🌸 Chapter 4 🌸

Ares almost felt strangely excited because Herina had such a confident and meaningful smile.

Herina opened the guest list and began reading the names one by one.

“You may not know this, but two years ago, there was a huge war between the continents. Of course, you also fought in that war. Luckily, our Aden Empire won, but as you know, many people were killed or injured in a war.”

Ares did not understand why she suddenly brought up the war, so he waited for her to continue.

“Nobles were not an exception, of course. The people whose names I just read are nobles who suffered permanent injuries in that war. You can tell from their family names that they come from some very powerful families, right?”

“……”

“Even if they don’t like anything else about our plan, they will probably be happy about having tables and chairs arranged for them. They won’t have to force their injured bodies to dance. In fact, after the war, high-ranking nobles rarely danced at banquets.”

Ares nodded. He had not known about this, but it was a reasonable explanation.

“Even so, people close to me may become suspicious. You noticed that I had become younger immediately.”

In truth, there was not a huge difference between seventeen-year-old Ares and twenty-four-year-old Ares.

He could simply say that he had lost weight, and looking a little younger would not be a big problem.

But Herina did not disagree with him.

She wanted to keep this as a weakness that only she knew about.

“People who are close to me would find it even stranger. If I suddenly became younger, strange rumors might spread. They might say I was cursed by a god or that I used some forbidden medicine.”

Herina agreed with him and decided to make what had happened to him sound as serious as possible.

That would make it easier to isolate Ares.

“Exactly. If people say that the head of the Habinent family has been cursed… You know, there used to be witch hunts in the past! Even though they don’t happen anymore, you could still be treated like a witch!”

She whispered the words witch hunt with extra emphasis.

The young Ares innocently nodded firmly.

“Anyway, that is the problem… Is there some way to hide your face properly? It would be good if people could still know that you’re you, while completely hiding the fact that you’ve become younger.”

Herina thought about it.

The nobles would probably not notice anything strange.

But she needed some kind of method to make sure even Ares could not easily recognize his own changed appearance.

As Herina thought deeply, Ares suddenly spoke.

“But… how did you know from the beginning that I had become younger? Wouldn’t it have been more reasonable to think that I had lost my memories?”

His sharp eyes turned toward Herina.

The suspicion in his eyes had returned.

“Why did you immediately ask me how old I was?”

Herina froze for a moment.

I’m a person who was possessed into this story, so of course I could think of such a strange possibility.

But she could not easily explain the rest.

If she told him too much, she might be giving him a weakness he could use against her.

If this had been the twenty-four-year-old Ares, perhaps this would have been the right time to tell him that she was someone who had been possessed into this world.

But did she really need to tell this little brat?

Her goal was simply to make the marriage happen and enjoy the wealth and luxury of the Duke’s family.

Whether Ares was twenty-four or seventeen, love and truth were not important to her.

What mattered was that she was right on the verge of successfully marrying Ares.

“Well… that’s because…”

“If you’re going to make another poor excuse, you should stop. I still have doubts about you, so explain yourself properly.”

Herina was about to scratch the side of her neck, but she suddenly became serious and shouted.

“Have you looked in a mirror? Until yesterday, I was sleeping right next to my beloved husband! You’ve become a whole head shorter, all your muscles are gone, and your face is soft and smooth. Anyone can see that you look like a boy now! Wouldn’t it be stranger to say that you simply lost your memories?”

Ares felt embarrassed by her tone.

He touched his chin, which did not even have a beard yet.

“Is it really that obvious?”

Herina nodded strongly.

In truth, if someone was not very close to him, they might only think that he looked a little different.

But Herina planned to use this chance to limit his actions.

“Of course it is! That’s why the most important thing is hiding your face! Good heavens, the twenty-four-year-old Duke suddenly became an innocent seventeen-year-old boy overnight!”

“Do you really think the nobles will just sit quietly after hearing about that? They will probably see this as their chance and try everything they can to weaken the Habinent family!”

Well, she wasn’t completely wrong.

The Habinent family was one of the Five Sacred Families, so they had a strong reputation and were greatly respected.

But there were also many families waiting for a chance to push the Habinents aside and take their position.

“That really is a serious problem.”

“Even if we somehow manage to hold the wedding, what happens if I can’t return to normal afterward…?”

“Actually, now that I think about it, I haven’t officially become the Duke yet, so I don’t know much about the Duke’s work.”

“Lady Obelia, have you ever seen or heard anything about my future life beside me?”

Herina wished she could say yes.

But sadly, she knew almost nothing.

Her only plan for life had been to marry a reliable husband and enjoy the comfortable life he would provide.

Whatever the Duke did or whatever problems he faced did not matter to her, as long as her own position remained secure.

“I don’t know everything!”

“But I know enough to be helpful to you. I’ve been by your side for a long time, after all!”

Herina was impressed with herself for lying so naturally.

Before she could even finish thinking, her instincts had already decided that she needed to pretend she knew everything.

“I see…”

“I believed an adult would be different. To become the Duchess, you must have prepared yourself in many ways.”

“Anyway, I look forward to working with you. And I apologize for how rude I was earlier.”

“From now on, you are the only person I can trust and depend on.”

Ares bowed his head.

Looking at his neat and handsome face, Herina felt a tiny bit of guilt.

But the most materialistic woman of this era quickly pushed that feeling away and smiled back.

“Don’t worry. As an adult and as the Duchess of Habinent, I won’t let the Duke’s family fall into danger.”

After all, if the Duke’s family stays strong, I’ll have more things to enjoy.

What can I do? For now, I guess I’ll have to pretend to be a wise Duchess.

“Hmm. That was a very reliable thing to say.”

“Perhaps the future me chose you as his lifelong partner because he was impressed by your sense of responsibility.”

“Now I understand the reason for our marriage a little better.”

“What? Responsibility?”

Ares casually nodded while looking through the documents.

“Yes.”

“A marriage in a Duke’s family isn’t simply about finding a wife for one man. It is about finding a woman who can help lead the Duke’s family.”

“If you showed these qualities to the twenty-four-year-old me, I think that would have been a great advantage.”

Ha!

It wasn’t because of some stupid sense of responsibility!

Even though Herina had not truly loved Ares, she had worked very hard to seduce him.

And when Ares finally fell for her, his eyes had been filled with love.

“When you decide to marry someone, you don’t always need some grand reason like that.”

“I told you before. You were completely in love with me.”

Responsibility, my foot.

Unlike the seventeen-year-old Ares, who thought responsibility was the reason for marriage, the twenty-four-year-old Ares had truly loved her.

Herina was sure of that.

So when Ares said she had been chosen because she was useful, her pride was hurt for no reason.

“Yes. I understand. Let’s continue what we were talking about.”

Seventeen-year-old Ares acted as if he had not even heard her and busily organized the details of the changed wedding route.

Herina watched him with narrowed eyes.

For some reason, she suddenly felt competitive.

“I wonder if you’ve ever even heard of something called fate.

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