Chapter 2

Felix's family apparently had a business connection with Charlotte's family.

The Orlac family, Charlotte's, proposed to avoid doing business with Felix's family, who were engaged to me, because of the bullying I had inflicted on Charlotte. It seems that Felix's family decided to nullify the engagement to prevent their own territory's industry from collapsing.

...But I had never even interacted with Charlotte, let alone bullied her.

My father was extremely angry at the proposal, which came six months after the engagement.

However, the engagement period is a time to carefully consider whether a marriage would be acceptable. Sometimes, issues with the other party only become apparent after the engagement and the start of the relationship.

Therefore, there were prearrangements in place for the event of a broken engagement. This time, the engagement was terminated, and the pre-agreed breach of contract fee was paid.

For me, given the incident at the tea party the other day, I only thought, "It turned out that way, didn't it."

It would be better to have the engagement broken off rather than to be in an unfortunate position after marriage, where I might not be cherished by Felix, who was infatuated with Charlotte.

Once married, a wife's position is not very strong. Even if a husband brings in a mistress, protests from the wife's family are often ignored.

Moreover, based on the reason for this, I would have had to maintain relations with Charlotte's family, known for their mysterious actions. It was better for the engagement to be broken off than to be involved in something incomprehensible.

However, I was still confronted by Charlotte twice after that.

The first time:

When a new engagement proposal came up, and I met the prospective partner at a party, Charlotte slid in dramatically from the side, claiming I had pushed her. The prospective partner, who disliked the bad start, said that the match was not meant to be, and the proposal was dropped.

The second time, she changed her tactics:

She deliberately bumped into a table, knocking over the tea set, and claimed that the tea had been poured on me. After the commotion, the viscount's family, who had been considering an engagement with me, said, "It seems that a strange girl is targeting your daughter," and declined the proposal.

My father, with a vein popping on his forehead, said to me:

"Livia"

"Yes, Father"

"There is only this match left for you."

I was called to my father's study in the capital and handed a letter of introduction. It was from Margrave Margret. His territory is adjacent to ours, but he is 40 years older than me. Honestly, I would prefer to avoid someone older than my father.

So I said:

"If that's the case, I would rather go to the convent..."

"Do you know how much the convent's donation costs? It was already difficult with Serena."

"Oh... That's right. My older sister got there first, didn't she?"

My eldest sister, Serena, was once engaged.

However, her fiancé was unfaithful, and Serena was caught up in a love triangle. Tired of the complications, she pretended to be hurt and skillfully entered the convent.

My father, who was new to arranging engagements, sympathized with Serena and accommodated her wishes.

Serena sends a letter once a month, and it seems she is living a happy life.

--- Men are such a hassle! Weaving is fun! ---

"Go back to the territory for a while. Wait until the rumors die down..."

"Marie-Lara created a fait accompli with a branch family member and got married, didn't she?"

"U..."

My second sister, Marie-Lara, loved living in the territory.

She rarely came to the capital from the manor and enjoyed looking at the fields, which others saw as lacking ambition.

I can relate to her feelings.

Marie-Lara schemed to stay in the territory. She made sure to be disliked by every prospective fiancé and then created a fait accompli with a cousin from a branch family as soon as she returned to the territory.

...My father had no choice but to marry them. Determined to marry me off to a nobleman, he has had me living in the capital for several years.

Oh, how I wish I could return to the territory with its vast farmland...

"You are the only one left. For the sake of our Estrill family, you must find a good match."

My father declared this with a frightening face.

After all, we only have a rural territory. To maintain our appearance and to sell more agricultural products, my father has a modest ambition to connect with a decent family.

I had agreed to the engagement with Felix, with whom I had little interaction, hoping that it would help make our territory a bit more prosperous.

"I can't afford to have problems like with Marie-Lara. I will assign two maids to monitor you when you go out. You must find a noble marriage partner at all costs."

Thus, I was reluctantly tasked with finding a potential fiancé.

"Ha... It's not that easy, and it's a real problem."

I jabbed the trowel into the soil of the flower bed with a quick thrust.

I scooped up a bit of soil and tossed it to the side, then dug up a bit more soil from a slightly different spot.

"When it comes to engagement... It would be nice if I knew that the other person had romantic feelings or a good impression of me, but it's difficult."

Next to me, nodding in agreement, a strikingly handsome young man with golden hair was planting seeds in the holes he had dug and covering them with soil. He, too, was holding a trowel and wearing soil-stained gloves.

He is Celian, a member of the 'Gardening Lovers' Society.'

The 'Gardening Lovers' Society' is one of the salons where members, like gardeners, work the soil and plant and grow flowers and trees in the gardens of the noble hosts.

Some members have their own gardens where they tend to their plants.

However, especially for women, fathers and husbands often disapprove of them growing anything other than roses, which are considered appropriate for noblewomen to cultivate.

However, under the host's discretion, members can secretly grow whatever they want, so many women secretly grow fruit trees.

On the contrary, many men enjoy growing small, cute flowers.

Incidentally, Celian and I are planting carrots.

There are a certain number of members who love humble agricultural products, so we are not at all uncomfortable. On the right, noblewomen are growing cabbages, and on the left, potatoes. Incidentally, my father thinks I am looking at beautiful flowers and drinking tea at the salon.

"I'm not good at small talk, and my hobby is growing humble vegetables. How am I supposed to attract a man's attention..."

I have never been in love or had a relationship. Yet, I am being asked to find a fiancé, which is an unreasonable request.

"Oh... I want to retire to the manor. Or, I wish someone would suddenly fall in love with me, just like a seed sprouting when watered."

My lazy self mumbled this dreamy thought.

Celian's green eyes sparkled mischievously at my words.

"Then, how about you get engaged to me?"