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Bearing the oppressive weight pressing down on her shoulders, Serenity returned to the main hall side by side with the Duke. Nia was already waiting in the lobby. The moment Serenity appeared, Nia hurried over in wooden clogs that clacked against the floor.
“Miss, where on earth were you all morning? We searched for you for ages!”
“Me…?”
“Yes, Master and Madam asked you to come to the dining hall! Oh my… Duke?”
Startled, Nia blinked her round glassy eyes rapidly when she noticed the Duke beside Serenity. The Duke, watching from a step back, tilted his head with unhurried leisure.
“Don’t mind me; finish your conversation.”
“…“
“Then we’ll discuss it at the meal, Miss Primdellrose.”
That was all. He turned and walked away, as if escorting her from the garden had been his only purpose.
Watching his receding back, Nia’s joints clicked as she shrugged, a gloomy smile spreading across her face.
“My goodness, is it already decided?”
“Decided?”
“Oh come on, Miss! I have tact too, you know!”
Nia stamped her foot.
‘So what.’
Serenity had just come from a near-death ordeal.
Whether Serenity was dumbfounded or not, Nia exaggeratedly swept her toward the dressing room. The faceless maids waiting there swarmed in, thrusting glittering jewelry and dresses bright enough to sting the eyes.
“Hurry, hurry! There’s no time!”
Nia’s fussing piled on top of Serenity’s frayed nerves.
“Nia, I know you’re excited the guests are here…”
For just a luncheon… this was over the top. Fit for a banquet, not lunch.
Even allowing for guests, it was excessive. Serenity could no longer count how many pieces of jewelry were being fastened into her hair.
“Trust us!”
“Trust what exactly…?”
Nia only answered with a creaky, unsettling chuckle. This kind of excitement from Nia happened maybe once every two months. The anxiety Serenity had barely tucked away surged back up to her sternum.
“Miss, you are truly beautiful! How can you be so perfect!”
Whether she knew Serenity’s mood or not, once the long dressing ended, Nia clapped loudly. The faceless maids behind her echoed with mechanical applause.
“Now go quickly! Everyone will be waiting!”
Pushed along, Serenity stepped out of the dressing room and made her slow way toward the dining hall. All along the corridor, the gems on her skirt caught the chandelier’s light and flashed painfully.
‘It’s like walking a jewel-lined death road.’
As usual, the Count and Countess sat within. The only difference: the Duke occupied the seat opposite.
The moment Serenity appeared, all three turned their gazes on her at once.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
“No, you arrived just in time. Sit.”
“Yes, Father.”
Serenity pushed through the thick, awkward air and took her seat.
“Now that the main guest has arrived, we should get to the point.”
The Count smiled benevolently.
And then news like a bolt from the blue rang out.
“We intend to proceed with your betrothal, Serenity.”
“…Yes?“
A cold hush dropped over the hall.
To be precise, a calm stillness settled… only Serenity felt the horror in it.
‘What is this? Who is doing what?’
Bewildered, she looked from the Count to the Countess, then to the Duke. Even as they met her trembling eyes, none of the three showed the slightest disturbance. Their gentle smiles only made the scene more eerie.
A chill crawled across her shoulders.
Struggling to stay composed, Serenity forced up the corners of her mouth.
“Um, Father. I’m sorry. I don’t understand what you mean…”
“You’re getting to the age for a betrothal, aren’t you?”
She wanted to ask since when they’d cared about such things, but the words stuck. As panic dried her lips, the Count added:
“His Grace Duke Lambert thinks highly of you. He has proposed a betrothal in exchange for supporting our family’s business.”
So that was the “news.”
Serenity’s frozen gaze slid to the Duke opposite. When their eyes met, he smiled faintly… an affirmative smile.
‘This is insane. This is madness.’
The manor had been unusually quiet so far. She’d feared how it would tighten its grip next, but not like this.
‘Betrothal.’
Just sitting across from an unidentified anomalous being was enough to ice her veins… and they wanted her bound to him?
In Serenity’s experience, entanglement with an anomalous being never ended well. Whatever “betrothal” meant to them, for her it meant a nightmare.
She’d be dead within a month… by some method she couldn’t even imagine.
Her hand trembled beneath the table.
‘I have to refuse somehow.’
Red warning lights blared in her head.
After her gaze wandered aimlessly, it settled again on the Duke. He watched her with a languid air, as though none of it concerned him.
‘Damn anomalous being.’
Of course.
No wonder he had “saved” her.
Because this disaster was waiting.
With that, all her earlier unease snapped into place. This was the manor’s eleventh death sentence, delivered with a polite smile.
Her momentary relief because of him felt like a lie.
Wrenching her eyes away from the ruby red of his, Serenity drew a quiet breath. She couldn’t get excited… ten deaths had taught her that haste ruined everything.
Her nails bit into her palm, stinging.
“I appreciate the offer, Father, but someone as distinguished as the Duke wouldn’t need to choose me deliberately, would he? I’m grateful he thinks well of me, but this seems rather hasty… *perhaps he should reconsider.”*
“Daughter, didn’t I say this was the Duke’s intention?”
“Yes, I know, but… it’s so sudden. As you know, I haven’t debuted in society, and I lack many things…”
“Serenity.”
Teeth-grinding.
“Will you refuse the wishes of your father and the Duke?”
A shiver-inducing sound scraped the air.
Serenity’s hardened gaze shifted. The Count’s hand lay on the table, veins knotted red and grotesque.
Thunk.
Her heart dropped.
“Didn’t I say this is a matter of the family? The Duke is here, choose your words carefully.”
The Count’s voice growled low, vicious enough that he might, at any moment, seize Serenity’s throat and snap bone.
Only then did she understand.
‘I never had a choice.’
From the moment the Duke set foot in the manor, the answer had been fixed. Her options were to be impaled here by the Count, or to endure a few anxious days and die at the Duke’s hands.
The realization chilled her blood. Her fingertips went numb.
Serenity’s eyes were dragged back to the Duke.
He watched as if this were an amusing diversion, smile smooth as porcelain. His lips didn’t so much as twitch… he looked more crafted than alive.
Their gazes met.
His smile deepened.
“…“
Seeing those inhumanly beautiful eyes narrow, Serenity bit her lip hard.
‘This manor will kill me again.’
She had tried so desperately to protect herself, to run.
Now it tightened a noose she could not escape.
Even if she fought to survive, if death always approached like this… inescapable… was there any path out of this nightmare?
Why was this happening to her?
What had she done wrong…
“Serenity.”
The Count’s cold voice fell from above.
Creak… creak… creak…
The hair-raising grind of twisting joints grew louder, closer. It meant his patience was fraying; the wrong answer now would summon something worse.
Something in Serenity clicked.
‘Fine. I’ll go back and think. I have ten months to find a way…’
She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the torment that would engulf her.
“Count.”
A gentle voice settled over the tension.
When Serenity opened her eyes, the Duke… who had been standing apart, arms folded… had placed his hand over the Count’s. At once, as if by sleight of hand, the creaking stopped.
Meeting the Count’s eyes, the Duke smiled brightly.
“I was hasty. It seems I should speak with Miss Primdellrose personally.”
“My apologies, Your Grace. My daughter has been raised within the house and is lacking in many ways.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for. I am the one who made the sudden proposal, after all.”
His tone was benevolent to the point of affectionate.
The Duke lowered his gaze gently, then turned to Serenity. His ruby irises fixed on her; a charming smile touched his lips.
“Miss, would you speak with me after the meal?”
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