Side Story 4: Roxana's Marriage (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Side Story 4: Roxana's Marriage (1)
Roxana’s sudden announcement came a mere four months after Harriet and Cedric’s wedding.
It was entirely unexpected, without a single warning sign. Neither Harriet nor Cedric could hide their shock. Harriet, in particular, rushed to the Fellon Estate the moment she heard the news.
"Aunt!"
"Did you run all the way here the moment you got my message?"
"How could I not? Is this some kind of prank? An event?"
When Harriet asked in a tone of utter disbelief, Roxana let out a small, elegant laugh.
"Well, for various reasons, it does feel like quite the event."
"Are you really getting married?"
"Yes. Assuming nothing goes wrong before the date."
Harriet’s jaw dropped. "Who is he?!"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb! Who is the man?!"
"He was a classmate from my time studying abroad in the Kingdom of Candia. He’s an Astogan."
A classmate from her study abroad days? It was completely out of the blue. In all the years Harriet had known Roxana, she had never heard a single word about that period of her life.
"Did you... get into some trouble?"
"Are you asking if I had a drunken one-night stand and ended up pregnant?"
"Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that, but..."
"I'm not pregnant."
At that blunt answer, Harriet stared blankly at Roxana before cautiously whispering, "So... the first part actually happened?"
"Well, it just... happened."
"What?!"
Harriet’s eyes widened so far it looked like they might pop out of her head.
But how could she not be surprised? Roxana Fellon was the personification of logic and composure—a woman who seemed to despise impulse and passion more than anyone else in the world. And yet, she had apparently gotten drunk and slept with a man!
Harriet remained frozen, unable to recover from the shock, but Roxana—the person actually involved—seemed utterly unconcerned. She remained buried in the mountain of documents before her, signing and sorting papers with such focus that Harriet wondered if she had misheard the entire conversation.
"Does Great-aunt Trisha know about this?"
"Yes."
"Gah! And you're still in one piece?"
"She didn't have much to say."
Harriet’s brow furrowed at that. "When I spent a single night at the Kailas Mansion, I got an earful!"
"That's because you're Miss Harriet. I'm thirty-six—a grown woman capable of taking care of herself, wouldn't you agree?"
"I'm an adult too, you know!"
"Hardly."
Roxana let out a light snort, wounding Harriet’s pride. But since Harriet herself had given Trisha and Roxana plenty of reasons to treat her like a child in the past, she could only pout in silence.
Regardless, that wasn't the important part right now.
"How did you two meet? Did you have a tragic, forbidden love during your academy days and were forced apart?"
Harriet, having overcome her initial shock, leaned in with anticipation. The answer she received, however, was the polar opposite of her romantic fantasies.
"Quite the contrary. Back then, we were more like... arch-rivals, I suppose."
"Arch-rivals?"
"I was ranked first in our class, and he was second. He despised me. Every time we crossed paths, it turned into a power struggle."
"Hold on, Aunt. I'm going to go get some tea and cookies. This story isn't going to be over in a minute."
As Harriet scurried out of the room, Roxana watched her go and let out another soft laugh. Honestly, it wasn't even that big of a deal; she didn't understand why the girl was making such a fuss.
*
"Roxana Valbenus?"
Roxana had reunited with Colin Gray about two years after her return to the Empire.
She had already considered the possibility of running into him eventually, so she wasn't particularly flustered. After all, their reunion took place at the Gray Mansion.
"It has been a long time, Sir Gray."
"Miss Roxana... why are you here?"
He was visibly stunned. It seemed he had assumed they would never have a reason to see each other again after graduation.
"I am assisting Countess Fellon with her affairs. She is here today to discuss business with your father, Count Gray."
"So you're the Countess’s aide?"
"That is correct."
"I heard the Fellon family sponsored your studies abroad. It seems they’ve even provided you with a career."
"I received a kindness I can never hope to repay in this lifetime."
Colin, who had tried to provoke her out of habit, felt awkward at her straightforward admission. He belatedly extended his hand, trying to act natural.
"It seems we'll be seeing quite a bit of each other. I am also assisting my father with the family business."
"I look forward to working with you."
Instead of taking his hand, Roxana gave a polite, shallow bow and passed him by.
Even then, Colin likely still viewed her as "that annoying commoner girl." But as he had predicted, their relationship began to shift through their frequent professional encounters.
Studying at an academy and managing a family’s finances were entirely different beasts. Colin couldn't help but see Roxana—his business partner’s highly capable aide—in a new light.
"Sometimes, you're like a monster."
At the sudden remark, Roxana braced herself for an insult, but to her surprise, it was a compliment.
"How did you check all those documents? No, checking them is one thing, but how do you memorize them all?"
"I simply... remembered them."
"But how?"
"They just... stay in my mind."
"Monster."
She wasn't offended. She knew it was his clumsy way of acknowledging her talent. In fact, she felt a strange sense of satisfaction receiving recognition from someone who used to dislike her so much.
However, that feeling transformed into pure bewilderment two years later.
It was the day she stopped by to finalize the paperwork after the collaboration between House Gray and House Fellon had concluded.
"...And that concludes everything."
"Count Gray and Countess Fellon have a good rapport, so I'm sure our paths will cross again," Roxana said.
Colin, who had been quietly nodding along, suddenly spoke up. "Would you care to have a meal with me sometime?"
"Just the two of us?"
"Is there a reason we shouldn't?"
And so, they had dinner. It was at an expensive, lavish restaurant that catered primarily to the high nobility.
They talked about many things, starting with their academy days. Though Roxana was usually a woman of few words, she found she had a surprising amount to say to someone who shared her history. They talked for a long time.
Then, a few days later, he approached her with a nervous expression and dropped a bombshell.
"Miss Roxana Valbenus. Would you... permit me to court you?"
That day, Roxana experienced true speechlessness for the first time in her life.
"No. I will pretend I didn't hear that."
It was the obvious answer, and Colin left with a visibly dejected expression. She felt a twinge of guilt, but she didn't believe she had said anything wrong.
Firstly, although he was a third son, he was the son of a Count. He was a significant contributor to the family business and would likely inherit a substantial portion of the enterprise. For such a man to be in a relationship with a commoner woman of obscure origins? It would mean social ruin for him, or her total isolation from society.
But Colin did not give up.
The next year, and the year after that, he confessed his feelings whenever she least expected it. By the third time, she was able to respond without surprise.
"Why me, of all people?" Roxana asked with a sigh.
Colin replied with a dead-serious expression. "Because I love you."
"But why? You hated me back at the academy."
"My feelings haven't changed since then."
"What?"
"I loved you then. I tried to hide it, and I’d only just managed to give up on you... then you reappeared before me. Even more remarkable than you were before."
She turned to look at him, wondering if he was blaming her, but his expression wasn't brazen; it was pained.
"I know the reasons why you reject me. I could list just as many myself. But what am I supposed to do when I can't stop thinking about you?"
Roxana let out a faint sigh and gave her final answer.
"I owe Countess Fellon a debt of gratitude that I must repay with my life. I intend to stay by her side forever, as she has no children of her own. This resolve will never change. So please... find someone else."
That day, they parted in silence, neither able to look the other in the eye.
However, they didn't become strangers. When they ran into each other, they greeted one another as if nothing had happened. If someone nearby asked how they were acquainted, they would even exchange playful banter about their academy days.
'Some relationships just fade away naturally like this,' she had thought.
Roxana believed everything had returned to its proper place.
*
"That was the case, until something changed in Colin's circumstances."
"Kyaa! I knew it! I knew there’d be a twist! What happened next? Tell me!"
Harriet sat opposite her, urging her to continue, completely forgetting to eat the cookie in her hand. Roxana gave an embarrassed smile at Harriet’s excitement, then tilted her teacup to moisten her lips.
"It was around the time Lady Marshall tried and failed to kill me, while the trial was still underway. A letter arrived from Colin. I had heard he was staying in Candia at the time."
It was a request for her to spare him a moment of her time—even if only for a second.