Johanna had never once spoken of her wretched family to Leonid, but he had known who her aunt was on sight.
He must have investigated her family beforehand.
She let out a quiet sigh.
“Why would I?
It would only be an unpleasant conversation.
I haven’t said a single word about your family.”
“…Are you sure?”
“I have no reason to lie about it.”
A fresh wave of emotions washed over her aunt’s face, her thoughts impossible to read.
She bit her lip, glanced at the sky, and then exhaled a shuddering breath that shook her entire frame.
“Right…” she conceded.
“You were never the type to be so petty, no matter what.”
“What have you been talking about this whole time?” Johanna asked, the earlier mention of investment funds nagging at her.
Could it be connected to Leonid?
At her intense stare, her aunt averted her gaze, her fingers fiddling with the handle of her parasol.
“It’s nothing.
It’s just… you, engaged to His Excellency, Marquis Neuwitz… I can’t believe it.
They say you never know what life will bring…”
Her aunt’s expression was strained, as if she were suppressing a great deal of emotion, or perhaps just desperately trying to salvage her pride.
She gripped the parasol handle so tightly her knuckles turned white, her jaw set in a stubborn line.
As if unable to accept reality, she stared into the distance.
“Well, then,” she said, her voice hollow.
“Take care.
I must get going.
I have a lot to do.”
With that, she turned and fled.
Johanna watched her retreating back, a cloud of unanswered questions hanging over her, before finally heading for the carriage.
“You’re back quicker than I thought,” Leonid remarked as she climbed inside.
She settled carefully onto the seat across from him.
“I apologize for making you wait,” she mumbled.
“Your tone, again.”
Johanna corrected herself, her voice low.
“…I am sorry for making you wait.”
“Much better,” he said, smiling as if in praise.
Yet, despite its pleasant shape, the smile felt sharp, like a needle piercing her heart.
“I told my aunt a story,” Johanna said, deciding it was best he knew.
“I think you should be aware of it.”
“And what story was that?”
She recounted the fabricated tale of their romance in detail.
Leonid listened in silence, a faint smirk playing on his lips before he gave a dismissive nod.
“Plausible enough.
We’ll stick to that from now on.”
The moment she agreed, the carriage lurched forward.
Their next destination was a restaurant so exclusive it was impossible to enter without a reservation—and even then, only the highest echelons of society were granted one.
“Your aunt didn’t ask you for anything?” Leonid asked, his observant gaze probing hers.
A favor?
Johanna blinked, confused.
“She didn’t say anything like that.”
“Not at all?”
“Not at all.”
“Strange,” he mused.
“I’d have thought she’d be grasping at straws.”
He offered no further explanation, only that cryptic remark.
The smile lingering on his lips was strangely destructive.
Johanna frowned but quickly pushed the thought aside.
Whatever trouble her aunt’s family was in, it was no business of hers.
That was the line drawn between them, colder and more distant than any stranger.
At the ultra-luxurious restaurant—the first she had ever set foot in—Johanna felt utterly lost.
Though her mother had taught her proper etiquette, she fumbled with the silverware and forgot how one was meant to savor wine.
Across the table, Leonid ate his meal with a placid indifference to her flustered state.
She could have died of embarrassment.
The only surprise was that he never once chided her for her fumbling.
He seemed entirely unconcerned, a composure that came from a man with unshakeable self-assurance.
He had no need to prove himself to others; he simply shone, a fixed star in his own universe.
It seemed impossible that anyone could ever truly get close to him.
As she returned home, Johanna was struck with a fresh, keen awareness of just how worthless she must be in his eyes.
Still, at least she had been able to gaze upon the face of her first love to her heart’s content.
She could never tire of looking at him.
He was the sort of man, she thought, who could be forgiven any sin simply on account of his beauty.
“Oh!
You’re back!”
A chirpy voice greeted her as she opened the front door to her apartment building.
It was Nadia from the third floor, a woman whose primary interest was other people’s business.
“Johanna, I saw you earlier!
What was with that carriage?
It looked like one of the nobles’!
And that crest… it looked so familiar!
Didn’t you say your family were fallen nobles?
I guess you still have connections, huh?
Or is he a personal acquaintance?”
The waterfall of questions was exhausting.
But Johanna knew if she did not provide a satisfactory answer, the rumor mill would spin out of control.
She met Nadia’s uncomfortably bright eyes and answered with practiced calm.
“I’m getting married.”
“Uh… WHAT?!” Nadia shrieked, the sound loud enough to shatter glass.
True to form, doors on the first floor creaked open as neighbors poked their heads out.
Among them was Mr.
Sinkel, the building’s owner, a man who, despite being no relation, was always pretending to worry about her marriage prospects.
“Really?
Who is he?” Nadia pressed.
“Don’t tell me he’s a noble?
The owner of that carriage?”
“Johanna’s getting married?
Is that true?” Mr.
Sinkel chimed in.
The situation was escalating far more quickly than she had anticipated.
Johanna pressed her fingers to her forehead for a brief moment.
This was exactly why she tried to avoid Nadia.
“Marquis Neuwitz is my fiancé.”
“Neu… who?
Neuwitz?”
There was not a soul in the kingdom who did not know that name.
Neuwitz, Elderic—they were names that resonated with a sense of awe throughout Weinsheim.
“Marquis Neuwitz!” Nadia gasped.
“My goodness, are you serious?”
“Yes, I am.”
Twenty years ago, a revolution in the neighboring kingdom of Arberg had abolished the class system, and the flames of republicanism had threatened to engulf the continent.
In a panic, the Weinsheim monarchy had enacted reforms, preserving tradition while shedding its most archaic customs.
Chief among them was the abolition of tax exemptions for the nobility.
The backlash had been fierce, particularly from the provincial lords.
Left behind by the new industries of real estate, finance, and manufacturing that were booming in the capital, they had nothing to rely on but the taxes from their lands.
It was the Duke of Elderic who upended the old aristocratic order.
He launched various enterprises, forcing the provincial lords to compete, with only the survivors receiving massive investments.
The old guard got a taste of modern capital and realized that the profits to be made far outweighed the taxes they would pay.
With the backing of the monarchy and the great nobles, success was within reach for anyone with ability.
Thus, the Duke had won them over, and the reforms passed without major incident.
It was a monumental achievement.
Not long after, the republic in Arberg collapsed, and the monarchy was restored.
It had been a chaotic time.
“Johanna, you’re not lying, are you?” Mr.
Sinkel said, his tone a feigned warning.
He looked anxious.
He had been hoping to match her with his own problematic, unmarried son, who was at that very moment peeking out from behind a cracked-open door.
He looked disheveled, as if he had not left the house all day, and Johanna doubted he bathed regularly.
She decided to crush Mr.
Sinkel’s pathetic hopes once and for all.
“Why would I be crazy enough to lie about something like this?
I am going to marry Marquis Neuwitz.
Nadia, you saw the carriage, didn’t you?
Do you remember the crest?”
“Huh?
Oh, that carriage that picked you up… No wonder it looked so familiar!
So that was the Marquis Neuwitz’s crest!” Nadia’s excitement was, for once, helpful.
Johanna shot Mr.
Sinkel a pointed look.
He still seemed incredulous, but finally, he let out an awkward sigh.
“Hmm… Well, that’s wonderful news.
Marquis Neuwitz… My, my.
The world is full of surprises.
This will cause an uproar across the country.”
His gaze swept over her, silently asking how on earth she had managed to secure a match with such a great noble.
Nadia was still buzzing with excitement while other neighbors gawked with open curiosity.
“Johanna?”
Daniel’s voice cut through the noise.
Johanna turned to see him standing awkwardly at the top of the stairs, drawn down by the commotion.
“It was so loud, I came to see what was wrong,” he said, hurrying to her side.
He shot a wary glare at Mr.
Sinkel, well aware of the man’s untoward interest in his sister.