My stroll through the garden with Lady Anastasia was stopped with just a single word from the duke.
We were currently back in the parlor, discussing the finer details with both sets of parents.
Lady Anastasia was throwing furtive glances at me from time to time, so I chose the perfect timing to catch her looking at me. Our eyes met. Lady Anastasia's cheeks was dyed in scarlet and she hastily lowered her eyes.
That's so adorable.
I didn't notice that I was grinning from ear to ear, and I continued staring at her.
Lady Anastasia lifted her downcast eyes to peek at me, probably because she felt my scorching gaze. Our eyes met again, and she looked surprised as she hurriedly averted her eyes again, her face a brighter shade of red than before.
She had a sober expression earlier, but she was now shyly smiling, but I still didn't understand why she seemed surprised.
The duchess was beaming as she watched our exchange, while the duke looked like he swallowed a bitter fly and was trying to crush it to death as he gnashed his teeth. I hastily turned my gaze away from Lady Anastasia when I noticed his expression.
At any rate, our betrothal became official now.
We had assumed that the engagement was already finalized when we received the letter from the House of Duke, so now, all we had to do was to finish some paperworks and that was it, but it turned out to be a big deal.
However, the fact that I was going to be adopted by another family had the greatest impact on me.
It was necessary to tweak and launder my family register because of the disparity between the status of both families — me coming from the viscount's family, while the lady was from one of the most prominent families in this country.
However, because adoption would require more time to process than the engagement, it would still be awhile before I would be able to leave my home.
I decided to move the headquarters of Adorni, the brand of my trading company, from the hometown of our family to the royal capital.
My plan was to build my base at the royal capital by the time the adoption process was finished.
Apparently, the duke was already looking for — and had settled on — a family that would adopt his future son-in-law even as he prepared to meet us for the engagement discussion.
The only thing that we had to do was process the paperworks.
The plan was to have me live in one of the mansions of that House, which was located in the district of the aristocrats in the royal capital.
"I will write to you."
I told Lady Anastasia before her family boarded the carriage that would take them back to their home. I had joined them at the entrance in order to see them off.
"M-me too…"
Her face was dyed once again in crimson as her voice tapered off into silence.
Actually, I didn't hear the last part of what she said because her mumbling was too quiet.
That's cute.
That "cuteness" stemmed from her gestures and facial expressions. I guess the beauty and ugliness of a person didn't really matter when it came to being cute. I noticed this as I observed Lady Anastasia today.
Lady Anastasia was brimming with innocence and gentleness, and that shows in every single gesture and expression she made, that's why I honestly thought she was so adorable.
"Fufu. Zhinorius, please take care of my daughter."
The duchess was beaming as she said that to me.
"Yes. I am looking forward to being with her for the many years to come."
"P-please take care of me."
Lady Anastasia mumbled after I replied to the duchess.
Her words were like the chirping of a small bird, very softly spoken.
And so, the Sevensworth family finally went home after that exchange.
◆◆◆◆◆
My correspondence with Lady Anastasia began here.
Her beautiful and neat calligraphy seemed to reflect her inner persona.
We had a lot of things to talk about, and the way she organized her thoughts made it easy to understand and follow, and her letters were very interesting.
Her warm and gentle personality pierced my heart like a ray of sunshine through these letters.
I became thoroughly engrossed in our letter exchanges.
Normally, it would take five days for an ordinary mail from the capital, the place she lived in, to reach the Adorni fief.
However, it would only take two days if we paid for the expensive express mail service.
I was a businessman, and she was the young lady from the duke's household.
We were not worried about money to the point that we couldn't pay for that express mail.
Thus, we frequently exchanged letters via the express mail.
This was the first time for me, both lives combined, to interact with someone of the opposite gender, moreso a person who would become my love interest.
I already felt that I was a winner in life just by having an awesome fiancee, moreover, we exchanged letters frequently.
Actually, I was one of those people who looked down on the other people said to be winners in life as they seemingly did pointless things. 'Hmpf. they're just wasting their time' — that was what I thought inwardly.
Hey, successful guys in my previous life, I apologize for my stupidness.
I didn't know back then how wonderful it was to enjoy the trifle and casual conversation with another person.
◆◆◆◆◆
It took me two months before I went to the royal capital, in the end.
I was no longer Zhinorius Adorni, but Zhinorius Varvarie — from the fourth son of a viscount to the second son of a marquis.
The engagement ceremony was held in the chapel of Sevensworth immediately after I was adopted by the marquis family. Apparently, nobility had their own chapels within their mansions.
My own family, the House of the Viscount Adorni, also attended the engagement ceremony.
They had been in shock to find that there was a splendid chapel within the mansion's grounds, moreso when they discovered that the duke's residence also had its own luxurious opera house that had been built while paying attention to the perfect balance of the acoustics, and that there were several annexes in the residential building area on top of the main building. Actually, I was totally dumbfounded, too. It was way too spacious for a family of three.
Even though it was an engagement ceremony, it wasn't considered an official wedding, so we didn't exchange vows nor kisses typically done by the bride and groom.
The two families were there to greet each other and we signed some documents before the priest.
There was no contact between the couple that had just been engaged, because this was not a legal or religious event, so the greetings were almost the same as if we met for the first time.
From that day on, I lived with the Marquis of Varvarie, and also paid a daily visit to the House of Duke Sevensworth. Actually, the Varvaries didn't have to make me live in their home, and it was enough for me to be their son on paper to be engaged, but then, they would not gain anything from this union. The reason why the Varvaries accepted the adoption offer was because they wanted to build their relationship with me, the person who would become the one who would become the duchy's central figure in the future. That was the reason why I was living in their home, and I also went to the duke's mansion every day in order to learn how to manage the House of the Duke Sevensworth.
The management of the duchy also involved some matters concerning the monarchy, so it was an area that I didn't know well.
Besides, I also had to learn the proper conduct of the upper echelons of nobility, and I received that education in the Varvaries' home, too. Moreover, I was also part of the merchant's association, so I also had to show up over there from time to time.
My life became hectic the moment I stepped into the royal capital.
The head of the Varvarie family knew that I helped the Adorni family rebuild their financial affairs, apparently, so he would also consult me regarding his fief's management.
My foster father and foster brother would always admire and praise my proposals, recognizing my ability..
Thus, my relationship with the House of Varvarie was also good.
Aside from my foster brother, the heir of the House of Varvarie, I also had two foster sisters. They were different from my blood sisters in such that you would never catch them running around the hallways, even by mistake. They were a bunch of calm girls.
Whenever they called out to me in their calm voices, saying "Elder Brother", I felt like a door to another world opened up to me.
I would go to the Sevensworth mansion everyday, so that also meant I saw Lady Anastasia daily. We decided to stop using polite language as we conversed to each other ever since the day of the engagement ceremony, so now we enjoy casual chitchats.
We also decided to change the way we call each other. I was Zhino, and she was Ana — we decided to use our pet names.
Her face had turned beet red the first time I called her by her nickname, and was totally adorable.
◆◆◆◆◆
"Are you sure you want to keep on listening to me? Don't you get tired?"
Ugh, it seemed that I still lacked the conversation skills necessary to talk with the woman who would become the love of my life.
There were times when I ended up peppering Ana with questions.
One day, Ana ended up asking me that when I, carried away once again due to the interesting topics, bombarded her with a barrage of questions yet again.
"There's no way I'd get tired of this. The fountain pen that you like, the hats that you fancy, and even your favorite shoes, your opinions, what makes you happy, what causes you sadness, and the things that you hate — I want to know them all. I want to know everything if it's about you, Ana. I want to increase the things that only I know about Ana, and that's what I think. Still, I'm sorry for bombarding you with questions. I can't suppress this urge of wanting to be closer to your heart."
I regret my actions, so I honestly spoke about what was on my mind.
Based on my previous life's experience, I knew fully well how appearances would wither and be forgotten in the passage of time.
Even the most beautiful school belle would have the ordinary old woman's appearance when she grew old.
That's why I wanted to be closer to her heart.
Her personality and spirit was likeable, actually.
I wanted to know more about her inner beauty, and grasp her mind and heart in great detail.
I didn't know why I was so intent about this, but I guess it was something that didn't need any reason.
However, when I heard her words, I understood now that prioritizing my interest over her feelings wasn't good at all.
She should also enjoy our conversations, much as I enjoy it.
I was aware that I had been totally carried away because of the first fiancee I had after 82 years in my previous world, and sixteen here.
I was full of regrets as I gazed at Ana, but her cheeks were flushed.
"Ana? What happened? Your face is red, you know? Do you have a fever?"
Based on the flow of our conversation, I didn't recall anything that would make her blush.
Thus, I was worried about her complexion that had turned crimson for some reason, so I asked her about it..
"A-ahm…I was surprised and happy that you hold such a deep interest in me, and…my heart is pounding really hard."
Oh my, how adorable.
I hastily suppressed the urge to hug her.