Hours later, Fabian returned, knocking lightly on the carriage window to announce their arrival.
At last Nadia got her first glimpse of the great Winterpel estate in person. But there was no time to admire the view. Before she could even take it all in, she was whisked away and dressed in a wedding gown.
No delays. No breathing room. These people moved fast.
The dress, apparently, had been brought to the estate long ago by the former Marchioness, Glenn's mother.
With poor harvests and monsters constantly threatening the region, life in the north had not been easy. So instead of a grand, lavish affair, the wedding was kept simple and practical. The maids seemed to be waiting for Nadia to complain, maybe even to throw a tantrum. But she did not. She accepted it calmly, just as she had endured everything else.
After all, she was about to become the Marchioness of Winterpel. It was finally time she started thinking not just about survival, but about the people she would now be responsible for.
Unexpectedly, someone had been listening the entire time. From just around the corner, Glenn's aunt, Grace Greenwood, stepped forward, having heard everything. And she seemed impressed by Nadia's calm and composed attitude, which was actually a big deal. With Glenn's mother gone and his father bedridden, Grace was essentially the highest authority in the household. Winning her approval was not optional. It was necessary.
Grace offered a compliment, noting that the dress suited Nadia well. But the mood quickly shifted. Her tone turned sharp as she brought up her nephew's deep dislike for the Valajet family. She claimed she wanted to help Nadia grow closer to Glenn, though it felt more like a warning than actual support. Like a reminder of exactly where Nadia stood.
Just before leaving, Grace dropped one final remark, an ominous reminder about the importance of a wedding night in any marriage.
That did not sound supportive at all. It felt deliberate, as though she were trying to get inside Nadia's head.
For the next few days leading up to the ceremony, that comment refused to leave Nadia's mind. Until now, Glenn had been so distant and suspicious that she had never even considered the idea of sharing a night with him. But he was her husband. What if he expected it?
By the time the wedding ceremony began, Nadia was completely distracted. As the priest recited the vows, her thoughts spiralled so badly that she nearly forgot to say, "I do."
Then came the moment to seal the marriage. The kiss.
Nadia was so focused on what might happen afterwards that she had not prepared for this part at all. She froze as Glenn leaned in and gently pressed a kiss to her lips before pulling away as though it had meant nothing.
That was not what she had expected. Was he not supposed to just fake it?
Night fell, and now the real question began. Pacing back and forth in her room, the new Lady Winterpel wondered whether her husband would even show up.
To her surprise, he did. But not for the reason she feared.
Glenn made his stance clear. He had no intention of being intimate, and no plans of having children together.
It was a little harsh. Good thing Nadia was not devastated. She was feeling something completely different. She was relieved.
Of course, she still put on a performance. She cried loud enough for the maids outside to hear, selling the whole heartbroken act. Meanwhile, in her head, this was absolutely perfect. She had only agreed to this marriage to escape Ji-ho and finally break free from her family. So if Glenn wanted nothing to do with her, that just made things easier.
For the first time in a long while, she could finally relax. She happily dug into a spread of delicious food, ate her fill, and collapsed into bed with a full stomach. Compared to her previous life, this was a massive upgrade.
By the very next morning, Nadia's little scheme was already working. The maids, as expected, were busy whispering among themselves about the newlyweds. But instead of mocking her, their tone had shifted. They actually felt sorry for her. Word had spread that she had cried for hours, and had even asked for alcohol just to fall asleep.
Of course, their sympathy only went so far. The staff were loyal to Winterpel, so in their eyes Glenn had done nothing wrong by keeping his distance.
Glenn and his knights happened to overhear the maids' gossip session, but none of them seemed even remotely concerned about Nadia's heartbreak. Instead, Glenn assigned Fabian to escort his wife around the estate. Officially it was for her safety. Unofficially it was to keep watch, making sure she did not try anything suspicious, like sending letters back to her family.
Despite being treated like a potential threat, Nadia did not protest. In fact she played it off perfectly, making it seem as though Glenn had entrusted Fabian with protecting her.
Poor Fabian, stuck right in the middle again.
Nadia knew exactly why he was there, and she did not mind at all. If anything, it gave her the perfect chance to prove she was not the enemy. So she got straight to work. Calling over the elderly butler, she asked for the estate's financial ledger. If she was going to be Marchioness, she might as well start acting like one.
But the moment she opened the books, her expression dropped. The grand Winterpel estate was drowning in debt.
So much for a peaceful married life.
It turned out the entire northern territory was struggling. Constant monster attacks made life dangerous, and the land itself was too barren to produce much income. The royal family did provide funds in exchange for dealing with those threats. But after being dragged into endless wars, many of them pushed by powerful nobles like her father, there was barely anything left.
Their resentment made perfect sense.
What confused Nadia most was this: in her past life, Glenn had somehow managed to recover financially. But looking at the current numbers, she could not work out how he had pulled it off.
Sensing her concern, the butler gently suggested a solution. Her dowry. Using it could wipe out a significant portion of their debt.
So that was part of the reason they had accepted this marriage.
Nadia was not naïve. She was not about to hand over her only bargaining chip to people who still saw her as a spy. And more importantly, throwing money at the problem would not fix the real issue. The root cause lay in the land itself. If they wanted to solve this, they needed to start there.
Fabian quietly listened as Nadia and the butler discussed everything, taking in every word. Later he reported back to Glenn, fully convinced that Nadia genuinely wanted to help.
Unfortunately, not everyone agreed. The other knights were sceptical, convinced Fabian had been fooled.