Julia glanced at the man sitting across from her, tilting her glass.
Fernan Caesar. A man who led the Imperial War to victory at the young age of 26 and inherited the title of Grand Duke.
Befitting his prestige, he has a handsome and stout outward appearance, and he shone even in a light shirt.
Even if he didn't want to spy, he had no choice but to look at him.
The fact that the man who looked so perfect was my husband still didn't make sense to Julia.
"Stop staring at me and eat."
At the sudden, low voice, Yulia dropped her fork in shock.
Fernan, who raised his head, was staring at her with an indifferent face.
"Yes Yes… ."
Yulia blushed and picked up the bread placed on the plate in front of her. She couldn't raise her head in embarrassment that she had been caught stealing.
While the bread was scrambled and the soup was churning, the servant brought new dishes.
Julia, who was quietly slicing the steak, glanced up to see him. He kept emptying his glasses of champagne as if he was bored this time.
Do I need to keep the conversation going? What kind of conversation do ordinary couples have at mealtime? .
While Julia was in agony alone, Fernando stood up.
"Get up first."
After a few words, he left the dining room. He didn't look at her for a second.
Julia stared blankly at his empty seat, then set the tableware down. Somehow, I didn't feel like eating any more.
Yulia, who could not even eat half of the food, got up and trudged to her place.
Even after several months of marriage, he never had a conversational conversation with Fernando.
In fact, except for the occasional mealtime we had together, I hardly ever met him.
During that time, he was absent for many days. From as little as three days to as long as a month.
As a result, of course, there was no time to get close to him.
Somehow, I felt like I was not as good as anyone else.
"Sir, are you here? Did you enjoy your meal?"
As Yulia entered the bedroom, the maid who was cleaning the bedding greeted her with a smile. She was Melissa, assigned her full-time maid.
"Yeah, it's always hard."
When Julia entered the dressing room, Melissa, who followed, helped her get dressed. She wore a sheer slip dress and a gown, and Julia came back into her bedroom.
"Ah, I got a letter during the day, but I forgot to deliver it."
Melissa pulled out an envelope from her arms. Julia's expression darkened a little. It was because he seemed to know who the letter was from without even looking at it.
After Melissa left, Julia opened the envelope and checked the contents. Naturally, the sender was her father.
[Yulia, to my daughter.
There was no reply to the letter I sent the other day. I write a new letter with a worried heart. Are you used to your new home? Every day I look forward to hearing good news from you. I hope you will visit the castle soon.]
It was a concise letter with only a purpose. After putting the letters in the locker, Julia sighed heavily.
Her father, the Marquis of Elodi, was the one who benefited the most from this marriage.
He used the fame of the war hero Fernan to expand his business and maintain close ties with the imperial family, increasing the prestige of his family.
Even that wasn't enough, he was now forcing Julia to have the Grand Duke's child in a hurry.
Sending letters like this periodically, putting pressure on them.
It was because if there was a successor, the marriage would flow in a more stable direction.
Julia was deep in thought with a subtle expression on her face. He hadn't even had a first night with Fernando.
A child or an heir, such things still seemed far away, but there was a need to develop a relationship with him.
Because I can't live like this forever.
'Let's not be too impatient.'
Now that we are married, we have many days together. Julia lay on her bed and slowly drew a picture of her husband.
From a long time ago until now, he has always been a beautiful and handsome man.
The first time Julia saw him was nine years ago. Yulia, who had been thinking of his old memories for a while, fell asleep at some point.
A calm smile was painted on her sleeping lips.
*
It was nine years ago, one summer when I was thirteen. It was also the day Julia went to the Imperial Palace for the first time in her life.
'Where is the lowly going to enter the banquet hall?'
However, even before entering the banquet hall, Julia was thrown into a deep closet in the Imperial Palace by a strong hand.
It was the habitual abuse of the Marquis, who did not recognize Julia as her daughter-in-law.
'You stay quiet here. Come and call me when the banquet is over.'
'Oh, mother!'
bang! Looking at her loudly closed door, Yulia slowly withdrew her desperately outstretched hand.
When I looked around with trembling eyes, there was a dark inside that I couldn't see anything.
While I was standing there in fear, I heard the sound of a splendid performance announcing the banquet.
'… ugh.'
After squatting down on the spot, Julia finally started to scream aloud.
The noise of the banquet hall from afar made the young Julia even more sad.
Was it wrong for the first time to put on a pretty dress and ride a fancy carriage and show excitement... .
Tears dripped from the corners of his eyes, blurring his vision.
And then, a long shadow suddenly fell over her.
When I looked up from afar, a tall man was looking down at her expressionlessly as soon as he appeared.
Looking at Yulia, who shrugged in surprise, the man slowly bent his knees.
When the eye level became almost identical, only then did the man's face become more detailed.
'Why are you crying?'
Black hair engulfed in darkness. Golden eyes shining alone even in the darkest son-in-law.
Her face, which was somewhat young for a man, was beautiful enough to catch Yulia's attention in an instant.
The man quietly held out his hand to Yulia, who was trembling and frightened.
'… … .'
Julia looked at her hand with wide-eyed eyes.
Why are you reaching out to someone like me... .
Although confused, Yulia could not turn away from his extended hand.
With a hesitant expression on his face, he gently grabbed his fingertips, and eventually he took Julia to the small door in the wall.
There was a terrace.
Unlike in the dark room, the sunset light was just rising over the terrace.
'Do not cry. I'll stay with you.'
Dressed in fancy attire, it seemed as if he should be in a banquet hall rather than in a corner like this.
But oddly enough, he seemed quite accustomed to sitting here alone.
He didn't ask anything and didn't say anything.
I just held your hand for a while.
Miraculously, the sad and sad feelings gradually disappeared while I was with the man.
Even when the sunset had completely set and the moonlight had just begun to seep in, he did not leave his seat.
Tightly clasping her large hands, Julia knew for the first time that someone's hand was so warm.
It was the first time. The person who held my hand without hesitation like this.
When the sound of a performance that signaled the end of the banquet was finally heard, Yulia, who was hesitating, asked him for the first time.
'Can you tell me your name... ?'
At that small question, he silently lowered his eyelids and then slowly raised them again.
The golden eyes that were revealed at that moment were brighter and more beautiful than the moon in the sky in the eyes of young Julia.
'Fernan.'
'… … .'
'If we meet again someday, I will hear your name then.'
That was my last conversation with the man.
After that day, Julia saw him again at the ceremony two days later.
At the forefront of the Imperial Army leaving for the war of conquest, there was that man.
Fernan Seyrev Formene. The Emperor's only nephew and commander who will lead the Imperial Army in this war.
The man I met in the shabby closet said that he was such a great person.
Yulia found out too late that the day of the banquet she met was actually a place to pray for the safe return of the imperial troops leaving for the campaign.
Without even having a chance to meet again, the mysterious man left for the battlefield.
But even after that, Julia could hardly forget the memory of that day.
Even after so many years have passed, Fernando returns as a war hero.
For a long time after he returned, Julia used to watch him from afar.
Not the boy in his memory, but the man who had become a complete man, he became the most famous person in the empire.
one year since then.
Surprisingly, it was at the meeting where the wedding was being held that Julia met him in person.
That day, Abi told her.
'Yulia, you will soon become the Grand Duchess.'
After the war, the man who was granted the domain of Caesar in the north and succeeded to the title of Grand Duke, Fernan.
She said that the sweet man in her memory, who was so noble and so distant, was her marriage partner.