After my marriage with Alex was decided, busy days continued without pause.

Thankfully, Count and Countess Maynard said they would find a townhouse for us, so we decided to stay at the Berzel ducal residence for a while. However, the townhouse deal was completed faster than expected, so we were able to move quickly.

Alex suggested staying at the Berzel ducal residence a bit longer, but it seemed Count and Countess judged there was no reason to burden Alex when they had their own townhouse.

After returning to the new mansion, there was no time to adjust as we were busy preparing for the wedding.

Fitting the wedding dress and accessories was especially taking more time than expected.

It had already been a week.

During that week, I was busy all day choosing clothes with the Countess and Miss Veronica, meeting with fashion designers and jewelers.

I had fitted dresses and accessories at the Berzel ducal residence before. However, I hadn’t spent this much time choosing designs like now. Everything was different from then.

If it were just me, I wouldn’t have needed to be this careful, but the Countess and Miss Veronica were choosing designs more enthusiastically than me, so I couldn’t just pick carelessly either.

On the third day, I asked Miss Veronica if we really needed to put in this much effort. She replied that we had to choose carefully for the prestige of both the Maynard and Berzel families.

Only then did I understand.

This marriage wasn’t simply between the Duke of Berzel and a lady of the Maynard family.

I didn’t want the Maynard family and Alex to be criticized because of me, so I also chose designs as carefully as possible.

That wasn’t the end. After the morning schedule, from after lunch until bedtime, I spent time learning noble etiquette.

It was more intense than what I had learned when preparing for the ball before.

If that was for preparing for the ball, this was mainly about everyday noble etiquette.

After the etiquette lessons ended, I was exhausted and barely had time to wash and sleep.

I wished I could master all the etiquette as soon as possible and be free, but because I was clumsier than expected, it was already challenging just to keep up with the Countess and Miss’s teachings.

Still, the Countess encouraged me, saying that it wasn’t a simple task for someone who had lived as a maid for over 20 years to perfectly execute noble etiquette in an instant, so I shouldn’t be too discouraged.

“Ah… I’m so tired.”

I mumbled softly as I lay on the bed, completely drained.

Who knew marrying Alex would be such a difficult task.

‘No. I shouldn’t think like this.’

There would be mountains of hurdles to overcome in the future, so I couldn’t show signs of exhaustion already.

‘This is what I chose, after all.’

Even so, there were times when emotions suddenly welled up. Now was one of those times.

Perhaps because we were busy with wedding preparations, Alex rarely visited the Maynard family’s townhouse.

Even if he had a lot to do, couldn’t he visit at least once when we were in the same capital?

Feelings of disappointment flooded in like water.

He could have made time to visit for a moment…

I desperately wanted to go see him myself, but knowing how much effort the Countess and Miss Veronica were putting in for me, I couldn’t spare a separate time.

There wasn’t much time left until the set wedding date.

At this rate, it seemed we would get married without seeing each other’s face even once in nearly a month.

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Then I slowly got up.

In the dark room, only moonlight was faintly flowing in. I moved my creaking body to the window.

Thinking that Alex might be far away at the Berzel ducal residence.

Then suddenly, I spotted a figure beyond the townhouse gate.

“…Alex?”

Surprisingly, that figure was Alex.

Was I seeing things because I missed him so much?

Doubtful, I closed my eyes and opened them again. But Alex didn’t disappear and remained there.

He seemed to have noticed me too, since he looked at me. Then he raised his hand and waved.

It really wasn’t an illusion.

“Alex!”

With a hopeful heart, I leaned halfway out the door and called out to him.

Alex seemed caught off guard by my action, showing a momentarily flustered look. Judging by how his horse took a step or two back, it wasn’t just my imagination.

“Wait there for a moment!”

After saying that, I immediately left the room. Even as I rushed, I tried my best to maintain dignity like the Countess and Miss Veronica had taught me.

Because of that, I couldn’t increase my speed, but since I asked him to wait, I was sure he would definitely wait for me.

Finally, I came out of the mansion and ran through the entrance.

Only after my breath reached my chin could I arrive at the mansion’s gate.

“Claire!”

Alex dismounted and ran towards me. Then he stroked my back as I bent over, catching my breath heavily.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m… I’m… I’m fine.”

Only after struggling to catch my breath could I straighten up and face him.

“It really is you, Alex.”

When I spoke with emotion, Alex burst into laughter.

“What, did you think I was fake?”

“Yes. Actually, when I first saw you, I thought you were an illusion.”

“What?”

I smiled at him, who quickly asked back as if dumbfounded, and added an explanation.

“I thought it was a fantasy I created because I missed you so much.”

At my honest words, Alex looked down at me for a moment. Then, as if he couldn’t help it, he laughed and raised his hand to gently stroke my cheek.

“Did you miss me a lot?”

“Of course. Didn’t you miss me, Alex?”

“I did miss you. Very much.”

Although I saw Alex readily admit it, I narrowed my eyes, feeling oddly petulant at his words.

“Then why didn’t you come to see me? You could have visited at least once. The wedding is just around the corner, I thought we might not even see each other’s faces until then.”

As I spoke in complaint, Alex caressed my cheek with his thumb.

“I did come.”

“You came? When?”

I thought Alex hadn’t visited even once all this time, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

But there was no reason for the Maynard family to hide Alex’s visit from me.

So how did this happen?

Seeing my puzzled look, Alex added:

“But I thought I might be a disturbance, so I just watched from afar and left.”

“You just left?”

He nodded in response.

And he looked down at me with an apologetic expression.

“If I had known you missed me this much, I should have at least shown my face.”

“Of course you should have. How could you just look and leave?”

I pouted my lips, unable to express my disappointment.

“I’m sorry.”

Seeing him apologize so readily, the pent-up emotions just melted away.

“No, it’s okay. You were just being considerate of me, right? It’s fine.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“Don’t mention it. But next time something like this happens, I hope you’ll at least show your face before leaving.”

“Next time, you’ll be in our mansion, so of course I will.”

Hearing his affectionate voice made my heart tingle.

I barely held back a silly smile that was about to escape and squinted my eyes.

“Were you on your way back after finishing some business at this hour?”

“Yes. There was Kruger’s trial.”

“Ah.”

Kruger’s trial that followed the punishment of the main culprit, Duke Franz.

I had completely forgotten about it because I had been so busy.

“How did it turn out?”

“Three years of labor and revocation of the right to inherit the title of count.”

“What does that mean?”

“Kruger… No. After serving three years of labor, he will return to the status of Jade Robelin, but he won’t be able to inherit the title of the count of Robelin. As expected, Christine Robelin will be the first in line to become Count Robelin.”

It was the result we had anticipated.

It seemed that both Sir Kruger and Alex had guessed the outcome would be like this. Or perhaps the verdict was already half-decided due to the confession.

“Is Christine doing well?”

“Yes. For now, she’s receiving basic education. She still has a lot to learn, but her learning speed is quite fast.”

“That’s good to hear.”

I had been worried because Christine looked particularly depressed the last time I saw her, but it seemed she was doing well.

“By the way, you’ve become even more beautiful since I last saw you.”

Alex whispered to me in a glib tone.

“I was always pretty, you know.”

When I deliberately responded with a brazen attitude, Alex let out a laugh.

And then, without knowing who started first, we burst into laughter simultaneously.

“It’s regrettable, but you should go in now. It’s still cold out.”

“Alright. But I’m glad I got to see your face.”

“Me too.”

Alex reluctantly stepped away from me.

“I’ll watch you go in.”

“Shouldn’t you go first since you have a long way to go, Alex?”

“No, you should go in first, Claire.”

Agreeing to Alex’s stubborn attitude, I took a step back.

“Then I’ll see you at the wedding.”

“Yes, we will.”

Even after entering through the gate, I looked back several times, feeling reluctant.

Each time, Alex was standing in the same place where we had met, watching me.