Ⅶ
Reason and emotion were like a pair of rebellious twins.
They argued, hurled insults at each other, and occasionally even came to blows.
But...
When the stakes were high enough, emotion would always give way.
Because-
Emotion: Reason is right!
Of course, there were exceptions.
There were, and quite a lot of them.
For example: love and affection!
Romantic love!
Parental love!
The bonds of friendship!
All of these could leave reason utterly defenseless, forcing it to concede defeat to emotion.
Unfortunately, Yekaterina felt absolutely none of these toward Arthur.
Likewise, Arthur felt none of them toward Yekaterina.
In Yekaterina's eyes, Arthur was a partner who helped preserve the West Berlin Family's dignity and interests.
And in Arthur's eyes?
It was even simpler: Yekaterina was a pawn!
Not just Yekaterina, either. Her father, the Marquis of West Berlin, was also a pawn!
So, when he saw Yekaterina approaching with an awkward smile, Arthur took a seemingly instinctive step back-and that step left Yekaterina stunned.
The Marquis of West Berlin's eldest daughter stared blankly at the flicker of awkwardness in Arthur's eyes, and...
Reluctance?!
Arthur was reluctant?!
The marquis's eldest daughter was first astonished, then furious.
Astonished because of Arthur's attitude.
She had considered many possibilities, but never imagined Arthur would back away.
Furious, too, because of Arthur's attitude.
She had already braced herself to be bitten by a dog, and what happened?
The dog actually turned its nose up at her!
What was that supposed to mean?
Am I ugly?
Or is Malinda's rumored beauty really enough to captivate the whole world?
How is that possible?!
It's not as though I haven't seen her portrait.
She's only...
Average!
Yes, average!
With emotions churning inside her, Yekaterina began insisting on this, only to suddenly feel that she was being rather