Published at 16th of July 2019 05:58:53 AM Chapter 34

The Home of Marquis Victaire

Its a pleasure to welcome to my humble home, Duke Fall .

No no, the pleasure is all mine if anything, I should be thankful for you obliging my sudden visit like this .

The man in front of me was Marquis Taurus Victaire, head of the Victaire family . And right now, Im being introduced into his home but, just why am I here, you ask? Well, thats because I couldnt simply accept the information I had heard from my father lying down .

So if I may ask, what brings you here today, Duke Fall?

After exchanging pleasantries, Marquis Victaire asked me a straight ball question, so I did my best to wear a gentle mask as I answered him .

Ah, well, I heard that you were very close to my father, the previous Duke Fall, so I definitely wanted to meet such a man for myself .

I am very grateful to hear that, though I am sure you are much closer to the previous Duke Fall than I could ever hope to be .

Im still getting used to this, but there was something in the way that Marquis Victaire chose his words that almost seemed like a slight, but well, Im not really one for roundabout conversations like this, so I cut straight to the matter at hand .

I also heard from my father that you have asked about the matter of my daughters engagement, Marquis Victaire .

Then, youre here to accept our offer?

Absolutely not . Well, thats what I wanted to say, but I managed to choke those words down as I wore a fake smile .

I cannot agree so readily since I have to consider every option when it comes to my daughters future . However, I did hear that your son is quite close in age to my daughter, Marquis Victaire, so I do hope that they can get along, especially since it can be quite hard to find suitable playmates amongst nobility .

Honestly, when I heard that the Victaire family had contacted my father about potentially matching Laurier with their son, I didnt know just what Id end up doing, but for now, I decided to at least take a relatively peaceful approach .

If the time came where I couldnt avoid matching Laurier with a fiance anymore, it would be good to build positive relationships with as many likely houses as I could so that Laurier and I could decidetogetherwho would be the best match for her .

Of course, the very idea of anyone taking my daughter as their fiance twisted a knot in my gut, but it was important that there was someone who Laurier could rely on in the future, like Sasha can rely on me .

Being her father, I couldnt realistically support Laurier for her entire life or rather, I dont want to ruin my bond with Laurier as father and child so, it was important that there was someone there who I felt could support Laurier in the future, so that I never felt the urge to interfere in her life and potentially make her hate me .

Besides, I already have Sasha . If I cling to Laurier too much and dont let her ever leave the nest, I can see her potentially getting jealous .

As strong as Sasha and Laurier are, theres no way they can always stand alone, so its important that they both have someone who they can rely on when times are tough .

Well, I dont know if the perfect guy thats worthy of her actually exists out there, but Im not going to make any compromises when it comes to Lauriers happiness .

Well, of course, we wish for the same thing . By all means, it would be excellent to have my son meet your daughter

Before that Id like to meet your son, if at all possible, is he free today?

As I said that, Marquis Victaires courteous smile twitched slightly, as he cast a glance to the butler that stood behind him .

Yes that should be fine, but it may take some a few days to prepare my son to meet your daughter, so perhaps if we can schedule that meeting between them for another date

Marquis Victaire seems almost obsessive in trying to bring his son and my daughter together . It wouldnt be such an unusual thing, but just what is this strange feeling Ive had for a little while now?

Even if I may have to wait a while, I would like to meet him today by all means would I be imposing upon you too much?

No its just, it would be unthinkable to keep a man like Duke Fall waiting like that

Hmm yeah, theres definitely something up . Theres something strange about how he really wants to keep me from seeing his son today . Rather, to be honest, it feels like hes hiding something .

Honestly, I wish I could just go home as well, but I dont want my father to be bothered with these engagement proposals anymore, so it would be best to wrap this all up as fast as I can . Even if I plan on refusing the offer, I want to see the boys face at least once whats more, if this house really is full of landmines like my intuition is telling me, then I can easily cross it off the list for Laurier .

If I discover any pitfalls or skeletons in the closet, I can use them as grounds to decline, and if I find any exploitable weaknesses I can use them to force the Victaire house to withdraw their offer using whatever means I see fit .

With those kinds of dark thoughts in my mind, I played along with Marquis Victaire .