“May I come in, my lady.”

I blinked hazily at the knocking sound before my consciousness fully returned, and my eyes snapped open.

Usually, the velvet sofa pattern should have been the first thing to greet my eyes, but this time everything was pure white.

Right! I fell asleep on the bed last night!

I jumped up and looked toward the sofa.

“Huh…?”

The man who should have been in the room, whether sleeping or awake, was nowhere to be seen. Where did he go?

“Come in.”

After looking around the spacious bedroom, I answered a bit late, and the bedroom door clicked open.

Medlin entered with a polite greeting.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning.”

After instructing the maids to pull back the curtains and open the windows wide to ventilate the room, Medlin seemed to be scrutinizing my condition subtly but intensely. Why was she doing that?

“…Where is His Highness?”

“He went out early this morning.”

“Ah…”

“He said not to wake you because you were sleeping deeply.”

Medlin replied while pouring tea from a teapot and bringing it to me.

Why was she giving me tea?

Usually, Medlin had me start the day with lukewarm water for health reasons.

“Tea…?”

“Yes, my lady.”

Medlin continued to carefully observe my condition while answering.

Yielding to her gaze, I began to drink the tea.

“Ugh… it’s really bitter.”

“But drinking it will make you feel better.”

“…What?”

What would feel better?

“Do you have any discomfort elsewhere?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Then do you have a headache?”

“My head doesn’t hurt either. Ugh, this really has a strong aroma and tastes too bitter. Plus it’s hot, which makes it even more noticeable.”

Medlin nodded solemnly at my answer, as if it were expected.

Enveloped in a strange feeling of confusion, I tried to finish the tea Medlin had given me.

“Um… my lady. That tea is the best for hangovers.”

“Gack!”

“If you still have a hangover after drinking it, please feel free to tell us anytime. Making sure you feel comfortable is our job.”

“H-hangover?”

I choked on the absurd statement and looked up at Medlin with a reddened face.

“Yes. You apparently drank a lot yesterday.”

A lot? It was just one glass, how was that a lot?

“He said your stomach would be very upset.”

“Who said that?”

“His Highness.”

Anyone listening would think I had been completely drunk, demanding more and more alcohol.

No wonder Medlin and the maids kept glancing at my face—it seemed strange.

Opening all the windows for morning ventilation was part of the daily routine, but I suspected it might have been a quick measure to remove the smell of alcohol.

My memory was certainly clear, but had I embarrassed myself in front of that man without realizing it? Or did I have a bad drinking habit?

No matter how hard I tried to recall, I didn’t seem to have done anything that could be considered a mistake.

“…Did he say I was drunk?”

“No, he didn’t mention that. He only said you had drunk too much.”

That’s the same thing! Or did “drinking too much” mean something different in this world than what I understood it to mean?

While I was completely baffled, Medlin handed me a handkerchief and took my cup.

“That’s why he said to let you sleep in.”

“…So you’re saying I slept late today?”

I asked while wiping the water droplets from my mouth after spitting out some water, and she smiled gently.

“Later than usual.”

Huh? Come to think of it… when I woke up, I didn’t feel tired at all and even felt refreshed, so I must have slept longer than usual.

“Wow, to think there would come a day when I’d sleep in…”

In my previous life, I had such a packed schedule like Tetris that I relied on alarm sounds to live, so I never really slept in. And here, sleeping uncomfortably on the sofa made me sensitive to the slightest sounds, so I would jump up at the first knock and leap into bed.

It seemed the bed deserved most of the credit.

“……”

But the original owner who allowed me to use this bed was nowhere to be found.

‘Stay where I can see you.’

His voice from just before I fell asleep echoed in my ears.

Perhaps he said that because he didn’t know what the Azanie Count and the imperial family might do at the imperial palace?

It must have been to prevent any potential accidents.

I stared at the area where the sofas were placed and asked.

“…If he left early in the morning, did he go hunting?”

“His Highness usually wakes up at dawn, visits the training ground to complete his exercises, and then attends to his duties. While he does start hunting early in the morning, today I understand he went out on external business. Since I don’t know exactly what kind of business it is, it would be more accurate to ask Norbert about his external activities.”

Medlin explained briefly and then continued.

“How would you like your breakfast prepared? I suppose foods good for hangovers would be best?”

“No, I don’t have a hangover! So I’ll…”

At her question, I hesitated briefly before suddenly looking at the balcony.

“Could I eat on the balcony? Not this one, but the one in my bedroom.”

“Of course.”

“I’d like something very simple. You don’t need to prepare a formal meal.”

I quickly added, not wanting to cause trouble, but Medlin nodded as if to say not to worry.

“I’ll prepare it right away.”

“Does that grilled lamb chop suit your taste?”

I asked, resting my chin on my hand while staring at Odin sitting on the table.

Medlin had told me that if I didn’t have a hangover, I should eat a balanced diet for my health, so she had asked Chef Charlson to prepare many dishes.

Thanks to that, what was set up on the balcony wasn’t a simple breakfast but foods with balanced nutrients of various kinds.

“Hmm, it’s passable.”

Never one to give a straightforward positive answer, he always responded gruffly. Was this a family trait?

Eating so deliciously with those chomping sounds yet answering so indifferently.

While his lukewarm response made me pout, Odin’s gently swaying tail was so cute that I reached out to stroke it.

Finding me annoying, he tried to avoid my hand by moving his tail this way and that, but eventually chose to surrender and continued eating his meat.

“Where did Carlo go?”

“Ah. I heard he left early for external business. When I woke up, he was already gone.”

“Is that so? I used to know everything happening in this castle. But since manifesting in the form of this baby beast, I can’t move around freely. Don’t you know what he went out to do?”

“No. Should I ask Norbert?”

“Never mind. It’s probably business-related.”

Odin responded indifferently while eating the meat I had cut into small pieces for him.

Odin always spoke as if he had little interest in the Grand Duke, but in truth, he must have appeared to protect his descendant who was left alone in the castle after losing his family. Even if that descendant was a distant bloodline, a grandson with questionable character.

“Odin, is the Grand Duke not the type of person who easily reveals his feelings or gets swayed?”

“Can’t you tell just by looking at him?”

“Then building trust must be an extremely difficult task?”

“That’s similar to hoping for news that a lion has become vegetarian.”

“Then… since Odin has stayed in this castle for a long time observing the Grand Duke, you would know. Does he have friends?”

“Quite a few, I’d say.”

Quite a few? That’s unexpected.

“For starters, Joseph Wales, who stands by Carlo’s side, has been his friend since childhood. Those boys even knocked down fences two or three times while horseback riding in this castle when they were teenagers. The two of them caused no ordinary amount of trouble together.”

“…Wales? That tight-lipped commander of the guards?”

“Yes.”

Wow… so they were friends.

But as the commander of the guards, shouldn’t he always be escorting the Grand Duke?

When I first woke up here, I didn’t see him for several days, then he suddenly appeared by the Grand Duke’s side one day?

Where had he been during those days?

I approached Odin and poured water into a concave dish, suggesting he should drink some water too.

“Then… does he perhaps have any female… friends?”

“Female? Ha! As if that fellow would—”

Odin opened his mouth and cackled, then suddenly frowned as if recalling something.

“No, wait. There was one.”

“There was?!”

Though I had asked the question, the unexpected answer made my voice rise involuntarily.

“She was the daughter of the Grenville family, Ca… what was it?”

“……”

If there was a woman among the Grand Duke’s quite numerous friends, she might be a suitable candidate when choosing someone who could become his good wife in the future. That’s why I had asked, but…

“Right, Carolina Grenville!”

“…Carolina Grenville.”

I unconsciously repeated the unfamiliar woman’s name.

“The families frequently visited each other, so she was one of the children who often came to play at this castle, like Joseph Wales. After entering school, she probably only saw him a few times during holidays.”

“Ah…”

“But she wasn’t a friend, more like a younger sister. One of the Hedegen family traditions is to escape the heat in Newportshire during summer, and they invite close friends there. If my memory serves me correctly, I think I saw her name on the guest list Carlo handed to Norbert a few times.”

A younger sister he was close enough to invite—that was truly unexpected.

“Since I haven’t seen her wedding invitation while wandering around this castle, she probably hasn’t gotten engaged or married yet.”

“I see. She must be a beautiful lady with a good personality…”

“I’ve only wandered around this castle, so I don’t know much about news outside, but well. Every time she came here, she would talk about achieving excellent grades at school, being at the top of her class, and such. Everyone in the Grenville family was quite good-looking. But more important than appearance was that the family was very harmonious.”

A good environment, a harmonious family, and outstanding intellectual abilities!?

If she was beautiful on top of all that, she truly was the perfect woman I had been looking for!

If the Grand Duke needed to find someone new to marry, she would definitely be the most suitable.

Of course, her feelings would be important too.

Still, I’ve often seen in novels how relationships between longtime friends who call each other “big brother” and “little sister” develop into something heartwarming. It wasn’t completely unrealistic.

Well, objectively speaking, the Grand Duke was extremely handsome with an impressive physique, and his wealth and honor weren’t lacking either. The only comparable match would probably be the imperial family.

In a way, it would be a marriage between two people with objectively perfect conditions. The epitome of an ideal couple. Everyone would probably welcome it with open arms.

“…But.”

Had water always tasted this bitter?

Or was it because of the tea I drank earlier?

Feeling strangely queasy, I put down the water I was drinking and asked Odin another question.

“By the way, Odin. I have something to ask.”

“What is it?”

“…Then how did the Grand Duke and Lea—I mean, how did I end up marrying him?”

Odin, who had been scrunching his face while eating fruit with chomping sounds, looked at me with wide blue eyes.