He smiled bitterly in my eyes. He had an attitude of no choice. It seemed he had misunderstood my gaze.
To the male protagonist, Callan, the cousin who overcame hardship and survived would look more like a traitor.
Usually they lead the family's knights to the battlefield, but there were special cases.
When it comes to subjugating monsters, the Yekart family and the temple often cooperated.
Of course, it was before Riena tried to poison him.
I was curious if he would go with Riena, so I grabbed Ferze's sleeve and asked.
Even if she tried to kill him because he was so indifferent, she might do so.
"Are you going with the Saintess?"
I don't think that would be a good thing.
If the Grand Duke is in danger twice, I have to save him twice.
It wouldn't be a very good experience to be thrown away twice.
'I mean, I'm annoyed.'
I looked up at Ferze sadly with desperate eyes.
How he interpreted it, he looked down at me with a vague face.
"Do you want me to go alone without Riena?"
You are absolutely right.
When I nodded twice, Ferze gave a mysterious expression.
There was no word after that.
You mean it doesn't matter if you almost got poisoned? It seemed to mean that he would go with Riena.
You can't just watch a man die of admiration and jealousy, and a woman's admiration die on her own.
It was a time when I was thinking about how to hold onto it.
Soon after, a good voice came to my ears.
"I have no relationship with the saintess anymore."
Ferze gave a low answer and placed the back of his hand on my cheek.
I felt a warmth on the back of his hand that I had never felt before.
My eyes widened at the unexpected action.
I was even more surprised by what I heard next.
"My fiancèe is you. Ciel."
Ferze, who had rarely bent his knees, was kneeling on one knee to make eye contact with me.
The indifferent eyes looking at me were still there.
Riena, the saintess of Djibril, may have been called out of courtesy, but as a maid, the title of fiancée was surprising to me.
Unlike me, who was surprised, he looked fine.
Ferze reached out a large hand and grabbed my white and small hand.
"When the war is over, I'll come to the north to see you."
It was the first time his cold lips touched the back of my hand.
I felt like he was tickling the back of my hand with white fluff.
In the meantime, I had a question.
If I had signed a contract to become Visenna's adopted daughter for three years, when will my contract marriage with the Grand Duke end?
Now that I am young, I will only be engaged, but when the curse is lifted and I grow up, I've decided to become the Grand Duke's wife.
Moreover, it is not known exactly when we will divorce after marriage.
It was a pretty vague condition until the Imperial family no longer asked the Grand Duke for a political marriage.
When the threat of the Imperial family and the temple disappears, we will say goodbye to each other.
As soon as Ferze broke off his engagement with Riena, pressure started coming from the imperial family.
'The Emperor is wary of Ferze.'
Was he worried that Riena would be taken away again?
Considering that he was trying to place Ferze by political marriage with the daughter of count Ninaise, one of the emperor's parties, as a binder of the Grand Duke.
But I cut in.
The plan to monitor the Grand Duke with a political marriage went awry, and the Visenna family began to move slowly.
When the male protagonist, Callan, found out about this, I would immediately summon it to the imperial family.
Still quiet, he seemed unaware that I had been adopted.
Anyway, I've registered, so he'll find out sooner or later.
As I was making assumptions by myself, I heard Ferze's low voice.
"I may not see you for a long time, Ciel."
I opened my eyes wide at the unexpected words.
I thought I would not see you for a while, but does it take a long time to clear the monsters?
It wasn't just for my safety.
Still, it was my boss, but I wanted to see him come back unhurt.
"Don't get hurt. Don't let your guard down."
When I scolded him, Ferze messed up my hair without saying a word.
Do you mean to be quiet because you don't need any advice?
Ferze said looking down at me with an indifferent face.
"If the dogs of Visenna are trying to harm you—."
Ferze untied the necklace from his neck and put it around my neck.
On the silver string, there was a ring carved from a red magic stone, which was only passed down from generation to the head of the Yekart family.
You're giving me that precious ring with magical power? I was greatly surprised.
Don't tell me, this ring is....
"You can run away at anytime. I've planted my own men within in the family."
You have a conscience and you don't tell me to fight Visenna's blood relatives?
Somehow, I was moved, so I looked up at Ferze with a tearful gaze.
"Are you waiting to see my face and go?"
"No way. I'm here to give you this."
"Hmph."
Who would see us as engaged? First of all, the age difference was the problem.
At my original age, I was 17 years old and Ferze was 20 years old, so there was only a three-year difference, but now it was almost a crime.
Even if you don't wear silver bracelets* in your hands because you're a Grand Duke, you'll get a pretty harsh look.
"Take it."
You gave me your family's precious treasure like nothing happened! I was stunned.
After all, he was born into an Imperial family and was accustomed to giving orders.
As expected. It was also Ferze-like to show this indifferent appearance.
It should look like an engagement relationship, but I thought it would be hard to fool others.
Anyway, this ring was something that Riena didn't get either.
What is the identity of this ring?
It was a ring that the Grand Duke of Yekart gave to the Grand Duchess, who would become the hostess for generations.
It was an heirloom that the mother handed down to her child when the child born between the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess became the heir.
Was it about 100 years ago? At that time, there was an incident where the Grand Duke gave it to a male knight he loved and caused a stir.
I looked at the ring, which was much more expensive than my ransom, and carefully tucked it into my clothes.
I was excited to receive such a precious thing.
When Ferze showed a sign of liking it, he looked like he was trying to say, 'As expected, a snob.'
But it doesn't change that I worry about you.
I don't think Ferze knows this.
I reached out to Ferze. His soft cheeks touched my hands as he knelt down.
"Go and come back safely."
I really wanted to tell him this.
Even though others were called him a villain without blood or tears, or even called the ruthless monster of Djibril, he was a person who had never been rude to me and other maids.
"I won't sleep until you're back."
Ferze smiled as if my words sounded cute.
He said as he tucked my hair into my ear.
"I don't want to be falsely accused of marrying a young child, so grow up quickly."
The Grand Duke's words sounded a little strange.
What do you mean, grow up fast?
It would be faster for Eustia to break my curse than for me to grow up.
I guess you don't want to be called a pedo.
There was no other reason than that, so I nodded.
"Duke, please grant me a wish when I grow up."
Ferze's eyes widened at the unexpected words.
I stretched my index finger at him with a big smile.
"I'll grant you two, Ciel."
As expected, the Grand Duke was a generous man.
I thought we were breaking up like this, so I grabbed the tip of Ferze's sleeve without realizing it.
As he was about to leave the room, he stopped. And he said looking back at me.
"If you want to see me, you can write a letter to me."
"I'll write it when I'm curious about the news. What about the Grand Duke?"
Ferze seemed to think without answering immediately.
His red lips opened after a moment of silence.
"I'll reply once in five times."
At the end of the sentence, Ferze stared at me and turned around before I could hold him.
A white cape with gold on top of a white uniform fluttered like a haze.
I fiddled with Ferze ring on a silver string.
The red magic stone on the ring was too large and heavy to fit on my young finger.
'I should wear it like a necklace until the curse is lifted.'