She couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling about what Alisa Penvernon had said earlier that day.

Of course, it was natural for Alisa to worry about her own lack of qualifications as a Duchess. In fact, she had said similar things several times before. Even the strange coincidence of her own thoughts and the other’s words matching up, upon reflection, wasn’t that unusual.

‘But still….’

Something felt off.

After her illness, Alisa was strangely different from before. As if the fever had touched something in her head, her words and actions created an odd sense of discomfort.

What if the aftermath of the fever hits and Alisa Penvernon dies?

Anxiety crept up from the depths of Louise’s heart.

If Alisa dies, the position of the mistress of the Penvernon Duchy would be vacant again. Then her plan to use her as a medium to connect with noble families would fall apart.

To handle things as easily as now, the next Duchess should be as naive as Alisa, but how would that turn out?

It would be wonderful if the Duke fell for Louise in the meantime.

Louise indulged in a dreamlike fantasy. Even the position of a mistress would be enough. She didn’t dare dream of becoming the Duchess. Though she could do what Alisa had done, their social standings were different from the start.

Louise was the illegitimate child of a baron from some province. Born to a maid, the baron never acknowledged her as his own.

Life in her hometown was miserable. She hated her self-pitying mother, the cold and vicious baron, and the stifling countryside.

So Louise came to the capital alone. The capital was glamorous, but there was no place for her there either. Eventually, she had to find a job to make a living. Working as a maid in the imperial palace was one of the better options for a woman on her own.

Louise worked her way up from the bottom, gritting her teeth. At first, she was assigned menial tasks, then later she started assisting the ladies-in-waiting. It was a fairly good position where she could catch the eye of influential noble ladies.

The noble ladies looked favorably upon Louise, who served them like a tongue in their mouths.

When the Emperor was looking for eyes to plant in the Penvernon family, the Empress recommended Louise. It was a name she heard from her ladies-in-waiting.

‘It would be good if I could use Alisa Penvernon a bit more.’

Louise wanted to escape her miserable reality. For that, she still needed Alisa. She needed to become acquainted with more nobles, gain their favor, and receive praise from the Emperor and Empress for her efforts.

‘This isn’t enough.’

Louise took out a rough wooden box hidden between the bed frame and mattress and opened it slightly. Inside, secretly hidden, jewels emitted a brilliant light. All of them were taken from the Duchess of Penvernon’s jewelry box.

A smile spread across Louise’s face. Confirming the sparkle of the jewels improved her mood. While it might have been nothing to the Duchess, for a maid, even this was quite precious.

Alisa didn’t pay attention to small jewels. She only wore the accessories Louise picked out for her, so she probably didn’t even know what she had or didn’t have. Among the Duchess’s enormous wealth, the disappearance of a few such items wouldn’t be noticeable.

The dull and timid woman was easy to handle. She was a woman who didn’t know what to do with her position, which she had suddenly obtained as if a star had fallen from the sky. She would fret at the slightest pressure and listen if coaxed even a little. For Louise, who had maneuvered in the imperial palace, it was no trouble at all to cajole and soothe a woman with no one to rely on.

‘Yes, she’s just temporarily sensitive.’

Falling into the river, suffering from a fever, coughing up blood in front of the Duke, and thus appearing a bit different from before because she was not in her right mind.

Once she calms down, she’ll return to the Alisa she knows. People don’t change easily, after all.

Then the uneventful days will continue. The peaceful days where she manipulates the puppet strings attached to her arms and legs.

However, unfortunately, Louise’s hopes were soon to be shattered.

* * *

“You’ve worked hard, Your Grace.”

Granrose, in the basement of the Penvernon mansion.

Rashid Penvernon, who had just stepped off the teleportation magic circle, handed his cloak to the butler.

The teleportation circle connecting the ducal palace in Camelli, the central city of the west, and the mansion in the capital could only be used by the Penvernon family. This magic, which could instantly traverse a distance that would take dozens of days on horseback, was so precious that it could only be used in the imperial palace or ducal residences.

“How is my wife?”

“She has improved greatly. Would you like to see her right away?”

“Well…”

What should I do? I didn’t intend to show that much interest. It was enough if she was alive. In fact, it wouldn’t matter much even if she died.

“I will.”

So this was a whim. Rashid let out a short sigh. His hair, black as ebony, fluttered slightly in the breeze.

It had been about two weeks since his wife fell into the river during a walk. For a day or two, he could worry about when she would wake up, but on the third day, something came up that required him to go to Camelli.

The Penvernon Duchy’s territory bordered the western frontier. The mountain range forming the border was so treacherous that interacting with the other side was virtually impossible. People called this mountain range the Dragon’s Breath. There was a legend that when the evil dragons from the founding myth fled westward, they raised these mountains to prevent humans from pursuing them.

It was said that beyond the border, in the western continent, lay the land of fairies.

No living human had ever been there, and they too did not bother to invade the eastern continent, resulting in a long period of separation.

Now, only occasional fairy ornaments that trickled in served as proof of the other race’s existence.

Demonic beasts often appeared in the west, bordering the frontier. They were called remnants of the evil dragons. In areas where demonic beasts frequently appeared, people were prohibited from living, so it was rare for these creatures to invade human settlements.

But recently, these rare occurrences had suddenly increased.

The panicked local lords requested support from Rashid, and as the Duke overseeing his vassals, he visited the west to protect them. Needless to say, his duty as a Duke was far more important than the well-being of a wife forced upon him by the Emperor’s political marriage scheme.

The woman the Emperor had forcibly matched him with, fearing he might form a marital alliance with a powerful family, was a nuisance. If he treated her too poorly, the Emperor might think he was being disobedient, but he had no intention of cherishing her either.

Then it would suffice to treat her just well enough to avoid criticism. Why should he value a woman who was like shackles placed by the Emperor? The decision seemed reasonable, and their relationship remained utterly cold.

Alisa’s complexion, which he had perfunctorily checked in the Duchess’s bedroom, was better than expected. Though still pale, it was a far cry from when he had last seen her bedridden, delirious, and ailing.

“I thought you’d still be unwell, but you look quite alright.”

Rashid uttered a formal greeting.

He knew what would come next. Surely she would stammer and apologize for causing worry. He could clearly picture her wringing her hands nervously. Her gray-blue eyes would appear even more blue with fear.

‘She’s just an ordinary woman after all.’

He rarely made eye contact with her. It was obvious she would hide her eyes out of fear of him. He could imagine her shoulders hunching like a rabbit chased by a hawk. Her fearful attitude, like that of most humans towards him, made her even less appealing than she already was in her tedium.

Then he would tell her to rest comfortably and recover soon before leaving. That was the extent of their relationship.

“…Yes, I suppose several days have passed.”

But Alisa beautifully defied Rashid’s expectations.

* * *

A deep darkness settled over the tower of the ducal residence.

Rashid sat in his office, reviewing documents. From issues in his vast territory to matters of the central government, there seemed to be no end even after looking at them all day.