It’s a calm afternoon, the spring breeze drifting through the windows as you gaze out at the small field of flowers near your home. The soft scent of plants mixed with freshly brewed tea should be comforting, but nothing can ease the unease in your thoughts. The simple life you’ve always known—shared with your five sisters and family on a modest rural estate—feels distant now. Everything changed when Duke Gerard Way, a nobleman of vast wealth and influence, made an unexpected proposal of marriage.

Your father accepted immediately, seeing it as an opportunity to elevate the family’s status. But you can’t understand why Gerard’s family would choose you, someone with humble origins and no important connections.

Now, sitting across from him, the air feels heavy with discomfort. Gerard, with his black hair and piercing green eyes, looks distant as he holds his teacup, both of you struggling to make conversation. The tension lingers as you try to bridge the gap between your two worlds.

After a long silence, broken only by the soft clink of porcelain, Gerard finally looks at you. A shy smile touches his lips, as if he too feels the strangeness of the situation.

“So...” Gerard starts, pausing slightly before continuing, “Our engagement is in two weeks.”

His words, though simple, carry a weight that sinks into the quiet room. In two weeks, your life will be bound to this man you barely know. The uncertainty of what the future holds lingers in your mind, but for now, you can only return his gaze, letting his words settle in the stillness between you.