A composure that rarely revealed emotion. A quiet voice whose every word carried weight.
"The moment she enters high society, marriage proposals will come pouring in like a flood."
Even now, there had been no shortage of nobles who had rushed to send proposals the instant she came of age, simply to forge ties with House Flobert.
If her beauty became widely known as well...
No one could even imagine how much fiercer the competition would become.
"Well, in the end she'll probably marry the Crown Prince anyway."
The man who had appeared on the rooftop, Mason, clicked his tongue with obvious regret.
Even nobles living on the frontier knew that Marquis Flobert was close to the Empress. Naturally, that was the conclusion anyone would reach.
The owner of the heirloom, Blake Cardenhart, who had been silently listening, finally spoke.
"...It really seemed she didn't recognize me."
"Just as we don't know much about her, perhaps she's equally unfamiliar with high society. Besides, Your Grace has spent almost all your time with the subjugation forces. Your face isn't exactly well known."
Blake let out a quiet sigh.
Then he tightened his grip around the wooden token he had been staring at for so long.
"Innocent... but not foolish. Kind... but not naive."
From the beginning, Blake had never intended to deceive her.
When he learned that Artoas, the heirloom that had vanished because of the previous Duchess, had appeared at the Flobert Auction House, he had exhausted every possible avenue to reclaim it.
Naturally, he had contacted Marquis Flobert himself, offering to pay any price if only the heirloom would be returned.
The answer had been an immediate refusal.
Worse still, Ante Flobert seemed unwilling to even exchange words with him. Every message Blake sent afterward was ignored.
He tried negotiating directly with the auction house.
Every attempt failed.
The only response he ever received was the same.
If you wanted it, bid for it at the auction.
Unfortunately, the Duchy of Cardenhart simply didn't have that kind of money.
Nor did they have any allies willing to lend a hand.
So, grasping at the last straw, Blake had come here himself.
If necessary, he had intended to cause chaos at the auction house—or intimidate whoever purchased the heirloom.
His encounter with the street thugs had only happened because they were talking about the auction warehouse. He had approached them hoping to gather information.
Instead...
He had met the Marquis of Flobert's younger sister.
An utterly unexpected windfall.
After driving off the thugs in the most unbelievable fashion imaginable, she hadn't hesitated to scold him.
"Someday, you might meet someone whose swordsmanship surpasses yours, and it'll bring you nothing but disaster."
It was the first time anyone had ever said such a thing to him.
There wasn't a single person on the continent who wielded a sword better than he did.
What absurd nonsense.
Yet Blake quickly realized...
She had said it because she was genuinely worried.
This woman... she's different from Ante Flobert.
Had the Marquis encountered those thugs, he would never have shown mercy. At best, he would have had their tongues cut out or their limbs severed.
More likely...
He wouldn't have bothered stepping in to help in the first place.
A flower raised inside a greenhouse.
That was Blake's first impression of Angelina.
And so, when she turned to leave, he stopped her.
"I know this may sound shameless when we've only just met, but perhaps fate brought us together..."
He deliberately poured out a long, pitiful story, hoping to lower her guard and stir her sympathy.
Once he judged that her heart had softened...
He removed his hood at just the right moment.
Naturally, he expected her to recognize him and panic.
Instead...
"You'll have to tell me what this favor is before I decide whether I'll grant it."
Her attitude never changed.
That was the first unexpected variable.
There was no way she knew he was the Duke of Cardenhart.
From the way she treated him...
It was no different from how she would treat any ordinary commoner.
So Blake hesitated.
"I..."
Should he reveal who he was?
Then another thought crossed his mind.
If he played his cards well...
Perhaps he could persuade her without ever revealing his identity.
"I need money."
And so...
He shamelessly began acting.
"I contacted the auction house and asked them to return it, but they told me they weren't obligated to do so."
He poured out his sob story, despite her never asking.
Just as expected...
She looked genuinely sorry for him.
Despite her indifferent tone and seemingly uninterested expression...
She was exactly the sort of woman whose heart was easily moved.
Those who spent their lives sheltered from politics often pitied others far more readily than they should.
Blake assumed she was no exception.
"Couldn't you simply remove the item from the auction?"
So he pressed a little further.
He had expected one of two reactions.
Either she would innocently agree, surprised she hadn't thought of it herself...
Or she would refuse, saying it wasn't within her authority.
If it was the former, he would simply watch her use her position to retrieve the heirloom.
If it was the latter, he would reveal his identity and ask her to arrange a meeting with Ante Flobert.
Either outcome benefited him.
Instead...
"Even if I'm the younger sister of the Flobert family head, that would be crossing the line."
One of the expected answers came.
"If we don't follow the very rules we established, then what meaning do those rules have?"
Her response was far more principled than he had anticipated.
It caught him slightly off guard.
"If I overstepped, then I apologize. Actually..."
Still, he figured he had gained enough.
He reached for the Cardenhart family token that would prove his identity.
He intended to ask her to arrange a meeting with Ante Flobert.
Surely, even Ante Flobert couldn't turn away someone who had come as his sister's guest.
But...
"Lead the way."
She spoke before he had the chance to reveal himself.
"Let's have a look at this so-called heirloom."
The second unexpected variable.
And that wasn't the end of it.
"Well then... shall we join the auction?"
After saying the only way to recover it was to win the bid...
She actually entered the auction herself.
The surprises kept coming.
"One billion."
Without the slightest hesitation, she casually named an astronomical sum that would have left anyone else speechless.
Just like that...
She secured Artoas.
She even looked like she was enjoying herself.
"How dare anyone think they can outspend Flobert."
He had assumed she was merely innocent.
Yet watching the competitive fire blazing in her eyes...
Blake couldn't look away.
She was impossible to measure.
And even at the very end...
She once again defied every expectation.
"But there's always the possibility that you're a fraud... and that this actually belongs to someone else, isn't there?"
She wasn't simply a sheltered young lady who was easy to fool after all.
"Prove it. Prove this truly is your family's heirloom."
She had helped him with astonishing ease.
She had spent an absurd amount of money without hesitation.
For a moment, he had even wondered whether she knew who he was and was doing all this deliberately.
But that wasn't the case.
One moment she displayed sharp insight, instantly recognizing the value of Artoas.
The next...
She seemed completely unaware that it was the heirloom of House Cardenhart.
She rushed to help a stranger surrounded by thugs, showing boundless kindness...
Yet at the same time, she firmly pointed out the boundaries that should never be crossed.
She was a woman filled with contradictions.
"...But in the end, you still didn't get Artoas back. Is that really alright?"
As Blake continued thinking about Angelina, Mason broke the silence.
"It doesn't matter."
"...Pardon? But—"
"I stopped it from falling into the Crown Prince's hands. That's enough for now."
Blake wasn't the only one who had learned that Artoas was being auctioned at Flobert.
Crown Prince Aiden Grandonia had discovered it as well.
The Crown Prince spared no effort in searching for Blake's weaknesses.
Which meant he would certainly attend the auction in an attempt to obtain Artoas.
Anyone else would have been troublesome enough.
But if the Crown Prince acquired it...
The consequences would be far worse.
That was why Blake had pushed aside every other concern and hurried here first.
"But isn't Flobert one of the Empress's people? If so, won't it eventually end up in the Crown Prince's hands anyway?"
Mason voiced his concern.
"...No."
Blake slowly shook his head.
His narrowed eyes drifted toward the direction where Angelina had disappeared.
"That woman won't hand the sword over to her brother."
"...How can you be so sure?"
"...Just a feeling."
Ridiculous as it sounded...
It truly was nothing more than instinct.
That contradictory woman...
She would never interfere with the authority that belonged to her older brother.
Their conversation today had already proven that much.
