“Huh…?”
Silence fell over the room.
The only sound was the chirping song of small birds outside the window, announcing the approach of dusk.
“WHAT?!” everyone but Claudio screamed in unison.
“Your Grace! What are you saying?!”
“I thought about it very carefully and realized this was the best solution,” Gian said. “Both for me and for Ophie!”
“Lady Narve, what’s going on here?!” Bruno demanded.
“Where did you guys meet and develop this kind of relationship?!” Samael asked.
“I’ve never seen a proposal up close before,” Angelo remarked.
Everyone talked over each other all at once. Claudio’s fist slammed down on his desk, breaking through the commotion.
“Shut up! All of you!”
“You’re the loudest of all…” Samael complained, covering his ears with both hands.
Claudio stood so forcefully that he knocked over his chair, sending it crashing to the ground, but he didn’t spare it a single glance, his attention focused on glaring menacingly at Gian. Gian stared straight back, uncowed. Samael leapt between the two, but Claudio pushed his assistant’s hands aside and grabbed both Gian and Ophelia by the arm, dragging them forcibly out of the room.
The destination Claudio brought them to, ignoring Gian’s noisy protests the entire way, was the smallest reception room. This room was soundproofed with a magical item.
Claudio chucked Gian onto one of the sofas, then sat Ophelia down slightly more gently on one side of the other sofa, facing Gian’s.
“Gian, what are you playing at here?” Claudio asked.
The corners of Gian’s mouth turned up at the fact that Claudio had actually used his name for once. “Didn’t you hear? I proposed to Ophie.”
“But you’re a woman!”
“Technically yes, but to the world I’m a man. On paper, we could be married. Sure, there’s a bit of a difference in rank, but she’s the daughter of an earl, so it wouldn’t cause a scandal or anything.”
“I told you not to drag Ophelia into your mess, didn’t I?”
When both of their gazes suddenly turned to fix on her, Ophelia cringed and hid her face behind the massive bouquet.
“I’m not dragging her into anything; Ophie is already an involved party. We’ve shared our secrets with one another. I’ve been thinking about what I should do to make absolutely certain she won’t reveal my secret, and what I realized is that a marriage between us would solve everything.”
“As usual, I have no idea where you got that idea,” Claudio groaned.
“I don’t have to lie in front of Ophie anymore. She’s the only woman I can be myself with. And the same goes for her. It benefits both of us—by binding ourselves together, we can both live without having to hide. I don’t intend to participate in society functions in the future. We can live a quiet life together at my manor. What do you say, Ophie?”
Ophelia was stunned into silence.
I could be myself…?
Indeed, Gian was biologically a woman, but that didn’t prevent them from being legally married. Even if there was no romantic love between them, it could be a mutually beneficial marriage. That was how the majority of marriages between aristocrats were, after all. When you thought about it, it was actually very logical for two people who would have a difficult time finding anyone to marry to marry each other.
As if sensing that Ophelia was starting to come around to the idea, Gian elaborated, “Of course, you’d need to be discreet, but I wouldn’t mind if you took a secret lover. In fact, if you got pregnant that way, we could raise the child as our own. That would take care of the issue of producing an heir. It really is a happy solution all around, don’t you think?”
Just as she was about to nod emphatically in agreement with how logical the proposal was, Ophelia caught herself and brought both hands up to cover her cheeks, flustered.
Seeing this, Claudio clicked his tongue irritably. “There’s no way a marriage like that would go smoothly.”
“Why are you opposed to it, anyway, Claudio? This is between Ophie and me. It has nothing to do with you.”
Claudio fell silent for a moment, gritting his teeth. When he finally spoke, it was to insist, “She’s my employee; that makes it my business.”
“Ophie was supposed to be freed from you after you closed your case, wasn’t she?”
“For now, she’s still the Director’s Office’s secretary,” Claudio said.
“But that’s ending now, right? I already obtained Ophie’s father’s permission.”
“Father’s permission?!”
Ophelia was so surprised that she leapt to her feet. The fact that she wasn’t shaking meant that this must be the truth. But she couldn’t believe her father had given away her hand in marriage without even discussing it with her first.
Gian stood, and after glancing at Claudio, who was likewise dumbstruck, he took Ophelia’s hand. “I’ve already arranged for you to take a paid leave day tomorrow, and I got permission from your father for you to come stay the night at my house tonight.”
“Oh, permission to spend the night…” Dizzy, Ophelia sank back down on the couch.
Gian carried on with a smile, still holding onto her hand. “Yeah, I told him that I was going to propose to you, so I wanted to give you the opportunity to familiarize yourself with my home, and he easily gave his permission.”
“He did?!”
“We can have dinner together, take a bath together, and even sleep together! Doesn’t it sound wonderful, Ophie?!”
“Oh! Oh, my…”
“You bastard! You’re not even married yet; what are you suggesting?!”
“Ew, Claudio, where is your mind going? We’re both women! There’s no problem, right?”
Claudio fell silent, unable to contradict Gian’s logic but seething nonetheless.
Come to think of it, that was pretty much how things had gone whenever Dominica came to visit. Ophelia found Gian’s personality a bit overwhelming at times, but when you put it that way, a marriage that was essentially a sleepover with your best gal pal every night didn’t sound so bad.
If I’m taken care of, Bernard will be able to relax and focus on his own marriage prospects. And I’m sure Mother and Father will be relieved once both of their children are married. Of course, they’ll probably start demanding grandchildren right away, but that can be Bernard’s job.
When Claudio realized that Ophelia had genuinely started to consider it based on her not-entirely-opposed expression, his own face twisted in dissatisfaction.
“Well then, it’s about the end of the workday, right? The night is long. Let’s retire to my place for the night, and we can discuss the future at length.” Gian gently tugged Ophelia to her feet.
Instantly, Claudio stood as well. “Oi! Wait a minute, Gian!”
“You’re so annoying! As I’ve already said, this has nothing to do with you. If you have time to bother us, why don’t you go pay attention to your own fiancée, hm?”
The mention of his fiancée made Claudio twitch, and after a moment, he lowered the hand he’d been reaching out toward Ophelia with the intention of grabbing her arm.
“That woman tried to harm my dear Ophie, you know,” Gian said.
“Your Grace, I already told you that’s not what happened!”
Gian led Ophelia by the hand out of the reception room before she could point out that she’d fallen on her own because of his own sudden appearance.
Claudio stood frozen to the spot, grimacing, but didn’t try to follow them.