“After the honeymoon period ends, a charity banquet is prepared where you can meet the people of Drasia in person. After that, you must go to the capital for the wedding celebration ball hosted by His Majesty the Emperor.”

Clementina walked through the library with Cherbest, who moved ahead, pulling out thick books one by one and placing them in her delicate hands.

The heavy volumes quickly piled up in her arms.

“That’s not necessary. I don’t need to have an audience with His Majesty the Emperor or attend a celebration banquet.”

Clementina had no intention of making a fuss about her position as a duchess in name only throughout the Empire. She desperately wished for the year to pass quietly.

“It will be difficult to avoid a banquet for the marriage of the Duke, His Majesty’s only brother. Don’t worry too much. The Duke will be considerate enough.”

“Consideration from someone whose face I haven’t seen once since arriving here?”

Clementina almost snorted, quite unbecoming of a duchess. Cherbest obviously pretended not to know.

Clementina felt like her arms were about to fall off. She glanced back with a pitiful expression, but none of the maids following her offered to take the books. They merely bowed their heads and politely followed behind her.

She began to suspect they were deliberately tormenting her.

“Achoo!”

The books that reached the tip of Clementina’s nose finally tickled her as they released fine dust. With her sneeze, the books piled in her arms tumbled down onto her feet.

“Ah!”

Clementina only crumpled her face and clenched her fists. A painful shudder ran from the edge of her pelvis to her nape.

The maids behind her rushed forward to arrange the fallen books and straighten her skirt. Cherbest hurriedly knelt down to examine her reddened instep.

“Oh dear. Were they too heavy for you?”

“Yes!”

“We can’t reduce the weight any further at this point. Oh my, what should we do? Perhaps I should revise the plan.”

Clementina was constantly being tested by this estate manager. Incomprehensible remarks like this were often exchanged in front of her.

“Wait.”

She couldn’t allow herself to be dragged around anymore.

“Excuse me. Cherbest.”

Cherbest rose to his feet and gave Clementina a gentle smile. Clementina returned an elegant smile while glaring at his face.

“Yes, Duchess.”

“How many days have I been here?”

“It has been twenty-five days since Your Highness’s marriage, and today marks the twenty-first day since your arrival here in Drasia.”

“Cherbest. You know that I was an inadequate daughter of a provincial noble family with little knowledge of the situation here?”

“I know you as an intelligent person.”

“I know my place. So please stop these tests and tell me what you want from me.”

Cherbest blinked in obvious confusion.

“Tests? I have never tested you, Duchess.”

The elderly man with a consistently gentle face that rarely broke hurriedly explained himself before his mistress could finish speaking.

Clementina stared at Cherbest, who spoke sweet words behind seven layers of thick skin. He was clearly deceiving her.

“For twenty full days, from morning until evening, I’ve been practically running through this castle.”

“Yes, that’s true. You’ve become quite healthy now.”

“Healthy?”

Clementina’s jaw dropped. How could anyone be so absurd?

“You’ve been eating your meals regularly, and thanks to your diverse diet, your health has improved significantly.”

Cherbest gazed at Clementina with an enraptured expression. There was no trace of deceit in him. She might have been mistaken, but she only saw respect in his eyes.

“So you’re saying I’ve been going through all this trouble for my health?”

Clementina snatched the heavy pile of books from the maids’ hands and thr*st them against Cherbest’s chest. Cherbest received them as lightly as if holding a tray of teacups.

Though irritated by his absurd statement, she had been thinking lately that the path to her bedroom was no longer so difficult.

But the estate manager’s brazen claim that it was all for her benefit was outrageous.

“Tenacity, endurance, and patience come from physical strength. The castle is vast, and there are still many places to visit, so don’t worry. I, Cherbest, will take responsibility for making you even healthier, Duchess.”

Clementina was astounded by Cherbest’s answer. The soles of her feet had been itching with heat since morning.

“You’re saying that touring all these rooms is for my health?”

“Of course.”

“And what about asking if I liked any of the horses?”

“I may have observed, but I never dared to test you.”

“You weren’t testing me? Fine. I like Espin. I want to ride that handsome horse. Can I ride him?”

“Of course! You can ride him. The Duchess can do anything she wishes.”

Cherbest now became excited, rubbing his index finger and thumb together to make a sound.

“I can do anything I want?”

“Anything at all.”

“……”

Clementina glared at Cherbest without saying a word.

“Is there something displeasing you?”

Cherbest acted as if Clementina was the one tormenting him. It was as if she were begging a pure and loyal servant with good intentions to treat her like a fool.

Clementina mentally reviewed Cherbest’s actions toward her.

Setting aside her suspicions and looking at things as they were, could she trust him?

Her ignoble suspicion transformed into pure longing.

“Then.”

“Yes, please speak.”

“I want to meet Dion.”

Cherbest’s confident face disappeared, replaced by a troubled expression.

“So anything is possible except that? I’m curious about what this ‘secret research’ is.”

“It’s only natural that you feel unhappy being alone during what should be a sweet honeymoon period.”

“It’s not because of the honeymoon.”

“How lonely you must be at a time that should be filled with pleasure and joy.”

“I’m not saying I’m lonely.”

“Of course, it’s natural to feel resentful that His Highness the Duke has suddenly shut himself away like that as soon as he arrived……”

“Resentful? How dare you.”

“I’ve been nagging about the fact that you two haven’t spent nights together for so long. If you wait just a little longer—”

“That’s not it!”

Clementina blushed and moved her painful feet to cover Cherbest’s mouth with both hands.

“Ahem!”

Clementina quickly lowered her hands and smoothed her chest. After blinking her eyes rapidly several times, her right cheek began to twitch slightly.

“I think that’s enough for today. I’ll go to my room. And I won’t be eating dinner tonight.”

Clementina’s voluminous skirt swayed as she quickly disappeared.

⁕⁕⁕

She was aware that it was childish.

Since they weren’t officially a couple, she couldn’t say she was disappointed or hurt by Dion.

Though she recognized that this kind of rebellion was shameless, it was difficult to control her boiling emotions as she was on the verge of retreating into her own accumulating imaginations.

So she skipped dinner and threw what was essentially a tantrum.

Clementina lay on the duchess’s soft bed in her nightgown, glaring at the dragon on the ceiling.

“You’d think it would speak after being glared at this much.”

Clementina took her eyes off the dragon and turned her gaze toward the window. The sun had set long ago.

In the dimmed room, only candles kept watch over her.

It was a beautiful but lonely room.

‘If I spend time like this, a year will fly by quickly.’

Clementina sprang up from the bed. She had said goodbye to the days of lying in bed alone and squeezing out tears when she left Sustain Castle. She couldn’t repeat the same behavior here at Aeskis Castle.

Clementina picked up a candlestick, opened the door, and stepped outside.

She began searching for the path she had memorized while muffling her footsteps in the dark castle. Thanks to walking throughout the entire castle every day, the structure was already perfectly engraved in her mind.

Aeskis Castle was honestly and neatly divided into sections, making it not difficult to find her way.

She opened the door to the library at the very top of the western castle. Going inside, deeper and deeper, she came to a small door.

It was a door that Cherbest had secretly shown her while guiding her through the library.

‘Only you, Duchess, should know this. This is the only way out of the castle from the library. There are no guards on this side.’

The small wooden door opened with a creaking sound. It was a door that Clementina could only pass through by bending her waist.

Clementina looked back. She checked her surroundings to see if anyone was there. Once she felt certain she was alone in this dark space, she turned without hesitation.

The small door enveloped in darkness swallowed her delicate body.