<Episode 30>
I have neither beautiful looks nor great abilities. My family is a humble countess, and I don’t think I can contribute to the development of the Duke of Beardsley’s family.
The only thing I can proudly say “I have is my love for Lord Solomon”.
If it is true, there is a more deserving person next to that person.
Lady Helena is surely one of them.
But I don’t want to give in. It’s not a matter of logic.
Regardless of who opposed me, I will not back down from here at will unless I am rejected by Lord Solomon himself.
“it’s true. I want to be his wife.”
“…… else, haven’t you run out of options?”
“What?”
I felt uncomfortable with Lady Helena, who was biting down with a pallid complexion.
I thought you were talking about how you like Master Solomon and want him to leave, but the direction seems a little different.
If your intention is to break up with me because I am not worthy, then Master Solomon’s will is more important than mine.
And what is the situation with ‘no more options but to get married’?
“Um, what do you want to say?”
When I asked her in confusion, Lady Helena clammed up. She opened her mouth, averting her gaze as if she had a guilty conscience.
“I heard that you were forced to do something that was detrimental to your marriage to someone else……”
“………… what?”
A stunned voice leaked out. I wondered how Miss Helena had caught it, and she looked up with a start.
“Because of me, you were wounded by Master Solomon.”
“Aaaaah, wait!”
I put on words that made no sense in order to cancel out the voice of Helena-sama, who screamed with a face filled with guilt and despair.
Although I didn’t understand anything about the situation, I knew that it would be a bad idea if anyone overheard me. I must not let Master Solomon get away with this false accusation that has no basis in fact.
As if a taut thread had been severed, I sat Lady Helena down on a nearby bench, where she began to weep raggedly.
I sit next to her and pat her back to quiet her down.
With a jammed-up heart, Helena-sama told me a story that I never expected to hear.
It seems that it was Helena who drugged Master Solomon with an aphrodisiac on the day of that evening party.
She is full of self-confidence and always thought that the one who was suitable for her was Lord Solomon. However, no matter what kind of advances she made to him, she was always easily evaded, and she could never get close to him.
Impatient, she mixed an aphrodisiac in her drink and invited Master Solomon, who was feeling sick, to the break room.
But in the process he ran away, and the following development is as I know it.
“Wasn’t it Master Solomon who committed the outrage against you in the garden?”
“…… yeah.”
You are talking about me having a man in my skirt.
In fact, it was Lord Solomon inside, so I don’t know how to answer the question.
“It’s not like I was physically abused..”
I got the impression that he was protecting me, even though it was true.
There was no way I could convince Helena-sama with such weak words, and her expression clouded further.
“I couldn’t believe that a lady of your stature could be committing such a lewd act in the garden. After I left in a hurry, it occurred to me that I may have caused Master Solomon to become delirious and force you, who were in the garden, to, you know……”
Lady Helena thought that Master Solomon, whose aphrodisiac had taken effect, might have attacked me when I happened to be there.
So he mistakenly thinks that Master Solomon has taken the blame and is in the process of asking him to marry her.
(What should I do, ……? I can’t even tell you the real reason I was in the skirt.)
“…… Indeed, it was Master Solomon who was with me at the time.”
“??! ….. after all.”
Seeing Helena-sama, who looked pale and started shaking, I hurriedly continued my words.
“But he is not violent towards women and children. I offered to comfort him.”
I was so embarrassed that I stuttered.
“I have always had a deep affection for Solomon-sama.”
“That’s a lie!”
She denies it without a pause, and I am frightened. It is indeed a lie.
Now I can proudly say that I love Master Solomon, but at the time I had no particular feelings for him. I thought she was beautiful, but that was all.
“If it were true, you would have married Master Ethan!”
“…… Lord Ethan?”
Crackling and blinking repeatedly, the audience is struck by the emptiness of the situation.
Your name is familiar to me, in a manner of speaking.
Lord Ethan Pitts. Lana’s relative and second son of Viscount Pitts.
He is a mild-mannered man with a face that seems to exude goodness in people, and he is the person I was hoping to make a connection with before I met Lord Solomon.
However, he was absent from the evening meeting, so the story went away, and less than a month later, I thought the story had completely disappeared because he had found a better woman.
“You misunderstand. I and Viscount Pitts are not such friends.”
“That’s because Master Ethan has a new fiancée, isn’t it?”
“Well, that’s one of the reasons.”
“It’s me.”
“Huh?”
“I am Lord Ethan’s fiancée.”
“…… eh?”
In pure surprise, I just let out a louder voice. There was no intention to blame her, but Lady Helena shed tears as if she had been denounced.
What happened and how did it turn out that way? I am very curious, but I think it would be better to clear up the misunderstanding of the woman in front of me first.
I patiently appeases her and somehow manages to get her to talk.
To summarize what was said in a few words, it seems that Lady Helena had soiled her dress during the evening party in question. I think it was because she sounded as if she fell down as she ran away after witnessing the scene where I hid Lord Solomon in my skirt.
Several people saw him do so before he escaped to the break room, and at the next night meeting, he was told a lot of things behind his back.
I heard that it was Lord Ethan who casually protected her.
Lady Helena, who fell in love with his kindness, apparently asked her parents for a favor and got engaged to him.
After falling in love, Lady Helena realized that her feelings for Master Solomon were nothing more than longing.
And she regretted that she had drugged him with an aphrodisiac and then involved me in it.
On top of that, when she found out that I was a potential fiancée of Master Ethan, she was so distraught that she could not sleep at night.
“I ruined your life…..”
With a look as if she is about to die, Lady Helena says penitently.
A woman is victimized by an aphrodisiac that she has concocted, and then she ends up marries the man who was supposed to marry me.
Certainly, if that is the case, it is too heavy for a teenage girl to carry.
But in reality, such a poor woman does not exist anywhere.
“Lady Helena.”
Wipe Lady Helena’s tears with a handkerchief.
The enchanting beauty looked at me with the defenseless face of a young girl.
“I have known Lord Ethan for almost as long as I can remember. I was certainly going to be introduced to him, but not because I adored him, but because his age and family background were just right.”
The main reason is that I liked his personality, which I have heard from others, but I dared not to mention it because it might get complicated.
“I met Lord Solomon and fell in love. I wanted to decide on a marriage partner based on feelings, not conditions.”
When I told her so, Lady Helena blinked at me.
“I agree with Lady Helena. I am clinging next to her of my own volition, so there is no reason for you to cry.”
“Huh……!”
Lady Helena chokes. The reason for the large tears that are streaming down her face is surely different from before.
“Th- thank goodness ……!”
My feelings were lightened by her heartfelt words.
I have no intention of stepping down next to Master Solomon even though I know I am not worthy of it, no matter who opposes me. But the thought that there are people who would be happy with our marriage in this way gave me courage.
(Let’s talk with Lord Solomon.)
I want to leave as soon as possible.
And let’s listen carefully to what is troubling him.
There are no secrets or no reservations.
Because we are going to be husband and wife now.
Leave a Reply