Yaqi and Leia were not the only ones whose marriages had been arranged without their knowledge.
In the Murto Mountain Ranges in the northern Lampari Kingdom, more than a thousand kilometers from Xinfei Farm, Viscount Leslie looked at the letter in his hands and gave a cold chuckle. With a forceful tug, he tore the fine stationery to shreds, then casually tossed them into the mountain stream beside him.
Countless scraps fluttered down, as though another light snowfall had begun among the mountains.
Watching the scraps fall into the stream and disappear, Viscount Leslie stood in silence for a moment, then glanced back at his fellow soldiers in the Northern Garrison. He imagined that, like ordinary people, they must envy him for being born into a great noble house like the Stark Family. They had no idea how often descendants of such families had no say in their own lives.
For instance, this letter from his mother informed him that the family had arranged a marriage for him, leaving him no room to refuse.
The girl who would become his wife was the youngest daughter of the head of the Alemann family. She was twenty-three this year, and according to his mother, she was beautiful, gentle, and eminently suited to being a wife. His mother wanted Viscount Leslie to return to Anvilmar City and marry her as soon as he completed his two years of service in the Northern Garrison. All Viscount Leslie could offer in response to his mother's assessment of Miss Alemann was a cold smile.
Perhaps Miss Alemann really was beautiful and gentle, but Viscount Leslie did not believe for a moment that his mother had chosen her for who she was. The only reason she had been selected as his wife was the Alemann family behind