“What nice weather.”
“That’s true.”
After desperately thinking about something, such a common sentence came out of my mouth. As usual, I received a casual reply before silence pervaded again.
With a small sigh, I turned my gaze from the view outside the window of the duke’s residence to the beautiful man sitting in front of me.
—Philip Laurenson. He was the duke’s son, and at the same time, my fiancé.
Navy blue hair the same color as the night sky and golden eyes which resembled glittering stars. His features were so beautiful, everyone would be bedazzled. He was always quiet and expressionless—also widely hailed as the, ‘Nobleman of Ice’. Due to said beauty of his, he was extremely popular in social circles.
He didn’t seem to care about the awkward atmosphere. With a graceful motion, he coolly sipped his tea.
…No matter how much I thought about it, I, the daughter of the viscount, Viola Wesley, was totally below his level. I was a bit prettier than most people—but even that too, paled in comparison to his beauty.
The reason he was engaged with me was because in the past, when the Duke of Laurenson was in terrible danger, and it was Viscount Wesley—a fortune teller—who saved him. When the duke did as the viscount told, everything went well.
It seemed that when the duke wanted to repay him, the viscount requested such of the duke, “If one day, our children are both of the same age, I want them to get married.”
After more than 100 years, it was Philip and I whom finally met the condition.
The Duke of Laurenson, whom still felt indebted to my family, immediately applied for an engagement. I was born a month after Philip. There was no reason for my family to refuse, and the engagement was decided in no time.
“Uh, Lord Philip…”
“What?”
“We should just revert to meeting only once every single month. Could Lord Philip please relay that to the Duke?”
From an early age, we always met once a month. We were supposed to spend time together, but in reality, all we ever did was face each other, drink tea, and exchange a few words.
Whenever I tried to converse with him, he’d always reply with either “Oh.” Or “Yes.”—
—then, the conversation would basically end. It was just pain.
From the start, he wasn’t a very talkative person. As such, he never spoke much to me. It had been like that ever since we were children.
Every time, I kept praying that time would fly, so that it’d be over.
However, suddenly, from a few months ago, our meetings became twice a month. I didn’t know what the duke was thinking. Should we really be wasting each other’s time like that? Especially since Philip was a busy person. The other day, I told the duke to just cancel the meetings, but he only smiled at me.
“Why is that?”
I thought he shared the same sentiment. Despite that, when I received sort of reply, a stupid voice leaked from my mouth.
“Why, you say… but, aren’t you busy, Lord Philip?”
“I’m certainly not free, but my business will only take a few hours. There’s no problem.”
When I was told that, I had no choice but to reply with, “I understand.”
After a moment of silence, it was Philip who opened his mouth.
“I’ve been invited to an acquaintance’s evening ball next week. Would you care to join me?”
“I understand.”
As his fiancée, I rarely had the opportunity to go out and socialize with him. He only invited me when my presence was required.
But whenever we attended a social event, he always rushed to return home after giving the minimum of greetings. I had heard from people around me that such wasn’t the case when he was alone—
—could it be, he was embarrassed to be seen with me in public?
I didn’t like being attacked by Philip’s fangirls, and because I rarely went to the social events alone, I was starting to feel socially withdrawn. I had been rigorously educated from an early age to help Philip, but the burden of being a duchess was too heavy for me.
I could barely even taste my own tea. Because of the silence that had last for a while, I started counting the number of rings on the wooden table.
◇◇◇
“Thank you for your time today. Then, I’ll meet be meeting you next week at the evening ball.”
“Yes.”
Philip seemed to have something to do and ended the meeting thirty minutes later. Yet, no matter how busy he was, he always escorted me to my carriage.
When I entered the carriage and could no longer see him from the window, I sighed profoundly.
“…Haa.”
Our marriage would be next year once the two of us reached 18 years old of age.
However, if we got married like that, would we ever attain happiness? Philip should consider a better partner.
Even though my family had the rank of a viscount, our financial state was stable. I wouldn’t mind if I lost my marriage to him.
“I hate you, Lord Philip!”
“…I hate you, too.”
Suddenly, I remembered that past exchange. Certainly, said exchange happened when we were both 14-years-old. Even at that point in time, Philip wasn’t talkative. Despite so, it wasn’t as awkward as it was now.
It happened as the carriage was rocking and I was wondering if there was any way for me to break off my engagement.
Suddenly, the carriage shook, creating a terrible noise. The next moment, it tumbled upside down. At the same time, I felt a sharp pain in my head—then, I lost consciousness.
E/N: So, her fiancé is goblin slayer??
***T/N: Being an ice block doesn’t immediately turn a dude into a goblin slayer!!!