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A marriage between the family of the Duke of Balazit and the family’s enemy, the Marquis of Winterfell.
Would this historical marriage help the two families reconcile?
The majority of the public answered yes.
Now that they have become in-laws, they would put the old bad blood behind them. However, if they could see the scene in the reception ceremony, they would immediately realize that their thoughts were completely wrong.
At the wedding party venue to celebrate the birth of newlyweds. The place that was supposed to be full of joy was filled with only a cold atmosphere.
And then, the cause of such an atmosphere was neither due to the weather outside nor ice, but due to one particular person.
“Newlywed room?”
The groom, who had a sour look on his face throughout the reception, raised his eyebrows.
Anyone would notice his displeased tone, even though he only spewed out two words. He turned to the butler sharply.
“Did you say newlywed room? As in sharing a bed?”
“Yes, now that you are legally a married couple–“
“Are you saying I am going to share a bed with a woman who might have come to this family to assassinate me?”
“Oh, my, what do you mean by assassination!”
The bride raised her voice, shocked at the unexpected word.
Her beautiful face quickly turned into tears. Her pale complexion could not be concealed by makeup.
But Glenn, the groom, didn’t trust her at all.
From Glenn’s point of view, it was just a despicable act. He burst into laughter as her show dumbfounded him.
“Well, Nadia Balazit, let me ask you a question. Why did you want to marry me? You’re spying, or you’re trying to counterfeit a copy of the treasonous document? You’re going to put treason on our family?”
“That’s..”
“Speak the truth. There’s no one here who would help you.”
Anyone could hear intimidation in his voice.
The terrified bride’s body began to tremble. She finally opened her mouth after contemplating for a long time.
“Well, I’ve been admiring the Marquis for a long time.”
“Nonsense!”
Grit.
The sound of grinding teeth could be heard.
“Do you want me to believe such a lie?”
“I do! Please believe me. I fell in love with you at first sight.”
Nadia, the bride, answered with her sad eyes lowered. Her trembling eyelids were about to burst into tears.
It was such a realistic performance that Glenn would have been fooled if it wasn’t because she was his enemy’s daughter.
Maybe that’s why he felt disgusted.
‘I’m sure her father made her say it.’
Including the nonsense of loving him.
Glenn was not a fool enough to believe that his enemy’s daughter happened to have a crush on him at first sight.
All of this was just a trick for the Duke of Balazit to plant spies in the static territory.
The King, the Duke’s puppet, actively promoted the marriage.
“Have you ever spoken to me before? Are you telling me to believe that you fell for a man you hadn’t talked to before to the point that you followed him to the North? “
“Do I need a reason to fall in love?”
“You’re crazy–“
“I love you! Please accept my heart!”
He gnashed his teeth as he stared at Nadia, who was still shivering as if she were scared.
Glenn was very suspicious of her intention of willingly walking into this family, but he couldn’t even question the bride.
He couldn’t do her any harm at the moment.
His fist was shaking.
Glenn reminded himself to be patient over and over again and not to act impulsively.
‘There is a very limited amount of things that a vulnerable woman can do in an enemy land without any allies anyway.’
Especially if she was a wife who was not acknowledged by her husband, her range of movement would be restricted.
It wouldn’t be long until he could dispose of an unwanted wife after dealing with his political opponent.
He had to avoid the suspicion that the North was seeking independence until the day he could build his strength.
Glenn clenched his teeth and said.
“Fine. We’ll see how long you can lie about love.”
“…!”
Nadia’s face brightened up when he said she would tolerate her existence. However…
“But you’d better not dream of being recognized as my wife. There is no way I would have a successor with Balazit’s daughter.”
“But, I’m not my father’s spy! How could you doubt my true feelings?”
Nadia cried at Glenn’s warning.
She covered her mouth and buried her face in her palm as if in despair.
It was because she almost responded the same thing.
‘Keep your word, Marquis.’
She was somewhat worried that she might be kicked out if she refused to share a bed with him. She couldn’t believe her ears when he came at her like that.
With the sound of shoes hitting the marble floor, the cold-blooded man becomes distant.
The sound of servants rushing out of Glenn was heard in her ears. Possibly leaving his seat.
Nadia asked with her head down, pretending to be heartbroken.
“Marquis… Did he leave?”
“T-That’s..”
The maids were nervous and began to look around.
One maid replied with a cautious voice.
“Yes… He just left.”
Hooray! Her voice roared in her heart.
Glenn couldn’t take what he said back because he had declared that he wouldn’t sleep with her with this many witnesses.
Wasn’t it the virtues of men of this era not to take back what he said?
‘Don’t ever come. I am going to use the bed for myself.’
Nadia Balazit was married out of the blue to a long-time enemy family.
By long, how long exactly was it? It’s long enough that she had to go back to the first generation to explain it.
Nadia’s life, born a daughter of a Duke, seemed to sail smoothly.
Though she was a child born out of wedlock, no one made a big fuss about it.
Nadia never crossed the line, while the Duchess wanted to play the role of a great woman who even embraced her husband’s illegitimate child.
Although her half-sister, who was about the same age, quarreled with her all the time, it was within tolerable limits.
It was pretty bearable, considering the small amount of annoyance in exchange for a comfortable life.
In the end, she was used for a political marriage as soon as she reached adulthood, just like the usual case with other women in the family.
It would be a waste if they didn’t marry her off, and thus they sent their daughter to the enemy family.
On the day before the engagement ceremony, her half-sister came, and her sarcastic voice was still vivid in her mind.
‘So what if he was a savior of this world? You don’t know where he’s from. What if he was born in the countryside? If I were you, I wouldn’t live with such a man.’
Of course, she would have said that and mocked me.
Nadia replied, holding back the laughter.
“Are you saying you don’t want to waste him now? Didn’t you say that he is just a dirty, lowly man?”
“Watch your mouth. You are the lowly one.”
In front of Nadia was a blonde woman in fine fur standing in a striking dress. Her face, which looked down on Nadia, filled with a sense of victory and superiority.
She was the only daughter and half-sister of the Balazit family, Calaine.
She was grinning with joy.
“For someone who played dirty with another man behind your fiance’s back, you are good at talking back.”
“Your head who came up with such an idea is way dirtier.”
“Oh, my! There are still a few witnesses, and you’re making excuses!”
It was something that happened at the masquerade.
Due to the nature of the masquerade party, the atmosphere was more free than regular banquets, and therefore, many people offered drinks to Nadia.
It would be ridiculous to attend such an event without knowing your drinking limits. The number of glasses Nadia drank that day was clearly less than half of her limit.
Nevertheless, she lost consciousness at some point, and after she barely came to her senses, everything had already happened.
When she opened her eyes to the people’s buzz around her, Nadia found herself half-naked, rolling over a stranger male on one of the sofas in the lounge.
What’s worse was that countless people witnessed the scene.
Rumors spread quickly that she spent a one-night stand with another man while she was engaged.
She didn’t know that something that could reach a thousand miles that fast actually existed.
‘Her mother also seduced the Duke and got herself a better life. She can’t even live without a man. Gosh… Like mother, like daughter. Tsk, tsk. What did Duke Balazit say again? If an illegitimate daughter had disgraced the family’s reputation, she would have nothing to say if she got kicked out of the house naked. He was so generous that he just punished me with house arrest in a separate house. Oh my, he sure is merciful.’
Nadia wasn’t stupid enough to think that her father loved her and wouldn’t throw her away.
He just didn’t want to be called a heartless father.
Anyone could tell from the fact that he locked Nadia up in a basement, not in a separate house. It was so frustrating and ridiculous that she couldn’t help but laugh.
She never thought that he would put honor preciously to the point that he would throw her aside like that.
“I wondered who made this ridiculous script up… Of course, it was father and you, Calaine.”
“Me and father?”