A Mad Lady’s Confession - Chapter 5

“Why me, of all people?”

“….”

“Will the price go up if she’s the woman the lecherous Matthias Nielsen once slept with?”

He laughed under his breath.

“Klaus, was there a single rumor from two years ago that was true?”

No matter how frightening gossip could be, or how intimidating the emperor was, if one was innocent, the scandal would have died down soon enough. There was no need to cower like a rat and beg for mercy.

“I don’t even know what kind of rumors were going around. Tell me, was any of it true?”

“I told you, it wasn’t!”

At that moment, Klaus snapped in anger, his face hardening like a cornered animal.

“Duke Nielsen, if you refuse my proposal, then as the Crown Prince of the Empire, I’ll have no choice but to order your compliance.”

In other words, he meant to force that mad lady into House Nielsen under imperial decree.

But then Klaus realized something. Would an imperial command really be enough to frighten Matthias Nielsen?

Meanwhile, Matthias rose from his seat. His gaze was razor-sharp and cold.

“In that case, I’ll accept the punishment for disloyalty. Do as you wish, Your Highness.”

Matthias gave a perfectly courteous bow, then left the room without a backward glance despite the prince calling after him.

The corridor of the imperial palace, lined with a red carpet, was grand and magnificent. Walking down its long stretch, Matthias clenched his jaw.

How dare he? Who did he think he was?

Unlike Klaus, who had spent his childhood as the illegitimate son of a concubine, Matthias was born the sole heir of a great noble house.

Therefore, his wife had to be someone exceptional, someone worthy of standing beside the name Nielsen. The prince’s proposal had trampled his pride into the dirt. How dare he?

Just then, hurried footsteps followed behind him. A hand caught his arm.

Had Klaus completely abandoned his dignity as a member of the Imperial Family? If it really was him coming to stop him, Matthias had no intention of holding back this time.

He yanked his arm free with force.

“…!”

The hem of a golden dress fluttered to the floor. A small, delicate figure looked up at him with startled eyes.

“Ha….”

Letting out a deep sigh, Matthias quickly extended a hand and carefully helped Daphne to her feet. The scent of peony surrounded him from her body.

“My apologies, Your Highness.”

“Matty. It’s just the two of us. Please, don’t.”

Daphne smiled faintly and straightened her posture, stepping back from his hold.

“Klaus’s words must’ve offended you, so let me apologize in his place.”

“Why would you?”

“As a member of the Imperial Family, it’s only proper.”

A half-blood member of the Imperial Family, one whose remaining half now stood on fragile ground. Looking at her, Matthias couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of familiarity.

They’d first met at six years old. At fifteen, she became his fiancée. At seventeen, they were engaged no more. Yet through all that time, she hadn’t changed one bit.

“Still, couldn’t you at least consider it?”

Even this foolish kindness of hers hadn’t changed.

A quiet sigh escaped his lips.

Daphne touched her wrist out of habit. The small motion drew Matthias’s eyes to the sleeve of her dress.

Summer was approaching, yet she wore a long lace dress that covered her arms to the wrists. That small detail pricked at his chest like a thorn.

“Matty, I know it’s asking too much of you. But if you refuse, Klaus will beg His Majesty to issue an imperial command. One way or another, you’ll end up bound to that young lady. So please… just for one year.”

“….”

Her slender neck trembled as she struggled to breathe.

“When Lady Charlotte becomes empress, my mother… she’ll never be allowed to return to court. I’ll be completely alone. I need Klaus’s support. Without him, I’ll have to survive in the Imperial Family on my own….”

“You’re still a princess, Your Highness.”

“Not in their eyes. The nobles of Belgar won’t show mercy to the adopted daughter of a deposed empress.”

“Daphne.”

“I’m only enduring it, that’s all.”

“….”

“I’m begging you, please. Can’t you do this for me?”

His eyes fell to her wrist beneath the long lace sleeve.

Something sharp rose from his chest, piercing through his skin. Its name was guilt, the burden he had carried since that autumn day.

“Please, Matthias. I’m begging you.”

His blue eyes darkened until they looked nearly black.

Three days later, Matthias Nielsen officially visited the House of Brynhill to deliver his proposal of marriage.

And ten days after that, Eleanor Brynhill, who once set the entire capital abuzz, returned. To marry the Empire’s most desirable man, Matthias Nielsen.

***

Rumors quickly became accepted as fact and spread through the capital like wildfire.

The fact that Matthias Nielsen himself had initiated the proposal, and that there would be no engagement period before the wedding, was enough to make people faint in disbelief.

Whether noble or commoner, whenever two or more people gathered, they inevitably spoke of Nielsen’s upcoming wedding.

The capital once again buzzed with the old scandal of Lady Brynhill and new rumors surrounding her. The repercussions soon reached even the Nielsen household, known for its loyal and disciplined servants.

“They say not many nobles even remember what she looks like. The newspapers only ever showed her from behind.”

“My brother once saw her being escorted into the tribunal. He said her eyes were shadowed, pitch-dark under the lashes, and her gaze was eerie, like someone not of this world.”

“Of course. They say she’s insane.”

“Say it right. Not insane; mentally ill.”

“Same difference.”

“Ugh, why her, of all people? Does this mean we have to serve a woman like that as our mistress?”

At someone’s lament, the maids sorting the laundry all fell silent at once, a shadow passing over their faces.

Among servants, rank followed their masters. For them, serving under the Nielsen name was a matter of pride and dignity. In a house like Nielsen’s, everything was expected to run flawlessly and gracefully.

Since Lady Roland, the former countess and matriarch, had left the capital, the household had been without a mistress for quite some time. Even the most discreet and loyal of the Nielsen servants couldn’t hide their curiosity about the woman who would take that position next.

“Why would our master marry someone like—”

Tap, tap! The sharp sound of heels striking the floor silenced the chatter. A low, stern voice followed, reproachful and calm.

“Who dares speak of our masters in such a way? If you’d like to be dismissed without a recommendation, by all means, continue.”

The maids lowered their heads immediately.

Clicking her tongue, Madam Nella, the head maid, sighed and turned away. The entire estate had been noisy these past few days, but today’s display of loose tongues annoyed her more than usual.

Quickening her pace, she headed toward the main entrance. There, she caught sight of her master preparing to go out.

“Master.”

At her call, a tall man turned slightly.

With neatly combed blond hair and a dark navy double jacket over a crisp white shirt, he was as striking as the clear weather outside.

Though she saw his face every day, Madam Nella still faltered for a moment before him. Matthias looked down at her in silence, waiting.

“M-my apologies. This is….”

She presented the bouquet she’d been holding. His blue eyes flicked to the flowers, then back to her, as if questioning the meaning.

“It’s a bouquet made from the first hydrangeas to bloom in the garden this year. Lady Roland once said that when a new lady of the house arrives, it should be sent as a gesture of welcome.”

“You want me to bring this with me?”

Today was the day Matthias Nielsen was to officially meet his betrothed, Lady Brynhill, for the first time. At the reminder, his handsome brow furrowed slightly in irritation.

The capital was in an uproar. Every paper except his own was competing to describe the upcoming marriage with words like romantic and secretive, as if it were the Empire’s greatest love story.

None of those adjectives were what he wanted.

All Matthias desired was a quiet ceremony, followed by a year of living separately; two strangers in one marriage, passing the days without even noticing each other’s existence.

But given who they were, two figures who drew too much attention for very different reasons, that wish was impossible.

And now they wanted him to carry flowers to his fiancée. Absurd. He let out a dry, bewildered laugh.

“Everyone seems to have great fantasies about this marriage. A shame I don’t share them.”

He cast a cold glance at the innocent hydrangea bouquet in the head maid’s arms, then turned away without a second thought.