By the time he headed for the Fleuret mansion, Alek had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen. He had definitely not expected that he would have to wait 3 hours. He would have loved to order this arrogant maid to call her mistress immediately. Instead, she had scolded him since he didn't send a notice of him coming to the estate.
Even though she was way below his rank, he found it hard to contradict her. After receiving this letter, he left immediately without worrying about an announcement. So he waited patiently until Lady Fleuret finally received him.
The young lady was so very different from what he thought. He knew both her father and her older sister, but he had never seen her before. Count Fleuret once stated that she felt uncomfortable with many people and therefore did not like to attend balls. The older of the Fleuret sisters, on the other hand, loved to be the center of attention. Before she married Sir Taman, he had often caught her looking at him. She was clearly drawn to his person, but had been too scared to speak to him. Perhaps that was why this letter from her younger sister had surprised him so much.
But Celia Fleuret looked very different from her sister. Lady Arla was a tall, well-built woman with red-blonde hair and her father's hazel eyes. Not a beauty, but nice to look at, who always reminded him of a lioness. However, if Lady Arla was a lioness, her sister was like a little bunny. Her blue-silver shimmering hair fell over her shoulder in big waves like a waterfall and her large brown eyes were so bright that they looked more golden than brown. In addition, she was very small and had a rather petite figure.
So how did he get a proposal from such an innocent looking woman? Didn't she know the stories about him? No, he was too well known for that. Presumably her father forced her to do so. After all, he was one of the most influential men in the country, right after the royal family.
After they sat down, the young lady of the house examined him carefully for a moment. He had this effect on women. Usually they trembled in fear at the same time but not this little bunny in front of him.
He also used the moment to study her a little more closely. Her yellow dress, which looked good on her in terms of color, had some patches and although he had no idea about fashion, even he was aware that it was a long outdated model. Even the shoes looked as if they were a size too small for her. There was also this little spot on her face. She certainly thought he wouldn't notice anything if she put some make-up on it, but unfortunately for her, he had very good eyesight. She had clearly injured herself there, but the wound was almost healed. An accident on her part? But which father would let his daughter hurt her face?
"I suppose it was my letter that brought you here today," she finally spoke up.
She really had a lovely soft voice. What a fascinating young woman. His smile widened as he thought of her letter. "I have to say you piqued my interest."
She blushed briefly at this sentence. "Well ... I'm glad to hear that. I am aware that it is somewhat unconventional to send such a letter ... "
"A proposal," corrected Alek, amused.
Lady Fleuret stopped and cleared her throat. "... to send a proposal as a woman."
"I would have been less surprised, if it were your father who wrote to me. Was there any reason why it didn't come from the Count directly?"
The young woman averted her eyes. "I guess I just wanted to take care of it personally."
Lie. How brazen she was. She hadn't even hesitated. "I see. If I may ask, Lady Fleuret, how did you come to choose me as your potential husband?"
"You are probably the most sought-after bachelor in the entire kingdom. Isn't it normal that I would like to try my luck?", she continued to lie to him.
Alek laughed out loud and looked at her intensely, his voice sounding a little more threatening than intended. "And now the truth, please."
The young woman winced slightly and seemed feverishly to find a new excuse. When she couldn't think of anything else, she sighed in resignation. "My father wants me to marry the Crown Prince."
This time she was telling the truth. "Doesn't every little girl dream of it? Become a princess and maybe even queen one day?"
Amused, he watched her grimace. His cousin did not normally have this effect on women. Usually the young girls gathered around him to win his favor. Two women had already managed to take the coveted place of concubine. If the places weren't limited to four women, he would certainly look for even more women. As innocent as the prince might appear at first glance, he was a true womanizer.
"I hope you understand that I am reluctant to explain my motives for why I decided against this connection."
Of course, he was the king's nephew. If she said a wrong word, he could take it as an insult to the royal family and arrest her. So he only nodded in agreement. "That means you want to get married so that your father no longer urges you to marry the prince. However, that still doesn't explain how you came across me. Since I have not yet heard of a rejection of the application, you should still have a few other options."
"My father gave me exactly three other options. Baron Fatone, Duke Fleet and Your Grace, "she explained matter-of-factly.
An old lecher, a drinking gambler and a mad killer. He was slowly getting an idea of what the relationship with her father was like ... and he didn't like it at all.
"I can understand why the Baron is not at the top of your list. But Duke Fleet is a young man who can still be shaped. In addition, you would become a Duchess, which is also a very good title. You will not go into poverty either, since your brother-in-law manages his fortune. So why choose the devil of the north?"
There was a brief moment of silence and he could see how she thought about this question with all seriousness until she finally found the answer to it. "Because you are extremely handsome."