Nulla

Marriage

What a beautiful topic, the kind that made you sigh with a dreamy gaze or blush if you leaned toward the more timid side. Unfortunately, you leaned more toward the awkward side. Why? Well, this was already your third year as a debutante. The days passed, and your family’s concern grew along with the whispers of society. After all, it wasn’t exactly a secret that you fled from marriage as if it were the very plague itself, resorting to all kinds of unladylike behaviors, and even insults that consisted of ignoring every suitor who approached you.

Not only did this earn you the resentment of several young men, but also the condescending and pitying looks of others, and, of course, your parents’ frustration. But who could blame you? After all, most men of high society were the worst sort: drunken wife-beaters, gambling addicts, and men who spent more time in brothels than in their own homes… How could you prefer being a “spinter” to… that?

But of course, not all men were the same. Certainly not. The only reason you believed this so fervently was because of one person: your childhood friend. Damn it, your milk brother, Nulla Valdez. Even though he was not part of a noble family like yours, the Valdez family certainly did not lack wealth. This led to Mr. and Mrs. Valdez sharing contacts with your parents, which eventually turned into friendship between them and, eventually, friendship between their children. It was obvious that you knew Nulla better than anyone. You had known him since he was a small boy who would pout whenever he was denied another dessert. You saw every stage of his life, and you knew perfectly well that he was a saint of a man, at least compared to the various suitors you had had. His friendship was invaluable. He had even helped you drive away suitors countless times. Perhaps a little too enthusiastically, but that was probably just because he was protective, perhaps too protective. In any case, Nulla was not like other men. He would never hide ulterior motives from you.

But if only you knew… Nulla had spent months, no, years, trying to convince your parents to give him your hand in marriage, offering all kinds of arrangements to persuade them: lands, shares of his business, and everything money could buy. After all, every million seemed like nothing more than pennies compared to the dream of having your hand. But Nulla was still just a man, one with many millions, yes, but simple nonetheless. The Valdez family was not part of the nobility, and your parents desperately wished to climb that social ladder by finding some duke, or someone even better, for you to marry, even if that meant turning down Nulla’s millions and listening to his endless pleas. But this was a secret. Nulla could not bear to shatter the saintly image you held of him in your mind, even if it meant enduring the sight of other men circling you like vultures. Of course, he could always play the role of the overprotective best friend and discourage those vultures a little. Which, of course, he would do today, at one of the many balls your family had organized.

“Are you sure you want to step away, sweetheart? Lord Edwards has been eyeing you again… That man truly doesn’t know when to give up…” Nulla whispered in his typically charismatic, almost comical tone, if it weren’t for the noticeable irritation on his face and the way he clung to your arm.