The Virtually Exiled Duke’s Daughter Is Troubled When Her Fiancé in a Neighboring Country Says, "I Will Never Love You" - Episode 21

The next day, at the breakfast table.

Unusually, Marquis Sisley made a suggestion to Deborah.

“How about a light stroll after this? If you’d like, I can show you around my garden.”

“Is that really okay?”

Deborah asked hesitantly, her expression a mix of restraint and slight delight. The marquis smiled gently.

Of course, his offer wasn’t entirely out of pure goodwill. Last evening, Lady Lauren had reported to him with a furrowed brow, saying, “Lady Deborah said this… I don’t know how to handle things while Lord Gary is away…”

From what the marquis had observed so far, he felt that Deborah didn’t seem to have any ulterior motives.

However, it was too early to conclude that. He decided it would be best to speak with her more before making a judgment.

“Shall we go, then?”

The marquis bent his arm slightly, offering it to her. As his ornamental wife, Deborah hesitated for a moment.

However, she quickly decided that this was simply a formal escort and gently placed her hand on his arm.

They began walking slowly through the garden. To an outsider who knew nothing, they would appear to be a harmonious, elegant couple, despite the age difference between them.

They passed by a fountain and walked alongside a neatly maintained rose hedge. Before long, Deborah noticed that they were taking a different route from the one she had walked with Lady Lauren before.

“Oh… this place is…”

Ahead of them stood a building with several large glass windows. She recalled what Shelley had once told her—if she were to exaggerate, this was a forbidden place for her.

“It’s the greenhouse. Let me introduce you to our gardener.”

“Is that really okay?”

Deborah reflexively spoke, then quickly covered her mouth with her hand, blushing.

“Lady Deborah?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing…”

“Is something wrong?”

Although Marquis Sisley was smiling kindly, he was inwardly puzzled.

(Did I take her to the greenhouse too soon…?)

It had seemed like she was slightly happy a moment ago. If she intended to win him over, perhaps she had felt eager at the chance to bring up memories of Magdala. However, just as he considered this, Deborah suddenly looked straight at him.

“Um…”

“What is it?”

“I’m terribly sorry. It’s nothing important…”

“Huh?”

Deborah’s face turned even redder.

“I just said ‘Is that really okay?’ a moment ago, yet I said it again… That was careless of me.”

“?”

“My father used to scold me often, saying, ‘A woman who repeats the same words over and over lacks wit and conversational skill.’”

“…I see.”

Deborah lowered her gaze in embarrassment and didn’t see the marquis’s face, which was now round with surprise.

“Lately, I feel like I’ve been blurting out my thoughts without thinking, unable to maintain a composed smile. I feel like I’m failing as a noblewoman…”

“Huh?”

“I’m a hostage, so I probably won’t be seen in public, but… If any noble were to witness such a disgraceful display, even as a mere ornamental wife, it would bring shame to you, Marquis.”

“…What?”

The marquis was stunned.

(…Could it be…)

His previous wife, Magdala, had spoken openly, was friendly with the servants, and had never behaved like a typical noblewoman.

The woman in front of him, Deborah, felt ashamed of expressing her true feelings.

Marquis Sisley recalled Lady Lauren’s words.

“Lady Deborah is the very model of a refined woman. No matter what she does, she executes it perfectly. She always wears a gentle smile, but I believe she does not easily reveal her true feelings…”

And the report from the night before.

“For her to grasp everything from so little information… As expected from the former fiancée of the crown prince. But for me, it’s too overwhelming. Lord Gary is away, and I don’t know how to judge her actions. She’s far too different from Lady Magdala…”

The two wives were complete opposites.

The marquis occasionally traveled to the royal capital and attended evening gatherings, so he was familiar with the refined behavior of noblewomen. But even among them, Deborah was extraordinarily perfect—like a doll. She had crafted an exterior so flawless that she never showed her true emotions.

Of course, for someone destined to be the crown princess, this was an essential trait. She had likely been strictly trained for that role in Mammut Kingdom since childhood.

Why had he never realized this before?

The moment that thought crossed his mind, the marquis’s face turned bright red.

How foolish of him to have even briefly suspected that Deborah might be imitating Magdala!

“…I-I’m so sorry!”

Noticing the marquis’s sudden change in expression, Deborah paled. A memory resurfaced—when she had once shown an innocent attitude at home, believing it would be acceptable within the ducal family, she had been harshly reprimanded by her parents.

Flustered, she quickly apologized.

“I have behaved disgracefully… I will be more careful from now on. Please forgive me.”

“N-no! That’s not it, Lady Deborah!”

“It’s not?”

“Here, you can show your true feelings. No, I want you to show them.”

“…What?”

Deborah’s gray eyes widened.

In them, the marquis clearly saw his own reflection.