——————
HEL SCANS
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Starfall]
——————
Chapter 5 – Shall I Send The Proposal?
As soon as Princess Helena left the ballroom, the nobles who had been insulting Selina also left in a hurry. Eric, too, excused himself to escort Ingrid, leaving few people in the lounge.
Selina, oblivious to the situation, frowned at Morgan Patel, who was looking at her and the Grand Duke with disapproval.
‘Why hasn’t he left yet? He needs to leave so I can ask His Grace what’s going on. I won’t be able to sleep tonight if I don’t know.’
Morgan, unaware of Selina’s thoughts, said, “Lady Arsene, you are being rude to the end.”
Will let out a scoff. “It seems Young Master Patel is quite the coward.”
“Excuse me?”
“You accuse the vulnerable Lady Arsene of being alone with His Grace, but not the Grand Duke himself. To me, that seems cowardly.”
“No, I…”
“Have I been rude?”
“That’s not what I…”
“If I have misunderstood you, would you care to clarify in a more gentlemanly manner outside?”
Will made a gesture of throwing down his glove, prompting Morgan to quickly apologize.
“My… My apologies.”
A duel with Will Chase, renowned for his swordsmanship? Morgan, who had never held a sword properly, immediately backed down.
“Ah… I must return to the ballroom. Let’s discuss this later, Lady Arsene, Your Grace.”
With that, Morgan left.
Now only three remained in the lounge.
“I shall go check on the situation in the ballroom. If anyone asks, all three of us were here.”
“But…”
Before Selina could finish, Will had disappeared.
“Were you surprised by my sudden intervention?”
Now that they were alone, Selina froze at the sound of Janus’s voice.
“I merely wished to help, since you seemed to be in trouble.”
At his words, Selina looked up at Janus and thought,
‘The Grand Duke, who is rumored to know nothing but war, has such a pleasant voice. And his gaze has been so intense…’
“My lady?”
Seeing Selina’s silence, Janus took a step closer and spoke, a hint of anxiety in his voice.
“If you’re worried about your reputation, I will take responsibility. I heard you are soon to break off your engagement. Once that’s settled, you can marry me…”
“What?”
Selina, who had been listening quietly as if entranced by Janus’s voice, snapped back to reality and asked, “Your Grace, are you proposing to me?”
“I wouldn’t have claimed we were alone if I didn’t intend to.”
Janus’s brow furrowed slightly.
“It’s a great dishonor for a noble lady to be alone with a man without a promise of marriage. I may have been on the battlefield for a long time, but I’m not ignorant of such things.”
Janus lowered his head, looking directly into Selina’s eyes as he spoke.
“I put you in a position where you had to say such things in front of everyone, so I will take responsibility for you.”
‘No, no, this isn’t right.’
Selina, trying to regain her composure, took a step back and closed her eyes.
This was the first time Selina had seen Janus since they were children.
Back when Janus lived in the imperial palace before he left for the battlefield.
Their only encounter was when she used to play with Eric in the palace, before Janus had earned the title of Grand Duke of Justia.
‘That was over ten years ago. After that, I was busy at the academy. And when I came to the capital at fourteen, I couldn’t attend the victory banquet because it was after my debutante ball.’
The victory banquet held after Selina’s debutante ball was the same one where the fountain incident had occurred three months ago.
‘Even then, I couldn’t properly greet him because I was running away. We’re not close enough to lie to each other, let alone discuss marriage.’
Selina, who had been trying hard to figure out why Janus was acting this way, suddenly started to see things from a different angle.
‘This situation isn’t bad. Thanks to the Grand Duke, I escaped today’s crisis, and I have three exclusive rights to claim from the Crown Prince.’
Janus Justia was the only Grand Duke in the Sephia Empire and had a significant influence on the surrounding empires.
Naturally, he was a marriage prospect who could greatly benefit the family business.
‘And I could become the wife of the next most powerful man after the future emperor. The Grand Duchess. It’s a prestigious position. But such a good position suddenly falls into my lap? Why?’
As Selina was racking her brain, a shadow fell over her again.
“Shall I send the proposal to Count Arsene tomorrow?”
Selina couldn’t keep up with Janus’s relentless pace, as he seemed determined to forge ahead before she could fully process the situation.
‘Why are so many crazy things happening today?’
She had narrowly escaped being branded a traitor to the empire, and now she was on the precipice of becoming the Grand Duchess, a position that would make her the object of envy and jealousy to the entire empire.
‘Calm down. Don’t fall for that handsome face.’
Selina took a step back and tried to answer calmly.
“Your Grace.”
Janus looked at her with deep, unreadable eyes.
“I….”
* * *
Back at the Count’s estate, Selina gave instructions, exhausted.
“I’m tired. Nora, help me change, and Cathy, please check the bathwater.”
The Arsene family was wealthy and ran a large trading company.
However, Selina couldn’t live like a delicate flower in this wealthy family.
Her living quarters were in the east wing of the mansion, a separate building previously used for guests.
Only Count Arsene, Selina, a minimal number of maids, two ladies-in-waiting, and the butler were allowed in this area.
It was only in recent years that she had been able to impose such restrictions on access.
“Miss, the bath is ready.”
Selina closed her eyes for a moment as she soaked in the warm water.
She recalled what had just happened and laughed self-deprecatingly.
‘They were openly rejoicing about the prospect of my broken engagement. What would they say
if I told them I received a proposal from the Grand Duke today? Would they even believe me?’
Them.
The main reason Selina had to separate her living space was due to the current family structure of the Arsene household.
When Selina was seven, exactly one year after her mother passed away, Count Arsene went against everyone’s wishes and married a commoner woman with a child.
That woman was Flora, the current Countess of Arsene and Selina’s stepmother.
“Selina, this is the woman who will be your mother from now on. She will take care of you when your father is away.”
“Count, I will take care of her as if she were my own. Don’t worry.”
Clinging to Flora’s skirt as she said this was Brandon, Selina’s stepbrother, two years older than her.
As time passed, Brandon grew taller and bulkier, and together with his mother, Flora, they tried to drive Selina out of the family.
He openly declared that he was the next head of the Arsene family, claiming it was only natural
for the eldest son to inherit the family.
‘He’s not even of our bloodline, what nonsense.’
As much as Selina wanted to get rid of Flora and Brandon for their ridiculous claims, she was always held back by her half-brother, Sebastian.
Sebastian, nine years younger than Selina, was Flora’s son and bore a striking resemblance to Count Arsene.
“Miss, let’s get you ready for bed.”
“Alright.”
After her bath, Selina dried her long hair and sat down at her desk to write in her diary.
Her hand, reaching for the diary, paused, and instead, she opened a red velvet box that was kept on the desk.
Inside was a luxurious quill pen with the inscription “Top Graduate of the 35th Sephia Academy.”
Selina gently stroked the tip of the quill.
‘How hard I worked to get this.’
To avoid direct conflict with “them,” Selina had decided to enter the academy at the age of ten.
The scholarship student at the academy.
Even now, this was an inseparable epithet attached to the name Selina Arsene in social circles.
What might be a source of pride for others held a slightly different meaning for Selina.
‘I learned a lot there. Thanks to that, I haven’t given up yet. I will inherit the Arsene family. I will never let it fall into their hands.’
Selina’s eyes shone with determination.
——————
HEL SCANS
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Starfall]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
——————
