It wasn’t just me, Harper was also stunned.

"You're Zelda?"

To be honest, I didn’t like the way Axel was looking at me.

"Yes," I replied quietly.

"Oh, you're not bad looking. How about we give it a try and see if we can make it work?"

I looked up and sized up this so-called troublemaker. The more I looked, the more handsome he seemed and he didn’t appear as scary as everyone said.

"Alright, there are three hours left before sunset. Go prepare the betrothal gifts. Just don't let me be disappointed!"

With that, I turned and left, not paying any attention to Harper shouting behind me.

After walking a few steps, I stopped. "By the way! Make sure to throw him out too!"

Before long, Axel returned with the betrothal gifts.

Actually, these things were just a formality for us.

It was only at this moment that I realized I had foolishly married the infamous troublemaker of Calbery, Axel.

And we had set our wedding date for a week later.

Harper hurriedly pushed Axel away and came to stand in front of me.

"Zelda, all of this today, you’re just doing it to make me angry, right? You didn’t really marry that scoundrel, did you?"

I looked at Harper in confusion.

"Are you crazy? Who I marry has nothing to do with you!"

For the first time, I felt like he might actually have a problem with his brain.

"You can't marry him. He's not a good person! Zelda, wait for me, just for one year. Believe me, okay? I'll marry you next year!"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. “I’m not someone who can’t get married! Why should I wait for you for half a year!”

At that moment, Grace appeared. She saw me and immediately knelt down. "Zelda, please don't steal my man! I beg you, please!"

I was so startled by her actions that I took a step back.

With her causing such a scene, it made it seem like I was the villain here.

"Zelda, as you know, I'm different with you. You have a prestigious background, but I have nothing left. All I have is Harper! Please, I beg you, let me have him, okay?"

Grace made herself sound so pitiful and she kept crawling on the ground.

It was only when I inadvertently glanced at the bracelet on her wrist that I realized something.

That was the Scott Family's heirloom, a treasure meant for their future granddaughter-in-law.

Now, it was on her wrist and Harper kept claiming that he loved me. That was ridiculous.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know, but it seems like the young lady from the Frost Family is ruining the marriage of Mr. Scott. The original bride even came to confront her!"

Sure enough, rumors didn’t need the wind to spread. They just took off as soon as they appeared.

Neighbors passing by started to take notice of the commotion.

"Grace, if you can't keep your own husband, why are you coming here to trouble me?" I snapped.

What I hated the most were people like her, pretending to be innocent.

"You've caused all this trouble just to force Harper to marry you, right? And now you've even brought Axel into this! So there's no way I'll marry him!"

I looked at her in disbelief! She even made herself look so aggrieved! "You're crazy! Your husband came to find me! Instead of wasting time here, why don't you go manage your own husband!"

If she had no shame, she would truly be unbeatable.

I didn’t want to continue dealing with her, so I turned to look at Harper standing nearby.

"If you don’t take your big drama queen away, I can’t guarantee what Axel might do!"

I think my reminder came a bit too late. With Grace's scream, everything escalated.

The wine in Axel’s hand was already splashed on her face.

"You guys are going too far!" Harper quickly pulled Grace into his arms and hurriedly walked out.

In that instant, everything felt strangely familiar.

Axel asked, "It’s cold. Why aren't you wearing more layers, Zelda?"

It was also the phrase Harper said to me the most during winter.

One time, when it was snowing outside, I accidentally lost my keys and Harper was at a meeting in the company at the time.

When I found out I couldn’t go back home, she immediately dropped everything to come find me.

At that time, he cared for me just like he did for Grace. He brought me clothes and as soon as he saw me, he tightly embraced me. After we got home, he made me ginger soup.

And after that, I completely gave my heart to him.

Now, I finally understand. It turned out that love could be disguised.

"What's wrong? Are you still holding onto your ex?" Axel's words pulled me out of my memories.

"He's just trash, there's nothing worth missing!"

I looked at him, for the first time examining this man carefully. I had to admit, compared to Harper, he was still handsome, just a little bit of a rogue.

It’s almost laughable. The man who everyone avoided like the plague was now going to be my husband.

After getting rid of Harper and Grace, I finally had a moment of peace.

It was then that I remembered there was an auction I had to attend tomorrow and by chance, I had mentioned this to Axel.

The next morning, after getting ready, I headed out.

Now, news of me was everywhere in Calbery, so I had to be extra cautious when going out.

As soon as I entered the auction house, I overheard people talking in hushed voices.

"Did you hear? Mr. Scott has declared that the pigeon blood red must be secured for Grace today!"

"Of course, I've heard! Isn’t he engaged to Zelda? How did he suddenly marry Grace? I heard her background isn’t even that good! And it seems like she was supposed to marry Axel, but in the end, Mr. Scott snatched her away!"

"Who knows, but Zelda from the Frost Family has now become the laughingstock of Calbery!"

"You know what? Zelda got engaged to Axel yesterday!"

"Oh my God, this sounds like a novel!"

That's how it was in Calbery. Good news might not spread, but bad news would be all over the city.

When I arrived at my seat, I found Harper and Grace sitting beside me.

"Isn't it a surprise to see you at the auction, Zelda? Where's Axel?" Grace had this kind of charm that, the moment she spoke, made me feel disgusted.

"Zelda, when someone doesn't love you, it's painfully obvious."

Harper was just as sickening.

I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to the auction.

The items being auctioned were mostly unremarkable and everyone was just waiting for the final piece, the pigeon blood red.

As expected, when the pigeon blood red appeared, everyone's attention was immediately drawn to it.

“No matter who it is today, don't compete with me! This pigeon blood red must be mine!” Harper said confidently.

Although I also liked it, I wasn’t willing to spend a high price to compete with them.

“Thank you, honey!” Grace kissed Harper on the cheek.

It seemed that Harper quite enjoyed it.

At that moment, a voice interrupted. “Miss Frost, Mr. Knight said that the pigeon blood red will be given to you as a gift!”

It was only then I noticed that Axel's assistant had been by my side the entire time.

“Forget it, I won’t compete with them anymore!”

I was never particularly interested in these things anyway. Perhaps the assistant wasn’t sure what to do, so he called Axel for instructions.

Then, after a while, Axel arrived.

"Only you are worthy of this piece. As for that fake innocent act, she doesn’t deserve it!"

With that, he slammed down the final bid paddle.

"Harper! Bid higher! I want it!"

Harper’s face turned red. "They’ve already called it. What’s the point of bidding now?"

And so, the auction concluded with Axel securing the pigeon blood red gemstone.

Afterwards, Axel had to leave early for something, while I stayed behind to wait for the pigeon blood red to be handed over.

But I didn’t expect that Harper would still come looking for me.

"Zelda! I know you're still angry with me! Can we stop being angry now?"

As soon as I stepped out, Harper pulled me aside.

"I know, you hate me for marrying Grace, but I really don't love her. I just wanted to help her once!"

Harper became more and more agitated, as if he had suffered some great injustice.

"Enough! Harper, do you think you're some ancient emperor? Playing the selection of a concubine with me? You married Grace and now you're coming to harass me? Don't you think you're pathetic? Now please get out of my sight!"

After saying that, I tried to walk away, but found myself completely blocked by Harper.

"You're just saying that out of anger. I know you still love me. Marrying Axel was just to get my attention. Now I understand, Zelda, you'll come back and I'll love you well!"

As he said this, he moved in to kiss me.

I struggled desperately, but found my hands firmly held by him.

I closed my eyes and shouted randomly, but suddenly, everything around us became eerily quiet.

"Harper, didn't your mother teach you not to flirt with other people's fiancees?"

The next second, a fist the size of a sandbag landed on Harper's face.

I watched in shock as Axel stood in front of me.

"Weren't you leaving?" I asked.

He placed his hand on my head and ruffled my hair. "I felt like my little princess was being bullied, so I came back!"

The way he did that made me blush a little.

"Zelda! You brought him here to annoy me, didn't you? Tell me the truth!" Harper lost his rationality, continuously trying to step forward.

But he was repeatedly pushed back by Axel.

I shouted, "Harper! If you're not blind, you should be able to figure out that Axel and I will be getting married in a week! If you want to attend the wedding, you're welcome to, but if you cause trouble, don't blame us for being rude!"

After that, Axel and I left together, leaving Harper slumped there all alone.

However, that day, I didn't notice that there had been a pair of eyes watching us from behind. If I had noticed, the events that followed wouldn't have happened.

When I got home that night, my parents looked at me with concern in their eyes.

"Zelda, have you really thought this through?" My mother’s eyes were filled with tears, on the verge of crying.

"Don’t worry, Mom! I think Axel is a good guy!"

I didn’t know why I said those words. It was just a feeling, as if I knew my choice wasn’t wrong.

In the following days, nothing much happened. Axel was preparing for our wedding in an orderly manner.

As the big day approached, I began to feel a little nervous.

But generally, the closer it got to a good thing, the more likely it was for troublemakers to show up.

Grace and Harper were exactly like that.

The two of them were such horrible people. They seemed to feel they had to cause some kind of chaos at this time to make things right for themselves.