Chapter Three

“Ah, Duke Alexander is also here,” Alessandra said as she glanced at the duke who was standing behind her. “The heir of the North Maximillan duchy greets you.” 

“It is indeed good to see you, Young Duchess,” Alexander said while glancing at Hayden, who was surprised to see them talking casually even though it was the first time the young duchess visited the Terrence duchy. “Is the young duchess here to spend time with her fiancé? If so, then I will gladly leave you two alone.” 

“No need, Duke Alexander,” she said. “It will be great if the duke is present as well, since it will need the duke’s permission.” 

“What is it, Alessandra?” Hayden asked. “I don’t think we need to talk about anything that requires the duke’s present.” 

“Lord Hayden, please button your shirt properly before talking,” Alessandra said. “Or do you need my guard to help you?” 

“My hand is working perfectly fine,” Hayden grumbled. “No need to help.” 

“Oh, is that so?” Alessandra muttered. “I thought your hand might be slippery since you were doing something with that noble lady behind your fiancée’s back and even in front of her.” 

Alexander almost choked, but he controlled himself as he noticed the young duchess’s unmoving face.  

“Young Duchess, your words are vulgar,” Hayden said with a shocked look on his face.  

“I agree. I feel like I need to puke,” Matt mumbled. 

Alessandra shrugged. “Perhaps the lord’s hand has gone dry. Anyway, I don’t have much time on my hand. Let me be clear,” she said. “Lord Hayden, I want to annul our engagement due to some inconvenience.” 

“What?” Hayden almost yelled.  

“I have brought Duke Albert’s permission,” she said nonchalantly. “Now please sign the paper.” 

“I refuse!” Hayden yelled.  

“Who cares?” she muttered. “Duke Alexander is the one who will need to agree.” 

“Can you give me a proper reason, Young Duchess?” Alexander asked, even though it was unnecessary. But since Hayden did not know about their plan, they needed to pretend not to know anything either. It was a silent agreement between them.  

“My fiancé is cheating on me,” Alessandra said. “Is that reason valid enough?” 

“What are you saying?” Hayden yelled. “I was just taking care of my boredom since my fiancée would not even let me hold her hand. You have never even made a public appearance with me.” 

“So the Lord is saying that this reason isn’t enough?” she asked.  

“Of course not! Every man does this,” Hayden said. Alexander sighed as he witnessed his brother arguing like an idiot with his fiancée.  

“Well then, I have another reason,” Alessandra said. “I am simply bored and the lord’s charm isn’t enough to compete with my beauty.” 

“What?”  

“Now please sign the annulment paper,” she said as she handed a paper to Hayden along with a pen.  

“Tear it. I have more,” she added before Hayden could do exactly what she guessed. 

“What’s up with that pen?” Alexander asked. 

“Oh, that one? It can hold ink within it so you don’t need to dip it again and again to write something,” she explained. 

“Wow, that one is good,” Alexander muttered. For someone as workaholic as him, it was indeed a very useful thing. 

“Yeah,” she said.  

I will perhaps gift one to Duke Alexander sometime.  

“What the hell are you two talking about now? And what is with this engagement annulment?” Hayden asked angrily. His blue eyes were full of dread, as if he would tear both Alexander and Alessandra. “You mad...” 

Matt grabbed his mouth before he could utter another word and kicked his leg, so he fell to the ground. Everyone remained in their place with a calm look on their faces while Hayden groaned in pain.  

“Now, now, Lord Hayden, you have been talking without showing proper respect for a while now. Do you think I am your drinking buddy or something? Or do you think that I am here to play with you?” Alessandra said coldly.  

The drastic change of her tone from playful to serious surprised both Hayden and Alexander, but Matt remained the same, checking out the painting of a tree in the opposite direction of the wall while holding Hayden down. 

“And does my proposition to annul our engagement look like a joke to the lord? Or does the lord want to be straight up shameless while blabbering tactless nonsense with that dung-making mouth? It is alright if the lord doesn’t want to annul our engagement. But that doesn’t mean the annulment won’t take place.” 

“I will never sign the annulment paper!” Hayden said loudly.  

“Ah,” Alessandra mumbled, “Alright. I will take my leave then. Since the Lord wants from the deepest shallow part of his heart to not annul our engagement for some unnecessarily strange reasons, I don’t think I can do anything to change the lord’s binky heart’s voice. For now.” 

“What?” Hayden asked, surprised. He did not expect the young duchess to give up so quickly, neither did he expect her to have a sour mouth. He slightly understood why both men and women feared the young duchess. 

She turned her back on Hayden Terrence without another word, along with Duke Alexander.  

“Will you be leaving now, Young Duchess?” Alexander asked on the way. “If there are no pressing matters in hand, I would like to invite the young duchess for some coffee and small talk.” 

Alessandra smiled. Her brother from her previous life had made sure that this world had all types of coffee. It was good for her since she liked to drink coffee more than anything else, especially as she only worked almost all day long.  

“Of course, every type is available,” Alexander added with a smirk.  

“I cannot possibly refuse such an invitation,” she said with a smile.  

Alexander led the young duchess and her guard to the duke’s residence. He noticed her steps were elegant and very shallow, as if she did not trust even the ground. And the ruby eyes with two black marks in the middle were fixed on his moves as if she did not want to miss even the slight movement.  

“Duke, Young Duchess, what a pleasant sight!” Cornelius exclaimed as he ran towards them the moment he noticed them. To his surprise, the young duchess was more beautiful and elegant than he had imagined.  

“You must be Cornelius Bradford, the south duchy butler,” Alessandra said.  

“Yes, Young Duchess. It is my pleasure to meet you,” Cornelius said and bowed. He was surprised that the young duchess recognized him even though they had never met before.  

“It’s alright. I have come here for some business that did not go so well, for now, but now the duke generously invited me for some coffee,” she smiled.  

“Ah, that is wonderful,” Cornelius said, and looked at Duke Alexander. “Please let me lead you to the drawing-room.” 

Cornelius led them to the drawing-room. Alessandra walked side by side with Alexander. Alessandra was of average height while Alexander was unnecessarily tall. Matt, who was walking a step behind them, was dumbfounded to notice their height difference.  

“Please make yourself comfortable, Young Duchess,” Cornelius said.  

Alessandra looked around the room. As she expected, the room spoke of Duke Alexander’s lavish taste. She smiled as it fit her taste perfectly. After all, spending money was one of her favorite hobbies.  

“My lady, Duke Alexander is the perfect match for you,” Matt whispered into Alessandra’s ear.  

She grinned in her head. Alexander understands the importance of unnecessarily expensive things. As expected of the mad duke. I am glad. Thumbs up to you, young man. After living for almost thirty-six years, watching the kids play is quite fun, especially when it matches my taste. 

Even though Alessandra lived for a long time, she had not yet had a romantic relationship with anyone. In her first life, she was busy studying and doing many freelance jobs. And in her second life, she was busy working as the heir of the North Maximillan duchy. In her first life, she did not have a chance to experience romance, but as she had earned a lot of money, she was pretty lavish for her age. Since the money kept growing only, her habits did not change. And her parents did not stop her since she was spending her own money. In her second life, as the duke’s daughter, she was even richer. Thus, her extravagant habits did not change, only grew. 

Since she could not live long in her first life, she decided to be the perfect woman she always wanted in her second life. Part of the plan was to find a romantic partner. Because of that, she was quite interested in marriage as she reached the age.  

“Latte?” Alexander asked as they both sat on the couch. Alessandra was sitting on the opposite side of him with Matt sitting beside her.  

“Yes, thank you,” she said. She was glad that Duke Alexander remembered her preference even though they had met only once before.  

Alexander told the butler to bring them coffee and some refreshments. His stiff silver eyes fell on her ruby eyes.  

“I am surprised that the duke went to Lord Hayden’s residence,” she stated. “After all, I heard the duke and Lord Hayden do not share a good sibling bond.” 

“You’re right,” Alexander said. “I heard that the young duchess has come to the duchy. I wanted to see how the young duchess annuls her engagement.”