Chapter 4

“You see… the reason is…”

I tried my best to find an excuse. However, no matter what I thought about, I couldn’t think of a good one.

“No need to force yourself.”

“Brother…”

“I am sure it’s because you miss Sonot.”

“…Pardon?!”

I blurted out feeling frustrated with the unexpected words of Forte.

“Sonot is also good at martial arts. It’s normal for you to watch the knights when thinking about Sonot.”

“…”

Forte was quite sure of his words. Yet, I never once watched the knights while thinking about Sonot.

What did I think of while watching the Knights? I couldn’t even recall since it wasn’t important. I was just focusing on the ‘good’ feeling.

“I won’t blame you since I know how you feel.”

Well, that’s not the case…

I had to tell the truth. I had to correct this misunderstanding… Yet the misunderstanding was going in a good way.

Rather than confessing, ‘it’s because I like looking at muscular men!’ it was much better that they misunderstood.

I felt guilty, but I couldn’t help it. I stared at the floor, pretending to be pitiful as my eyes trembled.

“If you keep thinking about Sonot, you’ll only suffer. Wouldn’t it be better if you see another man?”

“Yes, I’m trying to hold onto a relationship that’s already ended, which only gives me a hard time.”

That was right. But I wasn’t the one holding onto Sonot…

“How strong and beautiful you are. Your youth is too precious to be bound by a bastard. Do you know how many people are begging to have a personality such as yours?”

The Count persuaded me with a soothing voice.

Yes. It was Count Inkledov, not anyone else. He was not only a prestigious aristocrat, but also a father who loved his daughter so much. He wouldn’t pick a strange man for her.

Now that it came to this; let’s date a handsome, kind, wealthy and fit man.

I nodded as I agreed with them. Then, in no time, their faces turned bright.

Father got up from his desk and sat me on where he got up, as he ordered Butler Henry to bring more papers.

My mother recommended some men as his son-in-law as Forte opened more envelopes with a letter opener.

It was like the butterfly effect. One small nod, and all three of them started moving in perfect order.

Inkledov’s family status was great. There were lots of documents sent by the aristocrats that included their family status and wealth. Among them, there was a famous family that often got mentioned in the book.

The documents they sent were all neat, specific and even sincere. It was far better than the CV I prepared all night while I was looking for a job in the past.

To prepare such quality documents in a world that didn’t have any computers, it was clear that a tremendous amount of time and effort was spent on this.

However, most of the letters arrived at the mansion as soon as her engagement got annulled. As if they were waiting for Petunia’s break up.

How quick-witted people were.

“Well, Marquis Eugelrid seemed fine. Count Rieno’s eldest son too.”

Marquis Eugelrid was an art mogul who owned numerous galleries and theaters. However, the Marquis Eugelrid I read in the book, had a moody and sensitive personality. In short, if we were to be together, I would be the one getting tired.

Count Rieno only got mentioned in the book because of its high status. Yet, I didn’t even know he had a son at my age.

When I didn’t give a response, my mother put some papers on the table.

“Wealth and reputation are important, but I think appearance too. It’s a little embarrassing to talk about this but, wouldn’t it be better for him to be handsome if you’re going to look at him all the time?”

“…”

“Even if two of them have the same wealth, it feels better when you’re with the handsome one; and when you’re angry, seeing something beautiful makes you feel at ease. Also, it’s better for the next generation.”

My gaze altered between father and Forte while listening to mother. The two handsome men were making my mind feel at peace.

The middle aged man leaning on the wall on one side, and the handsome young man with blond hair on the other.

Even though they had completely different atmospheres, I felt a strange familiarity.

“Why, isn’t there a saying that good looking people also have good personalities.”

What a wise saying, mother. 

I looked at her shining eyes and nodded. The two men in front of me were proof she had great taste. She could be trusted on this.

Mother curled up the corner of her mouth beautifully and took out three portraits the size of her palm.

“What do you think? Which one…”

“He is… handsome.”

I murmured like I was possessed.

The aura he was giving was different from the others. I wondered how handsome he would be in person if his portrait was like this. My heart skipped a beat for the first time in a while.

All three of them were handsome but the one at the left had caught my eye. The line that follows his forehead to his nose with his dark eyebrows was perfectly to my taste.

“The one on the left is Count Reynolds. Seven years older than you, isn’t it perfect? Having a little mature charm.”

‘What a shame.’

It was said that even rivers and mountains change in 5 years. Yet he was 7 years older.

It didn’t matter that I was 29 before I possessed her body, Petunia was 22 years old. I couldn’t be that shameless to be with someone 7 years older than her.

The other two were also handsome. But one of them, Viscount Harbour, was later found out to be gay. His marriage was done to hide his homosexuality.

I didn’t want to be the victim of a fake marriage so he was also denied.

The son of Marquis Hedrick, the remaining one of the three, had no information on the book, but I decided to put him on hold since he was handsome.

When mother’s introduction was done, Forte, who was patiently waiting, walked up towards me.

Even though it was absurd for him to select a fiancée for her sister, Forte,  holding a document with a serious look on his face made me laugh.

Forte coughed a few times and held out a letter to me. Unexpectedly, the letter didn’t have a family crest on it, which meant it wasn’t sent from a noble.

“Hailos…?”

It was a name I’ve never heard before. Of course I didn’t know any of these family names besides the main characters.

“He will be given a title soon, so don’t worry about it.”

That wasn’t what I was curious about.

“I’ve never heard of this name before. Who is he?”

“He is the eldest son of Her Highness Magnolia, the sister of the Emperor.”

“…Ah.”

I recalled. Princess Magnolia was the only sibling of the Emperor who didn’t receive a title. Rather than having a title and living comfortably she was more interested in traveling the world.

She married a wizard she met on the North Continent and had a son and a daughter.

The Ignit Empire was an important country for wizards, so the Imperial Family tried to capture some wizards by granting them titles. It was probably around that time.

The time of the birth of Count Peandanton, the greatest wizard of the Empire who inherited the blood of the royal family.

‘Count Peandanton’s name is Hailos.’

I put down the letter remembering the information. Forte opened his eyes wide and looked at me.

“Why, without checking more…?”

“I’m not very interested in these.”

I awkwardly smiled at Forte. I wasn’t interested in Peandanton, the wizard who is famous for his gloomy mood.

Mother and father looked at me with shining eyes too, yet I was determined on my decision.

I picked up the envelope I’ve been eyeing for a while from the mountain of envelopes. When they saw the name written on the dark purple envelope, my parents’ got shocked.

‘Apollyon Lane Theavritte.”

It was a marriage proposal from the main lead to me.

“Wait, why is that here…”

Mother looked at father with a confused look. Only to see father has the same expression.

“I asked Henry to only get well known families… looks like he included Theavritte Family too.”

“He is the famous Grand Duke Theavritte.”

Mother understood father’s motive, yet couldn’t get rid of her expression of displeasure.

The main lead of the novel, Apollyon Theavritte was the young Grand Duke Theavritte, who had power and wealth that’s equal to the Royal Family.

But he was the unfortunate male lead who had half of his face blackened because of a curse. So he spent most of his time inside his mansion and always wore a mask when he had to go outside.

Like all novels his curse got lifted when he met with the female lead and regained his beauty.

Before he met with the heroine, Shriel, he got married three times.

His curse didn’t matter, quite a lot of people wanted to marry him because of his title of Grand Duke. Surely most were only eyeing for the power of the title.

His first fiancée was taken to the hospital on the day of their engagement due to the shock she got after removing the Grand Duke’s mask. Then her condition worsened which caused them to annul their engagement in the end.

The second marriage partner, surprisingly, showed the audacity of running with her lover the night before the wedding. Thanks to her, the family of the woman who escaped had to bow their heads several times to the Grand Duke.

At that point it was only natural to give up, but Apollyon kept looking for a bride.

Because, his stepmother would continue to use the title of Grand Duke unless he got married and took over.

–

I still couldn’t get over the fact that the Female Lead’s name is Petunia. LOL.