“Wh, what….”

“Right? I did tell the princess that it did not matter to me as long as Dertosse loves me now, but… I was worried. That you might still be in love with her, even now.”

“…….”

“You are not, right?”

“Of course not.”

I folded my hands together and smiled brightly, the way a child would.

“That is right. People sometimes glance elsewhere for a passing moment, like the wind. But I know. Dertosse loves only me.”

“…Right.”

“What kind of person are you? You are someone so kind that you took a woman who had lost even her memories as your bride, someone who loves only me.”

“Yes. Do not worry. Now rest. You must be tired.”

Dertosse, who would normally cling like a leech, rose from his seat in a hurry, as though struck by a pang of guilt. Anyone with half a brain would have noticed his strange manner, but I pretended not to see a thing and grabbed the hem of his clothes as he made to leave.

“Dertosse will love only me for the rest of our lives, right? The way I do? You will not abandon me or anything like that?”

“…Do, do not worry. More than that, I think I should go and see Princess Rechel.”

“Why?”

“I do not know what rudeness you may have caused. I need to go and ask her directly, and if something went wrong, I should apologize.”

“That sounds wonderful! Please do. And while you are there, make sure to pass along my thanks to Lord Isen as well.”

“Yes.”

Dertosse stood there in a daze, the look of someone under a spell, and simply nodded at me. I, in turn, agreed with his plan with nothing but cheerfulness.

He looked down at me for a moment, then pressed a light kiss to my forehead and went out. I waved after him with great enthusiasm, and only after the door closed did my expression go still.

“Lock the door so no one can come in.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Only after confirming that Mary moved without hesitation and locked the door did I get up from my seat.

“I have bandages on, so I will just wash up briefly today.”

“Of course. More than that, you are quite the actress. It was so much like a stage performance that even I nearly fell for it.”

“A stage performance….”

“But are you all right? If the princess were to relay what happened in the carriage.”

“It does not matter. I did not say anything that could particularly cause a problem.”

The only thing that nagged at me was that Princess Rechel would whine to Dertosse even more because of this, but since I had been the one to openly bring up the matter between the two of them, Dertosse would not be able to say a word to me about it.

Especially not in his current state.

‘In my past life too, for the one month after I told him I was pregnant, he held back from meeting Princess Rechel and never mentioned anything about her to me.’

He had that much of a conscience. A period when, even while being unfaithful, he carried a small measure of guilt. It was a feeling that would end in a month, but it was not entirely useless.

‘At the very least, as long as he was the one being unfaithful, the things Princess Rechel said would force him to take my side clearly over his mother’s.’

If the Dertosse I knew had not changed.

I sorted through my thoughts, washed up briefly, and picked up a pen.

“By the way, when can I see Isen?”

“Do you have something you wish to say to him?”

“To show him that I am someone worth his while, at the very least.”

“It will be difficult for him to come often. But if you have something to convey, I can pass it along.”

“All right. It is better for you to move around than for me to.”

I wrote briefly on a piece of paper about something I thought would be good to set in motion around now. Since there was nothing particularly sensitive about the contents, I did not put it in an envelope. Sealing it in an envelope would only make it bulkier and harder to carry.

I folded the note neatly and handed it to her.

“Will you pass this along?”

“What is this now?”

“Something I would like him to look into. But tell him to make it obvious that he is investigating. The person being investigated needs to feel the pressure.”

“Will that even count as an investigation?”

I just gave a small smile at the puzzled look on Mary’s face.

Then her eyes asked me a question, the way someone’s eyes do when nothing makes sense to them, or when they are wondering whether this is really all right. I met her gaze and gave her the answer.

“It has to be done this way. Sometimes you need to draw the other person out.”

“Understood. I will pass it along.”

That night, I found myself thinking of him more than usual.

The night wind was particularly cold, and though I had gone to bed early, sleep would not come no matter how long I waited. Perhaps it was because too much had happened in a single day.

I let the time drift by like that, and only in the late hours did I finally fall asleep.

* * *

After that day, Dertosse did not go out once for a full week. His reason was that he was worried about me.

“Is it all right for you to neglect your outside affairs?”

He behaved as though he had come to his senses overnight, acting as though he had forgotten Princess Rechel entirely. But to me, it only looked like a clumsy attempt to show me that there was nothing between them.

“Most things I can handle from home.”

Unaware that his every intention was plain to see, he even came to my room three times a day. Quiet tea times together were part of it as well.

“Even so, after the wedding you seemed to go out every other day.”

“Did I. I suppose it is the thought of becoming a father soon. I feel like I should not be going out.”

“Are you worried something might happen?”

“…What Mother did that day just will not leave my mind.”

I tipped the cooled tea into my mouth and gave a faint smile.

“Dertosse. I am fine.”

“Are you really?”

“Yes. Truly. If anything, I am the one worried that I am keeping Dertosse from doing his work properly.”

“If Evie says so, then I suppose I have no choice. I will go out tomorrow.”

“All right.”

I popped a cookie from the tray beside the tea into my mouth and chewed with a crunch.

With him not going out, Mother had not come looking for me.

Because of that, she must have been growing more and more impatient. She would have been holding back the cruelty she wanted to unleash on me. That pent-up feeling would surely explode all at once on the day Dertosse went out. And that day would be tomorrow.

I could not help the smile that spread at the thought.

And even when I gave that puzzling smile, Dertosse did nothing in particular. He looked like someone looking forward to the next day.

‘He must be pleased at the thought of seeing Rechel.’

Sure enough, Dertosse’s face looked more cheerful than mine. I watched that face and finished off the last cookie in no time.

The next day, Dertosse gave me a brief farewell, announced he was going out, and left. Since I was not feeling well, there was no need to come all the way out of my room, he said, and so he came to my room himself to say goodbye. It was a time when I had been planning to have a quiet tea time alone after finishing breakfast.

“I will see you off.”

“No. It looks like you were about to have some tea. Drink your tea comfortably in your room. Do not push yourself.”

“But seeing you off is nothing.”

“I am the one who is not comfortable with it.”

Unusually tender today, he stopped me from even seeing him off.

“But….”

“Evie. I am worried about you. Even just leaving you alone.”

“Then shall I come with you?”

“What?”

“You are going to the imperial palace anyway, are you not? I could take the chance to look around….”

Dertosse’s eyes, which had been steady without a single flicker until just a moment ago, wavered endlessly.

“No. Do not do that. What would people think? They would take me for a Marquis who cannot move without his wife.”

“Is that so? But the thought of you being gone makes me feel like I will be lonely.”

“I will buy you whatever you want in return.”

“Oh! In that case….”

At his words, I told him what I wanted, as though I had been waiting for exactly that. He tilted his head with a slightly puzzled look, then nodded as though he had no choice.

“If it is what Evie wants….”

“Promise! Then just for today, I will say goodbye from my room.”

“Yes. Evie. I will be back soon. With what you asked for.”

And Dertosse rushed out, the way someone with urgent business would. Since there was something I had asked for, I stood by the window and watched the carriage carrying Dertosse drive away, then moved to sit on the sofa at my leisure.

But the moment his carriage disappeared from sight, my mother-in-law came looking for me as though she had been waiting for exactly that moment. There was not even a knock, the way someone would act who had been waiting for this very instant.

She threw the door open in an instant.

I had been about to lie down on the sofa and had to get up again.

“Mother?”

“…Have everyone in the room step out first.”

“…But… the only one in the room is Mary, whom you assigned to me.”

“That is exactly why I said step out!”

Whatever great thing she had to say.

She had not even brought her own attendants in with her. Because of that, Mary had no choice but to hesitate and then go outside. After confirming she had left, my mother-in-law advanced toward me with a menacing air, as though she had been waiting for this.

“Do you have nothing to say to me?”

“Something to say? Let me think.”

“Let you think? Has it been so pleasant spending these past few days under my son’s care? It seems you went to great lengths to keep me from seeing you. Seeing as Dertosse would not even go out.”

It was Dertosse who had chosen on his own not to go out, not because of me, but my mother-in-law was busy thinking whatever she pleased. So I ignored her words and said what came to mind.

“Ah, I see. Yes, it has been lovely being cared for. More than that, Mother, is there not something you would like to say to me?”

“What?”

“I am carrying the child of the Dertosse you love so dearly. The child may turn out even more precious to you than Dertosse himself.”

When dealing with a mother-in-law who had no sense of the room, the best approach was to act even more oblivious than her.