She had put on a bold front, but the truth was that she was frightened.

Thinking of him, Luna unconsciously pressed a hand to her chest.

‘Before that, I have a request. This evening, let us dine together.’

What a sudden whim.

One moment he was creating an atmosphere terrifying enough to make a person feel they might be devoured alive, tearing a dress to shreds without a second thought, and now out of nowhere he wanted to share dinner together.

There was no way Caesar held any goodwill toward her. He surely had some other intention.

The unexpectedness of his proposal left Luna with nothing but unease.

“This isn’t going to turn into us running into each other all the time, is it……?”

If days like this were to repeat themselves going forward, that was as good as a warning signal.

She could not let that happen.

Even if it meant making an even more blatant spectacle of herself at dinner, she had to make him avoid her at the mere sight of her shadow. Luna was determined to make Caesar find her so intolerable that he would drive her away.

Her eyes flashed with firm resolve.

* * *

The dining room.

Luna looked at the grandfather clock hanging on the right wall. The time for Caesar to arrive was drawing near.

Having confirmed this, Luna furrowed her brow sharply and raised her voice further.

“You didn’t even know I have a pollen allergy? Bringing in a flower that large is clearly a sign of disrespect toward me. Am I wrong?”

Luna pointed at the large potted plant sitting in the corner and vented her displeasure.

When she finished speaking, butler Christopher stepped forward and opened his mouth.

“I apologize for the inconvenience, my lady. Mary is a veteran maid, more diligent than anyone, and that flower is…….”

“Being diligent matters less than carrying out one’s duties perfectly. Can someone who fails to grasp even the smallest details about their mistress be said to be qualified?”

“Ahem, well, that flower is…….”

“I am not finished speaking. On top of that, the food, the lighting, all of it is not to my liking. And what about the stains on these forks and plates.”

The stains on the forks and plates, which had been spotless, were in fact Luna’s own doing. She pointed them out with a perfectly straight face.

“We failed to notice that. I apologize, my lady.”

At Luna’s manufactured grievances, they simply bowed their heads in silence.

And then it happened. Caesar finally made his appearance. Luna raised her eyes to greet him.

“Oh, you’re here?”

“The dining room is rather noisy.”

“Ah… the truth is I am a little sensitive to pollen. With a flower that large brought in, I kept coughing, so I had no choice but to give a little guidance.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Even so, this is our first meal together, so I could not let the atmosphere be ruined.”

“How curious. As far as I know, the flowers used in the dining room are artificial, not fresh. Is that not right, Christopher?”

At his question, Christopher, standing nearby, answered quietly.

“Yes, that is correct, Your Highness.”

Luna had been coughing at an artificial flower that had no pollen to speak of.

Her face burned with embarrassment, but she pressed on as though nothing were the matter.

“Ah……. I, is that so? Ha ha. They look remarkably real. The truth is I am also rather sensitive visually.”

It was a nonsensical excuse even by her own standards.

Feeling as though she had been caught out, Luna clenched her fist tightly.

Caesar glanced at her and let out a short laugh.

It was plainly a laugh of contempt.

For some reason her pride stung, and at the same time a wave of embarrassment hot enough to flush her face came crashing over her. Luna ignored all sense of propriety and took out her frustration by tearing apart a piece of bread with her hands.

Presently Caesar raised his right hand and signaled for all the servants who had been moving busily about to withdraw.

Reading his intent, the servants stopped what they were doing and began to quietly file out one by one.

Luna could do nothing but blink and watch. As the once-bustling dining hall emptied out, a creeping unease settled into one corner of her chest.

“Wh, why are you suddenly sending the servants away…….”

“Is it not nice to have this cozy time alone with my wife?”

No matter how she thought about it, the two of them were not the sort of couple to be having any kind of cozy time.

They were nothing more than a couple in name only. Luna watched Mary, the last to be leaving the hall, with a desperate gaze as she spoke.

“Haha… even so, without them around it will be rather inconvenient, will it not? You will need someone to attend to you as well.”

“I have hands of my own, so I will manage. Do not worry.”

Caesar said this and lifted the corner of his mouth slightly.

It was a smile that felt somehow ominous.

And so, with all of them gone, she was left stranded alone with Caesar at the large dining table.

Luna picked up the glass of water in front of her and gulped it down. Being alone with him brought on an uncomfortable tension she could not quite explain. He was the sort of person whose mere presence put everyone around him on edge.

Presently Caesar held out a roll of parchment he had been carrying since he entered and spoke.

“Wh, what is this?”

“Open it.”

At his words, Luna hurriedly unrolled the parchment. As she slowly read through it, her pupils shifted almost imperceptibly.

What he had handed her was none other than a marriage conduct guide.

Marriage Conduct Guide.

1. Refrain from conduct that brings dishonor to the family name.
2. Do not demand affection.
3. Respect each other’s privacy.
4. Fulfill the role of Grand Duchess faithfully enough that the outside world sees a couple in love.
5. Conceive an heir within one year, and cooperate fully with the marital obligations that entails.

“Wh, what is this supposed to…….”

“If you were planning to live as recklessly as a wild filly here as well, you had better think again. But if you follow what is written in that guide without resistance, I will guarantee not only the allowance for maintaining your dignity that you so desperately wanted, but compensation beyond that as well.”

Setting aside everything else, she was being told to fulfill the role of Grand Duchess faithfully enough that they appeared to be a couple in love.

Staying close to him every day, what exactly was she supposed to do?

She was not the real Adelia. She was nothing more than a maid.

The thought that she had somehow gotten herself tangled up in something complicated made Luna’s mind go as blank as a white page.

But she did have the right to refuse. Temporarily, but until the true owner returned, she was a Grand Duchess in every legitimate sense.

“Wh, why should I have to?”

“Why, you ask?”

“Yes.”

“Everything that exists within my estate must follow my orders. Whatever it may be.”

An uncomfortable silence stretched between them.

Whenever she sat across from Caesar, her heart raced without her meaning it to, and an inexplicable sense of pressure made her body shrink in on itself.

The glass of water in front of her had long since been emptied. Unable to bear the tension, Luna moistened her lips with the wine beside her as a poor substitute and spoke.

“I… cannot agree to this.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Then let me ask the reverse. If it is something that must be done regardless, and it comes with fitting compensation on top of it, is there truly any reason to refuse? Unless, for instance, one were a ‘spy’ sent by someone.”

“A, are you suspecting me right now?”

“I have no reason not to. Call it a reasonable inference.”

“I can accept everything else, let us say. But not only am I expected to play the part of a devoted couple, I am also supposed to conceive an heir within a year. No matter how I think about it, this is too much to ask.”

“Producing an heir is the Grand Duchess’s most important duty. Having a child a little sooner changes nothing. And as I recall… you seemed to enjoy it quite a great deal.”

“Cough, cough. Wh, what did you say?”

Luna erupted into a fit of coughing as though something had gone down the wrong way. On top of that, with the servants having all left the dining hall, she was frantically wiping the wine that had dribbled down her chin and had no attention to spare for anything else.

At Caesar’s blunt words, the memory of their wedding night surfaced in Luna’s mind, and her face flushed a deep red like the grape wine sitting before her. Having barely managed to calm her racing heart, Luna spoke to him with her face still burning.

“That is to say, I was dr, drunk that night and have no memory of it…….”

As Luna’s words trailed off haltingly, Caesar rested his chin on one hand and continued with an air of amusement.

“Shall I describe it in detail, then?”

“No, no thank you!”

Caesar studied her face piece by piece.

Seeing her up close, she was the type whose every feeling showed plainly on her face. She has an unexpectedly endearing side to her. It was a passing thought, but Caesar promptly dismissed it.

Presently another document dropped in front of her with a thud.

“What is this now?”

“A document showing that the Marquis of Lutenberg borrowed money from me three years ago. I did not expect to find myself connected to someone in a debtor relationship.”

His words were true.

The document bore a clear record of the Marquis of Lutenberg having borrowed a substantial sum three years prior.

In Luna’s memory, that period was a time when the family had been thrown into severe turmoil. Servants had left the estate in droves, and it had been a time of such hardship that even a single drop of oil had to be used sparingly.

And then, at some point, the situation had improved as though nothing had ever been wrong.

The reason for that had been the funds the Grand Duke had arranged.

As though to prove his words beyond doubt, the seals of both families were stamped clearly on the document.

“If you have no intention of fulfilling your obligations, you will not only have to cover the Grand Duchess’s allowance yourself, but the amount the Marquis of Lutenberg borrowed will also need to be repaid in a lump sum, interest included.”

According to what the Marchioness of Lutenberg had said, even the funds for Adelia’s wedding had been scraped together with great difficulty by reaching out to distant relatives.

And that had only been possible because her husband was the Grand Duke Valenstein, known as the wealthiest man in the empire.