Rubica wanted to get her head out of the dukes hand, but his white and long fingers were stronger than they looked, so she couldnt.

Unlike before, the duke looked down at Rubica with his eyes full of anger. She thought that expression looked better as it was livelier than the early face which resembled a marble sculpture.

You dont have any intentions of becoming the duchess. What does that mean? You dont want to marry me?

Yes, Rubica answered plainly, trying to soothe her inner anxiety. Soon, the anger grew bigger. Duke Claymore wasnt used to getting rejected. He trembled in anger and lifted his hand.

Was he going to hit her?

Rubica instinctively closed her eyes and raised her hands to cover her face. However, she didnt feel the pain. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at the duke through her fingers. He was looking down at her, dumbfounded.

He had lifted his hand not to hit her but to call his servant. He came to his senses when his gaze met Rubicas.

He muttered, Carl.

The voice was low, but it was enough. An old man, who seemed to be his butler, immediately came to his side.

Wheres the messenger?

Im sorry, Your Grace. He is not here right now.

I thought he said Ms. Rubica Berner has agreed to this marriage.

it must have been a misunderstanding.

Butler Carl bowed his head, and the atmosphere felt like freezing. Nevertheless, Rubica found hope in the situation. Judging from their conversation, the duke seemed to think she had accepted his proposal.

Wouldnt he cancel it if she told him her story?

Even though the mans face seemed merciless, apart from its beauty, Rubica found the courage and was about to speak.

Oh my, Rubica!

Unfortunately, Mrs. Berner found her before that. She was coming out of the main gate herself with the servants to find the missing Rubica. The moment she spotted her, she ran to her to grab her hair.

However, her merciless hand couldnt find its target.

What are you doing?

Stephen, who had been kneeling next to Rubica, quickly stood up to grab that hand. Mrs. Berner saw the splendid mana stone carriage only then.

She thought she had seen that emblem before, but she couldnt recall to whom it belonged to.

And although the man who was tightly holding her hand was wearing a mask, he seemed to be noble. She immediately realized that things were going wrong.

Was it a nobleman of a high rank who had happened to be passing by the mansion? She feared that Duke Claymore would get to hear the rumor of her grabbing Rubicas hair.

Oh, um, its, I was just so surprised and worried.

I guess it is a merchants manner to grab a persons hair when surprised and worried.

The man was most certainly scolding her, and Mrs. Berner could feel her face heating up. She then turned her head to see the face of the man who spoke so rudely. First, she could see that he was extremely handsome. But differently from Rubica, it didnt give her any thrill at all. What moved her heart were the clothes he was wearing.

The Berners were not rich enough to live on the revenue their land gave them, so as the wife of a merchant, she had seen all kinds of precious goods. His clothes were made of invaluable fabric. Additionally, the buttons on his sleeves were clearly diamonds.

I wasnt going to grab her hair, good sir.

Edgar coldly looked at the woman who bowed down as soon as she checked his clothes.

He was neither disappointed nor disgusted.

To him, that kind of attitude was one of the things he experienced every day. He thought about scolding her more, but he stopped when seeing Rubicas fierce glare.

She had been glaring at him, clearly accusing him, from when he started to mock the womans action.

it was rude of me to mock her occupation.

However, it was interesting. Everyone he had met till now never pointed out even if he acted rudely. They always smiled at him as if Duke Claymore was right to act so.

But Rubica was different, and she even said she didnt want to marry him. That was truly unexpected. He had only met women who were eager to get married to him.

Additionally, there was something that he had to know. The messenger he had sent to the Berner Mansion had told him Rubica had accepted his proposal and her patrons, her uncle and his wife, had given their permission.

However, the Rubica in front of him didnt want the marriage.

The consequence would have been the same, anyway.

Edgar coldly stared at the woman bowing at him.

According to the information about Rubica he had received, she had to be Mrs. Berner. However, he decided it wouldnt do him any good to show Rubica that he knew everything about her.

Tell me who you are.

I am Irene Berner, sir. This is my husbands niece who we are raising. The child got wrong thoughts for a while and ran away, so we were looking for her I was, I was too worried that I lost my reason.

She was going to use her unique way of talking, which she sometimes used to convince customers, to get away with this. If it had been any other occasion, Edgar would have let her be, even if he could plainly see what she wanted. However, he had just heard his fianc say she didnt want the marriage. Edgar didnt like it.

He had already gotten the special permission from the king. He didnt want to get humiliated. He didnt want to look at Mrs. Berner who couldnt even convince Rubica properly.

My fianc is way too old, both to be raised and to be punished like that for running away.

Mrs. Berners eyes shook.

Only then, she realized who the nobleman was.

Sir, no, Your Grace!

She quickly bent down to grab the dukes foot. However, he didnt want any contact with her and moved his foot back. Stephen wasnt going to let her take the dukes foot, either. He held her hand even tighter.

I, I can explain.

I dont need your explanation.

Rubica looked at the man who didnt even look at her aunt and came to her to offer his hand.

The only person who has the privilege to explain now is my fianc.

Oh, his eyes are like a cold ocean, Rubica thought so as she looked up at the man with the cold smile. She was enchanted by his beautiful blue eyes and put her hand on his hand.

Then, the cold smile turned slightly warmer. Before Rubica could realize what she had done, he grabbed her hand tightly and escorted her into the carriage.

The interior was literally a noblemans room.

Unlike stagecoaches driven by horses, a carriage that moved through the mana stones power didnt shake. Because of that, there was a carpet on the floor instead of fluffy wool. There were even a table and chairs.

On the table, there were documents the duke had been looking at only a while ago. The butler quickly removed them and had Rubica sit down on the opposite chair of the duke.

Your Grace, I will go out and take care of things.

do it quietly, so that it wont be heard here.

The voice was so cold that it woke Rubica up. She wondered what they meant by taking care of things, but at the same time, she didnt want to know. The butler lightly bowed and went out, closing the door behind him.

Even the carriage was bigger and better than a stagecoach, but it was still a carriage. Rubica felt uncomfortable at being left alone with the beautiful man in there alone. She couldnt dare to look into his eyes and looked down. Then, she saw the dukes long fingers.

Theyre long, about 1.5 times longer than normal peoples fingers. Oh, and his fingernails are neat. Does he have them trimmed? And his skin is also clear and smooth like marble.

What kind of gem would look good on those fingers? Warm rings like gold wouldnt fit his fingers.

Differently from what suited Rubica, warm jewels were not for him. Cold jewels were going to match his hands. Like sapphire no, such beautiful hands would be better without any splendid rings.

She had thoughts like these, from time to time, about pretty girls, but never about a man. She suddenly thought she wanted to feel his hands, but her face turned red because of that. Then, one of the hands suddenly moved to grab and lift Rubicas chin.

You dont even want to look at my face?

He didnt know that Rubica had been imagining about his hands, so his voice was quite ruff. However, he was surprised to see her red cheeks. He let go of her chin.

I was just feeling awkward, Your Grace.

call me Edgar.

I dont deserve to call you by your name, Your Grace.

Yes, you do.

He took out an envelope from one of the tables drawers and offered it to Rubica. The envelope had the kings symbol.

Rubicas hand shook while taking it. She didnt even have to open it. The special permission issued by the king had to be inside.

She just threw it on the desk without opening it. Then, they could tell the king that there had been a misunderstanding and cancel the marriage.

Of course, the king could be angry and have her name erased from the aristocrats list, but she didnt care. Her title was nothing more than a useless name to her.

Your Grace, I have something to tell you.