Traveling by carriage was far more boring than I had anticipated.

It was a completely different situation from when I had traveled to Sergal for Miss Veronica’s debut ball.

When traveling with Miss Veronica, we chatted about various things and imagined what might happen at the ball, making the journey feel short. But now, the people I was traveling with were strangers, which made the trip dull and monotonous.

Alex, who seemed to be catching up on work, was particularly reading through piles of documents and books the entire time.

I rested my chin on my hands and watched Alex as he read.

Sensing my gaze, Alex suddenly looked up at me.

“Is that book you’re reading interesting?”

Unable to bear the boredom, I asked him, and Alex let out a small laugh.

“Does it look interesting?”

“No, not at all.”

I squinted my eyes and shook my head, and Alex shrugged as if he had expected that answer.

“It’s exactly as it looks. It’s not interesting to read, and it’s not the kind of book that’s supposed to be interesting.”

“You’re working, right?”

“Yes.”

Alex handed me the book as if to show me.

I took it and saw the title, ‘1592 Q2 Financial Report — Berzel Estate.’ It seemed to be the financial report for this summer.

Ugh, I expected it to be work-related, but it was even more boring than I had imagined.

I grimaced and quickly handed the book back to Alex.

“But isn’t it risky to show such a book to just anyone? It must be important.”

A financial report usually contained detailed information about the estate’s financial status and cash flow.

Even though I lived at the Maynard estate my whole life, I had never read their financial reports.

Miss Veronica seemed to read them occasionally, but as a maid, I had no reason to read them. I hadn’t even attempted to do so.

Yet Alex handed such a document to me without a second thought.

Though I didn’t show it outwardly, I was greatly surprised by his overly casual attitude.

Alex took the book I handed back and smiled faintly.

“Claire, you’re not just ‘anyone.’”

“No, but still…”

“Even if you tried to understand it without proper education, it would be difficult. No matter how much Count Maynard cherished you, he wouldn’t have educated you in financial matters. Am I wrong?”

“How do you know that?”

“As far as I know, you’re not a maid managing the finances at the Maynard estate but a maid attending to Lady Maynard. It’s not hard to figure out.”

His words made sense, so I nodded.

Alex was right.

At the Maynard estate, there were separate staff members who managed the finances.

They were directly under the head maid and the butler, and they always looked exhausted with dark circles under their eyes from overwork.

Sometimes, when they saw me, they would grab my shoulders and tearfully say, ‘Don’t do this kind of work.’

“Still, if you continue living at our estate, you’ll need to learn. I’ll arrange for a tutor later.”

“What? What did you say?”

“Didn’t you know? One of the duties of a Duchess is to manage the estate’s financial flow…”

Wait, when did I ever say I’d settle down there? This is too much of an assumption!

“No, even if I do study, I’d prefer to do it at the Maynard estate, not at the Berzel estate. Isn’t it too early to make such definitive statements when I haven’t even spent three months there yet?”

“Is that so?”

Alex didn’t press further. He simply looked at me with his characteristic arrogant expression.

But even that look was so handsome that it caught my eye.

They say a handsome face never gets boring no matter how much you look at it, and it seemed to be true.

Looking at Alex’s face now, I felt not bored but rather entertained. However, knowing that Alex might notice this and become even more arrogant, I pretended not to notice and looked away.

“Are you bored?”

“Yes, very much. We still have a long way to go by carriage, and I might die of boredom.”

I pouted my lips as I answered, and Alex put the financial report aside on the adjacent seat.

“If you’re bored, I could get you some books to read.”

“Hmm…”

I pondered for a moment.

Reading a book would certainly alleviate the boredom.

But the question was how likely I was to get motion sickness while reading on an unpaved road.

After a brief thought, I made my decision.

I did want to read, but I didn’t want to suffer from motion sickness. It seemed better to pass the time by looking at Alex’s handsome face.

“No, it’s okay. I’ll just kill time doing nothing.”

“If that’s what you prefer.”

Alex didn’t offer a second time, and his firmness made me narrow my eyes.

“You’re not going to insist?”

Alex tilted his head at my words.

“Should I have insisted? Then, how about we have a conversation to keep you entertained?”

“No, it’s okay. Continue with your work.”

I declined, not wanting to attract Alex’s attention just to alleviate my boredom.

When I waved my hands to refuse, Alex stared at me intently. I shook my head again to reinforce my refusal.

In the end, Alex picked up the financial report and resumed reading.

I watched him for a moment and then sighed softly. I turned my gaze to the window.

With nothing to do, I decided to pass the time by looking outside.

Bushes and trees quickly passed by the window.

It seemed the carriage was moving, but the scenery was so repetitive that it was hard to tell what was changing.

How much time had passed like that?

As I stared out the window, I couldn’t resist the heavy eyelids and slowly succumbed to sleep.

***

The rustling sound of Claire’s clothes subsided, and only her soft breathing filled the quiet carriage.

Alexander glanced away from the financial report to check on the suddenly silent Claire and let out a small chuckle.

Claire had fallen asleep, leaning against the carriage wall.

Her soft brown bangs framed her closed eyes, her nose was prominent, and her slightly parted lips revealed a hint of white teeth.

Alex slowly observed Claire’s face.

He tried to focus on work to avoid burdening her with his attention.

Of course, there was indeed a lot of work to be done.

But now that Claire was asleep, he wanted to take a moment to memorize her face.

When she was awake, she was always tense and wary of Alexander, but now, in her sleep, her face was relaxed and peaceful.

It would be nice if she could let her guard down like this in everyday life, but expecting that from Claire was probably too much for now.

Finally, he had the chance to bring Claire to his estate.

It had taken a full four months.

Throughout that time, Claire had been on his mind constantly.

He wanted to bring her to his side immediately, but he couldn’t.

There were still remnants of Caleb’s betrayal within the estate.

Bringing Claire there with those remnants still around could put her in danger.

Moreover, Claire’s presence could become a weakness for Alexander.

Claire was the first person Alexander had ever opened his heart to.

If she were taken hostage, he didn’t even want to think about what might happen next.

So instead of bringing Claire, he started rooting out the traitors.

And just a week ago, he succeeded in eliminating them.

It took another week to confirm that there were no more traitors.

It took much longer than Alexander had anticipated.

Even so, Claire remained unchanged. He hadn’t expected her to change in four months, but it was a relief to see she was the same.

Alexander unfolded his arms and lightly tapped the driver’s seat.

The window connecting to the driver’s seat opened, and the driver looked back.

“Go slowly. As smoothly as possible.”

Alexander instructed in the softest voice possible.

“Yes, as you command, Your Grace.”

After the driver responded, Alexander stood up.

He picked up a cushion from the side of the carriage and approached Claire.

He gently supported her head and placed the cushion between her head and the wall.

With the carriage shaking, it would be better than leaning against the hard wall.

Next, Alexander took off his coat and draped it over the sleeping Claire.

Claire let out a soft groan, perhaps feeling something suddenly covering her.

Worried she might wake up, Alexander watched her closed eyelids, but she didn’t wake.

He silently laughed at himself for being so tense, fearing she might wake up in this brief moment.

Claire had no idea how remarkable it was for Alexander to be so conscious of someone else’s feelings.

He carefully tucked a stray lock of hair behind her round ear.

Then he returned to his seat.

Despite the sound of his clothes rustling, Claire remained fast asleep.