sense of victory, the duke spotted Cynthia descending the staircase.
Her hair, which gleamed golden under the chandelier light, turned completely silver at the bottom of the stairs.
'That must be the fake.'
There was a tale in the Variesa Royal Family that children born with the winter god's blessing occasionally had hair white as snow.
Thinking the Count had chosen a proper fake, the duke's eyes slowly widened as Cynthia drew nearer.
"Hello, Your Grace. Nice to meet you."
She greeted him brightly, looking exactly like the Margarita Princess he had glimpsed long ago in the palace during his childhood.
