Looking for a Husband to Confine Me - Chapter 10
Chapter 10
“Could you check on Snowy for me?”
[Snowy?]
Slinky tilted its little head, its expression so adorable that I couldn’t help but smile.
I nodded and retrieved the box I had hidden. Inside, the white snake I had brought back from Ronen was curled up, fast asleep.
It was definitely alive, but it hadn’t woken up since that day.
[Is that its name, Snowy?]
“I just gave it a temporary name for now.”
Because it was white.
Simple names are easy to remember, after all.
Just in case, I went to a veterinarian specializing in animals the day after I brought Snowy back. But even they couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
It had a normal body temperature and moved as if it were breathing, but it never moved with any intention.
Slinky climbed onto my hand and gently poked the white body.
[Hmm, well, even if you ask me….]
Of course, Slinky wouldn’t know either, but I had to ask.
I was worried about how long it would stay like this.
“I need to go see Ronen.”
Maybe Snowy had eaten something strange in Ronen’s space, which is why it was like this. Besides, I had something to ask him.
I needed additional information on the candidates I had shortlisted.
***
I went to see Ronen around sunset, but he wasn’t there. He hadn’t come back even though it was dark.
It seemed like I had missed him today. I ended up returning home empty-handed.
“My lady, you’re back?”
Tepine greeted me.
Recently, the other members of the family had been avoiding me like they had made a pact. I rarely saw their faces, and it seemed like they thought I would be upset if they didn’t even speak to me.
‘As if.’
Seeing their faces was more tiring.
“Anything interesting happen today?”
The only problem was that Tepine had more work to do because of them. The family kept asking her to do things, even for the smallest things.
So much so that she couldn’t even do her own work.
“Nothing major, but there were a few calls asking for you.”
“For me?”
She nodded.
“First, Grand Duke Hector came by.”
“Hector came?”
What was going on? I thought I wouldn’t see Hector until I went to see him first, so it was unexpected. Now that I think about it, I did feel Hector’s gaze during yesterday’s commotion with Damian.
“What was it about?”
“I’m not sure. Master greeted him, they talked for a while, and then he left. He said to tell you he’d come again when you were around.”
“I see. Thanks.”
Since I missed him today, he’d probably come back in three days. I could contact him first, but I wasn’t really curious about why he came to see me.
I was already struggling just trying to get things done.
Besides, I already knew what he wanted to say without even asking.
‘He probably wants to talk about the annulment.’
He had expressed his desire to annul the engagement, but he hadn’t officially submitted the annulment papers.
Under Imperial law, annulment also required the submission of annulment papers. The process was simpler than divorce, but it was still more troublesome than getting married. Both parties had to agree to the annulment.
So he had no choice but to come see me.
‘I’ll contact him when I have time.’
It was more urgent for him to annul the engagement than it was for me.
“Also, you received a few letters, but…”
Tepine hesitated, looking troubled. She fidgeted with her fingers and chewed her lip.
“Why?”
“Master took them, so I couldn’t check where they were sent from.”
“It’s okay. I’ll check myself.”
That’s why she looked so troubled. The family rarely returned my letters, so Tepine usually kept them hidden.
But she failed to sneak them away today, so she was in a difficult position.
Another annoying thing was that the family had been paying more attention to my affairs lately. They seemed to be watching me, worried that I might be doing something strange, so they took all the letters that arrived at the mansion and opened them first. They didn’t even tell me properly.
“I’m sorry. I should have hidden them first.”
“It’s okay. It’s not like they would have let you get away with hiding them.”
Those letters were destined to be taken from me anyway.
I reassured Tepine that it was okay, and then I went to see my parents. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. It seemed like they were coming to see me.
“Amelia!”
My father called out my name loudly as he approached. The floor seemed to tremble with each step he took.
“It’s been a while. Mother, Father.”
I calmly looked at them. Why were they coming to see me today? It seemed like only my parents were here, as if Rettie had gone out.
“It’s been a while?”
My father picked up on the end of my sentence.
“Why do you say that?”
“Huh?”
“What have you been doing, running around like this?”
Behind the mocking voice of Frad Hazel, mimicking my words, my mother spoke. Her sharp tone made me tilt my head in confusion. She was holding a crumpled piece of paper, likely a letter addressed to me, which she had already opened. I wondered why she couldn’t wait to deliver it.
‘Did I do something?’ I thought. Nothing seemed to warrant such agitation from the two of them.
“You just get angry at me without saying anything. I don’t know anything,” I said, extending my hand towards my mother, as if to ask for the paper she held.
Hytine Hazel, her lips pressed together, handed me the letter. It took a while to straighten it out, considering how tightly she had been gripping it.
“What kind of mess have you gotten yourself into that the Knights are contacting you?!” she exclaimed.
I quickly scanned the letter as I listened to her. It was a brief message from the Crow, the Crown Prince’s personal knights, requesting an investigation into the incident at the banquet.
‘Why are they contacting me?’
I had no idea that this would lead me to the Imperial Palace. Wasn’t everything settled? They couldn’t possibly suspect me, could they?
‘No, they wouldn’t.’
I had tried to keep things under wraps, but there were so many unexpected events that had transpired. From getting entangled with Damian to being implicated in a poisoning case and even facing Bashar Kisha directly, I had attracted a lot of attention. The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became.
The Kishan princes were under the Crown Prince’s jurisdiction, which explained why the Crow, his knights, had contacted me. The mansion where the Kishan princes resided, along with their escorts, were all under the Crown Prince’s authority.
“Explain yourself. What happened!”
As expected, there was no trace of worry in the eyes that stared at me. Instead, I saw only anticipation, a desire to exploit any damage I might have caused to the Count’s family and use it to their advantage.
“It’s… complicated,” I mumbled, not feeling the need to explain myself, nor having the energy to do so.
Finally, I sighed and uttered a vague response.
“What?”
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle it.”
“You handled it by getting engaged to the Grand Duke and then getting it annuled!”
“You act as you please, and problems arise. I’m so worried. From now on, even the smallest things…”
“If I leave it to you, it’ll really end with poverty,” I interrupted, not wanting to hear the rest of my mother’s words, which were clearly meant to control my every move.
“Mother, Father, if you handle it, won’t it end with not only a disinheritance but also a huge debt?”
“What are you saying?”
“Amelia!”
“Please, just leave me alone. Besides, didn’t we agree that I was dead last time?”
Ignoring their voices, I climbed the stairs. There was nothing to be gained from further conversation.
“This won’t do. My dear, we need to find another match, someone other than the Grand Duke! We can’t leave Amelia like this.”
“Hmm, I knew she was capable of this. Tsk, tsk!”
My scoff was barely audible as I listened to their following conversation.
‘I knew they’d react like this. They don’t care about me, it’s my reputation they’re worried about, the one that’s going to be tarnished because of this mess. They’re afraid I’ll become useless to them.’
***
As the saying goes, the more you’re told not to do something, the more you want to do it. If they begged me not to cause trouble, I’d show them what real trouble was.
‘Should I just go ahead and cause a huge problem?’
I had to deal with the mess I had created.
“I never planned on entering the Imperial Palace, even if it was for this,” I muttered, frowning.
I had received a message from the Crow, the Crown Prince’s knights, yesterday, and was on my way to the Imperial Palace today. I wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.
“Amelia.”
A familiar voice reached my ears as I left the mansion. My frown deepened. I turned my head, my expression hardening, and there he was, Hector, standing before me.
He was still my fiancé, and he was wearing the same warm smile.
I slowly turned my head, scanning my surroundings. Was there anything near the Hazel’s mansion that Hector might have business with? I knew it was pointless, but as expected, there was nothing.
This meant he was here for me.
