Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Upon arriving at the Blair residence, Leonard was immediately shown into the reception room.

‘To think I’d be coming back to this mansion.’

And after only a single day.

The Leonard of yesterday, who had left thinking he’d never have reason to return, seemed faintly ridiculous to him now, and with a small chuckle he lifted the coffee to his lips.

The coffee that Marchioness Blair had imported from the Con-Ile-Tem Union and made fashionable was still a luxury only nobles could enjoy.

To Leonard, who had never once stopped by a coffeehouse even after coming to the capital, it was an utterly unfamiliar drink.

But the coffee the head maid had kindly served with milk and sugar suited his taste surprisingly well.

‘I think even Jeni would enjoy this.’

Maybe he could take her to a coffeehouse someday, when he could afford it.

The fact that he now had the “luxury” of thinking such thoughts eased Leonard’s tension.

Just as he let out a long breath at the soft aroma of coffee wrapping around the tip of his tongue, a knock finally sounded, and Irenea entered the reception room.

“I’m sorry I’m late. Have you been waiting long?”

“No… I only just arrived. The coffee you served me hasn’t even gone cold.”

Leonard answered with a slightly bewildered look.

Contrary to his expectations, Irenea had appeared beautifully dressed from head to toe.

“If you have another engagement, I can come back another time.”

He asked it without even meaning to.

“No, not at all. I cleared my whole schedule for today, since I didn’t know when Sir Leonard would come.”

Irenea smiled brightly and thanked him for coming early, and Leonard, his ears helplessly burning, lowered his gaze.

He had no way of guessing that Irenea had risen at the crack of dawn and bustled about dressing herself up so that she would look pretty to him.

“I’m not pressed for time, but I’m impatient all the same. May we begin with the important matter right away?”

“Yes. That’s what I came for.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

Irenea smiled sweetly and called for Daymond, who had been waiting outside.

As if he had been told in advance, he placed Raise Messer directly on the table where the two of them sat facing each other.

Then he set down a small box as well and withdrew.

A small jewelry box holding two rings.

“Sir Leonard, you’d like your sword back, wouldn’t you?”

Irenea folded her arms and leaned over the table with a confident smile, like a kidnapper holding a very valuable hostage.

“To do that, you must wear this ring on the ring finger of your left hand. A ring set with a gem the color of my eyes.”

Only after hearing that did his eyes fall on the gems set in the rings.

The pair of rings, different in size, held a blue gem and an orange gem, like the color of their eyes.

If the two of them each wore one and went about town, they would become an engaged couple in every sense of the word.

“May I ask you something?”

“Yes, ask me anything.”

Her smiling face shone with anticipation.

Leonard looked at that face for a long moment.

‘What a truly strange woman.’

There were so many things he truly wanted to ask her.

Whether she knew about the deal he had made with the Second Prince, and what she had been thinking when she called out a winning bid of five hundred million.

And why, out of all the men in the world, she was going to such lengths for him.

Leonard bundled all those questions together and asked Irenea one.

“Since when have you known of me?”

Irenea answered at once, as if she had prepared for it.

“Why, since long ago. It’s been nearly a hundred years since someone won Anuf’s Glory, after all.”

About three hundred eighty years ago, not long after the empire was founded.

A knight named Anuf had burst onto the social scene like a comet and won, one after another, the jousting tournament held in spring and the hunting tournament held in autumn.

The emperor of the time, who had cherished Knight Anuf dearly, had lavished praise on his martial prowess and bestowed a medal upon him.

From then on, whenever a young lord making his social debut won both the jousting tournament and the hunting tournament of the same year, people began to hail it as “winning Anuf’s Glory.”

“I was too busy to take part in society at the time, but I never missed a word about Sir Leonard’s exploits. So I always wanted to meet you, whenever the chance came.”

“You heard of my exploits?”

Leonard wore a doubtful expression.

And he had reason to.

Anuf’s Glory or no, because of his origins he had been mocked no matter what he did.

“I heard you knocked down Young Lord Matthias with a single punch when he challenged you to a duel for no reason at all?”

“Ah, that.”

A long sigh spilled from Leonard’s mouth on its own.

Three years ago, Lloyd, who had graduated top of his class at the military academy, had been convinced that his swordsmanship surpassed anyone’s.

So he had gone around boasting loudly everywhere that he would win Anuf’s Glory, but…

The jousting tournament victory was taken from him, and the hunting tournament victory was taken from him too.

Unable to stand it any longer, he had even thrown down his gauntlet, only to be knocked flat by a single punch in a pathetic display and become an enormous laughingstock.

That was precisely why Lloyd was still itching to tear Leonard apart to this day.

“Sir Leonard, you and Young Lord Matthias don’t get along, do you?”

“To put it precisely, he’s the one who dislikes me, entirely one-sidedly.”

Leonard made a sick-of-it face.

Honestly, he felt wronged.

Because of the environment he had grown up in, he had never learned how to hold back his strength.

He had ended it with his fists because he feared he would kill his opponent if he fought the duel with a real blade.

And even then, he hadn’t been able to control his strength and had knocked the man unconscious.

Because Lloyd had seemed so ashamed, Leonard had even told him this part honestly.

But those words ended up utterly shattering Lloyd’s pride instead.

From then on, he followed Leonard wherever he went and tormented him.

It was no exaggeration to say that half the reason Leonard had left society after just one year was Lloyd’s doing.

In the end, because it had grown so unbearable.

Because he had honestly started to think about just killing him.

“And so Sir Leonard dislikes him too, doesn’t he? But you don’t know this, do you? Young Lord Matthias proposed to me last year.”

“That bas—that man proposed to you, Marchioness?”

“Yes. And not even formally, through Count Matthias with a proper marriage inquiry. I was resting during a banquet when he came to the lounge and, out of nowhere, just said it.”

A chilly aura drifted into the smile gathered at the corners of Irenea’s lips.

“What was it he said? That he would help me focus on my social activities?”

“By swallowing up all of your business himself, you mean?”

“Do you think he only meant to swallow my business? That man told me to become a marchioness. And to hand the marquisate over to him.”

Leonard doubted his own ears.

“Is that possible? A spouse’s title can’t be inherited, as I understand it.”

“After marriage, that’s true. The oddest thing about imperial law is that, before marriage, one can hand one’s title over to the other party.”

Once a person is entered in the registry as a wife or husband, they can no longer inherit their spouse’s title.

But before becoming a wife or husband, they can inherit their spouse’s title.

Hearing that this was the only way to inherit a spouse’s title, Leonard quietly came to an understanding on his own.

‘So the Countess truly had no other way.’

And that was why Leonard was sitting in this seat.

“If you wear this ring around, Young Lord Matthias will be fuming. What do you think? Doesn’t that tempt you?”

“It certainly tempts me, but I can’t decide on a marriage just because I want to watch that bas—that wretch seethe.”

“And besides that—”

“Marchioness Blair.”

At Leonard, who cut her off as though uninterested, a flicker of anxiety passed across Irenea’s face.

Why was that? She must have plenty of ways to coerce him.

She had no need to put forward such a gentle proposal.

Leonard was curious why Irenea was being so soft with him.

“What will you do if I say I don’t need this sword and run off with the money?”

“You don’t need it? It’s an heirloom of the Elpiers family.”

“Yes. It’s the Elpiers family’s heirloom, not my treasure.”

It seemed even Marchioness Blair did not know this much.

Leonard spoke, putting force into every single word.

“I inherited the earldom due to unavoidable circumstances, but this title is not mine. Jenis Elpiers. When that child, the rightful heir, comes of age, I plan to return the title to her and go back to being a mercenary.”

Leonard went on, scrutinizing Irenea’s face as her eyes went round.

“Even so, do you want me as a groom?”

Waiting for her answer, Leonard’s chest stirred with something he couldn’t tell was anticipation or anxiety.

She would surely be disappointed.

Leonard imagined Irenea’s face growing cold.

But reality was different from his imagination.

Far from cooling, Irenea’s face instead flushed radiantly, like a flower in full bloom.

“Then after you return the title to your sister, you could become Leonard Blair, couldn’t you?”

“…Pardon?”

“What month and day is your sister’s birthday? Will you hand over the title that very day? Or a few days after?”

“No, Marchioness—”

“Oh, you aren’t worried you won’t be able to work as a mercenary, are you? That doesn’t matter. Only pathetic men with no ability and plenty of pride stop their spouses from working outside the home. Still, I’d prefer you didn’t take on anything too dangerous.”

Leonard was left dazed for a moment by these utterly unexpected words.

Unaware of the turmoil inside him, Irenea kept smiling brightly.

At that face, Leonard felt a little stifled.

“This isn’t something to laugh off like that. If you take in someone like me as your husband, wherever you go from now on, Marchioness, you’ll be mocked for having taken in a lowly mercenary as your husband.”

“How dare they? Who would? Haven’t you seen today’s newspaper yet? What happens to anyone who insults my husband? I’ll teach them a lesson.”

She spoke in a playful voice, but Leonard knew she wasn’t joking.

Because he had seen the newspaper.

“And there’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a while. People who stoop to mocking your origins are people who have nothing else to insult you for. So if anyone says anything, just think, ah, I’m so impressive that those people are picking pointless faults.”

“Marchioness.”

Shh, as if she didn’t want to hear another word, Irenea pressed her index finger to her lips.

Looking at Leonard, her eyes curved into gentle crescents.

“As I said before, I’ve known you for a very long time, and I picked you out as my groom from then on. Do you know why I’m only making this proposal now?”

“Why is that?”

“Because I wanted to be able to say it with confidence, just as I’m doing now. If anyone mocks you, come and tell me. I’ll make that person regret it by any means necessary.”

Both her eyes and her voice brimmed with confidence.

Leonard’s heart fluttered.

All his life, he had either been told that the only one who would ever protect him was himself, or he had lived protecting others for pay.

It was the first time.

The first time anyone had told him they would protect him.