— I don’t want to hear that from the royal family’s troublemaker.

His eyes widened in surprise. I nudged his side with my elbow and tried to communicate with my eyes: ‘Is she always like this?’

Viett shook his head, sending back a look that said, ‘I’ve never seen her like this before.’

Fortunately, at that moment, the door swung open and Princess Rosemary rushed into the room in her pajamas.

— Amelia! What are you doing!

It seemed other employees had asked the princess for help after hearing the commotion. Only after Rosemary, who had rushed over after hearing the news, struggled to restrain Amelia could the maid escape from the verbal abuse.

— **! I don’t need any of this! Everyone get out!

Amelia stormed into the dressing room in irritation. Rosemary left the terrace, comforting the young maid who was crying.

— What on earth is going on?

— I don’t know either. I’ve never seen my sister-in-law act like this before.

Viett and I exchanged bewildered glances. My heart was still pounding hard. I pulled his large hand and placed it on my rapidly beating chest.

— Look. My heart is still pounding.

— ……You’re up to no good so early in the morning.

He blushed red to his ears as he removed his hand from my chest.」

* * *

Viett Hartmann is a soldier. Although he couldn’t become the musician he so desperately wanted to be, he found the life of a military officer quite suitable. The regular lifestyle and organizational culture with clear hierarchy made him feel at ease.

Leading numerous subordinates was only awkward at first; with time, even that became naturally skilled.

But the military and the palace are different. In the military, he only needed to faithfully follow the missions directed by superiors and lead his subordinates well, but state affairs were a different dimension altogether.

If he accommodated one person’s whining, problems erupted elsewhere; if he listened to one side, fierce complaints erupted from another.

Mediating the tensions between the aristocracy and the emerging bourgeoisie resulted in dozens of petitions and signed documents piling up on his desk daily. All contained content where each class blamed the other and spewed vitriol.

Moreover, they were currently at war. Coordinating the differences in views between the Prime Minister’s cabinet and military generals was also the king’s job.

The Prime Minister and ministers worried about the increasingly tight national treasury, while military generals called for blood revenge and advocated for troop reinforcements.

When one general suggested lowering the voluntary enlistment age to below seventeen, Viett nearly lost his temper and grabbed him by the collar.

He wanted to shout, asking if they wanted to see young boys dragged to the battlefield.

Though his position had become merely formal now, Viett was still a special forces officer. If he had acted impulsively as he did during his days as a prince, it would have been recorded in history as military insubordination and a painful mistake by the king’s proxy.

“Those crazy bastards……”

One early morning, Viett was speechless looking at the high stack of documents on his office desk. To think he had to wake up at dawn and immediately read nobles’ appeals and damage reports.

While assessing damage reports was familiar from his days as an officer, he never got used to reading the appeals of old nobles whining in solemn tones.

He understood why his father had aged so rapidly in recent years. Repeating this task daily would cause even the healthiest person to age in the blink of an eye.

The one consolation was that his wife left a letter on his office desk every morning.

His wife’s letters were the only comfort he could enjoy in these miserable days. He smiled faintly when he saw the rolled-up letter placed in the center of the desk.

‘I’ve finally gone mad.’

Viett frowned at himself for smiling shyly like a child receiving a Christmas present, cleared his throat, and picked up the letter. He untied the pink yarn binding the letter and unrolled the paper.

Today’s letter was different. Unlike the usual handwritten letters, the sentences and spelling were neat, as if typed on a typewriter.

「My precious person! I’ve figured out how to keep my letters from appearing in the novel! Ta-da! See how neat and beautiful the writing in this letter is. Have you figured it out yet? It’s writing letters on a typewriter with my eyes closed!

No, not writing, but pressing the keys! I close my eyes tight, quickly create a letter based on what comes to mind, and place it directly on your desk! This way, the letter won’t appear in the novel, right? Amazing, isn’t it?

Oh, I suddenly realized that we haven’t had a meal together for days. We can barely even talk face to face! When I wake up in the morning, you’ve already gone to work, and when I fall asleep, you return to the room only in the late dawn.

So, if I drop by the conference room after lunch next Tuesday, could you spare some time for me? A newlywed couple with no time to see each other’s faces! May God save us!

P.S. I’m worried that I might be snoring while sleeping these days! If I am snoring, please make sure to wake me up!」

Viett smiled as he imagined his wife rapidly pressing typewriter keys with her eyes tightly closed. Letter writing using a typewriter.

It was an ingenious but flawed method in many ways. With eyes closed and frantically pressing keys, and even skipping proofreading, there were bound to be many typos.

He neatly placed his wife’s letter in the drawer, then took out a clean sheet of paper and wrote a reply.

「My precious person. Writing letters on a typewriter is an interesting method, but I prefer your handwriting. I’ll record more piano performances as I find time, so please write letters in your handwriting again then.

If writing letters ever feels burdensome due to your busy daily life, please tell me anytime. If my request becomes a burden to you even for a moment, I’ll forever hate myself for making such a request…….」

“Your Highness!”

At that moment, Second Lieutenant Peter rushed into the office. Viett sensed something was wrong when he saw the lieutenant’s pale face.

“W-what’s the matter?”

“Her Highness the Crown Princess and Lady Amelia again……”

He continued to explain that Amelia had caused another disturbance during teatime with Phenelity. Surprised, Viett quickly added a postscript to his letter.

「P.S. I need to go east next Tuesday. And don’t worry, you’re cute even when you snore.」

He hastily scribbled the postscript, put the letter in his inner pocket, and rushed to the parlor with Second Lieutenant Peter.

By the time he arrived, Amelia had already left. Phenelity was gulping down homemade potion like water with a shocked expression.

“Ph-Phenelity?”

Viett approached her and carefully took hold of her hand that was gripping the medicine bottle.

“I t-told you not to d-drink too m-much medicine.”

“I’m sorry. I was so shocked that I unconsciously……”

Phenelity took a deep breath with a pale face as she removed the bottle from her lips.

“When I saw Amelia slap the maid’s cheek, I was reminded of the shock of being hit by Cecilia……”

It seemed Amelia had mistreated the employees again, and when Phenelity tried to stop her, she had also been sharply scolded.

“E-every time you d-drink medicine like w-water… my h-heart sinks.”

Viett sighed and took the half-empty medicine bottle from his wife’s hand. Then he looked around.

Teacups and plates, clearly thrown by Amelia, were scattered on the floor. His sister-in-law’s misconduct was getting worse by the day. This behavior was unlike the shy and quiet person she used to be.

At first, he tried to understand her, thinking she couldn’t bear the shock of becoming a widow. But as Amelia acted particularly badly in front of his wife, Viett’s patience was wearing thin.

“If y-you want… I’ll i-issue a restraining o-order against A-Amelia.”

“It’s okay. If you openly take my side in this situation, our already terrible reputation will only get worse.”

Phenelity quickly shook her head. Unfortunately, she wasn’t wrong, so Viett could only swallow his bitterness with a rigid face. She smiled as if nothing was wrong and comforted him.

“Let’s wait a little longer. Then Amelia will soon regain her stability.”

Contrary to expectations, however, Amelia’s misconduct showed no signs of ending. Rather, it intensified to the point where she would physically strike maids whenever she had the chance.

The problem came afterward. Clearly, Amelia was the one misbehaving, and Phenelity was the one who got caught in the crossfire while trying to stop her.

Despite his wife being the unilateral victim, some media outlets favorable to Amelia maliciously wrote articles.