At the same time Hans had been sent to bring Roman back, within the castle, following the servant’s guidance, Viscount Lawrence and Flora were walking towards the guest room.
“Flora.”
“Yes, father.”
“This meeting was prepared to undo your mistakes. Be especially careful with your words and actions.”
“…I understand.”
Flora nodded her head with a helpless expression.
The day Roman subjugated the Blood Fang, the norm that made up Flora’s world totally collapsed.
Roman Dmitry, who was known as Dmitry’s Fool, was a greater man than she thought, and the Lawrence family was in such a desperate situation that they had no choice but to cling to the Dmitry family.
An impulsive choice that Flora thought was the right thing to do for her life had ruined everything for Lawrence.
Now, she understood the reality that her father, who was always kind and gave Flora everything she ever requested, had a reason to proceed with the wedding even after hearing about Roman’s reputation of being Dmitry’s Fool.
It was truly sad.
Honestly, she didn’t regret the fact that Roman was a different man from the rumors, but she hated her own actions for not being able to face the family’s difficulties and solve them.
How hard has it been for you, father?
The appearance of her father telling her the truth about Roman and yelling at her overlapped with the image of him discussing her arranged marriage with difficulty.
However, even in that difficult situation, her father hadn’t forced her.
He had given her a choice, and Flora made her own decision; however, since she couldn’t take responsibility for her choices, she had to face her father’s anger.
‘It’s a problem I have to solve. Not because Roman Dmitry is someone different from his reputation, but because Lawrence needs Dmitry’s power to survive the conflict with the Barco family. So, let’s accept reality. I’m an adult and can’t always remain as Lawrence’s flower.’
She clenched her teeth.
Then, they arrived at the guest room.
However, there was no host welcoming them.
Only a cold wind blew in the spacious waiting room, and the servant said he would return to serve the tea and then left the waiting room.
“It looks like we will have to wait.”
This meeting was unscheduled.
However, even if he came in the morning without notice, the fact that he had the title of Viscount and was here to discuss the arranged marriage should be enough reason for him to be welcomed by Baron Romero immediately.
Regardless, he was guided to a waiting room without meeting Baron Romero or Roman Dmitry.
Also, the servant saying he would bring the tea first meant that Lawrence’s visit was not pleasant to Dmitry.
He sighed and sat down on the sofa.
He was determined to accomplish his visit’s purpose.
Viscount Lawrence and Flora both expected this was how Dmitry would react, so they just drank tea in the silent space and waited endlessly.
However…
Waiting also had limits.
One hour, maybe even two hours.
But when even more time passed, Viscount Lawrence’s expression began to harden with each passing moment.
I don’t know how much time has passed.
He had certainly reached Dmitry before the sun had fully risen, but now he could see the sun setting outside the guest room’s window. They were being blatantly ignored. He understood Flora had made an unforgivable mistake, but it was unreasonable to spend such a long time sitting and waiting in the guest room.
Eventually, he reached his limit.
‘It shouldn’t be like this.’
Boiling inside, Viscount Lawrence jumped up from his seat.
“I’ll have to go and meet Baron Dmitry myself.”
Baron Romero’s office.
The tightly closed door suddenly opened.
With a face flushed with anger, Viscount Lawrence had slammed the door open and entered the office. Then, he spoke reproachingly, “Baron Dmitry! What kind of family etiquette is it to keep guests waiting this long? If you were not satisfied with our visit, you could have just told us to return back when we arrived. However, I did not know that the Dmitry family could be so rude to their guests!”
Waiting for a long time, he was severely hurt.
He couldn’t even continue speaking properly because of the thought of Dmitry being deliberately retaliatory to them.
Tap.
Baron Romero put down his pen.
He, who had just looked through the payment documents, looked at Viscount Lawrence without the slightest change in the expression on his face.
“I understand why you are angry, Viscount Lawrence. However, was today’s meeting scheduled in advance?”
“I admit that we came unannounced. However, we are only here now because you had turned down our offer to meet with Roman a week ago and then didn’t contact us any further. If you had made your intentions clear from the beginning and hadn’t treated us like this, I would not have been as much hurt as I am now.”
“How can I dare to humiliate and ignore the Viscount? I just want to convey that this problem only arose because it was an unplanned meeting.”
A week ago, Roman had gone into closed-door seclusion.1
It wasn’t that he had intentionally avoided the meeting with the Viscount, but it was a situation in which he had no choice but to refuse the meeting, even if he was Baron Romero.
But there was another problem.
“However…”
Baron Romero’s expression suddenly hardened.
His calm voice was clearly distorted, and the anger he had struggled to suppress till now finally erupted.
“Are you this upset after merely waiting until the sun went down? The day Flora visited Dmitry for the first time, Roman came to me and informed me about the breakup. Back then, I was angry at him and asked him to take responsibility. However, even a three-year-old kid would have known that the breakup was not done by Roman but by Flora. I believed that’s how he wanted things to be, so I forgot about that problem nevertheless. I just kept my mouth shut and acted like I didn’t know about it.”
A few days after that, Roman subjugated the Blood Fang.
But was he happy with that fact?
Of course not.
His heart pounded while he sat down.
He was afraid his precious son might have gotten hurt.
Baron Romero couldn’t keep his composure until he was informed that his son was fine.
And… the culprit behind it all was Lawrence.
Flora Lawrence.
If she had revealed the fact of the breakup herself, there would have been no danger to Roman.
“We were notified of the breakup without any discussion beforehand. It was Lawrence who wanted the marriage first; however, regardless of our will, we had no choice but to accept a one-sided breakup. However, Viscount Lawrence, now you come to me and rebuke me for not greeting you any earlier. Even though it was a meeting that was not scheduled in advance, you just came here boldly while acting like you hadn’t done anything wrong!”
Slam!
His hand hit the table.
As Baron Romero rose from his seat, his majestic appearance overwhelmed Flora, who had arrived after Viscount Lawrence.
“Are you kidding me right now?”
His expression was ferocious. It clearly showed his hostility towards the Viscount.
The situation had taken a turn for the worse.
Baron Romero.
He had crossed the line.
Although he was of lower status in terms of titles, he had no hesitation in expressing his anger towards the Viscount.
“What did you think this marriage meant, Viscount Lawrence? A marriage between two people who love each other? The union of two families? Such fancy words have nothing to do with this marriage.”
Due to his contribution to the war, Romero Dmitry was gifted the title of Baron.
He was someone who had barely made his way into the world of nobility.
However, among the nobles who settled in the North-Eastern part of the Cairo Kingdom, no one could openly ignore Baron Dmitry.
Yes, the world is like that.
Power and identity both decide where someone stands in society.
The owner of the iron mines, Baron Romero, possessed incredible wealth.
Due to that, Viscount Lawrence couldn’t say anything.
Moreover, what the Baron had said was actually true.
Viscount Lawrence knew that Dmitry had power, so he made a request to Baron Romero for the marriage between their families.
It would have been a real bonus if the marriage proceeded with his second son and not Dmitry’s Fool, but still, the union with Dmitry was a necessity for Lawrence’s future.
Due to this, Baron Romero’s anger was natural.
His voice, which was calm at first, had now turned ferocious as if it would prey on Viscount Lawrence.
“The Viscount and I are well aware of the essence of the arranged marriage. This is not just a matter of the relationship between the children of both families. The Barco family is aiming for the fertile land of the Lawrence family. As they have already gotten the central government’s approval, it wouldn’t be unusual for the two families to go to war at any time. A month ago, I was contacted by the Barco family. They said that if we married Barco instead of Lawrence, they would not only give us a connection to the central government but also give us part of the Lawrence estate. Still, I turned down the Barco family’s offer. What do you think was the reason, Viscount?”
“…Why did you refuse them? The Barco family’s proposal would have been much more beneficial to Dmitry.”
“The reason is simple. The Dmitry family has power, so we were able to choose what we wanted.”
The Barco family was a dangerous enemy.
Holding hands with them meant a peaceful future, but it would be different otherwise.
However, those who have power do not need to seek compromise.
“Roman wanted to marry Flora. He said that there was no one more beautiful than her in the whole world. Due to the sole reason that Dmitry’s eldest son admired Lawrence’s Flower, I decided to go to war with the Barco family. There was no other reason than that. Even if my decision shed a lot of Dmitry’s blood, I just hoped my eldest son would get what he wanted.”
Refusing the offer of Barco was undoubtedly a loss for Dmitry.
Many people were saying that Dmitry made that choice to enter the aristocratic world in earnest; in fact, even Baron Romero gave a similar reason when he had punished Roman.
However, the truth was different. If it had not been for the marriage Roman wished for, Dmitry would never have suffered any loss.
Still, he held hands with Lawrence despite understanding the situation.
From the beginning, the Lawrence family was the one in a favorable situation, but they did not understand the whole truth.
However, the cup had already been spilled.
The breakup was a huge mistake.
From the time Flora Lawrence mentioned breaking up with Roman, the Lawrence family had already stepped into muddy water.
’…I made a huge mistake.’
Viscount Lawrence’s expression turned pale.
He realized it just now.
I should have endured it until the end.
Even though Roman Dmitry refused to meet and made him wait for the sun to go down, Viscount Lawrence should have maintained his composure until the end.
It wasn’t a normal relationship in the first place.
It was the Lawrence family who had a reason for marriage, and besides, there was no right to be angry since they were the ones who mentioned the breakup first.
It was honestly stupid.
Due to his low self-esteem, Viscount Lawrence thought that Dmitry was ignoring Lawrence.
‘I ended up making a mistake myself after telling Flora to be careful with her words and actions. Dmitry’s anger is understandable. Since we made a fool of them by unilaterally breaking the marriage, we shouldn’t have had anything to say about how they treated us.’
It was a miserable reality.
Baron Romero spoke the truth once again.
“Lawrence’s Flower and Dmitry’s Fool. We both know better than anyone else that the reputations of the man and woman do not match. However, Lawrence should have kept in mind who Roman was. Even if the daughter of the Lawrence family is the flower that everyone desires, the moment Dmitry is attached to Roman’s name, his value changes. Therefore, it is Lawrence, not us, who hangs on to this marriage and desperately needs for it to happen.”
Dmitry’s Fool.
A blacksmith house.
The nobles looked down on Dmitry’s roots, but no one could dare to belittle them out loud.
Why?
It was because Dmitry had power.
Dmitry was considered the head of the North-East region.
Still upset, Baron Romero shifted his cold eyes from Viscount Lawrance and looked straight at Flora, who was standing there without saying a word.
“Am I wrong?”
An impulsive choice.
Because of that foolish choice, Lawrence’s pitiful situation was exposed.
