"Rosanne, tomorrow you will meet your future husband."
The young woman lowering her gaze was also wide-eyed hearing that. "W--what? My future husband?" surprised to hear that.
Thu-thumb!
Her eyes didn't stop staring at the man with the thick mustache smoking a cigar and continuously puffing the burning smoke from the tobacco inside.
"Yeah, you're getting married next week. Better prepare yourself." The man got up, no longer wanting to prolong the conversation about his decision.
Rosanne, often called Rose, couldn't help but hear it. Her hands squeezed together, and she started breaking out in cold sweat. Her eyes looked fearfully at her father, the head of the noble Amsberg family. She wanted to protest, lips itching to open but defeated by her fear.
"Do you understand?" asked Mr. Willem in an even tone. He didn't want his daughter to fight him, of course.
Rose's body trembled even more. "Y-yes, dad," she whispered. She looked down again, unable to raise her head to cast a protesting glare.
Willem was too domineering.
The man nodded and quickly walked away from Rose. Soon the people peeking from behind the walls came pouring out.
"Rose, Rose, what did Dad tell you?" asked Gorge impatiently.
The only son and youngest child in the Amsberg family were curious, and Rose's two sisters were interested too.
"What did Father say? Quickly tell us?" Celine insisted too.
Rose felt like passing out, but she couldn't escape the questions. Trying to smile and not be burdened even though she was surprised is not playing. Neither of their fathers spoke of marriage during dinner. Suddenly, one sunny afternoon, Rose, the third child of the Amsberg family, was summoned to Willem.
"I'm… getting married next week," Rose whispered.
Rose's two sisters were dumbfounded to hear that. They looked at each other while the Gorge himself had already jolted Rose.
"What?! How could Dad ask you to do that?! I have to stop him!" snapped Gorge, disapproved.
Crap!
But Rose's hand grabbed Gorge right away. "Don't Gorge. I beg you, this is for our good," she pleaded.
Gorge looked disapprovingly, "but… Celine and Mary should have married first, not you!" he snapped again.
Rose shook her head. Meanwhile, Gorge cast his eyes on his two sisters, who didn't even seem to want to know.
"W--what? I already have a fiancé, and after this, maybe we will get married," interjected Mary, who did not want to be tried as the perpetrator.
While Celine herself grimaced, "Come on, we all know that Dad's decision is unanimous. You'd better not cause trouble Gorge. We all know Rose will get into trouble later because of you."
Gorge didn't get angry. He looked down weakly and looked at Rose regretfully.
Rose tried to smile, and she got up. "It's okay. That's how it should be, right? I'm going back to my room."
She left the family room.
While Celine and Mary were whispering to each other as the Gorge left with emotional steps.
"Could the rumors be true? If Rose is going to be the tenth wife of the Grand Duke of Silesia, Dominic," Celine whispered.
Mary's eyes widened to hear "no way," she hissed, trying to deny it.
Rose stopped in her tracks and looked at her two sisters. However, once again, both smiled without wanting to tell the rumors they had heard.
And sure enough.
This is where Rose is. A tea party is usually held alternately by noble families.
She was forced to go with Willem because she agreed to meet her future husband.
"Oh my, she came."
"So she's the third child of Willem, the Amsberg family?"
"Oh, what bad luck. To be the tenth wife of that man."
The whispers and gossip that hit her were annoying, but Rose couldn't move. She just resigned herself to her fate which was so bitter and strange.
"Do you alone?"
Rose raised her gaze, confused when she saw the ginger-haired man ask her.
She was a little confused, frowning strangely. "Yes, alone," she whispered, unsure how to answer her condition.
"Ah, I've never seen a woman without friends during a tea party. Are you sure you're at the right place?"
Rose was more and more skeptical to hear that, "Yeah, that's how it is. I rarely attend tea parties, and it's just that for now, it's a must for me."
Before she could reply to Rose's words, a hand landed on his shoulder.
Rose was still unaware of the presence of another guest by her side, making all the guests there stare at her.
Why are they staring at him?
Rose turned around and was confused.
"What business do you have with my future wife?"
Future wife? Who's he?!
Rose still didn't understand, but her eyes widened when she saw the sharp-eyed man looking right at her, wielding a sword ready to cut her skin.
Her body shuddered, and suddenly a cold air landed for no reason. Meanwhile, the ginger-haired man flinched and immediately got up, bowing respectfully to Dominic.
"Forgive me for being presumptuous, Duke."
Dominic, the man whose name Rose had just remembered, waved his hand. A sign he asked the man to get out of his sight immediately.
Rose froze, even more frightened, as Dominic sat across from her and smiled. To Rose, it wasn't a smile but a sinister grin.
Even she was afraid of the bone marrow.
"Am I late and made you wait?"
Rose gasped, her breath coming hard when she heard Dominic's low, heavy voice.
"N-no," she whispered.
Dominic smiled even more. He could feel how the girl was starting to panic and be afraid of him.
He stuck out his hand. "Want to dance with me?" he asked.
Rose gasped when she heard that. Her breath that she had just been trying to normalize had become a loss of the way to breathe oxygen.
Seeing Rose's pale face, Dominic whispered, "Breath, you'll pass out if you don't breathe."
Hah ….
Even Rose spontaneously followed the man's words. Her face was flushed with embarrassment, and she was the one who had lost her breath.
Dominic couldn't hold back his laughter and laughed so hard that his shoulders shook too.
"Hahaha, oh my gosh, you're so cute, Miss."
Feeling Dominic was laughing at her, Rose hissed disapprovingly, "do I deserve to be a clown."
Dominic immediately shook his head, "no, no, no. Where there is a clown to be my wife. Let's dance."
Rose wanted to reject it, but Dominic's hand impudently rested on her slender waist and forced her to stand up.
"W-what are you doing?" she whispered.
However, Dominic has power over Rose.
"Dance with me, of course. I want to know how good my future wife is at dancing," he chuckled.