“I’m fine.”

Arinne lightly pushed his chest away and straightened her posture.

“…?”

Far from being pushed back, he naturally grabbed Arinne’s hand that she’d extended to push him. Still holding her hand, he closed the distance and moved closer.

‘Does he normally have no sense of personal space?’

She hadn’t offered her hand to be held, yet she was dumbfounded by his simple logic of ‘it’s extended, so I’ll grab it.’

He’d been going on about her being cynical and having an indifferent attitude, but wasn’t the Marquis himself the one actually acting insensitive?

“Just in case, I’ll call a doctor.”

The Marquis’s head was filled only with worry that something might be wrong with her. 

In his eyes, Arinne was a woman so thin and frail she seemed ready to break at any moment, and that body had taken the impact of protective gear. Even if there were no external injuries, there could be internal ones.

“…I said I’m fine. Don’t test my temper and let go of my hand first.”

Arinne showed faint irritation.

The more she knew the Marquis, the more clumsy he seemed. People really couldn’t be judged by appearances alone.

If—really if—she’d impulsively proposed to him and things had worked out leading to marriage, she might have suddenly become a mother to three children.

“Ah, ah! Sorry, s-sorry!”

The startled Marquis hurriedly threw her hand away. The force made Arinne’s body sway.

The Marquis, eyes wide like a rabbit’s, apologized again and caught her body.

“Why does a person have so little strength?!”

“Don’t you think you might just be strong?”

Arinne shot him a slight glare and gently removed his hand. His hand, falling away somewhat reluctantly, lightly clenched into a fist in the air.

The Marquis, now sitting apart from her, straightened his posture. A red flush colored his face.

“I didn’t come to argue about yesterday…”

The Marquis cleared his throat and paused.

“I wanted to thank you. For looking after the children, and for helping me.”

He bowed his head to Arinne in a polite greeting.

He said that after having a simple conversation with Jade the previous night and watching him fall asleep, he’d gone to Ray’s room alone as well.

He spoke with a slightly flushed face.

“I didn’t know Jade would be that happy. Why couldn’t I do it sooner… Ray was already asleep, so I just peeked at him sleeping and left. Haha.”

Watching the Marquis’s laughter, Arinne felt her irritation at being forced to wake up early fade a little.

‘If I drew that face and sold it as a painting, how much would it fetch? I could call it a vision-improving painting.’

Of course, her head was filled with trivial thoughts.

“It’s good that you went even by yourself.”

At her emotionless reply, the Marquis proudly straightened his shoulders.

“It’s just going to my children’s rooms—what’s difficult about that? It was fine.”

The corners of the Marquis’s mouth subtly twitched like performing a slow dance.

‘This man…’

Did he want to be praised? So he came to brag this early in the morning? Don’t tell me he woke me up just to hear ‘well done’? Really?!

Finally understanding the Marquis’s heart, Arinne let out an incredulous laugh.

* * *

In the afternoon, Arinne came out to the garden with the children at the Marquis’s request.

At Ray’s insistence on spreading out a picnic blanket, they sent back the chairs and table they’d brought out.

The estate might be large, but it was still a house, and what was so great about having a picnic in front of the house? Arinne couldn’t understand.

“Is it okay to change who goes to work so arbitrarily?”

“Of course. Most of our members are at the border with the vice-captain, so that Calon fellow was probably bored anyway.”

“That’s not what I’m asking.”

He’d been postponing going to work for days now. He only did paperwork alone at night. During the day, he devoted all his time to her and the children.

“I only have time to devote to the children and the Lady. I don’t have time to waste on useless places.”

“Ah. Yes. Useless places…”

He seemed out of his mind, burning with enthusiasm even while putting off the Emperor’s summons.

At first, he’d simply seemed like a tactless person, and she’d felt sorry wondering how such a person became the empire’s number one madman.

But now she knew.

That man really was crazy.

He wasn’t a madman like the rumors at all, but his thinking was far from ordinary people’s. When considering his unusual thoughts and actions, there was some truth to calling him crazy.

Slinging an unrelated woman over his shoulder like a sack because he was in a hurry, making his friend and adjutant go to work instead because he didn’t want to go.

Where in the world was there such a person?

“Lady. I can roughly tell what you’re thinking, but don’t worry. The Emperor will welcome Calon’s attendance more than mine. That Calon fellow is… well, it’s fine.”

“It doesn’t seem fine at all.”

“Mm, I think it’s fine!”

The Marquis smiled with a shameless face.

“…”

Arinne quietly shook her head.

She wanted to scold him for acting so recklessly, but his smile was so pretty her anger kept cooling.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Just because.”

A person who seemed like he’d absolutely never have laughter in his daily life kept smiling with curved eyes whenever their eyes met.

The more she learned about him, the more different he was from the rumors.

“Ray’s hungry!!”

Ray, who’d been running around the garden with Jade, ran straight toward Arinne.

“Wipe them!”

Ray held out both dirt-covered hands to her. Everyone’s eyes widened—the Marquis’s, Jade’s, and even the maids in the back.

‘You shouldn’t do that to the Lady!’

‘What if she throws the young master?!’

She could almost hear the maids’ thoughts.

Thanks to the Marquis consistently calling her ‘Lady,’ everyone in the marquis’s estate now knew she was the Lady of Marcedea.

The servants who hadn’t known who she was and had called her the generic ‘my lady’ and ‘miss’ now all called her ‘Lady’ without exception.

After learning she was the Lady of Marcedea, the servants trembled before her. They were on edge, worried they might offend her and get scolded, and everyone was stiff in their every action.

If it was going to be like this, she should have let them call her by name, Arinne regretted slightly.

Even after several years, the ‘Lady of Marcedea’s’ infamy remained. She couldn’t even claim it was unfair since it was all infamy that started from things she’d done with her own hands.

Though her temper at its peak had been difficult, she hadn’t been a villain who attacked even innocent people.

“Master Ray! I’ll wipe them for you!”

“No!! Ray likes big sister!! Big sister wipe Ray’s hands! Nobody but big sister!”

Ray stomped the ground hard, looking ready to throw himself down.

“Stop.”

When Arinne spoke firmly without expression, Ray flinched and stopped his feet. Arinne gestured to stop one of the pale-faced maids who was bringing a wet cloth.

“Give it here.”

The maid handed Arinne the wet cloth with trembling hands.

“You must have had fun playing.”

“Yeah!”

Though Arinne’s expression had been scary for a moment, Ray happily waited for her, pleased that things were going his way anyway.

“Hurry and wipe them!”

“No. I won’t wipe them.”

“…Hng.”

Ray pouted. Arinne pressed the wet cloth into Ray’s hands and said,

“Do it yourself. When you can express your thoughts without throwing a tantrum, I’ll do it for you then.”

“Does… big sister hate Ray?”

“Anyone who does hateful things is hateful.”

“…Waaah!”

Ray was about to throw what was in his hands and get angry like usual, but seeming to think he’d get scolded more if he did, he set down the wet cloth with a thud and lay face-down on the ground crying.

Jade, frightened along with him, shook Ray’s leg telling him to get up.

“Get up quickly!”

“Go away!”

Ray pushed Jade away and cried even louder. When Ray cried himself into a fit, the Marquis fidgeted restlessly, visibly flustered.

“Ray, dad will wipe them for you!”

“No!”

Ray cried so pitifully that Arinne blamed herself for being a full-grown adult who couldn’t control her temper and made someone else’s child cry.

But the Marquis probably didn’t want Ray to become a child who thought the world would bend to his will when he threw tantrums either.

“Hic… Ray, don’t cry, won’t you do it? You should, sniff, c-comfort Ray…”

When Arinne didn’t react to the end, Ray lifted his tear-soaked face to look at her and made a nasal sound.

“Cry if you want to cry. After crying, wipe your hands.”

“…Hng. That’s mean.”

Realizing his ultimate weapon didn’t work on Arinne, Ray quietly got up. Then he rubbed his eyes vigorously with both arms and started wiping his own hands with the wet cloth.

The Marquis watched Ray sniffling and moving his hands with disbelieving eyes.

“Now they’re clean…”

Ray, who even obediently returned the wet cloth to the maid, held out both his hands to Arinne.

“See? You wiped them clean.”

Feeling her mood had softened, a smile gradually spread across Ray’s face.

“Yeah! Ray did well by himself!”

Ray, who’d shouted proudly, hesitated briefly then came into her arms and sat down.

“Ray is… sorry…”

“…”

Arinne found it strange that the child who’d cried because of her still sought her embrace and clung to her.