5. A Young Lady in a Splendid Dress

As the distinguished guests began to leave the dining room one by one, Hans approached Medric.

“The High Priest is currently away purifying the northern part of Ptotr and the Grand Duchy of Lonavita, so he is unavailable.”

“Is another day not possible?”

“No, he won’t return for at least a month, even at the earliest.”

“That’s too late.”

Medric pressed his forehead. He appeared anxious as the date to check Eve’s health was being delayed.

“Duke, I’m really fine now. See, I have no problem moving around.”

“You were moving around just fine before you collapsed too.”

“That’s true, but…”

Eve couldn’t argue further. There was no guarantee she wouldn’t collapse again, and even she couldn’t be certain about her own body.

“I’ll be more careful, though.”

“That’s not enough. Hans, assign more physicians to the Duchess to check her condition morning and evening.”

She was already being examined by a physician once a day, and now he wanted to add more?

“Wait a moment. I don’t have any internal or external injuries, so there’s no need to see so many physicians…”

“And tell the chef to pay special attention to her diet.”

Medric wasn’t listening to Eve.

He had been protective when she first collapsed, but after the second time, his protection became even more excessive.

Medric crossed his arms and stroked his chin, deep in thought.

“It still doesn’t seem enough…”

‘It’s more than enough, Duke.’

Since the decision was Medric’s, there was no point in objecting.

Well, if she couldn’t avoid it, she might as well accept it gracefully.

***

Contrary to her expectation that things would calm down after the wedding, Eve found herself busier than ever.

Letters, gifts, and party invitations began pouring in from everywhere.

Eve had to spend four or five hours just sending rejection letters to party invitations.

“My lady, another letter has arrived.”

“Yes, please put it there in front.”

Eve glanced at the letter Marie placed on the table and couldn’t believe her eyes.

‘The royal seal? From Crown Prince Glishakov??’

He had mentioned he would contact her, but she hadn’t expected a letter so soon. She worried that perhaps something urgent had come up that needed to be communicated.

Eve set aside the letters she had been checking and opened Glishakov’s letter first.

[To the dear Duchess of Archild,

Let me once again sincerely congratulate you on your marriage to the Duke of Archild.

I’ve been hesitant to send a letter knowing how busy you must be, but I’m finally writing now.

The truth is, I wanted to express my gratitude once more.

I believe we can become good friends, just as I am with the Duke of Archild.

………]

He was truly grateful for the help she had provided this time.

Perhaps it was because he understood well the relationship between those with divine powers and magicians.

Eve smiled at the warm letter.

“This is a flower basket that came with the letter!”

Marie placed a basket of yellow roses on the table. The note “Flower meaning: Friendship” among the roses made Eve feel good.

“And another letter arrived from the Marvel mansion today.”

Her mood, which had improved upon seeing the flowers, sank again.

Letters had been coming from Clareta Marvel for several days now.

Eve opened the envelope bearing the Marvel family crest without hesitation. The content was similar to previous ones.

It stated that she wanted to know why the engagement between the Marvel and Archild families had been broken off.

She seemed determined to unsettle the feelings of someone who had just gotten married.

‘How rude.’

Eve frowned.

She knew it was Clareta Marvel who had spread strange rumors on her wedding day. Although she had no concrete evidence, only strong suspicion, she had given her a warning at the banquet, but it seemed the warning had not been heeded.

Eve didn’t want to escalate the matter, nor did she particularly want to face Clareta.

‘But she keeps sending letters like this.’

She couldn’t help but sigh.

While she could use being busy as an excuse to decline meetings once or twice, she couldn’t keep refusing.

Given the situation, she decided to invite her over.

She thought it would be less of a headache to face that discontent, which was palpable even through the letters, directly.

“Could you give me a pen and paper?”

“Are you going to write a reply?”

“Yes.”

Eve immediately wrote a response to Clareta. The letter briefly stated that she was inviting her to the mansion.

“If I invite her this time, hopefully she’ll stop sending these letters.”

Eve shook her head in exasperation as she handed the reply to Marie.

“Please send this to the Marvel mansion.”

“Yes. Where would you like to have your meal today?”

“I’ll go downstairs to eat.”

Eve stretched and rose from her chair.

She left the room and walked down the corridor to go downstairs. The thin lace curtains fluttered in the breeze coming through an open window in the middle of the corridor.

The wind entering the mansion was quite chilly. The blue autumn sky seemed to be giving way to winter. The late autumn in the west, while not as severe as in the north, was still cold enough during nights and mornings to cause illness if one wasn’t properly dressed.

‘I should replace the mansion’s items with winter goods while I’m at it.’

She had been too busy to properly look after the mansion. Eve thought this would be a good opportunity to review all the items in the residence.

“You’ve arrived.”

When Eve reached the dining room, the waiting servants bowed their heads.

Eve nodded and took a seat at one side of the dining room.

The tableware was already neatly set. Shortly after, dishes were placed before Eve one by one.

Eve savored the food slowly.

The combination of warm soup with bread that was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, along with a perfectly cooked steak, was simply superb. She marveled at the impeccable taste of the food. These dishes would be perfectly suitable for serving guests at a luncheon.

‘There’s nothing to request from the kitchen.’

Eve wiped the sauce from the corner of her mouth with a napkin and called for Hans. He appeared shortly after being summoned.

“You called for me.”

“Do you remember the merchant who urgently supplied fabric for the wedding banquet?”

“Yes, I do.”

“I’d like to purchase curtains and other items for the mansion from him. Please arrange it for the earliest possible date.”

“Yes, understood.”

Hans never added unnecessary comments to Eve’s requests.

While she had never had any complaints about Hans, she suddenly became curious.

“Hans, is there anything you wish I would do as the mistress of the house?”

Hans, who seemed momentarily surprised by Eve’s question, smiled slightly.

“I have served the Duke for over ten years. Even when I wasn’t around, the Duke maintained this mansion alone. You are the one the Duke has chosen. Your presence alone is sufficient.”

“I see. Thank you for your answer.”

Somehow, Eve’s expression didn’t look pleased as she responded.

Although she was only realizing it now after being busy with various tasks, the people here, including Marie, were very respectful to Eve. And not just respectful—just looking at Marie, one could feel how much she liked Eve.

‘Of course, Marie is my personal maid, so that might be expected.’

Eve thought as she drank her tea.

‘Your presence alone is sufficient…’

That alone wasn’t enough to understand the atmosphere of this mansion. Strangely, the people here expected nothing from Eve. Not the Duke, and not even the butler who managed the estate.

When she was young, she had received many demands from her parents, the butler, and the head maid. Don’t do this. Do that better. Be careful with this. She had heard it so often it could make her ears fall off.

Noble families, especially prestigious ones, typically had even more requirements.

But since coming here, everyone seemed to want so little from her that at first, she wondered if she was doing so well that there was nothing to criticize.

Of course, that thought was quickly dispelled when she met Lady Anna.

As her chaperone, Lady Anna had explained, “This should be done this way. That should be done that way.” She had corrected Eve’s improper attitudes and speech.

And so her concerns returned to square one.

Eve had many shortcomings. She had kept her distance from social circles and, being confined to Count Renox’s mansion, had missed much news.

There was so much to learn, and countless things to change and fix to achieve her goals.

Yet it was strange that the people here expected nothing from her.

The pattern on the teacup felt unusually rough today. Eve slowly stroked the cup as she thought.

What if everyone knew that her marriage with Medric was a contract marriage?

‘Ah, I see.’

Perhaps they didn’t consider her family.

When she was young, she received criticism from her family because they had expectations for her. But now, she wasn’t receiving any expectations.

Without expectations, she wasn’t being considered family. Thinking of it that way, she could understand why the people here didn’t want anything from her.

“Ah…”

As she thought about this, her chest began to ache strangely.

Perhaps she had steeped the tea too long, as it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Eve put down her teacup.

‘My chest aches?’

‘These people have accepted me when I had nowhere to go and treated me well.’

There was no need to feel dejected just because they didn’t treat her like family.

She shook her head and slapped her cheeks with a loud clap.

“M-My lady…!”

Hans approached, startled by her actions.

“I’m fine. I was just trying to clear my head.”

If she wasn’t receiving expectations, then she would work to earn them.

It was simply a matter of carrying out her duties as the mistress of this mansion and gaining the recognition of the Duke and the staff.

“More importantly, please get the items I mentioned.”

“Yes, my lady. Of course.”

Eve asked Hans to procure items needed for a tea party.

Her priority now was to perfectly handle the upcoming meeting with Clareta and cut ties with her.