Chapter 873

Chapter 873: Rival In Love

From Grandpa Valente’s explanations, they learned of the man who was also attempting to get closer to the young lady he had set his eyes on.

The then heir of the Leopold family, Jonah Leopold, also appeared to be interested in Hannah which had brought him a sense of crisis.

Thankfully, things had worked out in his favor and he had gotten betrothed and then married to the woman he had fallen in love with.

If Hannah had been a woman with deep desires then she would have chosen to be with Jonah Leopold as he seemed superior in most aspects.

He belonged to a Marquess family and would be the next head of the family.

This would have made Hannah the next Marchioness had she married him.

Though they weren’t extraordinarily rich back then, the Leopold family still came from wealth.

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In comparison, Augustine Valente, the heir of a small viscount family was not on the same level as the other man.

A Marquess was two levels higher than a Viscount according to their social hierarchy, hence this statement was obviously true.

In those days, women did not have the right to choose who they married but had to abide by the decisions made by their parents, mostly the father or elder brothers.

Thus when Hannah’s family realized that not one but two men sought to gain the hand of their daughter, they were perplexed at what they should do next.

Unlike others, their daughter was knowledgeable in many things and would often help her father and brothers in matters concerning their fief.

Hence, the parents had sought her opinion but sadly, she wished to marry neither of them and hoped to stay with her family longer.

However, this wish was dismissed almost immediately as their daughter would move past the marriageable age if she waited any longer.

Not wanting to let her reputation be affected, they had taken a lot of matters into consideration before choosing a suitable partner for her.

The Valente family had approached them first and the young man seemed sincere when he spoke of how he would look after their daughter in the future.

They could sense the honesty and genuine care in his tone as well when they had met a few days after the proposal had arrived at their home.

On the other hand, the young man from the Leopold family had come forward to speak of his interest in Hannah by himself.

Later on, her parents had even heard that the Old Madame of the Leopold family had not known of this matter.

Jonah Leopold had approached them of his own accord and his mother was not pleased with this act of his which undermined her authority as an elder.

She also did not wish to bring a lady from a lower noble family into their household and had already decided who would wed her son.

It was Jonah who had disregarded her decisions and had gone forward to meet Hannah’s parents to place his proposal before them.

Since this was a matter of shame to the old lady of the Leopold family, she had made sure that no news of this incident would ever be spread in their social circles.

Thus no one had known that the next Marquess Leopold had been interested in marrying a certain young lady named Hannah.

Noticing the animosity coming from this old lady, Hannah’s parents had decided against the young man’s proposal.

He would have been a better choice for their daughter in terms of social status but Hannah would never be able to please the old lady who had the ability to make her life miserable had she forced her way into the Leopold household.

Instead of facing such unpleasant experiences, their daughter would be happier in the Viscount’s household as the Madame of that family was satisfied with their child.

Therefore, they accepted the Valente family’s proposal after much thought.

Around the time that Hannah married into the Valente family, the Leopold family also held a grand wedding ceremony for their heir who inherited the title a few years later.

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Grandpa Valente scowled when he thought of the old man who wished to compete with him for Hannah’s favor.

Thankfully, her parents had chosen him over that other man.

“He was already too old yet wanted to cling to my Hannah!” He huffed in anger when he thought of how Jonah Leopold had openly declared that he would compete with him for Hannah’s favor.

Back then, Hannah had been too clueless and hence had not realized that two men were secretly competing for her favor.

She, in fact, had her attention focused on her family, and its welfare.

Therefore, when her parents had told her that two proposals had come her way, she had shown no interest in either of them.

However, in the end, she was made to marry into the Valente family due to the numerous reasons that had been mentioned earlier.

Even after their marriage, Augustine Valente had a tough time getting closer to his new bride as she wasn’t too pleased with the decision her parents had made.

She wished to stay in her maiden home longer but her opinions had been disregarded by her parents.

Once she had moved into the Valente estate, she was respectful but distant from her husband whom she did not know much about.

It took a lot of effort and time for the inexperienced husband to bridge the distance that had been present between them.

Through his actions, he had proved himself to be the partner she would be comfortable with.

Soon, she realized that they had similar views about the world and that her new husband was not what she had thought him to be.

He was supportive, caring, and most of all respected her and the decisions she made.

He did not look down on her nor did he try to suppress her voice even once.

Thus it did not take long for Hannah to fall in love with the man her parents had chosen for her.

Later, when their firstborn child was born, it was not due to their duty as a noble to procreate and bring up an heir for their family but the love that they shared for each other.

During this time, the other man had become a Marquess and his wife had already given birth to a few children by then.

Thus he no longer attempted to get closer to Hannah who had now become the Viscountess of the Valente family.

Nevertheless, each time the then Marquess Leopold spotted her at any social event, his eyes would linger in her direction a couple of seconds longer than what was acceptable.

Though he never once tried to approach her after they had married their respective partners, it was undeniable that there was still some longing concealed in those eyes that followed her despite his best efforts.

The husband who had noticed these silent gazes could only be on guard against this man who had obviously not yet put an end to the feelings he had for Hannah.

Since he had noticed this strange behavior of the Marquess, it was without a doubt that the new Marchioness had done the same as well.

However, she was not as silent as Augustine had been about this entire situation.

It was a well-kept secret in the Leopold family that the Marquess had someone he liked but was forced by his mother to marry someone else.

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He was respectful towards his new wife but did not particularly have tender feelings towards her.

After all, his eyes would be glued towards another woman at certain parties the couple attended.

This helped the Marchioness realize the truth which did not sit well with her.

Thus she became outright hostile towards Hannah when they came across each other and would not let go of any chances to put her down.

Her actions, which Hannah often ignored, were beginning to get burdensome.

While the Marquess had tried to intervene and put an end to such nonsense, he was someone who would not attend too many social events.

The women also had tea parties which were solely for the ladies and the men thus could not be present during such events.

Therefore, the men could not be around during such times and thus could not guarantee that nothing would go wrong.

To avoid such unnecessary incidents from taking place, the Viscount had decided to relocate to their fief, far from the Capital.

He, of course, had asked for his wife’s opinions and when he heard that she would be ecstatic to move, they proceeded with the plan.

Hannah was especially excited to meet her good friend who had married the Earl of the Mikren fief a few years ago.

She had not met her friend who had moved to the Mikren fief soon after marriage.

If she too moved to the Valente fief then she would get to meet her friend often and spend time in the tranquil fief which would be a good change of pace from her busy and chaotic life at the Capital.

Therefore, she was more than willing to move to the Valente fief which shared a border with the Mikren fief.

Despite the difference in their social status, the two families had been close from the very start and with the two Madames being good friends, their political and personal relationship had only grown stronger.

Until the very end, Hannah was clueless about Marquess Leopold’s lingering feelings and the reason for the Marchioness’s hatred towards her.

However, even if she knew, she would have ignored them as she had someone she had already given her heart to.

In this way, the Valente couple had separated themselves from a troublesome situation and had chosen to lead a happy life in their fief.