As Master Belle had mentioned, I received news of the Marves estate’s restoration a week after visiting the Magic Tower. The letter delivered to Rivet by the hotel staff was from Master Cesare. Its contents were straightforward: the restoration of the Marves estate was complete, and I could move back in by noon the next day.

Sensing it was time to leave, I instructed the staff to start packing our belongings.

“Rivet, could you go to the hotel front desk and get the bill?”

“Yes, Madam.”

Rivet left to settle the bill. Once she exited and the door closed, I found myself alone in the bedroom.

I slowly walked over to the window, taking in the view of the capital that spread out before me.

I shifted my gaze to locate the Marves estate. It looked as if the fire had never happened.

The power of magic was truly remarkable. Restoring a mansion that had been partially burned down back to its original state was impressive.

Although it had taken quite some time to repair, the duration wasn’t an issue since time wasn’t the main concern.

I let out a small sigh and lowered my eyes to look at my hands.

I had reached a point where I could use magic to some extent. While I couldn’t wield it freely yet, it had come to my aid in critical moments.

The incident when the warehouse collapsed due to an explosion and I used magic to save Ains was proof of that.

As I resumed my magic training, Master Belle suggested that I register as an official mage at the Magic Tower and take on assignments. Although I doubted what tasks I could handle without fully controlling my magic, she mentioned that even beginner mages could condense mana to create lower-grade mana stones. I decided to try this as a hobby once I returned to the estate.

A knock on the door drew my attention to the guest room entrance.

“Madam, it’s Rivet.”

“Come in.”

With my permission, the door opened quietly, and Rivet entered.

She approached me, blinking her round eyes, and spoke.

“Madam, they said our room charges have already been settled.”

“What?”

I had anticipated that the bill for our stay at the Liet Hotel wouldn’t be small, especially since the staff requiring room and board were also staying here, and their room and meal charges would have been included.

It was an amount that would have been burdensome for me, yet it had been settled?

“Did you hear who paid for it?”

“Yes. Well…”

Rivet hesitated, seemingly reluctant to answer, while gauging my reaction. Her behavior suggested it was someone I knew.

There were a few people around me with the financial means to cover such a large sum.

And one person’s image came to mind.

“Was it Duke Graham?”

“…Yes, Madam.”

“….”

As expected, Ains was the one who had settled the bill.

I pressed my hand to my throbbing forehead.

The image of Ains, kneeling and pleading for just one more chance, still lingered in my mind. Rejecting his plea and walking away hadn’t left me feeling particularly good.

And yet, he had gone ahead and settled the bill at the Liet Hotel.

Since the payment had already been made, I couldn’t return the money, which left me in a quandary. I figured it would be best to meet Ains one day and properly address and settle this matter.

“And Madam,” Rivet continued.

“Yes?”

“He left a letter for you when he settled the bill.”

With those words, Rivet handed me an envelope.

“Ains Graham”

His name was elegantly inscribed in the sender’s position. My name was clearly written in the recipient’s spot.

I gazed at the letter with mixed emotions before carefully opening the envelope.

As I looked over the letter, Ains’s familiar, calm handwriting immediately caught my attention.

The letter started by asking how I was doing and mentioned that he had covered the hotel room charges. He suggested not to worry about it, as he felt he might have given too little alimony. There was nothing else in the letter, just this straightforward message, which made me bite my lip. I found myself momentarily caught in a dilemma about what to do with the hotel bill.

If he had simply paid the hotel bill out of obligation, the simplest solution would have been to return the money to him. However, if, as he said, this was part of the alimony, the situation was different.

In truth, I knew that the alimony he mentioned was just a convenient excuse to pay on my behalf. He probably used this excuse because he knew I would return the money otherwise.

I read the letter several times, pondering my next move. After much deliberation, I decided to accept his gesture to avoid further entanglements with Ains.

“Alright, I understand. Have you packed everything?”

“Yes. We can leave tomorrow.”

“Good job. Rest for now. I’ll call if I need anything.”

“Thank you, Madam.”

Rivet bowed politely and left the bedroom. I glanced at the letter in my hand for a moment before carefully placing it back in the envelope.

* * *

After finishing breakfast, I headed straight to the Marves estate. Although I planned to move our belongings from the hotel to the estate by noon, I wanted to see the restored mansion first.

“Viscountess Marves.”

“When did you arrive?”

I was surprised to see Master Cesare greeting me so familiarly. After receiving the letter confirming the restoration was complete, I had sent a reply to Master Cesare, expressing my wish to inspect the estate in advance.

Although we had set a time, I arrived about 30 minutes earlier than agreed, intending to look around the exterior by myself. Yet, Master Cesare had arrived even earlier.

“I came early to check if there were any areas that needed further inspection. When I saw a carriage with your family’s crest approaching from afar, I thought it might be you.”

I smiled back at Master Cesare, who was grinning.

“If that was the case, I should have timed my arrival better. I feel like I might be in the way since I came early.”

“Not at all. You intended to look around the estate as well, didn’t you?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then why don’t we explore the estate together?”

Agreeing with Master Cesare’s suggestion, I nodded. Since both of us had intended to inspect the estate early, we might as well do it together.

“Let’s go inside, then.”

“Yes.”

I walked towards the familiar Marves estate with Master Cesare. As soon as we entered through the main gate, the fresh scent of grass greeted us. I took in the aroma while looking around the garden. The plants that I thought were dead from the fire were now vibrant and full of life.

“Did you manage to save all the plants in the garden?”

I asked in amazement, and Master Cesare smiled somewhat awkwardly.

“No, not exactly. The garden plants were newly planted under Duke Graham’s orders.”

“Oh…”

Once again, Ains’s name came up. I paused for a moment, looking around the garden.

Come to think of it, Ains had been overseeing the restoration of the Marves estate on my behalf.

Realizing this anew made me feel uneasy. It bothered me that I had received help from him.

“Viscountess?”

Master Cesare called out to me as I stood there frowning silently. I snapped out of my thoughts and turned to him.

“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about something.”

“No worries. Feel free to stay longer if you wish.”

Although Master Cesare offered, I shook my head and spoke up.

“Let’s go inside. I don’t think there’s much more to see outside.”

Even as the owner of the estate, I was impressed by how the garden had been restored to its original state. I doubted there was anything lacking that I would notice by looking further.

Moreover, since Ains, not the Magic Tower, had taken care of the garden, there wasn’t much I could request from Master Cesare regarding any issues I might find.

Perhaps it would be better to explore it later as part of a leisurely stroll.

After walking through the garden for a bit, the front entrance of the Marves estate came into view. I stood at the door with Master Cesare, and Rivet quickly opened it for us.

Inside, the estate was impeccably tidy. It was hard to believe that this place had been damaged by fire; it looked as pristine as ever.

“Wow…”

Despite the house having been burned, there wasn’t even a hint of the old smoke smell. I began to slowly inspect the interior of the estate with wide eyes.

The difference between before and after the fire was barely noticeable. In fact, the old estate now looked as if it had been newly built.

I toured the estate with Master Cesare for quite a while, confirming with my own eyes that everything had been restored flawlessly.

“Thank you so much, Master Cesare. Without the help of the Magic Tower, I wouldn’t have been able to return to the estate.”

After stepping back outside, I expressed my gratitude to Master Cesare.

“I’ll arrange for the payment later…”

“About that, Viscountess.”

Suddenly, Master Cesare interrupted, calling my name. I looked at him with wide eyes, wondering what was going on, and he smiled awkwardly.

“The payment has already been received from Duke Graham.”