Deceived, Yet Drawn to You - Chapter 21

What exactly was he trying to propose? She couldn’t make sense of it, but Blair didn’t press him for answers right away. Her thoughts were tangled, her head swimming, and in any case, she’d find out tomorrow. Besides, around that time her father would be out as well, so she could likely make an appropriate excuse to slip away from the servants.

“Let’s do that.”

“Good. Then do you think you can return to the banquet hall?”

“…Yes.”

With the conversation concluded, Edmund escorted Blair back along the path they’d come. He even showed the careful foresight to blend naturally into the crowd returning from releasing the sky lanterns, avoiding suspicion. Once seated again, Blair did nothing but wait for Marquis Dorman’s birthday banquet to finally end. She didn’t spare Isaac a single glance when he returned to the hall with a flushed face.

4. The Leap

With spring having arrived and the days grown longer, Borsa remained as bright as midday even at five in the evening. Thanks to that, Blair was able to shake off Mrs. Norris’s insistence on accompanying her and leave the townhouse alone.

Regent Bank, the place she was headed, stood in the capital’s financial district. Blair told Hamilton, the driver, that she planned to visit a nearby art museum she already knew well. Since she’d attended an exhibition there before, she fortunately didn’t arouse any particular suspicion.

Lying in order to secretly meet a man. It was the first time she’d ever done such a thing, and her heart pounded as if she’d committed a grave crime. Would a day ever come when she grew accustomed to it? There was no way to know.

Upon entering the bank, Blair followed an attendant who seemed to have been informed in advance by Edmund. Passing through a discreet passage reserved only for distinguished guests, she was led into a space resembling a conference room, made striking by its massive mahogany table.

Edmund was there, looking over documents. As always, his suit was immaculate, his black hair neatly combed back without a strand out of place.

He lifted his gaze from the papers and looked at Blair. When their eyes met, Edmund pushed his chair back and rose with a smile as proper as his appearance.

“You’ve arrived, Lady Twyford.”

“Lord Libert.”

“There aren’t many who pass through that corridor at my request. That makes you a very special guest to me, Lady Twyford. Please, have a seat.”

The attendant personally pulled out a chair for Blair. As she took the seat across from him, Blair found herself thinking.

From what she’d heard, Edmund, who had inherited several of the Libert dukedom’s ventures, was a businessman who bought bonds, increased their value, and resold them. It made sense that he would frequent banks.

But why had he summoned her to a place where he met business partners and exchanged contracts?

“Did you manage to get any sleep last night?”

“…No.”

“You must be quite tired. I won’t take up too much of your time.”

She had no idea where this conversation was headed, but Blair nodded silently. Edmund picked up another document from the side of the table and slid it toward her.

“Considering what you experienced recently, I believe this proposal won’t seem entirely unfavorable.”

“What is this?”

“You can think of it as a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

Blair gazed down at the paper Edmund had handed her. She studied the words printed in ink as black as his hair. It was, unmistakably, a contract.

Marriage, loss, succession of title. As she tried to connect the words that didn’t easily fit together, Blair lifted her lowered gaze. It seemed better, for now, to hear the explanation in Edmund’s own voice.

“Could you explain it first?”

“You said you wanted to break off your engagement to Isaac Dorman. I’ll help you. Even if the agreement binding you to the marquisate through marriage becomes an issue, I’ll take full responsibility for any financial losses that result.”

Blair furrowed her brows. To break off the engagement. There was nothing she wanted more right now. The label of a woman who’d broken off an engagement wasn’t appealing, but the offer to take responsibility for the problems that would follow was enough to shake her resolve.

Still, there was no such thing as good fortune that came without a price. Blair looked quietly at the man before her, who seemed like someone who would never enter into a deal that put him at a disadvantage.

“What do you want from me in return?”

“Marry me.”

Edmund returned the answer without hesitation. The man’s low voice carried a weight that drew the listener in. His diction was so precise that she heard every word clearly without missing a syllable, yet Blair only blinked. It took a few seconds before she realized he’d just proposed marriage to her.

“I don’t understand. Why?”

Blair swallowed once, steadying her trembling breath so she wouldn’t stumble over her words.

“Lord Libert, don’t tell me you… like me?”

“No.”

Edmund, who’d maintained a businesslike calm as if addressing a partner, finally let out a soft, humorless laugh.

“One year, Lady Twyford.”

“…Yes?”

“You only need to play the role of my wife for one year. After that period ends, I’ll compensate you generously. Enough funds for you to leave for wherever you wish and start a new life.”

No, this wasn’t even a proposal. Before Blair could collect her shock, Edmund continued, “It’s a marriage in name only, so there’ll be no sharing a bed, and no getting entangled emotionally. Of course, we’ll have to appear together for unavoidable social functions.”

“….”

“In other words, you have no obligation to sleep with me. You only need to keep in mind that, for the sake of appearances, a certain level of affection will be required.”

Listening to the distinctly businesslike tone, Blair tried to maintain her composure. Still, she couldn’t calm the quickening thud in her chest.

“It’s all so sudden. I don’t even know where to begin with my questions.”

“If I were you, I’d start by confirming the other party’s intentions. If you don’t understand that, everything else is just empty sweet talk.”

He wasn’t wrong. Blair set aside the compensation he’d mentioned and asked instead, “Why do you need a temporary wife?”

“I have no intention of producing an heir. I only need the pretext to succeed the dukedom.”

Edmund, who’d been watching Blair the entire time, shifted his gaze briefly toward the window. The red sunlight streaming through the glass flickered across his profile as he fell silent for a moment. Was it her imagination, or did he look like he was scoffing coldly at himself? As Blair thought that, their eyes met again.

“My father, the Duke of Libert, is gravely ill, and there’s no telling when he might pass away. For me, the window of opportunity is now, while he’s still alive.”

“Don’t you have an older brother?”

“I have a half-brother. He’s lost his reproductive function, which has put his position as heir at risk.”

“…I see.”

“That doesn’t mean the legitimate son has no chance of inheriting the title. That’s why I intend to secure my position as quickly as possible by taking a wife. Do you understand now?”

Blair nodded. If the foremost condition for inheriting the dukedom was taking a spouse and producing an heir, then his proposal made perfect sense. She understood it completely. However….

“Why did you choose me?”

“Because I need a noblewoman who is suitably refined and in a suitably disadvantaged position. And right before my eyes happens to be a beautiful young lady whose interests align perfectly with mine.”

“For example, a woman who’ll have a broken engagement on her record?”

“You catch on quickly. If you agree to the contract, I’d like the wedding to be held as soon as preparations are complete.”

Blair couldn’t hold back a hollow laugh. Her wedding to Isaac Dorman was practically right around the corner. If she broke off that engagement, it would mean, with hardly a pause to breathe, holding a wedding with another man. What kind of scandal would spread through society about Blair?

“So I’d become a woman who broke off an engagement and committed an affair. You said you’d known Lord Dorman for a long time, didn’t you? Then I’d be branded even more spectacularly as a woman who had an affair with the close friend of her former fiancé.”

“You don’t seem to be in a hurry.”

“It’s a fatal stigma for a woman. And then you’re telling me to leave Genoa and live a new life? Me, who’s spent her entire life in the small fief of Glassford and only recently came down to the capital?”

“My.”

Edmund wore an expression that genuinely looked regretful.