For My Birthday, I Was Gifted Five Husbands - Chapter 9
“So, let’s try to sort out this situation.”
After placing all the bouquets in vases (the bouquets were so large that the vases seemed on the verge of overflowing with flowers), Eugenie rubbed her temples and spoke up.
“The reason you’re proposing to me is because you have a contract with my mother, right?”
“That’s right.”
Duke Percival nodded first.
“We all received help from Missus Norton when she was alive.”
“Help from my mother? What kind of help?”
This was the most suspicious part. Eugenie knew that her mother was the most ordinary woman in the world—one with a family so impoverished that they had no relatives to contact, a woman who was overwhelmed by the extravagant behavior of her smitten husband.
Why would such a person help these imposing figures without trying to make any change in her own circumstances? What power did she have?
Everyone seemed to react subtly to this question. Alfred awkwardly cleared his throat.
“Eugenie, I don’t think I can explain that.”
“Why not?”
“Well, given this situation, it’s…”
“I see.”
All these men were from the highest families and wealthy backgrounds. Even if Eugenie was involved, they would want to avoid exposing their vulnerabilities to others.
“Lady Norton,”
Cassius added softly,
“What’s important is that we all received significant help from Missus Theodora Norton. Very significant help.”
“Hmm…”
“And to repay that, we want to help you through marriage.”
“Do you have any proof of what my mother requested?”
Eugenie couldn’t believe that these men had any connection to someone like her mother.
Contrary to Eugenie’s doubts, they all pulled out letters from inside their jackets. Although the paper was of different degrees of fading, they were sealed with a wax seal embossed with the initials ‘T.F.’
‘That’s my mother’s maiden initials, not Theodora Norton.’
The seal marked with ‘T.F,’ derived from the first letters of ‘Theodora Fay,’ was something her mother used only for letters to Eugenie. The handwriting was unmistakable.
[If my daughter, Eugenie Morgan Norton, is not promised to marry by 1 p.m. on the day she turns twenty-four. According to the contract, you shall become her husband and protect her under the legal statutes of Hermeland.]
Eugenie continued to stare at the letters, which all had the same content. The realization hit her hard.
‘My mother… she must have really held a grudge against her own husband to go to such lengths.’
Otherwise, she would never have attempted something like this. And what was with the last line?
‘Isn’t it natural to have only one husband? This isn’t the age of tyrants!’
“Everyone, I can’t possibly take all five of you as husbands. Polygamy isn’t an option.”
“Oh, not at all.”
Carter approached with a smile.
“It’s a sin to marry someone and then meet others, but it’s not a sin to be bound in marriage to several people at once.”
“What?”
Was it acceptable for someone from a family that had traditionally cared for the capital’s temples to say such things?
Even Magnus, Eugenie’s rival from the academy, laughed from the side.
“Legally, polygamy is possible. It’s just that no one but the Emperor has done it, so do you not know that?”
“And do you want to marry me so badly?”
“……”
At Eugenie’s candid question, Magnus fell silent. He seemed to be angry, turning his head sharply, but his pale skin made his reddened ears obvious.
Then, Alfred gently placed a hand on Eugenie’s shoulder.
“Of course, it might be troubling to consider marrying all of us.”
“Ah, of course Brother is being reasonable—”
“But Eugenie, just as every war has its victors and losers, life itself is inherently unfair.”
“Hmm?”
“You don’t need to worry about the feelings of those who can’t have more than one husband.”
It was the strangest form of consolation Eugenie had ever heard.
‘When have I ever been that generous?’
Eugenie knew better than anyone how sharp her words could be when she was determined. But the men had already begun nodding their heads on their own.
“I agree.”
“No, guys.”
“Eugenie, are you going to disregard your late mother’s wishes?”
“Carter……”
