“I’m planning to hold a tea party in a few days. Could you possibly attend, Eurene?”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

When she pointed at herself with her index finger in bewilderment, the duchess kindly nodded. No, why? The couple was equally strange. She clearly wasn’t the caliber that high-quality nobles like them would associate with. Though her title was from a count’s family, it was purchased, so by bloodline she was closer to a commoner than nobility, and she wasn’t a wealthy family’s daughter, exceptionally cultured, nor an ultimate beauty. She wondered if these people, whose family trees for at least six generations consisted of royalty, high nobility, and members of the imperial family, with abundant wealth, were capriciously interested in something inferior after seeing only precious and beautiful things. Anyway, how could Eurene, who sometimes confused where her family’s lands were located, understand their profound intentions!

“Um, I, that, it’s an honor. I’ll definitely come if I can.”

Too flustered by the unexpected situation, Eurene didn’t even notice that she had given a somewhat rude response to an invitation personally extended by the mistress of the duke’s household. And the person in question showed no sign of taking offense, but rather took Eurene’s hand and said “Please do come!” thereby reaching the climax of this strange situation.

“I really want to become good friends with you, Eurene.”

No, why……

“Oh! I apologize. Please bring your friend along too.”

“Ah, yes, well.”

Rona, who had been showing the only normal reaction here, nodded dumbly. The two friends stared stupidly at the duchess’s back as she returned to her seat with a satisfied expression. Only after she resumed conversation with her companions did they whip their heads toward each other, seemingly with much to say.

“Wh-what is this? What’s going on?”

“Eurene! What did you do while I wasn’t around? Why is that woman inviting you?!”

“Argh! My head hurts…… But she invited you too.”

“Hey! Is this the time for wordplay?”

“Ouch.”

Her arm got hit again. Eurene stuck out her lower lip in a pout. Rona put a slice of garlic bread dipped in cream sauce into that mouth while continuing to interrogate her persistently. Meanwhile, Eurene simply ate it without complaint.

“Why would someone as important as the duchess of Carca show interest in you?”

“I don’t know. Give me sausage too.”

“Good grief! Really! You can still swallow food in this shocking situation?”

Yet Rona herself was wiping sauce from the corner of Eurene’s mouth while feeding her salad. This was such a familiar scene since childhood that neither thought anything of it. Rona spoke seriously while crunching into an apple that Eurene had taken a bite of and handed to her. Her eyes were fixed on Duchess Carca and her companion, who seemed approachable.

“Who could that man be? I’ve seen him somewhere.”

“Some nobleman, I guess.”

“I mean which nobleman. Handsome men like that aren’t common.”

The young man with hair even more golden than the duchess was indeed quite handsome, as Rona said. Well-dressed in a stylish suit with a cravat and emerald tie pin, his face was tanned, with a slightly aquiline nose and an excellent smile. His sideburns suited him well, and he had eyes that revealed intelligence and determination—eyes that had been smiling the whole time but suddenly turned toward Eurene.

She quickly lowered her head and pretended to eat soup. She almost dunked her face in it from trying too hard, but fortunately, when she looked up again, he had returned his attention to conversing with the duchess. Meanwhile, Rona continued speculating about the man’s identity.

“For a perfect nobleman, his gestures and habit of tensing his jaw give the impression of a naval officer. Perhaps he’s mixed? Hmm, he doesn’t seem to be in commerce. Too refined and handsome for a soldier! I know, he must be someone who uses his brain. A public official or someone in the legal profession. I’m certain.”

“Why would someone who holds a pen have such a good back? His thighs look sturdy too. Looking at his upper body, he probably has abs.”

Eurene offered her blank assessment. Unconsciously, she compared the man with Van. Van was slightly shorter than him but had larger hands, and his shoulder blades and lower body were firmly developed like a well-bred racehorse. His whole body gave the impression of being sleek and well-maintained…? When she asked why an “idle duke” who just sat at a desk signing papers had such a good body, he answered that it was because he spent his childhood running around mountains and fields, riding horses, hunting, and exercising with friends. He said he hadn’t known then that he would become a duke. Eurene had simply nodded, thinking, “I guess so.” Regardless, her thoughtless comment clearly surprised Rona.

“Well, I guess he exercises or something…… Oh my! Eurene, were you looking at inappropriate places? Goodness, what is an innocent girl like you looking at such things for?”

Rona made a fuss, saying it was improper. Her pointed face turned red, seemingly from embarrassment. She kept insisting that one shouldn’t speak of such things carelessly. Though decisive, Rona—who had been single all her life—firmly believed that Eurene, whom she had looked after like a nanny since childhood, was purely innocent and completely uninterested in men.

An innocent girl, right. If Eurene, who was experiencing almost everything possible with one man daily, was innocent, then priests would be idiots. Eurene rolled her eyes, feeling needlessly guilty. Sorry, Rona. But she had no intention of either confessing her situation to her or giving it up.

Both later. Not now.

Thinking she should write a letter to Van about what his wife had done today, Eurene exhaled softly at the warm feeling in her lower abdomen. Her body responded immediately upon recalling Van’s bewitching smile. It seemed as if her entire body had been thoroughly stained and trained by him. Good heavens. I really am becoming a pervert. Eurene buried her cheeks in both hands, feeling depressed and troubled. For the first time, she worried a little about what would happen after her relationship with him ended.

* * *

“Auntie, play with me.”

“Auntie has things to do. Go away.”

“Things to do? What things?”

“Grown-up things.”

“Huh? But Auntie plays all day every day?”

“……”

Her nephew, Shuren, who had once been babbling but was now already five years old, tilted his round head. Eurene glanced at her young nephew, who kept following her around whining and tugging at her skirt, with half annoyance and half affection. Though annoying, he was cute. Hateful when throwing tantrums, yet lovable. What contradictory emotions—children truly are amazing creatures. But no matter how much she loved her nephew, even more than her own brother, for Eurene, who had always lived exactly as she pleased, annoyance was poison. Come to think of it, she couldn’t remember ever doing things she hated under duress or worrying about others’ opinions. Newly realizing she’d lived quite a comfortable life, Eurene abruptly handed the cookie jar to her nephew.

“Just eat this.”

Taking the cue, her nephew climbed onto the chair and ate chocolate cookies. His white cheeks became smeared with chocolate—a sight that would horrify her sister-in-law, but Eurene didn’t mind. Kids should play around and eat lots of tasty food as they grow up. My, why are my ears itching? Is someone talking about me?

“What’s Auntie doing?”

“Writing a letter.”

After being quiet for a while, perhaps bored with just eating cookies, Shuren asked again. Eurene wrinkled her nose as she took out stationery and picked up a pen for the first time in a long while. She rarely touched it except to arrange places to meet and times for their trysts, or occasionally to reply to Van’s letters that weren’t quite love letters—”Wear pink underwear today?” or “Wear what I bought you. The red one.”—with responses like “I washed it all” or “No! That’s mesh! Do you know how cold it is outside?” She wrote their code in her slouching handwriting.

Cuckoo!

“Cuckoo” was their agreed code for when their affair was discovered by family, friends, or others, or when such a situation seemed imminent. Eurene spent a very long time agonizing over how to refer to the duchess. Rona, who read many books and knew a lot, would elegantly write down metaphorical phrases, but for Eurene, who had built walls between herself and literature or study, this was no easy task. Ah, that’s right! There was one category of books Eurene read diligently! Thinking of the novel currently under her pillow, Eurene grinned happily.

Yesterday your Dahlia spoke to me.

Hope you’ll tell me what’s going on soon.

I was really surprised!

Beliarota.

After finishing, Eurene nodded with satisfaction. Looking at what she’d written, she thought it seemed quite impressive. “Dahlia” and “Beliarota” were from the romance novel she was currently reading enthusiastically.

It had a structure where two women were in opposition over one man, with the male protagonist’s wife, Dahlia, portrayed as an ideal homemaker and the female protagonist. Beliarota was the villainess who, despite some minor misunderstandings, interfered with the loving couple and seduced the husband. Well, she had essentially called herself the villainess, but since that was her role in the structure, Eurene wasn’t offended. It was accurate, after all.

Perhaps because she was distracted by grinning with satisfaction, her nephew caused trouble as she was about to put the letter in an envelope and seal it. He pressed his chocolate-covered hands onto the letter paper, leaving his handprint. Startled, she rescued her “masterpiece” from those small, tenacious hands, but by then a sweet musical staff had already been drawn on it. Eurene groaned, clutching her curly hair. What should I do! Do I need to rewrite it?