Chapter 5 – Part 18

“Are you going to see the goats?”

“Yes.”

Emily remembered Ruby’s words to come back soon and met Aaron and Dominic walking back, holding hands, while hurrying back with Leton and Palman.

The two were also returning from different places.

“Were you two alone? We have to go quickly.”

Palman urged them in a hurry.

“No need for that.”

“Yes?”

When Emily pointed in a certain direction, she saw someone standing alone in the distance.

“Isn’t that, Mr. Mabu? Why is Mr. Mabu alone?”

There were no Eli and Ruby around. When they arrived at the place where Eli and Ruby had been sitting, Mr. Mabu bowed lightly.

“They went to the mansion first because they were not feeling well. Lord Grit said not to worry.”

He handed over a basket of party food that they had prepared together this morning.

Emily, Leton, and Dominic had already felt that there was something unusual between the two because of their atmosphere. Aaron, who didn’t know them well, thought that whoever was sick would take care of the other. But Palmer was different.

“Is the teacher okay? How bad is it? How long? “

She asked with concern.

She naturally excluded Eli without specifically pointing out who was sick.

“Don’t worry, Palman; my brother is good at nursing.”

Emily reassured her, as if there was no need to worry. Even if it wasn’t Palman, everyone thought that the sick person was Ruby.

“Ah, well, he’s so capable, after all.”

Having realized what kind of person Eli was, Palman quickly became relieved, thinking that Eli would have given Ruby the best medicine.

“Now, let us all eat. We’ve been working hard since morning.”

Dominic sat down and took out the food they had prepared together from the basket.

Soon, others also took their seats, enjoying the delicious food and making the most of the remaining outing.

***
“I have something to tell you.”

Arlen said this while having tea with her parents after finishing dinner.

“All right, go ahead.”

Duchess Miles, putting down the teacup she was drinking, asked. It seemed like there was something she wanted, or so she thought.

“I’m going to marry the Marquis of Grit.”

At that moment, the movement of Duke Miles, who was stirring tea with a spoon, stopped.

“…What do you mean?”

The Duchess of Mile realized she hadn’t misheard her husband’s question. Her head snapped back to Arlen.

“I’ve decided that I want to.”

“All of a sudden? There must be a reason, right?”

Despite her bewilderment, the Duchess of Miles hadn’t given up hope. Arlen hesitated for a moment, seemingly reluctant to say the reason.

Is it something she can’t say? In that brief moment, both of them had various thoughts.

“Because I want to.”

It wasn’t the expected answer, leaving the couple speechless.

“Really? Did you suddenly realize your love for the Marquis?”

Suddenly, the Duke asked with a look that begged Arlen to deny it.

But Arlen, blinking her eyes, did not confirm or deny it.

“Oh my, Arlen, what on earth…”

Duke Miles took her silence as confirmation.

Beside the frustrated Duke, the Duchess looked back and forth between her husband and daughter in disbelief.

“What is this about? Belated love? What nonsense.”

Duke Miles was in no mood to explain the complexity of the situation, only to think of the most important thing to do right now.

“Well, let me think this over with.”

“Honey!”

His wife raised her voice in frustration. The Duke of Miles patted his wife’s arm gently, as if to say, “Listen.”

“But this isn’t something I’m going to let you do easily, and you do realize that this is a complicated situation, don’t you?”

“I do.”

Arlen nodded.

“So give us some time to think.”

“Yes. I will.”

He’d talked about the scandal with the Marquis Grit before, and he knew it wasn’t something they’d agree to easily.

“Very well, go upstairs.”

But that made him more uneasy. If she knew and still chose to tell the two, it meant it was a significant decision.

“My dear, do you think this is something to think about? Are you saying that our daughter is going into a second marriage because she’s not good enough?”

As soon as Arlen stepped out of the drawing room, the Duchess shouted.

“Dear, I think so too. But you have to think of our child’s feelings when she says something like that.”

“I don’t know …… what this is about.”

The Duchess put one hand on her forehead and sighed.

Their philosophy all along had been to give their children what they wanted. From a young age, they had been supportive, telling Arlen that she was not lacking in anything and that if she wanted to do something, they would support her as much as possible.

They didn’t expect those words to come back like this. They had supported Arlen in whatever she wanted to do since she was young.

“First, I’ll check the current situation.”

“How?”

“I will check with His Majesty himself to see if the Marquis of Grit is still married and if there are any divorce proceedings in progress. Then we’ll think about it further.”

There had always been plenty of talk of him getting a divorce, but the news hadn’t been reported for years after the rumors began.

If the Marquis of Grit wanted to divorce, the fastest way to do so was through the Emperor himself.

Of course, it presupposed that Lord and Lady Grit had reached an agreement.
* * *

“How was the outing?”

It wasn’t until late at night that Leton was called over to Eli’s mansion.

“Yes. Everyone had a good time on their own.”

Eli nodded as if to say so.

“Is everything okay again?”

He needed to know what was changing between them so he could be flexible. Though he’d more or less guessed it the moment he’d come downstairs in his robe.

“Yes.”

A gentle smile adorned his lips as he answered.

“Congratulations.”

It was the kindest thing he could say, knowing how much he’d been through.

“So, I need to find a new piece of land to build a new mansion.”

“Are you talking about a different mansion, not this one?”

“Yes.”

Now he had a reason to stay in Zenfield, and that meant settling down here with Ruby and a mansion of his own. At least, that’s what it meant to Eli.

He didn’t want to be anywhere without Ruby anyway.

“I understand. Is there anything else you’d like me to do?”

“No, for now, just the land. We’ll take it step by step.”

“…Understood.”

Leton knew that resolving things didn’t just mean building a mansion.