* * *

After a late breakfast, Killian escorted Ines to the study she would be using going forward and gave her a brief overview of the mistress’s duties.

“Marisa will explain the details. I only reviewed the final results myself, so I don’t know the specifics.”

“Understood.”

The duties of a household’s mistress were more extensive than one might expect.

Managing the inner household was a given, and everything from the family’s banquets to managing invitations fell under the mistress’s domain.

Normally this kind of handover would come from the previous mistress, but Killian’s parents had passed away eight years ago, just days before his coming-of-age ceremony.

That was why the handover was coming from Marisa.

‘……I have to do it properly this time.’

Having already removed Lena Orso early, the Emperor could no longer tamper with the mistress’s seal.

But that alone was not enough.

‘I need to make Rupert stronger and more prosperous.’

Rupert was already unrivaled in the Empire, but the situation was different when the opponent was the imperial house.

The current Emperor was someone who could become as ruthless as he needed to be for his own greed.

The Emperor had been preparing to swallow Rupert for a very long time, and within a few years, he would act.

He would not be able to use her to create a pretext as easily as he had in her past life, but Ines had only ever been one of the Emperor’s pieces. One person’s movements alone could not stop the Emperor.

Just as Ines’s eyes were growing heavy with thought,

“Ah, Ines.”

Killian called her name unexpectedly. The rising tide of thoughts scattered.

She looked up, and Killian nodded toward the door.

“My study is diagonally across on the right.”

“That’s close.”

Ines already knew this, but had not expected Killian to go out of his way to tell her. She smiled faintly and gave an easy nod.

A hazy memory of the few times they had crossed paths in the corridor surfaced and faded.

Back then, running into each other had meant nothing more than a startled flinch and a brief nod. Now, she wondered how it would be.

She did not know for certain, but she thought she could at least smile and call his name.

As though to confirm that quiet hope, Killian gave a light smile.

“Now that you know, feel free to come by if you’re bored.”

Ines paused for a moment.

“……What if I end up bothering you?”

“Well, it would be a good excuse to take a break. My aide is quite capable, so it would be fine.”

She already knew well enough that things between them were different from before, the first button having been done up differently, but she still felt a flutter whenever he was this warm with her.

Ines covered her wavering gaze with playful skepticism and smiled.

“Sir Zapel would not agree with that.”

Saying it out loud, she found the light back-and-forth a little enjoyable.

At her pushback, Killian smiled with easy confidence and said, of course he would.

“A knightly order operates on a chain of command. My will is Theodore’s will, and so on.”

“That’s tyranny, Killian.”

Ines narrowed her eyes and rebuked him. But as the slight waver in her voice gave away, a laugh slipped out before long.

Killian, who had been looking at Ines with a somehow soft gaze, let amusement settle into his eyes.

“You call it tyranny and then laugh like that.”

“Because it isn’t, and I know it.”

“Hmm. And how would you know that?”

Killian asked with easy nonchalance. It was a question with a very obvious answer.

“You introduced everyone yesterday. They all seemed close. Tyranny doesn’t fit that kind of atmosphere.”

“Mm.”

Killian gave a low, noncommittal sound without denying it, and Ines smiled quietly.

In truth, the atmosphere of the Ikalante Knights was quite different from the imperial army or the direct knightly orders of other noble families.

They were not merely a group gathered under the name of a knightly order. As Killian had said yesterday, they were more like family.

The fact that they spoke freely and joked with Killian, their lord and the Grand Duke of Rupert, made that clear enough.

‘What knight would laugh shoulder to shoulder with the lord they serve.’

There were probably warm relationships like that to be found if you looked, but an entire knightly order having that kind of atmosphere was a different matter.

That said, it did not mean there was no hierarchy.

They clearly held Killian in affection, but the eyes that looked at him carried a fundamental respect and loyalty.

Ines knew very well the depth of the Ikalante Knights’ loyalty to Killian and Rupert.

Truly, terribly well.

Just as Ines was about to raise her gaze and say she would do her best.

“Ines. Once the imperial soldiers leave, how would you like to go into town?”

The somewhat unexpected suggestion made Ines blink. Once she understood, her eyes went wide.

“Really?”

Her voice rose without her meaning it to, and Killian gave a short laugh and nodded.

“Summer is almost here, so the weather should be pleasant by next week or so.”

Even in the cold, snow-covered North, summer came. The three months from June to August were the North’s brief summer.

Of course, summer here did not bring the heat of the capital, and the snow blanketing the land and mountains did not melt entirely. It simply meant that snow barely fell. But in the North, where snow was always drifting, that alone made it a noticeably livelier season.

“What do you say, Ines?”

Naturally, there was only one answer Ines could give. She had never had the option of refusing Killian’s words to begin with.

“I’d love to.”

She answered quickly, unable to hide her excitement, and Killian gave a small smile.

Summer was still weeks away, yet it already felt like a bright, clear day.

* * *

After talking a little longer, Killian left with Theodore, who had come looking for him.

“Your Highness, It is Marisa Dianin.”

Not long after, Marisa came to find her.

“Come in.”

Marisa approached with her ever-upright, tidy gait, bowed again in greeting, and then held out a ring of keys.

“These are……”

“The storeroom keys. Until now I have been keeping them out of necessity, but now that you are here, my lady, they rightfully belong with you.”

Ines looked at the ring of keys, which appeared to hold more than four or five, and carefully reached out to take them.

The keys hanging from the clean silver ring were so spotless and polished that a single glance told her how carefully Marisa had kept them.

Ines set the keys she had been turning over in her hand on the desk.

“Marisa.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“I may be the Grand Duchess now, but there is still much I don’t know about Rupert. I would like your help going forward. May I ask that of you?”

A faint surprise flickered in Marisa’s steady eyes, then returned to its usual temperature.

“Yes, my lady.”

Marisa was an outstanding predecessor. The materials she had organized were thorough, and her explanations were clear. On top of that, despite her sharp manner, she was also a good person to discuss things with.

“……So for the summer, I was thinking of changing things up like this. What do you think, Marisa?”

“That is a good idea. However, it might be better to shift the route slightly this way. This area can develop marshland from time to time.”

“Ah…… then that would be better.”

Having reached a conclusion, Ines let out a long breath and cleared her throat. She turned her head at the sense of being watched, and met Marisa’s eyes, which were looking at her with a slightly unusual expression.

They had spoken at length just now, but the emotional distance between them was still not particularly close, so Ines smiled a little awkwardly.

‘Did I ask too many questions……?’

Thinking of how busy Marisa must have been preparing for the wedding, she felt a little sorry.

Just as Ines was slowly glancing around, a faint smile settled at the corner of Marisa’s mouth. Ines’s eyes went wide.

It was not an exaggeration to say that Marisa was the person in Rupert Castle with the least change in expression. Including the five years of her past life, she had never once seen Marisa laugh out loud.

And yet right now, Marisa was smiling. At Ines.

“……”

While a startled Ines failed to manage her expression, Marisa quickly composed that rare smile.

“With you following along so well, my lady, the handover should be finished within this week.”

“Ah…… that, that’s good.”

Still not quite recovered from the shock, a rather dim response came out. Ines came back to herself and smiled awkwardly, clasping her hands.

Whether fortunately or not, Marisa did not smile again for the next two or so hours.

But strangely, she felt like they’re just the tiniest bit closer than before.

* * *

Ines had a good memory by nature. It was the one quality about herself she acknowledged.