In the pitch-dark night, Charlotte stared at the large teddy bear in a white dress lying on her bed.

To think I’d end up sleeping with a doll at my age…

Because of what had happened during the day, most of the dolls had been put away properly, but this one had been decided to stay on Charlotte’s bed. After all, it would be ridiculous to tell Eric she liked dolls and then clear them all away completely.

How embarrassing.

Lying in bed, Charlotte stared at the doll, which was making its presence known.

It really was big. It almost felt as though a plump little child were lying beside her.

He really is an odd person.

In Charlotte’s life, she had never seen anyone so unable to restrain his impulses. It was a relief he had earned so much money. Otherwise, he would have brought ruin upon himself and his household.

Enough. Stop thinking and go to sleep.

Charlotte gently closed her eyes.

But before long, her blue eyes sparkled in the darkness.

I can’t sleep.

She had been startled several times today, so her entire body was exhausted, yet her eyes remained wide awake.

I need to sleep. I need to sleep…

Repeating that to herself, Charlotte hugged the soft doll.

She had thought it would be heavy and cumbersome, but goodness.

It was so cozy and soft.

What kind of cotton did they put inside…?

As Charlotte wondered what the doll might be made of, her eyes soon drifted closed.

Trapped in the arms of the doll she had been so embarrassed by, her face looked exceedingly peaceful.

Without even realizing that this was the first sleepless night when she had not thought of Charles and Fiona, she sank into a pleasant, deep sleep.

* * *

Dissatisfied green eyes, opened only halfway as though they could not be bothered, were looking over documents.

Just as thick fingers moved to turn the next page, a rough hand suddenly shot out and snatched all the documents away.

“I’m letting this slide because it’s me. Because it’s me.”

When Derik placed the documents on the table, Raymond clicked his tongue.

“Why don’t you do things in moderation?”

“It’s the late duke’s will. Where is there room for moderation?”

The late duke—Raymond’s grandfather—had fought illness for a long time, yet never lost his humor or his smile. But the one time he never spared himself worry was when it came to his grandson.

How could a person do nothing but work?

It was not as though he had an important reason he needed to earn money. Nor did he particularly know the pleasure of spending it.

And yet, he worked.

He would probably live like this until the day he died—dull and joyless, without even realizing he was abusing himself.

Raymond’s grandfather had worried for the grandson who would now have to live alone, without any family left, and hoped he would discover a new joy in life.

The contents of the will he had left behind out of that affection were precisely…

“Is it really so difficult to let go of work for one year?”

Petro knew that if he ended with only a “request,” this stubborn, workaholic grandson of his would never listen, so he placed one restriction on him.

If Raymond touched work within one year, all of Petro’s personal assets would be divided and inherited by the Heman, Tracie, and Briz families.

Those three families were distant relatives of House Earlister, families that had lived parasitically off the ducal house despite having neither ability nor anything else to offer.

Raymond loathed them so terribly that he had cut them off as soon as he inherited the ducal title, and what?

That vast fortune would be given to those people?

Ha. Absolutely not.

In the end, Raymond decided to waste one precious year of his life.

Having made up his mind to leave Divens, he wondered where to go and eventually headed for Glasko.

Though it was his own territory, he had never once looked around it. Taking this opportunity, he decided to see for himself what state the city was in and, while he was at it, check on the hotel that would soon be completed.

Looking around and checking things was not work, was it?

But as soon as he arrived in Glasko, that bastard Derik came looking for him.

[Lord Robert and Lord William sent me. They told me to keep watch over you.]

Both men were longtime friends of Petro. Marquis Belluo was the lawyer who had notarized the will, and William had been present as a witness when the will was disclosed.

They had said they had no intention of tolerating even a little light work from Raymond.

[They said they might put aside everything they were doing and come personally to watch you themselves. And they would do it, too. Both of them have plenty of time, after all.]

[Why are they already suspicious of me? What did I even do?]

[Glasko Hotel. They know you’re building it. They’re asking why else you would go to a place where there’s a hotel nearly finished. They’re making a fuss, saying you must have gone to inspect it.]

[Haa…]

Derik grinned and needled Raymond by saying, If you want to work that badly, why don’t you just bestow grace upon those three families? If it’s Lord Petro’s assets, they could live in luxury for three generations without any problem.

[Those bastards are like pus in this society. If they were merely incompetent, they wouldn’t cause much harm to others. But those bastards trample people weaker than themselves. What do you think will happen if that much money falls into their hands?]

[Yes. Lord Petro certainly wouldn’t want his fortune handed over to them either.]

Raymond was about to demand why someone like him had left such a will, but closed his mouth.

Even while still agitated, he understood.

His grandfather had wanted to give Raymond rest that badly.

Though Raymond did not need that rest.

[In any case, if you keep staying this quiet, those two will come chasing after you. They didn’t even trust me completely. I think they suspect I’ll be bribed by you. Ridiculous. Lord Petro was my benefactor.]

[So what do you expect me to do?]

[Why not try enjoying your vacation like an actual vacation? Hold parties, mingle with people. Spend money extravagantly, too.]

Derik had said it half as a joke.

Raymond only ever held parties when there was business or a family event involved. As for money, he had spent it only on buying merchant ships, purchasing land, or acquiring businesses. He did not know how to spend it on small pleasures.

Above all, mingling with people?

Our Duke Earlister? Ah! No, that’s not right. Here, he’s the businessman Raymond Bayen.

In any case, there was no way Raymond would do such things.

He would merely read books and walk around frowning in boredom.

But what do you know.

Raymond went and did it.

He held a lavish party and spent money extravagantly. There had been no direct mingling with people, but even simply holding a party and inviting everyone in Glasko was already something very unlike Raymond.

At first, Derik thought Raymond had gone mad from too much stress.

Either that, or he was protesting that he would simply do whatever he pleased.

But after a month passed, Derik understood.

This bastard had even used that for work.

Perhaps because the number of tourists had recently declined, Glasko’s economy had shown signs of stagnation overall. Naturally, the mood among the people had not been very good either.

But then, out of nowhere, a wealthy businessman—the owner of a hotel nearing completion—appeared and hosted a splendid party, bringing energy back to the people who had been somewhat stiff and subdued.

On top of that, since this businessman spent lavishly without restraint, the merchants earned money, and the city economy became active again…

What lord does things like this?

This was truly only possible because he was Raymond Earlister.

“Ah, I heard Lady Prairie came by. What did she say?”

“She asked why I gave her that sort of gift. It looked as though she wanted to return it if at all possible.”

Understanding Charlotte’s feelings perfectly, Derik nodded.

“So what happened?”

“I told her I have a habit of buying things impulsively, and she let it pass without saying much.”

“…What?”

“I know it sounds strange. Still, it was a fairly good excuse. Now, no matter what I do for her, she’ll think it’s because of that peculiar habit of mine.”

“…”

Is simply doing things for Lady Prairie all that matters to you? You truly don’t care what she might think of you?

Derik swallowed the words hovering in his mouth.

He had swallowed so many words lately that his stomach felt full.

Good grief…

Well, in any case, he understood very well how much Raymond wanted to look after Charlotte. But if he truly wanted to take care of her, rather than doing it this way…

“If you want to help her, wouldn’t it be better to look for a decent husband candidate first?”

“Why are you suddenly talking about a husband candidate? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten what kind of terrible thing she went through only a few months ago?”

When Raymond growled, Derik pressed down on the air with both hands as though telling him to calm down.

“That’s exactly why you should find her an excellent husband candidate who can flatten that former fiancé bastard’s nose. Sandem didn’t seem to have any decent young masters. She’ll have to look outside, but it would be difficult for the young lady to find one on her own.”

With the power of a ducal house, finding decent young noblemen would be nothing, and arranging a match with Charlotte would not be difficult either.

To be honest, House Prairie was not an impressive family, but if House Earlister stood behind it, who would refuse?

“If only because they’re afraid of you, they’d treat the young lady with the utmost care.”

Derik spoke leisurely, lifting his brows.

At that, Raymond said firmly,

“No.”