“Please let us share a bedroom for a while, Your Highness.”

When he asked me to state what I wanted, I simply answered with the change that would yield the greatest effect with minimal effort in this castle.

“…If you believe I would grant such a request, I’m surprised.”

The Grand Duke looked down at me and spoke in a tone that went beyond disbelief to contempt.

His reaction unconsciously made me wrap the bandage around his thigh with excessive force.

A faint wrinkle appeared between his brows before quickly disappearing.

“I knew you wouldn’t like it, but I thought I’d ask anyway.”

“Why would you suddenly want such a thing?”

“Well…”

It was to change the servants’ perception.

If by any chance the servants were the ones who had turned the grand duchess’s bedroom into such a mess, it was clear how much they hated and despised me.

The fact that I was the grand duchess meant nothing to them.

They already believed I was the true culprit behind the attack, and might be prepared to torment the grand duchess further.

There was only one way to reverse this atmosphere.

A change in Grand Duke Hedegen, their master.

His attitude toward me was the key.

But if I honestly explained these reasons, it was obvious he would be even less inclined to grant my request.

I needed to convince him my request wasn’t motivated by ulterior motives, but what reason could I give?

After taking a deep breath while inserting the safety pin into the bandage, I looked straight up at him.

“I thought it would be fine since we’re husband and wife. I’m not suggesting anything, so you don’t need to feel burdened.”

“…What?”

“I know you’re busy. So even if it’s just when you sleep…?”

“……”

As I continued speaking, he looked down at me with increasing disbelief, and I realized I needed one final push.

“I just enjoyed spending time with Your Highness so much!”

“What?”

“Please let me be with you more. Please?”

He ignored my words and sent me out of the bedroom, and two days passed like that.

“It’s not even difficult.”

If rumors spread that we shared a bedroom, it could instantly change how people perceived us.

Besides, he was a man who recoiled at the slightest touch, so there was no chance he would pounce on me just because we shared a sleeping space.

“You seem to have forgotten your position.”

Apparently fed up, he put down his documents with a thud and looked at me with disinterested eyes.

Sigh, how could I possibly forget my position?

Over the past two days, I had painfully experienced my status in this castle and how I was treated, which made the Grand Duke’s cooperation all the more necessary.

Whether people were around him or not, the Grand Duke treated me as if I didn’t exist, and the servants followed suit by ignoring me.

Living here made me realize that to be recognized as a dutiful grand duchess and improve my reputation, I absolutely needed the servants’ acknowledgment.

Ugh, after leaving his bedroom, how desperately lonely I’d been for the past two days with no one to talk to…

I had barely managed to find the library on my own and read books about a grand duchess’s duties, but without practical knowledge, it was all useless.

Everyone pretended not to see me, keeping their mouths shut and looking into empty space as they passed by. What could I do? I felt like a ghost.

After leaving the Grand Duke’s bedroom two days ago, I found the grand duchess’s bedroom, which had been a mess of junk, completely tidied up. This only added weight to the suspicion that the servants were behind the harassment.

“…You told me to make a request.”

“I also said I would listen and then decide.”

“But…”

“What made you think I would grant such a request?”

“That’s…”

“Did you think treating my wound was such a remarkable deed?”

“No. I just…”

My reasoning was that simply sharing a bedroom with the Grand Duke could change people’s perception of me.

Just look at how my room was tidied up after I left his bedroom!

Of course, afterward, he consistently ignored me, causing them to treat me like I was invisible too.

“I, well…”

But regardless of my transmigration circumstances, the fact remained that the original owner of this body had caused that man to be attacked, so my conscience wouldn’t allow me to honestly explain my reasons.

Besides, if I did, he would obviously dismiss me even more for being presumptuous.

So the only explanation I could give for my persistent requests was…

“It hurts my feelings!”

I had no choice but to pretend I was a desperate woman who wanted to be with him.

“I just wanted a little bit of Your Highness’s time. I really won’t bother you and will stay quietly beside you! You won’t even know I’m there. Really!”

“……”

“…You dislike me so much that you don’t want to talk to me or even look at me. So at least when you sleep…”

The Grand Duke, who had been staring at me, slightly furrowed his brow.

“Then it’s even more impossible.”

“……”

“You may leave.”

How fortress-like he was.

I was trying to act like an amnesiac wife who believed her husband was her only ally in the world, but he ruthlessly rejected me.

Well, I would probably do the same…

One minute I’m trying to kill him, and the next, after hitting my head, I’m suddenly begging to share a bedroom—of course he wouldn’t agree…

But I can’t think of any other way to overcome this desperate situation…

With a sad heart, I rose from the sofa and secretly glanced at him, only to meet the blue gaze that had been watching me all along.

“What’s that expression?”

At the chilly smile gradually spreading across his lips, I quickly plastered a smile across my face. Pretending to tuck my hair behind my ear, I desperately feigned ignorance.

“…What do you mean?”

“You looked full of resentment.”

“No way! I was looking at you with great respect.”

“What?”

“Our Your Highness looks so impressive while working.”

When I smiled brightly at him with smiling eyes, he briefly looked at me before lowering his gaze to his documents and indifferently saying:

“Leave.”

After the grand duchess left, a maid who cleared the empty teacups opened the door and slipped out of the office.

Norbert looked at Carlo, who was examining documents, and cautiously spoke.

“The lady I’ve seen these past two days appears remarkably bright and friendly. Don’t you think the atmosphere brightens when she comes here? As if she’s been in this castle for a very long time.”

Carlo, reading the first quarter maritime insurance company management report, frowned and looked at Norbert standing beside the desk.

“You speak as if she hasn’t been living here before.”

“Of course she has lived here, but she always seemed like a stranger, as if she had just arrived at this castle. She wasn’t someone easy to see.”

“Haven’t you seen her longer than I have?”

“As you know, while Your Highness was away defending the frontline in Northcheshire, the lady frequently went to Grand Town. When she returned to the castle, she rarely came out of her bedroom. During Your Highness’s absence, she only allowed a few maids to enter, and male servants were forbidden from entering her room. That included me as well.”

“……”

“But the lady I see now… seems like a completely different person.”

Norbert glanced at the door through which Lea had left.

“So.”

“Though I don’t know exactly what kind of person the lady originally was, she did throw herself in harm’s way for Your Highness. That couldn’t have been an easy decision. Also, looking back, even before losing her memory, she never tried to touch the Hedegen family’s assets or tarnish its honor. I imagine that since the marriage was recent and Your Highness immediately went to war, perhaps the lady found this place quite lonely and desolate…”

“Get to the point, Norbert.”

Carlo, finding Norbert’s lengthy speech suspicious, leaned back leisurely in his chair and looked at the butler.

“What I want to say is that the lady requested to meet you on the day you returned, and even after losing her memory, she continues to make such efforts unchanged…”

“……”

“If it’s not a difficult request, perhaps you might consider granting it. Judging by how she’s been coming for two days straight, she’ll likely return soon.”

Norbert spoke with his usual generous smile, subtly suggesting.

“A woman never confesses to a man with a light heart. I believe it’s a husband’s duty to understand his wife’s feelings.”

“I didn’t realize you’d become so sentimental.”

“You may not have known, but I’m quite fond of poetry.”

Norbert replied with a slight smile and composure.

Having lost his parents at a young age, Norbert had guarded this castle for a long time and wished more than anyone for Carlo to have a real family.

Carlo wasn’t unaware of his wish.

“Remember who is under suspicion for the attack.”

Norbert, unable to dispute his point, took a deep breath.

“I know, Your Highness. However…”

However, Norbert couldn’t imagine that the small, slender woman could have committed such a crime.

Moreover, on the day of the attack, didn’t the grand duchess throw herself to save the Grand Duke? It could have cost her life.

“Since the attack, newspapers have been publishing daily articles suggesting the grand duchess is the culprit, and the streets of the Empire are filled with slander against her.”

“……”

“It bothers me that everyone is targeting only the grand duchess. The animosity has gone too far.”

Carlo agreed with this assessment.

Seeing Carlo not responding, Norbert hesitantly added:

“…It feels like there’s a deliberate effort to pin everything on the grand duchess.”

“……”

“I hope no innocent victim will suffer.”

Though Carlo remained silent while looking at his documents, Norbert believed he understood the situation surrounding the attack more accurately than anyone.

The very fact that he kept Lea, the grand duchess, alive and allowed her to stay here was evidence of that.

So although it might be unnecessary meddling, Norbert concluded he needed to add one more comment.

“Forgive my boldness, but all the servants here are loyal to Your Highness. Sometimes excessively so. Therefore…”

“……”

“They don’t hesitate to torment the lady in the name of avenging you.”

Carlo’s gaze paused on the documents, then looked at Norbert.

“…May I tell you what the lady ate this morning?”