Chapter 7: Olivier Lautavaara

To be perfectly honest, as the second son of the House of Lautavaara, I, Olivier Lautavaara, have never struggled with women.

I had an exceptionally capable older brother, and the relatives supporting the family were competent as well.

As a result, I, the second son, joined the military, and at one point even became Crown Prince Adolf’s personal guard.

Naturally, women constantly shrieked in excitement around me.

I never laid hands on unmarried noble girls since they immediately started demanding I take responsibility afterward, but it would not be an exaggeration to say I had endless options.

Even so, there had always been one special person in my life.

Yuliana, with her radiant pink-blonde straight hair and dazzling cuteness, was brought into the ducal house when she was eight years old.

Unlike others, she never fawned over me simply because I was a ducal son.

She faced me directly without hesitation.

There was no doubt my brother Niklas cared deeply for Yuliana just as I did.

Even after reaching the age where marriage became a serious consideration, he never took a fiancée.

And since I also remained without a fiancée, just like my brother, mountains of marriage proposals continuously flooded the ducal house.

I lived in the same residence in the royal capital, so I knew that every evening Yuliana happily strolled through the gardens with Niklas.

Perhaps Yuliana truly loved Niklas.

But despite that, she never stopped holding our three-person tea gatherings that had continued ever since childhood.

Yuliana was as bright and radiant as the sun itself.

She would always smile happily while tracing my cheek gently with her fingertips.

And because of that, I sometimes wondered whether perhaps she loved me instead of Niklas.

Maybe those evening walks with Niklas were simply because she adored him as an older brother.

Around the time those faint hopes began swelling within my chest, my marriage was suddenly decided in what was practically a royal command.

My partner was Lady Kastehelmi of the House of Karkoski.

“A young lady known as the lady among ladies becoming your wife?”

“You’re one lucky bastard!”

Even Prince Adolf congratulated me like that, but inwardly I was furious.

I was the second son of the ducal house.

That meant I could have married Yuliana.

And yet some woman named Kastehelmi, whom I barely even knew, got in the way.

They called it a political marriage, but I was certain that woman, enchanted by my appearance, selfishly forced the marriage through.

That was precisely why I never once went to meet this woman named Kastehelmi before the wedding.

I never visited my bride on the wedding night.

Nor did I even show my face to greet her the following day.

Instead, I continued spending afternoon tea exactly as before with Niklas and Yuliana.

Certainly, I had married this woman named Kastehelmi in what was practically a royal order.

Yet after that, we never once crossed paths.

The woman supposedly developed a fever the very next day after marrying into the family, so I prepared a token bouquet and some sweets to send to her room.

However, they were returned by the butler Glen Peltra.

“Lady Kastehelmi instructed that such lovely flowers and sweets should instead be given to Lady Yuliana.”

In other words, she rejected my gifts.

There was no doubt the woman was displeased with me for not visiting on the wedding night or even showing my face the next day.

And I had also noticed her watching our tea gathering from the corridor.

“Glen, what do you think of that woman?”

When I asked the butler, he responded instead with a question of his own.

“Which woman might you be referring to, sir?”

“That… Kastehelmi woman.”

“Ah, you mean your wife.”

In an unusually rare occurrence, Glen smiled faintly.

“Lady Kastehelmi has spoken extensively with Lady Paula and fully understands that Lady Yuliana is an extremely important younger sister to both Lord Niklas and Lord Olivier.”

“One day, Lady Yuliana will naturally marry into another household.”

“Until then, Lady Kastehelmi wishes to prioritize the bond between the siblings above all else.”

That was honestly beyond my comprehension.

I had assumed the woman named Kastehelmi would immediately become jealous of Yuliana and create endless drama after becoming my wife.

But instead, she wanted to prioritize our relationship first?

“And Lady Kastehelmi also said this.”

“In order for the siblings’ relationship to remain as close and harmonious as before, she wishes to watch over things quietly from a distance and maintain space between herself and Lady Yuliana.”

“Does that woman hate Yuliana or something?”

“No.”

“It is simply that Lady Kastehelmi feels uncertain whether she can currently respond in the way Lady Yuliana desires.”

“She said that rather than risk making Lady Yuliana uncomfortable, it would be better to maintain some distance.”

“Furthermore, there are naturally countless matters she must learn after marrying into the ducal house.”

“So she wishes to focus first on properly learning those responsibilities.”

Well, if one married into the House of Lautavaara, there certainly would be much to learn.

I did at least attempt to visit Kastehelmi’s room once that same day, but I was informed she had fallen asleep from exhaustion again.

So without even seeing her face, I simply left.

Apparently there truly was much to learn regarding the ducal house.

Kastehelmi remained extremely busy, and after that we never crossed paths even once.

Before long, nearly twenty days had passed since our wedding.

That day, I had business at the royal palace.

As I was heading there, Prince Adolf stopped me.

“So?”

“How’s married life treating you?”

He asked teasingly.

“Well… nothing particularly noteworthy.”

Truthfully, I had not seen my bride even once since the wedding day itself.

I could barely even remember what she looked like.

The prince stared directly at my face, then suddenly grabbed his own head as though realizing something.

“You…”

“Seriously…?”

“Honestly…”

He muttered incomprehensible things under his breath.

“You are attending the royal ball five days from now together with your wife, right?”

Come to think of it, Mother had been going on for quite some time about making dresses for some royal ball hosted by the royal family.

“You did properly prepare a dress for your new wife, didn’t you?”

“Yes, of course.”

Mother had made such a fuss over dresses that there was no doubt she had already arranged one.

“I know I’ve been piling troublesome work onto you lately, but…”

“This is seriously bad.”

I honestly had no idea what exactly His Highness was trying to say anymore.

“Absolutely do not abandon your wife and escort Lady Yuliana instead.”

His Highness grabbed my shoulders firmly with both hands as he said that.

Now that I thought about it, I had always escorted adorable Yuliana at parties and social gatherings.

Since it would supposedly create problems if Niklas escorted her, I had always taken that role instead.

“Olivier.”

“You understand, don’t you?”

“Escort Lady Kastehelmi.”

“Think of this as a warning from me.”

“A warning?”

“That seems somewhat exaggerated.”

“And besides, why does Your Highness keep referring to Kastehelmi as a young lady?”

“She became my wife, so I would appreciate it if you referred to her properly as a married lady.”

For a brief instant, His Highness looked at me with an expression that almost resembled a snort of disbelief.