Helena almost snorted.

‘Who does he think he is?’

She spoke in a firm tone.

“Mr Kurt, we don’t need the count’s permission. Let the fool keep hiding his socks under the bed. The House of Ishpern doesn’t belong to Benjamin alone.”

She gripped Kurt’s wrinkled hands with strength as she continued.

“For centuries, this castle hasn’t been held by the Ishpern family alone. It wouldn’t have been possible without the people of Burwood and the loyal retainers who dedicated their lives to the family.”

Helena’s green eyes seemed to spark with fire.

“If things continue as they are, the pride of Burwood will disappear. Mr Kurt, if we’re going to rebuild the House of Ishpern, we need your help.”

Her passion seemed to reach the old man.

Looking quietly into Helena’s burning eyes, Kurt finally clasped her hands in return – and began to reveal what was truly in his heart.

“You are right, my lady. The House of Ishpern has been a source of pride for all of us…!”

Helena could see the old man’s eyes begin to shine with tears.

“Everyone said the House of Ishpern was finished, but I knew that wasn’t true. Oh yes, as long as the Lord does not abandon Burwood…!”

Overwhelmed with emotion, the old man couldn’t speak for a moment.

“When the Count announced that he was to marry a northern noblewoman, I was very worried about what kind of lady would come. It was said that anyone would run away at the sight of the estate in its current state. But to think that you’d be someone with such unwavering determination…!”

At the word ‘run away’, Helena gave a wry smile.

To be honest, if it hadn’t been for her grand plan to uncover Benjamin’s secrets and bring him down from behind, she probably would have run away a long time ago.

“…Ohoho, I suppose I am a bit like that.”

Helena replied with a hint of smugness.

Kurt, looking at her with unbridled affection, gestured to the blond boy.

“Joe, the time has come.”

Kurt placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder and continued.

“My lady, as you can see, I’m old. I belong to a bygone era, one that has already faded. The Count would never allow anyone from the old house to appear before him again.”

The old man slowly closed his trembling, wrinkled eyelids.

“No, even if the count were generous enough to forgive me, I couldn’t forgive myself.”

Helena wondered what nonsense the old man was talking now.

“But this child… he’ll be all right. This is my adopted son, Joe. I’ve passed on all my knowledge and experience to him.”

Kurt said, looking into Joe’s face.

“Joe, from this day on you will serve this lady. Do you understand?”

Joe lifted his clear green eyes and looked at Helena.

In his transparent gaze and confident smile, Helena saw a glimmer of ambition.

Those are good eyes. The kind that grew up watching the back of someone great – and now wants to be just like them.

She had seen that look in a lot of people, and she knew exactly how to deal with those who had it.

Helena gave Joe a meaningful smile.

It was a smile that said something like “I have what you want – so come and take it if you can”.

Whether Joe understood her true intentions was unclear, but he bowed politely.

“Joe Wilton. I’ll do my best.”

Helena nodded.

“From now on, you’re steward of the House of Ishpern. Although, well… it’s a castle without a single servant at the moment.”

Joe replied in an obedient tone.

“If you give me three days, I’ll gather enough people to get the estate up and running again, however modestly.”

Helena narrowed her eyes and smiled.

“Three days, huh. Am I really the type to wait that long?”

Catching the look in her eyes, Joe smiled brightly in return and corrected himself.

“Come to think of it, one day should be enough. I’ll have everything ready by tomorrow morning.”

“Then I look forward to it.”

Helena said with a confident smile as she left Kurt’s house.

Aaron, who had been watching silently from behind, looked at her with a confused expression on his face, as if he couldn’t believe what he had just seen.

“What just happened? How did that even work?”

“What do you mean ‘how’?”

Helena said as she mounted her horse.

“The estate is in ruins and there’s no steward, so I came to find one – and now I have one.”

“I mean, yes, I understand that, but… Madam, this is your first time in Burwood, isn’t it? How did everything fall into place as if it’d been waiting for you…?”

Still on horseback, Helena pointed to Kurt’s garden with her riding crop.

“Look.”

“Yes?”

“It’s small, but it has exactly the same layout as the Count’s garden.”

She turned to Aaron and said.

“It’s not that everything was waiting for me. It’s that so many people have waited and hoped for the House of Ishpern to rise again.”

“…!”

Aaron’s gaze shifted slightly in Helena’s direction.

Whether he noticed or not, Helena turned away, thinking to herself.

‘Ugh, finally this wretched dump of a house is starting to look a little livable. Tsk, so much work… it’s going to take so much work…’

That evening, after returning from a construction site on the border, Benjamin was confronted with a startling sight.

“What the hell is this?”

There was a pile of dirty shirts and socks on the floor of his bedroom. They looked like his – but where they had come from he had no idea.

He called a maid to clean them up.

“Well, that’s odd.”

In a fit of irritation, Benjamin was about to throw his dirty shirt into the corner – but he stopped himself.

He looked at the crumpled shirt in his hand…
and the direction it had been heading.

Right under the bed.

“…”

Silently, he gathered the shirt and walked it to the bathroom.

Feeling inexplicably tired, he called a servant to fill the bath with hot water.

When the servant was dismissed, Benjamin was left alone. He sank deep into the water and murmured.

“I am tired.

He was tired.

He wasn’t used to living in such a clean room or sleeping in a proper bed.

He had never intended to employ people to look after his personal affairs.

Before he left Burwood, he had simply told the temps to get the annex ready for his wife.

But somewhere along the line there had been a miscommunication – the workers had ended up cleaning his room instead.

That much he could tolerate.

What he found truly unbearable… was the presence of Helena, who had fallen asleep beside him last night, facing his direction, her small hand tucked under his waist as she breathed softly in deep sleep.

That was why he hadn’t been able to sleep properly, even after returning to what could finally be called a base of operations after such a long journey.

‘Now that I think about it, I never gave the order to clean the annex today. No, even if I started now, it would take days…’

Benjamin sighed and brushed his wet hair back with one hand.

Do I really have to sleep like that again tonight?

Just then – the bathroom door burst open.

“…!”

Standing in the doorway was none other than Helena.

“Benjamin Ishpern.”

She announced boldly.

“Give me money.”

Benjamin, startled, flailed around in the bathroom, hastily wrapping both arms around himself.

“W-What do you think you’re doing?”

“What do you mean, what? I’m asking for my dowry.”

“It’s my father’s money and Her Majesty’s money anyway. Don’t tell me you wanted to keep it all for yourself?”

Benjamin’s neck began to blush.

“Y-You…! C-Close the door, will you?”

“Oh? Shall we talk after I close the door?”

She said, raising an eyebrow.

As Helena stepped one foot into the bathroom, Benjamin shouted, his face turning even redder.

“Y-You too – get out and close the door!”

Helena was genuinely surprised.

“Oh dear, are you actually embarrassed right now?”

Most of the men she knew were strange creatures who took every opportunity to rip off their shirts and flex their pecs as if begging for attention.

Even little Henry, just a boy, had once torn off his sauce-stained shirt in front of Penelope – his crush – and proudly displayed his swollen belly.

Helena, who thought all men were like that, couldn’t help but feel a certain respect for Benjamin’s unexpected modesty.

Stepping back, she said.

“Give me the money. By the way, everything that happens on the estate is under my jurisdiction, so I don’t really need your permission, do I?”

Helena nodded to herself, pleased with her own logic.

“Well then – enjoy your bath!”

The bathroom door slammed shut.

Left alone, Benjamin remained frozen, his arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders, his back pressed against the tub. He sat there, hunched over in the water, saying nothing for a long moment.

He just couldn’t believe what had just happened.

Much later, Benjamin buried his head between his knees and let out a long, almost sad sigh.

“Haaaaaaah…”