Chapter 2

The next day, Julia woke up earlier than usual and hurriedly prepared to go out.

Dressed in a frilly white dress, she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

She still wasn't used to the sight of three maids helping her dress up.

Before this marriage happened, she didn’t have any maids helping her. Julia was not a Young Lady, but a daughter of the Marquis’s mistress.

Since her mother was a commoner, she could not officially become the second wife of the Marquis. So according to the procedure, Julia wasn’t the Marquis’s daughter either.

However, after giving birth to her first son, the Marquise’s wife was diagnosed as infertile and could not have any more children.

That was why the Marquis had Julia formally admitted to his family while concealing the fact that she was his illegitimate daughter.

"Julia, you are the best commodity for valuable work.”

As can be seen from the word ‘commodity', it means a political marriage, ‘something of value', which the Marquis was always in the habit of saying.

A father who wanted to make a profit by putting his daughter on the line.

To him, Julia was just a tool to sell to a good place and increase his position.

Julia was well aware that for aristocrats, marriage was mostly a political tool, but she still wanted to have a marriage that combined love.

Having grown up in an environment where there was no family love, she wanted a home filled with love.

So when this marriage was arranged, Julia began to believe in the existence of God for the first time.

That man who she had never forgotten…. He was now her husband.

"Duchess, are you going to see His Highness off?"

At the sound of the servant's voice awakening her thoughts, Julia finally snapped out of the long standing memory that had lasted since last night. Looking up, she saw the servants smiling at her as they finished her makeup. Julia felt somewhat embarrassed.

Stroking her hair, Julia replied.

"Yes. I don't get to see him very often, so I just wanted to say hello."

"I'm sure His Highness will be very pleased."

Julia smiled awkwardly and stood up from her seat. I was a little embarrassed that her attempt at a light greeting seemed to be interpreted as a big deal.

‘But if I make a little effort like this, I can get closer to him, right?’

‘I hope His Highness wishes to be closer to me, too.’

Unlike Julia, who had never forgotten him, Fernan did not seem to remember her.

But she kept the promise she made to him that day, to meet him again like this, to let him know her name.

Julia came out of her bedroom and immediately went downstairs to the lobby. She saw the servants lined up in front of the entrance.

When the servants spotted Julia, they all bowed to her at once. She nodded lightly. Shortly after, Fernan entered the central staircase through a long corridor.

"…"

He entered the hall with a leisurely gait, dressed in a black uniform decorated with gold thread. Julia gazed at the figure in a daze.

The splendid conquest, masterfully woven over his broad shoulders and a strong body, suited him very well. He was a beautiful man that Julia had always admired since she first saw him a long time ago.

"Grand Duke."

Fernan walked casually past the servants, spotted Julia, and suddenly stopped. His cold gaze sank still on her.

“What are you doing here?"

Julia flinched as he asked in a tone that was colder than his gaze.

It was because the eyes looking down at her at the tall height felt somehow intimidating.

Julia looked up at him, who seemed to be cold, and replied with a puzzled look on her face.

"Uh…I wanted to give Your Highness my morning greetings."

“Morning greetings?”

Immediately a twisted sneer broke out on his sculpted face.

"I don't know what you are expecting.”

Julia froze in place, her eyes wide open.

Did he think that she was expecting something? Julia hurriedly opened her mouth to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Um, there is no other meaning. I just wanted to see His Highness off…”

"Well, I guess you're starting to want to be a hostess."

At the obviously sarcastic remark, Julia fell silent, her ears turning red.

‘I shouldn’t have done this.’

Her heart began to tremble madly in confusion, which was also in her head.

She could feel the servants watching her. Julia bowed deeply.

Fernan, who was looking down at her, continued to speak in a slightly calmer, but emotionless tone. 

"If there's anything you want, you can have it. Whether it's remodeling the castle, buying jewels, or throwing a party, I don't care which."

"…"

“But I do not want to see you in the morning, so please refrain from doing this.”

His expressionless face told all. ‘Don’t expect anything from me. There will be no affection or warmth between us.’

Fernan thus walked straight past the frozen Julia.

The servants who had been watching her scattered to other places, and Julia was left alone in the lobby.

‘Did I do something wrong?’

The number of times she had seen and interacted with Fernan after their marriage was too few to count. He was always busy and not always very talkative.

In the meantime, she couldn't think of what mistake she had made.

Fernan left the castle on their wedding night, leaving the bride behind, saying he had business to attend to. But Julia was content with all that, even that.

That was, until he looked down at her with cold eyes earlier.

"…"

She stood there for a moment in a daze, her expression deliberately set. But she just couldn't hide her sinking heart.

While she forced herself to walk, Fernan’s cold voice echoed in her ear. It seemed to chill her to the core.

***

Marquis Elody slowly looked around the parlor and savored the tea. 

It was a desolate and dreary interior. Like Fernan, the lord of the castle.

After lightly clicking his tongue, he snapped at his daughter.

"What does your husband do and not show up?”

"……he has a lot of political work."

Julia replied distantly and grabbed her teacup. Her father, whom she had not seen in a long time, remained only difficult and inconvenient.

The Marquis looked disgruntled and berated Fernan, then quickly changed the subject.

"Why are you so thin? There is nothing more ugly than a skinny girl.”

“Well, that's just because I have no appetite.”

The Marquis then looked her up and down and asked,

"Are you pregnant?”

"What?”

Startled, Julia hastily put down her teacup.

"No, I’m not."

"Why are you so surprised if you're not? You should be ashamed.”

Julia’s body shook out of habit at the Marquis's light rebuke. She didn't want to talk about the subject anymore, but he didn't seem to plan on stopping.

"Do you get intimate regularly?"

It wasn't the best conversation to have with her father, but Julia nodded, not showing any displeasure.

She couldn’t tell him the truth. Her father would probably go ballistic if he knew that she didn't even have her wedding night.

She didn't even have a chance to get close to Fernan. He was as busy as ever, and the only dinners they  had together often ended without a word.

"I said it many times. It is only when you have children that this marriage will be perfect."

"…"

"…When you have children, your place is secured. He’s an arrogant man. I don’t know what he’s thinking.”

Julia kept her gaze down and grabbed her hand. Every time the Marquis spoke in a critical tone about Fernan, she did not know how to react.

“Fortunately you have a face. What would you do if you only looked like wood…tsk.”

""…"

"So hold on to him tightly now so he doesn't go out."

Julia nodded hesitantly and hoped that this tough time would end soon.

The Marquis looked at her with a very unreliable look and took something out of his pocket. It was a small medicine bottle filled with liquid.

"Take it. Men use it often to improve their drive. Just one sip will do the trick, so you have to use a small amount."

Julia blinked curiously. She didn't know why her father gave her a medicine that was good for men.

The Marquis furrowed his brow in frustration, and then quickly said in a meaningful tone, 

"The Grand Duke has a lot of work with no time to rest. Then he’s likely to lose his stamina."

"…"

"Before you and him become intimate, give it to him secretly. He won't notice it if you put it in water or wine."

Julia inadvertently accepted the medicine bottle. The Marquis realized that she still didn't understand the meaning of this potion, but he didn't open his mouth anymore.

Julia felt somewhat abhorrent, but since she was in front of the Marquis, she had no choice but to put the medicine away. However, she was still concerned about ‘giving it to him secretly’, so she planned to call the pharmacist later to make sure that the medicine was safe.

After a while, the Marquis left the castle, saying that he would go see Fernan in person.

Sigh….

Returning to her bedroom, Julia put the medicine bottle in her drawer and closed it tightly with a sigh.

After dealing with her difficult and dour father, all her energy left her body.

***

Fernan was conducting his political affairs in his other mansion in the northern part of Caesar. The mansion was relatively small in size and was private, with only a few servants and lieutenants having access to it.

With the main castle comparable to the Imperial Palace, the reason for having a separate residence was simple. He needed a private space that no one could invade.

And now, Fernan was facing an uninvited guest who had invaded his space without permission.

"Hahahaha, no matter how long I waited at the castle, you didn't show up, so I came here directly. I hope it wasn't too rude."

Marquis Elody entered the office with a nice smile. Then he saw Fernan staring at him coldly and he was flabbergasted.

After Fernan put down the document he was reading, he gestured with his chin. It meant to sit down. The Marquis' smile was distorted by his attitude as if Fernan was treating his subordinates.

"I'm busy, so just keep it simple."

Fernan stared at the Marquis, his legs arrogantly crossed. The Marquis put on his good-natured face again and pulled out a letter from his pocket.

“I understand that you have work to handle, but you should not treat the person who came with a message from His Majesty like this.”

The Marquis put the letter on the table and smiled triumphantly. Fernan twisted up one side of his lips.

"His Majesty is so casual about it. How could he send the decrepit from far away to deliver a mere letter? That's right. Now that I look at you, the job suits you well.”

The Marquis's face instantly turned red and blue. Perhaps his self-esteem got hurt, the Marquis, who was silent for a while, forced his lips to bend.

"Hahaha…what shall I do? His Majesty's only nephew is not loyal to the imperial family, so he wants to correct the discipline even if he has to use this old man."

"Loyalty…"

Fernan chuckled as he lowered his eyes halfway. The more powerful Fernan became, the more the Emperor tried to oppress him in this way.

Tilting his head slowly in disgust, Fernan stared at the Marquis's face.

Dark brown hair and blue eyes. He naturally reminded him of his wife, Julia. 

“Just marrying the Marquis's daughter was too much loyalty for me.”

Because of that loyalty, according to the emperor, Fernan became a commander at the age of seventeen and fought in the imperial war.

After several years of fighting for the empire relentlessly, the result was an unwanted marriage.

To the Emperor's dog, Marquis Elody's daughter.