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Taking all circumstances into account, a marriage with the Grand Duke—while radical—was a sound decision for both parties.
For Eileen, it wasn't just a lack of loss; it was an immense gain.
*‘Of course, the right thing to do is to agree.’*
Cesare was no longer the exiled Prince.
Above him was the Emperor, his elder brother, and beneath him was the entire Imperial Army, which he commanded as Generalissimo and Grand Duke.
Now, he was also a hero, the savior of the fatherland, in whose honor a Triumphal Arch was being erected.
A marriage proposal from such a man was something any girl should have been leaping for joy over.
But Eileen couldn't accept it so easily.
Because she knew: he was ruthless by nature and incapable of truly loving anyone.
To Cesare, neither the kiss nor the proposal held any emotional weight.
He had proposed because it was necessary, and he had kissed her simply to make it clear that they could be intimate.
Had another woman been in her place, he would have acted exactly the same way.
The thought caused her unbearable pain.
Because Eileen...
...had been secretly in love with Cesare for years.
She didn't want her long-standing, unrequited love to end in a hollow relationship.
It was better to stay far away from him and occasionally read about him in the newspapers than to become a couple in name only.
A sharp pang shot through her chest.
Eileen’s expression darkened, and Rotan spoke to her gently, yet firmly.
"Even if you don't like it, there’s nothing to be done.
You should have thought of that earlier.
If it weren't for His Grace, you would surely have been dragged to the guillotine."
Rotan’s words were no exaggeration.
If anyone other than Cesare had discovered what she had done, Eileen would have been sentenced to death immediately.
Fiddling uncertainly with the handkerchief and the lemon drops on her lap, Eileen murmured gloomily, "I only wanted to be useful to His Grace..."
In Cesare’s presence, she hadn't been able to utter a single word, but before Rotan, the justifications flowed naturally.
"A powerful analgesic is so desperately needed in war.
I thought it would be a breakthrough..."
Her voice trailed off as a sudden question struck her.
"But how did you find out?"
Morpheus was still in the testing stages.
It was a double-edged sword that she had worked on with extreme caution, and she had never once taken it outside the laboratory.
"I’m more surprised that you thought he *didn't* know."
In response to her question, Rotan simply shook his head in amazement.
"You were buying so much opium—how could he not notice?
At first, we even thought you might have developed an addiction yourself.
Or that someone was swindling you."
"I’m not that foolish..."
"Or have you forgotten how you were once kidnapped, lured away by nothing more than a piece of candy?"
Eileen flushed with indignation.
"I was twelve back then!"
More than ten years had passed since that incident.
And it hadn't been just about one piece of candy.
The kidnapper had given her a whole bag of lemon drops and another of orange ones, which she had never tried before.
And then he had offered to show her a rare plant specimen, so she had followed him.
The reason had been more complex than that, but all of Cesare’s subordinates remembered that Eileen had been kidnapped because of candy.
Rotan grumbled hoarsely, "I remember that commotion like it was yesterday..."
"I don't do things like that anymore," Eileen interrupted him, unwilling to dwell on the memory.
Pressing her cooling palms to her cheeks, she said, "Anyway... if there is any other way, I would like to avoid this marriage.
I’m afraid of becoming a burden to His Grace, and this is all so sudden..."
She spoke with uncertainty, as if blaming herself.
Rotan looked at her intently.
His face showed complete understanding.
Despite his rugged appearance, there was a genuine warmth in his voice.
"It must be hard for you.
But His Grace is only doing this for your own good."
"..."
"And his decision is final."
Eileen knew that herself.
If Cesare had decided to make her his Grand Duchess, then so it would be.
Just as he had once decided to make his brother the Emperor.
Although the outcome felt predetermined, Eileen still attempted a weak resistance.
"Give me a little time.
I need to speak with my father."
At the mention of her father, a flash of distaste crossed Rotan’s eyes, but he quickly composed himself before she could notice.
After a short pause, he changed the subject.
"It’s been a long time since we’ve seen you."
"How have you been?"
"Well...
Why did you stop writing letters?"
Eileen startled and asked, "What?
Letters?"
After Cesare had left for the war three years ago, Eileen had written to him every single day.
For nearly a year, she had faithfully sent letters, but she had never received a single reply.
She hasn't expected one, so she wasn't necessarily disappointed.
It was just a little sad.
"I thought he wasn't reading them.
Since there was no response, I assumed personal letters weren't reaching the front...
Or if they were, that His Grace simply didn't have the time..."
She hadn't wanted to be a nuisance.
So, the following year, she had stopped writing.
For these past three years, she had learned news of Cesare only through the newspapers.
And then today, he had unexpectedly found her himself and proposed.
"Each of your letters brought His Grace immense joy."
If that were true, why hadn't he ever replied?
Most likely, Rotan was just trying to comfort her.
As Cesare’s closest knight, he surely must have seen all her letters being tossed into the trash.
Hiding her bitterness, Eileen forced a tight smile, accepting his comforting lie.
"Now that he’s returned to the capital, letters aren't necessary.
I’ll find another way."
"True.
Just stay by his side."
Without directly answering the hint about her status as Grand Duchess, Eileen remained silent.
Rotan chuckled.
At that moment, the carriage came to a halt.
"We have arrived."
They were at her home.
A cozy two-story brick house with a small garden—an inheritance left to her by her mother.
By the laws of the Empire, it should have gone to her father, but thanks to Cesare’s intervention and her mother’s will, the house had been granted to Eileen.
The orange tree in the garden lazily rustled its green leaves in the wind.
The tree, heavy with orange fruit, added a splash of color to the brick house.
It was an idyllic scene, but in reality, the orange tree sapling had been an expensive gift.
There had been no place for it in the garden of the impoverished Barony of Elodd.
The orange tree, too, had been a gift from Cesare.
Rotan stepped out first and opened the carriage door.
Hearing the rustle of leaves in the wind, he looked at the tree with a look of recognition.
"Has anyone tried to steal the oranges?"
"Of course not."
Since she had been given the seedling, there had been only one thief.
The brave orange thief had been shot by the Grand Duke’s soldiers.
After that, no one dared to even approach the tree, let alone Eileen’s house.
She stole a glance at Rotan, who was escorting her.
The stern-looking man, meeting her eyes, broke into a smile so wide the scars on his face wrinkled.
Like the orange tree that seemed out of place in the House of Elodd, the Grand Duke's knights felt unattainable to Eileen.
They certainly shouldn't have been smiling and chatting with her so casually.
And the Grand Duke himself, even more so...
Eileen forced herself to brighten her mood, which shifted downward, and smiled back.
"Thank you, Lord Rotan.
Would you have time for a cup of tea?"
She didn't want to let him go so soon after their long separation.
Besides, she was curious about what had happened during all that time.
Rotan readily accepted her invitation.
They drank tea in the small living room of the brick house.
Rotan told her how much everyone who knew her had missed her.
"Senon is very eager to see you.
When he heard I was coming here, he asked me about ten times to send his regards."
"Lord Senon?"
"Yes. and not just him.
Michele was also quite restless.
Diego mentions you every chance he gets, but he seems to think you're still a little girl.
He says he bought you a toy rabbit as a gift on the way back to the capital.
I gave him a piece of my mind for that..."