Chapter 6
Chapter 6
"I-I beg your pardon? Marriage?"
The Master, who had been coughing for quite some time, asked in astonishment.
"To the Meius Ducal House?"
"Yes."
As Judith answered, the Master couldn't hide his flustered expression as he spoke.
"But... the young master is only eight years old?"
"Not the young master. Child marriages are legally prohibited anyway."
"Well... I was under the impression the Duke and Duchess have an excellent relationship?"
"Not the Duke. The empire practices monogamy, after all."
"Then... who—"
"The Young Duke."
"Excuse me, Lady Aillan. Are you referring to Ekian Meius right now?"
"Yes."
Judith thought she could somewhat understand why the Master found this absurd. Proposing to marry a missing person wouldn't sound sane to anyone.
To prevent unnecessary arguments, she spoke decisively.
"You said you know nothing about Young Duke Ekian Meius, didn't you? Then remain ignorant."
"But how can you marry someone who's missing?"
"That's how it's going to be."
Judith smiled brightly as she said:
"Has my information ever been wrong before?"
Returning to the Gray Information Guild in a state of mild panic, he staggered into his room, closed the door, and only after sitting down did a hollow laugh escape him.
"Marry Ekian Meius?"
From their first meeting, she had been an utterly preposterous woman. But lately, she'd been making shockingly outrageous statements almost daily.
Even after defusing all real bombs, the Master's mind felt more bombarded than ever.
From her ridiculous declaration of loving Ekian Meius—whom she'd never exchanged a single word with—to now marriage.
"What kind of marriage without a husband?"
The more he thought about it, the more absurd it became.
Given that she'd even visited Meius Ducal Residence today, she must be seeking the Meius family's approval—but was that even possible?
The Meius Ducal House was one of the empire's most powerful noble families, rivaling the imperial family itself. They weren't people she could manipulate or deceive at will.
And from what he'd observed of Judith Aillan all this time, she was at heart a good and righteous person. Not the type to commit fraud against the Meius family.
"That's exactly why it makes no sense."
The Master muttered in a confused voice.
"Marrying the Young Duke... what on earth..."
Alone in his room, he removed his mask as if suffocating. The mask that had meticulously covered him up to the back of his head fell away with a soft thud.
Jet-black hair, hidden until now, cascaded smoothly. Hair dark as the night sky, a flawless forehead with neat yet pronounced eyebrows, cool deep-set eyes, and a sculpted nose bridge were revealed.
His pupils were a deep blood-red, harmonizing with sharp jawlines and lips tracing soft curves.
"How exactly does she plan to marry me?"
The Master of Gray Information Guild.
A man who, while still in his late teens, had single-handedly established an information guild while concealing his identity, becoming the underworld's undisputed ruler.
Not even his closest associates at Gray had seen his unmasked face. Though secretly a master swordsman, he'd never publicly demonstrated his skills.
His true identity, unknown to all, was Ekian Meius.
Soon, it would be exactly five years since he'd run away from Meius Ducal Residence.
Meaning, having been missing all this time, he was about to be officially declared dead.
'That's how it should be. There must be no place for me in House Meius.'
Ekian closed his eyes, thinking of Duke and Duchess Meius and his younger brother Karl.
'I must remain a vanished person.'
Unless he disappeared, the Duke and Duchess would never make Karl their heir.
Since childhood, he'd always had the retainers' support. Without being forcibly declared dead—forcing Karl to unwillingly inherit the Young Duke title—there was virtually no way he could relinquish his position.
'There's so little time left now, and suddenly marriage? What kind of...'
He couldn't begin to fathom what Judith Aillan was thinking. Only her supremely confident words echoed vividly in his mind.
"Has my information ever been wrong before?"
Judith and Ekian had never officially crossed paths even once.
That was only natural. During his time at the Meius Ducal House, Ekian barely had enough time to meet with high-ranking nobles, let alone mingle in social circles—something he never particularly enjoyed.
'And Judith Aillan was buried under a mountain of debt, even among nobles... Wait a moment.'
Only then did Ekian realize something and press his fingers to his forehead.
He had been so shocked by Judith's bombshell announcement that he had completely forgotten to mention the very reason he had gone to see her that morning.
Originally, he had intended to repay her private debts as compensation for saving his life!
But he had utterly blanked on bringing it up.
There were very few incidents in his life that had left him so flustered he forgot his own purpose.
Ekian glanced at his watch and thought,
'It'd be awkward to go back now. She's probably giving private lessons at this hour.'
He had a rough idea of Judith's daily routine. She lived each day diligently, struggling under the weight of her debts.
Though she managed to scrape by—selling information to him to avoid sinking further into debt and even paying interest—she still needed to cover her living expenses.
No matter how cheap her boarding house was, she still had to pay rent and earn enough for basic necessities like clothes and food.
So Judith usually spent her days busily tutoring children. Having been well-educated as a noblewoman's daughter, she seemed quite skilled at teaching essential subjects to young students.
'Most people would've given up by now, but she's truly remarkable. Diligent, optimistic, and never losing hope.'
Under normal circumstances, no matter how hard one worked, repaying the principal of such debt would be unthinkable. Yet Judith showed no signs of despair. She had never once complained to him about her circumstances.
Instead, she carried on steadily, as if following some grand plan, calmly managing her daily life. Though nothing extraordinary happened, her unwavering consistency left a deep impression on him.
'I'll visit her again tomorrow. No—I've already thanked her, so I should just summon her here. That way, I can hand her the check immediately.'
Unaware that he had been thinking about her all this time, Ekian finalized his plans for the next day.
'And I'll need to ask her in detail about that marriage scheme.'
Because the investigator had shown up, demanding to know how she'd learned about the bomb, they hadn't been able to talk properly earlier. He couldn't just interrogate her about it in a public place, so he had no choice but to leave.
That's why he figured it would be better to call her here, where they could speak privately and he could get a clearer picture.
Ekian immediately picked up his quill.
After drafting a letter instructing her to stop by the Information Guild the next day when she was free, he sent an employee to deliver it to Judith.
The next day, Judith arrived at the Gray Information Guild only as evening was falling.
"Sorry I'm late," she said, her face unusually bright.
"I was at the Meius Ducal Residence. I was originally supposed to go in two days, but the Duchess summoned me urgently."
The fact that she had been called to the ducal residence since dawn was something Ekian already knew. It was precisely why he had spent the entire day waiting for her in restless anticipation.
Because... he had never planted informants within the Meius Ducal Residence itself.
Despite gathering all sorts of intelligence, he had no way of knowing what happened inside that mansion.
To avoid lingering attachments, he had deliberately excluded the Meius Ducal House from his information network, even while running the guild.
"What on earth kept you at the ducal residence all day? I heard you were summoned at dawn."
"Ah, well, we had to fill out the marriage registration forms before I left."
"...Excuse me?"
"By tomorrow, the marriage registration should be finalized."
For a moment, Ekian felt as though he had been struck over the head.
Honestly... he had never imagined in his life that he could be this shocked.
"Wha— Wha— Wha— How...?"
"Since it'll spread through the capital soon anyway, I thought it'd be proper to tell the Master first."
Judith spoke cheerfully.
"Soon, the Meius Ducal House will announce that I'm pregnant with Ekian's child."
Ekian immediately retracted his earlier thought that nothing could possibly shock him more than the marriage registration.
Because he was even more stunned now.
In fact, it was closer to sheer terror.