5.

For several hours, Luke had been unable to work due to a throbbing headache. He seemed to have caught an illness.

He knew well how to cure this illness.

Luke slowly rose from his seat and prepared to go out.

Harold the butler’s hands were more careful as he helped dress his master. The master’s mood appeared quite uncomfortable now.

Luke’s eyes glinted darkly as he walked to the waiting carriage.

＊＊＊

Leon, who had left early in the morning, returned late in the evening. As soon as he returned, he put several boxes into the empty safe in the study. She immediately realized what it was. Money.

The amount was unfathomable. Almost frightening to know.

Why did he keep bringing in such money? The amounts kept growing.

“I’ll be busy starting tomorrow. The Duke’s mansion will send people for wedding preparations, so you take charge of that. You just need to choose what you like. Also, tell them to set up a large tent in the garden for screening military recruits for security here from now on.”

He needed a tent to interview the soldiers who would arrive from tomorrow. He planned to personally select them one by one. He intended to hire about a hundred men first. A noble’s power comes from military might. Though it wouldn’t compare to the Duke’s forces, it was better than having none like now. Even this much would prevent other nobles from looking down on them.

Yvonne’s mind was spinning from everything he was laying out. He seemed to have plans in place, but she worried he might recklessly start things and be unable to handle the aftermath. However, she liked that the wedding preparations would be easier now. She hadn’t known where to begin.

“Since you’re going to become my wife now, bring in some maids to serve you.”

“What?”

She couldn’t even remember when she last had maids. She wasn’t particularly inconvenienced now… And spending money on that…

“Don’t wound my pride. Remember that from now on.”

If that was the case, there was no reason to refuse. This was good for her too.

From the next day, the Count’s mansion became incredibly busy. They decided to hold the wedding in the ducal mansion garden, and that side would handle all preparations. All she had to do was choose her dress and decide what flowers she wanted for the wedding altar and flower path. Things had become much easier from her perspective.

But Leon was extremely busy. He was interviewing and selecting from the line of soldiers coming in. She hadn’t known he had the ability to push things forward so quickly. Perhaps he was paying more attention to this side because his war trauma made him paranoid about threats to his safety.

At the end of the wilderness-like garden, down several steps, there was a useless open space. They said they would build soldier barracks and training grounds there. The Heywood family was gradually regaining its former glory.

Moreover, many people including surveyors were bustling in and out of the mansion. They said they would completely renovate the inside of the mansion. Temporary accommodations were already being built outside for their convenience. A large tent was being erected near the kitchen’s furnace to serve as a temporary kitchen. It was quite chaotic with construction of quarters for employees too. The Count’s mansion had never seen so many people gathered or such busy commotion before.

Right now, Leon was pouring enormous amounts of money into this place. Almost worryingly so.

She thought perhaps it was because his pride was important to him. But Leon was spending his own money. And spending such astronomical amounts. She couldn’t quite understand why these things kept happening.

Leon had been a man who only spent money on himself… She had cursed him plenty for that… She hadn’t expected this from him at all. This was the third time now. Him throwing money around.

But there was no reason to dislike the improving environment.

If married life was going to be hell, better to experience hell in a nice environment. Emil would like it too.

The broken iron gate that had been an eyesore to passersby would now be replaced. But now they were telling her they would do this and that, reporting so many things she couldn’t even remember them all.

She thought it would only be busy in the morning, but different people came and bustled about in the afternoon too. She wondered when he had contacted all these people. Was that why he returned late yesterday?

Last night, after she had already turned off the lights and gotten in bed, Leon knocked on her door. Carefully but firmly. She was so startled. She calmed her racing heart and ignored him. She could just pretend to be asleep, though she worried he might just rudely enter the room. But fortunately, he just turned back.

Of course, Leon had no courtesy to consider her. He must have been tired too. She had pulled the blanket up over her head and closed her eyes.

When she briefly ran into Leon in the morning, he didn’t say anything special about it. He just seemed to be in a good mood. He didn’t seem to mind that she had ignored his nighttime visit. Well, that’s fine then.

“Miss, the garden will be designed like this……”

Yvonne’s eyes widened as the expert started explaining while showing the garden design plans. They would plant trees in this pattern and create five flower gardens. Plus a glass greenhouse. She was really shocked to hear about the greenhouse.

The list of flowers and trees to go in the greenhouse was jaw-dropping. When it’s completed as described, it will truly be magnificent. It would be a greenhouse worthy of hosting tea parties for noble young ladies.

“But how did these design plans come together so quickly?”

She asked out of curiosity since it seemed too fast.

“We had orders from the young master already, so we could complete it right away.”

She wasn’t sure what he meant about orders. He shouldn’t have had interest in this sort of thing. He had his hand in everything.

It would take more than ten bodies to lead and manage all these tasks. Yet Leon was handling everything smoothly by himself. Though she was helping with some things, he was doing far more.

Was all this really necessary just for Leon’s pride? Even this greenhouse? The greenhouse was truly beyond imagination. Things she couldn’t have imagined were now becoming reality. She was simply dumbfounded.

As a bonus, they said they would renovate the backyard however she wanted since they were already handling big projects. She immediately said to make it usable as a vegetable garden. They said they would even provide seedlings of whatever vegetables she wanted. She was just amazed.

This place was really going to completely change. As Leon had said. No, it would be like a rebirth.

She was amazed at Leon’s drive to accomplish so many things in a day. Was he actually good at things when he tried? Was it because of his Duke family bloodline?

“I can’t stand being uncomfortable. I’m changing things to make myself comfortable, so don’t ask questions and just make decisions.”

Though she was doing as he said, truly jaw-dropping things kept happening. Was all this happening just for Leon’s comfort? This… would make everyone comfortable. It was set to become a dream mansion that made her eyes widen.

“Um… The money being spent now… You’re not planning to make me pay it back later or anything, right?”

She had to make this clear. No matter how she thought about it, it was an enormous amount of money. Leon would never spend his money without purpose. If he secretly turned it into her debt… Just thinking about it gave her chills. She didn’t want to struggle in such a terrible pit. So she couldn’t help being sensitive about money.

“No. I’m spending this for my own comfort so don’t worry about that.”

Still, she couldn’t trust him with his mercurial personality. No one knows when he might change his mind and demand payment.

“Then I’ll write a contract for the bride-to-be.”

He wrote it smoothly without seeming offended at all and handed over the clean contract, and only then did Yvonne let go of her anxious heart.

This would do. Now she felt at ease.

She saw Emil sitting in a chair placed in one corner of the garden. With so many people coming and going, he seemed excited to be drawing various people. The sunlight breaking over Emil’s head was so dazzling. Though it was thanks to Leon, Emil would inherit all of this. The sacrifice she made for Emil was truly worth it. Comforting herself that way, she turned her attention back to the expert waiting for her decisions.

＊＊＊

“Eve. Even sleeping outside like this is better than my room. And I can sleep with you too, Eve.”

Emil was excited about the temporary bed that had been prepared. They had prepared one bed each for her and Emil in the temporary quarters so they could stay together like this. This way of life would continue until they returned to the mansion. The washing facilities were perfectly prepared too, and it was better than life in her old room.

Lying on the bed with arms spread wide gave her a sense of freedom. Though it was just the open space in front of the mansion, perhaps it was because they were outdoors. It even felt like they were on a trip somewhere far away. It was a freedom she hadn’t felt in a long time. To think she could taste this feeling even with Leon nearby.