Iela stared with contemptuous eyes at the gray sofa that must have once been a gleaming black. Contrary to Anton’s assurances, the drawing room was no better than the hall.

“How much were you expecting from a single portrait.”

“I was not expecting anything.”

He really is a poor liar. Iela glanced at the man, whose disappointment was plain to see, and changed the subject. He must have been trying to win her favor using the portrait.

Just as the remnants of the past did nothing to improve the castle’s appearance, a wrinkled face bearing only traces of what once was would surely be no different.

Was it youth that had kept him from thinking that far ahead? She estimated Anton’s age and posed the question that had been nagging at her.

“Is the castle in this state because of a lack of staff?”

“Lack would be one way to put it. Embarrassing as it is, we do not keep separate servants.”

No wonder the third-rate publications refused to give up. This was hardly a matter of simply preferring not to go out. It also made sense that intruders had come equipped with garlic necklaces and crosses.

An ancient castle crawling with cobwebs, devoid of any sign of human life. Could there be a more enticing lure for a journalist covering the occult?

“The lord does not trust outsiders.”

“He dislikes outsiders so much, and yet he is taking a wife? That must have been quite a momentous decision in his old age.”

Feeling like sitting down, Iela gestured with her chin toward the sofa.

“Bring something to cover it with, Anton Mivela.”

“There is a room prepared for you to rest in. Shall we go there instead.”

Anton could not think of a good strategy for correcting Iela’s misunderstanding. The portrait, which he had trusted without a shred of doubt to resolve everything, had failed to capture her interest and been discarded.

It was a misconception that would naturally dissolve with time, so he decided it was better to leave it alone. As he had said before, it is best not to provoke a wild animal carelessly.

“If the hall and drawing room are in this state, I can only imagine what my room looks like. Don’t you need to rewrite the contract? Call a maid and I’ll manage on my own, so don’t waste what little time we have on pointless arguments and go on your way.”

“As I mentioned, Miss Lorid, the castle does not keep separate servants.”

Anton repeated himself.

“Not even a maid?”

“Not even a maid.”

The moment Anton finished speaking, Iela threw herself down onto the sofa. The impact sent a cloud of white dust billowing up, and Anton coughed.

“This dress was prepared by Philip Lorid. It was originally meant for my sister, so a considerable sum went into it.”

The dress that had cost that considerable sum was covered in dust in an instant.

“Is there another dress in the castle?”

“…There is not.”

A stunned Anton managed to reply.

“Don’t worry, Anton Mivela. My maid is capable. A little dust like this can be taken care of before the vow ceremony.”

He finally grasped Iela’s scheme. She had done this to force him to go back to the Lorid residence and bring the maid she kept in her service.

The cost of procuring a new dress was not the issue. The lord of Valita was wealthy beyond what the word wealthy alone could convey.

Furthermore, the lord’s resolve was firm enough that he had insisted on proceeding directly to the vow ceremony, skipping even the engagement. So there was no reason he could not gift a single dress to the woman who would soon be his wife. However.

“Having a new dress made would be perfectly fine, but that would take a good month at the very least.”

As Iela had said, time was the problem. Anton, who lacked the courage to tell his master that the bride’s dress had been ruined and suggest postponing the vow ceremony, found himself at a crossroads.

“For the record, any attempt to persuade me to attend the vow ceremony dressed like this will not work. I am telling you in advance. Considerate of me, isn’t it?”

In the end, Anton’s options narrowed to one.

“Will you promise to return after the dress has been mended?”

“Let me think. I will need to bathe again, my room will need to be tidied however it was managed without servants, and I will need to tend to my weary body and mind.”

Iela counted on her fingers, then tilted her head.

“I cannot quite calculate how long I would need to stay before the castle looks like somewhere a person actually lives.”

“A person does live here. Both the lord and I reside here without any inconvenience.”

“Even when bringing in a new dog, people change all sorts of things in the environment. Did you really think that nothing would need to change when welcoming a person?”

Sound reasoning delivered by a human who had thrown sociality to the dogs cut to the bone. The physical pain of grinding his teeth added to the sting.

“There need to be four.”

“Getting even one approved will be difficult.”

“A maid each for bathing, clothing, and grooming, plus someone to oversee them. Four in total.”

Iela pointed toward the door.

“So get moving, Anton Mivela.”

“We have more than enough means to compel you, Miss Lorid.”

It was a last-ditch effort.

“The lord is a generous man, so he will not mind even if Miss Lorid appears in rags. To borrow your own words, you are nothing more than stolen goods. There may be no servants in the castle, but there are knights stationed here for defense.”

It was not a lie, but it was not the complete truth either. It was a bluff. The knights, who were prohibited from entering the main castle, were stationed in the annex. That was precisely why Philip Lorid had been caught so quickly.

“So, Miss Lorid…”

Anton could not finish his sentence. Iela had closed the distance before he realized it and grabbed him by the collar, yanking him down toward her.

“Stop barking so loudly, Anton Mivela.”

Those commonplace dark brown eyes, now close to his, held an unexpected glint of amusement.

“The longer you talk, the more you expose your own weaknesses. The best threat you can manage in the end is that the marriage cannot be called off. You’re making me feel rather full of myself, you know.”

The defeated dog tucked his tail and departed quietly for the Lorid residence.

* * *

When Anton returned to the Lorid residence, the maids with their bags already packed were waiting in the front courtyard.

Iela’s sister, the one who had called out a warning about her aggression, was with them as well.

“I am Diana Lorid.”

“Anton Mivela, the lord’s deputy.”

They exchanged rather formal greetings. She was a strikingly beautiful woman. The maids had been loaded into the carriage and it was time to depart, yet Anton lingered and stalled for time.

“If it is not too forward, may I ask you something about Miss Lorid?”

A faint crease formed on the woman’s smooth forehead.

“Has Iela already done something?”

Anton was taken aback. The person he had wanted to ask about was Diana. Before he could correct the misunderstanding brought on by the title Miss Lorid, Diana rushed forward and clung to his sleeve.

“She is difficult to handle, and I cannot say her nature is kind, but please do not give up on her, Mr. Mivela.”

“That is Sir Mivela.”

Even in the midst of his confusion, Anton asserted his pride. It felt like reclaiming the noble identity that Iela had trampled underfoot.

“I am sorry, Sir Mivela.”

“It is quite all right. Please continue.”

“It will not be easy to indulge her whims, but fortunately Iela is clear about what she wants. She has a practical nature, so she will not make absurd requests that are utterly impossible to fulfill. The maids loaded into the carriage are girls that Iela personally tamed, well, trained, so I trust they will be of great help to Sir Mivela as well.”

She had said tamed. The maids sitting huddled together, not exchanging a single word among themselves, did indeed give off an air of trained obedience.

Anton shuddered at the feeling that he had just glimpsed his own future. At the same time, his interest in Diana cooled.

A woman who knew her younger sister’s nature well enough to bother stopping Anton and making excuses for her, yet did not hesitate to take her side, was just as tamed as the rest.

“I will take your valuable advice to heart.”

“Sir Mivela.”

Leaving behind the woman who seemed to have much more she wanted to say, Anton climbed into the carriage as though making an escape. The carriage, now carrying four maids, could not pick up speed and made its slow way toward the castle.

He took out paper, ink, and a quill pen and readied himself to work. He needed to make up for the time wasted because of Iela.

By the time Anton had finished the draft of the second contract, the carriage came to a stop.

“Who is in charge of clothing?”

The maids stepped out one by one, and Anton asked before they even had a chance to collect their things. A maid with freckles on her cheeks raised her hand.

“Miss Lorid’s dress has been ruined, so have it mended in time. The rest of you are on room cleaning duty. Follow me.”

He shuddered again at the maids who followed without question, even as the lord’s deputy personally offered to lead the way.

* * *

The cleaning continued until nightfall. Only after the private room, which was cluttered like the rest of the castle though with less dust, had been made to gleam did Iela give a nod of approval.

The exhausted maids received gold coins as a tip. Iela, who was clear about rewards and punishments, was quite popular among the servants at the Lorid residence.

The four maids who had followed her all the way to the gloomy old castle were especially among those who admired her.

“Wait in the adjoining room until I call for you.”

It was Iela’s way of giving them permission to rest. The servants’ quarters were sealed off entirely with planks, so the four of them had to stay in a small adjoining room, but old and crumbling as it was, it was still a castle, and compared to the maids’ quarters at the Lorid residence, it was like a fine inn.

Once the maids had withdrawn, Anton came by. He blinked in wide-eyed surprise at the now-spotless room, concealed his astonishment with a dry cough, and held out the contract.

“I managed to finish it in time. Once you have signed, we will proceed directly to the vow ceremony.”

“A vow made before God and witnesses is required for it to be valid. Who is the witness?”

“I am.”

Fearing that Iela might spill the ink again, he handed her a quill pen he had pre-dipped. His tension was for nothing, as Iela flipped straight to the last page and signed with an air of indifference.

“Page five contains the inheritance distribution upon bereavement.”

“I know. I read it.”

“It was a clause requested by Miss Lorid. You have signed without even checking whether it was properly reflected.”

“I said I read it.”

“Whatever happened to the habit of spilling ink when the contract is too one-sided.”

“Your face was amusing back then.”

Iela rested her chin in her hand and smiled.

“Now that I have signed, shall we go?”

At the admission that it had been pure spite, Anton took a long, deep breath. He was fated to live alongside Iela for a limited stretch of time. If he let himself get worked up every single time, his nerves would not hold out.

The dress, restored by the maid’s handiwork, did not suit Iela, perhaps because it had been intended for someone else. It was an evening gown with bare shoulders and a deep neckline.

Standing in the moonlight, Iela gave off a different air than she had in broad daylight. Anton took care not to let his gaze drop below her shoulders as he led the way.

He did not ask for her hand. Two painful refusals were quite enough.

They entered the chapel within the castle. Flickering candlelight illuminated the darkened chapel, its curtains drawn.

“The lord will arrive shortly. Please bow your head and do not meet his gaze.”

A door different from the one Iela had entered through opened. She held her head high and watched the silhouette gliding closer.

He was a tall man. His face was hidden beneath a hood. Unlike Iela, who was dressed properly, he had made not even the minimal effort of wearing formal attire, and her lips curved into a crooked line.

The man noticed Iela and hesitated for a moment.

“Miss Lorid.”

Ignoring Anton’s anxious warning, she reached out her hand. The man did not step back, and so the hood came off with ease.

“Oh.”

The man, who looked exactly as he had in the portrait, stared at Iela with an expressionless face.