‘Does this even make sense?’

Sierra was frozen in shock, blinking, when Ahin opened his mouth again.

“From now on, I will knock loudly enough for you to hear properly.”

Not only a straightforward apology, but a promise to change his behavior going forward……

It felt as though all her efforts up until now had finally been rewarded. She was so moved that she even felt a sense of reverence.

So it was only now, right before she was about to leave, that she would get to see her ill-tempered husband’s reformed self.

“Thank you.”

Sierra said, overcome with emotion.

“Then let us now talk about you.”

“About me?”

Sierra blinked rapidly.

“Was a promise something meant to be broken, as far as you are concerned?”

Ahin threw cold water on the moved Sierra.

She had nothing to say.

She had been the one to ask Ahin to come to the parlor, and yet she herself had not shown up at the agreed place and had done nothing but point out his faults.

As the saying goes, what one does oneself is romance, but when another does the same it is an offense.

She had pointed out Ahin’s wrongdoing, and yet she could not justify her own behavior.

Nothing would be worse for Ahin’s education than that.

“I was rude. I had so much work that I lost track of time.”

So Sierra apologized without resistance.

“I will make sure to keep my appointments properly going forward.”

Sierra looked up at Ahin with an expression that asked whether that would suffice.

But for some reason Ahin’s furrowed brow still had not smoothed out.

“Or would you prefer to tell me what you would like me to do?”

Perhaps it was because she was planning to leave soon. The words came out easily. She only had to keep it up until she left, after all.

“All right.”

Only then did Ahin’s deeply furrowed brow return to its usual calm.

“Please go ahead.”

But contrary to her expectation that he would offer his opinion right away, Ahin did not answer immediately.

He seemed to deliberate for a moment, and then the corners of his eyes curved into a graceful arc.

In that instant, Sierra felt uneasy.

It was because whenever Ahin, who rarely smiled, smiled that prettily, something good had never once come of it.

“Three times a day.”

‘A number? What number?’

The more the smile on Ahin’s face deepened, the more Sierra’s brow furrowed.

“I would like you to be the one to kiss me first.”

“Are you……”

Sierra quickly clapped a hand over her own mouth. She had nearly asked Ahin whether he had lost his mind.

That would not do. Absolutely not.

There was no need to provoke Ahin’s temper unnecessarily and delay the day she could bring up the divorce.

“Are you…… what?”

Ahin narrowed his eyes and placed a hand on the desk in front of Sierra. His upper body tilted slightly toward her.

“Hm?”

Sierra pressed her back firmly against the chair and raised her eyebrows.

‘Why, what?’

“Sierra. Move that hand.”

Ahin’s thick fingers pried their way between Sierra’s hands, which were clamped over her mouth.

Whether he found her defensive attitude tiresome, Ahin furrowed his handsome brow.

“……?”

Without much difficulty, he interlaced their fingers and pressed her hand down onto the desk as he asked,

“What were you about to say just now?”

There is nothing more maddening than someone stopping mid-sentence, Ahin added.

Sierra, who had found herself trapped between the back of the chair and Ahin in the blink of an eye, realized there was nowhere to escape and gave in.

“I was going to say that I am sorry, but that seems like it would be difficult.”

By not saying whether he had lost his mind to the very end, she had barely managed to get through the crisis.

“Is that so?”

As though gauging whether it was true, Ahin stared intently at Sierra’s face.

Sierra gave a slight smile as if to say it was the truth, and nodded.

“Your Grace?”

“……”

“For me to kiss you three times a day as you say, you and I would need to actually meet, would we not?”

“……”

With an unreadable, blank expression, Ahin gave a nod.

“But the problem is that, as you yourself said, both you and I are truly very busy with our own respective duties.”

“Is there really that much work?”

Sierra nearly let out a hollow laugh at Ahin’s question.

‘Who does he think has been handling the affairs of the ducal house for the two years he was away at war.’

It was not as though Ahin needed to acknowledge her efforts, but the words left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Managing the estate was a matter of course, and maintaining relations with the influential noble houses within the empire while Ahin was away from the capital was also Sierra’s duty as the mistress of the household.

It was only slightly less grueling because her own family and her husband’s family held strong influence within the empire.

Had that not been the case, Sierra would have been called from one estate to another throughout the entire social season, from early spring to early winter.

But Sierra swallowed all of those words.

There was nothing more to say if it was simply what the mistress of a noble household was expected to do.

“As it turns out, there is quite a great deal that the mistress of a ducal house must attend to.”

Sierra offered the most diplomatically worded answer she could manage.

“So?”

But the response she received was dismal.

‘So?’

The look in Sierra’s eyes as she stared at Ahin sharpened on its own.

Ahin’s gaze, on the other hand, deepened considerably.

“……?”

Sierra sensed instinctively that the look in her husband’s eyes as he watched her was not ordinary.

‘Why, all of a sudden.’

Every time Ahin looked at her with those eyes, something happened that should not have happened.

Sierra made up her mind to get away from this spot as quickly as possible.

And it was just as Sierra was about to rise from the chair.

Ahin’s large hand gripped the back of Sierra’s neck and pulled her sharply toward his face.

It was not a rough touch, but caught off guard, Sierra found herself face to face with her husband at very close range.

“You are saying you cannot do it?”

Their exhaled breaths intertwined.

“Kissing me, your husband, first. Three times a day.”

The corners of Ahin’s eyes curved into a soft arc.

‘This is ominous. It is ominous……’

The moment Sierra thought that, a kiss followed. Before long, ragged breathing filled the study of the Duchess of Valdevern.

—

‘Now of all things, on top of everything else……’

Sierra straightened her disheveled clothes and tidied her tousled hair.

‘It seems the torment only gets worse with each passing day.’

The brow of Sierra’s reflection in the mirror narrowed.

It seemed best to hurry the divorce along as quickly as possible.

‘Right. Escape is the only answer.’

Standing before the mirror that adorned one wall of the study, Sierra reaffirmed that to herself.

For a safe divorce and a clean departure from the Valdevern ducal house, Ahin and Claudia needed to come together quickly.

“I even gave them a push from behind. Surely it went well?”

Even as she thought that, she was curious inwardly. Whether something had happened between the two of them that might have led to progress, as in the original work.

‘Should I go and check on how things stand for a moment?’

After a brief moment of deliberation, Sierra made her decision. She would not be able to focus on her work any further today regardless.

To appear as though she had simply come out for a stroll, Sierra walked through the garden with a lace parasol and gloves that came up to her elbows.

And naturally, Sierra’s steps led her near the training grounds.

“Today’s training ends here. Of course, I will not stop anyone who wishes to continue with personal training, but do not forget that adequate rest is also necessary. Dismissed!”

When Vice-Captain Glen finished speaking, the knights who had been gathered in the center of the training grounds dispersed.

It was mainly Glen who oversaw and supervised the knights’ training, and fortunately, Ahin was nowhere to be seen.

Well, even if Ahin were at the training grounds, she could simply avoid him.

Sierra wandered around the perimeter of the training grounds at as leisurely a pace as she could manage.

Just then, someone spoke to her.

“Good day, Duchess.”

Sierra turned around gracefully to see who it was.

‘……It’s Claudia.’

“Good afternoon, Sir.”

Claudia knelt on one knee and extended her hand to Sierra.

A certain knightly bearing showed through in the crisp, precise movement.

With a pleased heart, Sierra gently placed her hand over Claudia’s. Claudia lightly pressed her lips to the back of Sierra’s hand.

“This is my first time greeting the Duchess in person. I am Claudin, who recently joined the Valdevern knights’ order. It is an honor to meet you, Duchess.”

Sierra gestured for Claudia to rise. Claudia straightened her bent knee and stood up.

“It is a pleasure. I have heard a great deal about Sir Claudin.”

“You have heard about me?”

Whether she was surprised, Claudia’s already large eyes grew even rounder.

“I hear you distinguished yourself greatly in the recent war.”

“I am not sure what you may have heard, but the account you received was likely a little embellished.”

Claudia scratched her cheek with an embarrassed expression.

“There is no need to be so modest. After a war, everyone tends to embellish their tales of valor.”

“……Is that so?”

Claudia blinked as though she was not entirely sure.

“It seems the knights’ training has just ended?”

“Yes. The afternoon training has just finished.”

“You all work so hard. It is thanks to knights like Sir Claudin, who diligently train every day, that peace has come to the empire.”

Sierra said with a gentle smile.

She meant every word of it.

Without the alliance of the knights’ orders throughout the empire, beyond just Ahin and Claudia and the Valdevern knights’ order, they could not have won the war.

Thanks to them, Sierra too was able to spend peaceful days as before, and beyond that, had even gained the opportunity to expand her business.