“Then I will trust you.”

To the healer who asked once more to confirm, Claudia offered a reassuring word.

“Despite how I may look, I am quite good at keeping my mouth shut.”

“Very well, then I shall take my leave.”

The healer nodded with a satisfied expression and left the parlor.

The healer’s request had been a little burdensome, but it seemed best to act in accordance with the Duchess’s wishes.

It had not been a serious injury, but the Duchess had been a benefactor who had helped her recover quickly all the same.

Just as Claudia was about to step out of the parlor, she heard the sound of voices.

“Your Grace the Duke of Valdevern! It has truly been a long time.”

“It has been a while.”

Following the healer’s voice came a deep, heavy baritone.

“Is that not His Grace! Congratulations on your safe return!”

The healer chattered on about how delighted he was to meet the empire’s hero, and what an honor it was for his family.

Because of that, Claudia missed her chance to leave the parlor. She was pacing inside the parlor waiting for the healer to finish speaking when it happened.

“Sierra.”

The Duke of Valdevern suddenly walked into the parlor.

He glanced briefly at Claudia, then swept his gaze around the interior of the parlor.

He appeared to be looking for something.

Claudia also stole a glance around the parlor.

But since she did not know what the Duke of Valdevern was looking for, her gaze circled the room and came to rest again on the Duke’s face.

Having apparently looked around enough, the Duke’s gaze also came to rest on Claudia’s face.

“Good day, Your Grace.”

Claudia bowed her head.

“……?”

But no answer came in return.

There were only two distinct lines clearly etched across the Duke of Valdevern’s brow.

It was an expression he wore when he was considerably displeased, and whenever he wore that look, the knights’ order would typically receive a thundering reprimand.

It seemed she had crossed paths with him at an inopportune moment.

Claudia swallowed hard.

Under the Duke of Valdevern’s intense gaze bearing down on her, she even felt as though her throat was being constricted for no reason.

Claudia ran a hand briefly over the back of her neck and bowed again. She tried to simply walk past the Duke of Valdevern, who seemed to have no intention of dealing with her.

Just as Claudia was about to take a step toward the entrance.

The Duke of Valdevern opened his mouth.

“What were you doing here?”

Claudia quickly turned her eyes toward the corridor.

‘The healer!’

But whenever he had left, his figure was already nowhere to be seen.

‘……What do I say.’

Claudia lowered her head slightly and pressed her lips together.

If she told the truth and said she had come to receive treatment, it would not only be a betrayal of the healer but would also go against the Duchess’s wishes.

But if she gave no answer, it would amount to ignoring the Duke of Valdevern’s words.

‘This is awkward.’

Unable to go one way or the other, Claudia was doing nothing but chewing on her lips when it came.

“Are you defying a superior officer?”

“N-no, Your Grace!”

The moment the Duke demanded military obedience, her lips, which had been sealed as if glued shut, came apart just fine.

“Then?”

“……”

The Duke of Valdevern’s sharp gaze bore down on Claudia’s face.

“I find myself curious as to why you are not answering the question I asked.”

The overwhelming pressure that sent a chill down her spine was an added bonus. Claudia flinched in fear and her shoulders trembled.

“I happened to run into the healer who had finished treating the Duchess and was on his way out. When he learned that I had sustained an injury, he treated me.”

She thought she had answered rather well. But under the Duke of Valdevern’s piercing gaze, Claudia shrank back slightly.

That said, acting like someone who had done something wrong seemed likely to invite further interrogation.

So Claudia did not avert her eyes from the Duke of Valdevern, but met them directly.

He could have taken looking a superior directly in the eye as a sign of defiance.

But right now, Claudia’s mind had no room to think of such things.

There was no one who paid any attention to a commoner who had only just become a knight.

She consoled herself by thinking that everyone was simply living a hard life, but it had still been lonely.

And yet it was none other than the Duchess herself who had stepped forward and shown concern for her injury. On top of that, she had even arranged for her to be treated.

This was a matter of the Duchess’s honor. That was why Claudia could not back down under any circumstances.

“All right, I’ll take your word for it.”

At the Duke of Valdevern’s swift declaration of concession, Claudia let out a silent sigh of relief inwardly.

She had expected him to press further, push harder, or even have her punished according to military law.

But the words that followed immediately after left Claudia no choice but to tense up sharply.

“You are aware, I take it, that this is the parlor the Duchess of Valdevern primarily uses?”

“……Was it?”

Claudia opened her mouth right away so as not to appear suspicious. But there had been a slight pause between his question and her answer.

“The healer brought me here, so I simply assumed it was a common space.”

This time, the lie came out smoothly. Though it was a rather flimsy excuse.

“You are also well aware that the Duchess of Valdevern is my wife?”

It was an entirely obvious question.

But it could not have been asked without intent.

In that brief instant, Claudia ran through hundreds of possible interpretations.

And she quickly arrived at one conclusion.

That the more devoted a husband was, the more his expression would soften when someone praised his wife in front of him.

Although the Duke of Valdevern looked as though he would not so much as blink even if something were jabbed into his eye, when it came to love, he could still be an ordinary man.

“Of course. I have heard that the Duchess is as kind-hearted and beautiful as the Duke who led this war to victory. She is also of the bloodline of the prestigious Kepla ducal house……”

Claudia rattled off as many compliments as she could about the Duchess of Valdevern, a woman whose face she had never once seen.

Since the Duchess was a well-known figure, she was able to add a degree of praise, but she soon reached her limit.

And so, too busy wracking her brain, she failed to notice it. That the corners of the Duke’s mouth were hardening into a cold, rigid line.

—

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed from the far end of the corridor.

Sierra immediately recognized who was walking down the corridor.

“That’s Ahin.”

There was only one person in the entire estate who could walk like that without caring what anyone thought.

The thudding footsteps grew closer and closer, and then the study door flew open.

Sure enough.

Ahin strode into the study. With an expression that made no attempt whatsoever to conceal his displeasure.

“I was wondering where the Duchess had gone. So she was here all along.”

In ordinary times, Ahin was often expressionless to the point of feeling almost cold, let alone simply composed.

His emotions tended to be dry enough to feel a little bleak.

And when he was this angry, there was nothing to be done. He carried on as though he had swallowed a burning fire.

Sierra let out a faint sigh.

‘He seems thoroughly furious. How do I calm him down?’

But before that, why on earth was he so angry……

After turning it over in her mind for a moment, Sierra was soon able to guess the reason.

‘Is it because I stood him up after asking him to meet me in the parlor?’

It was clearly her fault. But she had nothing to feel guilty about. He must have spent a good time with Claudia thanks to her.

‘He should be grateful, if anything.’

That was why Sierra could make her claim shamelessly, even after standing Ahin up.

“Your Grace, this is my study.”

In other words, she was telling him not to barge in without so much as knocking.

“That’s right. This is the study of the Duchess of Valdevern.”

Ahin placed emphasis on a particular word.

Sierra furrowed her brow slightly.

It was because Sierra was like a childhood friend, a sibling, and at times almost family, that she tolerated Ahin’s rudeness.

If he behaved this discourteously toward Claudia as well, she might run off before long.

So Sierra decided to point out Ahin’s fault on this occasion. Because the new wife of a well-raised husband must not be allowed to run away.

“It seems you are well aware of that, Your Grace. In that case, might I suggest that you at least knock?”

Having pointed out Ahin’s behavior, she felt a momentary sense of relief.

But Sierra quickly regretted it.

Ahin was the type who greatly disliked being criticized through roundabout, sarcastic remarks.

‘Surely what I just said won’t escalate into a bigger argument.’

Since he had already made his strong opposition to the divorce clear, she had been trying to bring it up again when Ahin was in a good mood.

So she had been watching for the right timing, and it seemed that had gone completely to ruin.

‘Should I try to smooth things over even now?’

It was just as Sierra was thinking that.

Words she had never imagined came out of Ahin’s mouth.

“I was rude.”

Sierra’s eyes went wide.

‘He apologized?’

That Ahin, when his behavior had been pointed out, had actually gone ahead and apologized without resistance……?