‘Since I’ll have to showcase the villa next spring, it would be better to hold a banquet at the mansion now.’

That way, she thought she could make a more definite impression on people.

“A banquet?”

Rashid immediately made a face showing his annoyance. He was always blatant with such negative emotions.

‘Or maybe he’s only like that with me……”

But she had found a good excuse just in time.

“I mean a birthday banquet for you.”

“Ah.”

He nodded a few times as if just realizing such a thing existed.

“I was planning to hold a banquet anyway. But since your birthday is approaching, I thought it might be good timing.”

“Well……”

Rashid stroked his chin thoughtfully. After watching him for a moment, she carefully asked.

“Do you dislike it?”

“Why do you think that?”

“You look like you do.”

“No. It’s just…… I haven’t had much experience with such things.”

He was a Duke, and before that the son of a Duke’s family, so why? Usually, nobles’ birthdays are celebrated grandly.

Following the natural progression of her speculation, she soon reached a sad conclusion. It was natural to guess that at some point he had stopped receiving birthday celebrations, and that made her feel sorry for him.

“Do as you please.”

Rashid accepted more readily than expected. She responded that she understood.

His foot, crossed at the legs while sitting askew in the chair, tapped the floor: thump, thump. While she was listening to that rhythmic melody for a moment…

“So you remembered.”

“Your birthday?”

“Yes.”

“Well, since I’m your wife……”

That was actually why Alisa remembered it, and why she felt like celebrating it—because she was still his wife after all……

“I see.”

“That’s right.”

“However.”

When this unexpected adverb followed, she paid more attention to Rashid.

“Do you plan to invite His Highness the Crown Prince as well?”

“His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Why suddenly bring up Castor?

Of course, it would be an honor if a member of the imperial family attended. Perhaps a banquet for the birthday of a Duke, one of the empire’s high nobles, would be an event worthy of a visit from royalty, especially the heir who would become the next emperor.

And above all else.

“Since it’s your birthday banquet…… shouldn’t it be up to you?”

It would be right to do as the main character wishes.

“Have you encountered His Highness the Crown Prince often?”

Rashid’s question was unexpected. She stared at him intently, wondering if she had heard correctly. His attitude remained completely calm, suggesting she had indeed heard right.

“Well, besides meeting him once by chance in the library…… during the Foundation Festival? And the last time…… that’s about it, I think.”

She tilted her head while gauging her past memories. It seemed to be just about that much. Though she didn’t understand why he was curious about this.

“I see.”

Rashid stood up from his seat. She stood up as well.

“If we’re holding the banquet, let’s have it on my birthday.”

“I was planning to do it before then, but is that better for you?”

“Yes.”

She had thought it would be better to spend the actual day quietly, but if that was his wish.

“Well then.”

“Ah, but……”

She grabbed his arm as he turned away. Rashid looked at his caught arm once and then cast his gaze at her. Seeing that, she quickly let go.

“There won’t be any problems with holding the banquet, right? I’m a bit worried that you might not have anything to say when you go to the temple later. Like, ‘You seemed to get along so well, what’s this about?’ What should we do then?”

“……Is that what you’re worried about?”

She nodded while clasping her hands together.

Rashid, looking down at her, let out a short sigh and answered.

“When that time comes, I’ll handle it myself, so don’t worry.”

Would that be enough?

Come to think of it, this divorce plan was proceeding entirely because of her circumstances. Rashid had done enough just by agreeing to go along with it. Later, there would come a day when people would say ‘Ah, so this is why Alisa kept singing about divorce, divorce,’ but it didn’t feel right to spoil that now.

‘It should be fine, whatever.’

He now looked slightly uncomfortable. She got the feeling that she shouldn’t say anything more. If she made him upset and he declared to cancel the divorce plan, it would only make things difficult for her.

“I’ll trust you. Thank you.”

Rashid narrowed his eyes. He opened his mouth and closed it again a couple of times.

“Very well.”

Then he left her room leaving only those words.

What was he going to say? It bothered her a bit, but it didn’t feel right to ask again. She decided to just forget about it.

* * *

Rashid bought the suburban mansion I had chosen, as promised. They also had to buy the territory around the mansion to secure a wide garden area, which he also permitted. The construction costs were handled from the Duke’s budget as well.

The workers employed for the construction included not only those who had recently worked on the Duke’s residence but also those who had long-standing connections with the family. This was because it was quite a large project, unlike just partially repairing the interior of the mansion.

“I want to build a structure like this in the garden.”

She handed over a drawing of the glass greenhouse she had imagined.

“This way, the sunlight will reflect and stay inside.”

The designers carefully examined her rough drawing and came back with quite a plausible blueprint. Since glass was quite an expensive material here, the idea of covering an entire building’s facade with glass was hard to imagine and was treated as very unique.

The same went for setting up a farmhouse in the garden.

“It’s a small two-story house like this. It needs to have a waterwheel…… and we should dig a pond too.”

She drew out the weekend farm of her imagination. She planned to make a vegetable garden near the farmhouse. She asked them to create a plausible environment by planting practical crops and herbs.

“This is the first time I’ve seen someone want to do something like this.”

While someone else had already done this in another world, it seemed not here. Among them, she was becoming the owner of very strange and delicate tastes.

The suburban mansion was three stories high, not too large but boasting an elegant style with its own cute charm. Being in an area with few people, it was surrounded by fields and forests with thick vegetation, making the air clean and quiet. It was a peaceful and cozy place.

She ordered that special attention be paid to the garden’s creation as well.

“Bring in as many flowers as possible.”

Flowers are expensive. The more unusual the color, the more beautiful the shape, the rarer the variety, the more expensive they become. Flowers purely for decoration were clearly luxury items. She had asked for various types to be brought in.

“We’ll gather and present the varieties.”

“No need, don’t bother. Just bring them all.”

“But if we do that……”

“Don’t worry about the cost.”

She dispelled the gardener’s concerns.

The gardener who had retired several years ago was the one who had been in charge of the capital ducal residence garden. He had worked for over ten years until retirement, when his son took over the gardener’s position.

Since his son had to manage the mansion’s garden and didn’t have time, and they couldn’t entrust the work to just anyone, he had come at the butler’s request.

“The pond must have lotus flowers, and we should be able to enjoy boat rides.”

“Understood. It’s been a long time since I’ve had such a big job. With lotus flowers floating, it will be just like the old days.”

The gardener burst into hearty laughter.

“What was it like in the old days? You mean there were big jobs like this before?”

“Ah. Well, yes. Long ago. We brought in all sorts of flowers then too.”

He refrained from saying when that was or whose orders they were, and hurriedly withdrew. After he disappeared, everyone fell silent, and only silence settled low in the place.

「Amid the bustle of the villa’s construction, a sudden silence fell.」

The sentence came to her belatedly. If she had appeared just a few minutes earlier, she might have read the gardener’s true feelings, but now she had already missed the timing.

She gazed at the bird’s eye view of the garden and fell into thought.

Of course, it must have been about the previous generation.

Natalie Penvernon. The woman who was once Natalie Limnike.

She recalled the name of the woman who had ordered many flowers to be brought in.

Rashid’s mother. Bled and Dana’s mother. Patricia’s aunt. The sister of the Duke of Limnike at the time. The Duchess of Penvernon. All these titles described her.