‘I’m not sure if the master really hates madam or not…’

A few nights ago, the duke’s expression had been somewhat ambiguous when he ordered the broken mirror to be cleaned up and Janet’s wounds to be checked and reported on daily.

⟨Master, your ankle is injured…!⟩

⟨Be quiet. Don’t make a fuss.⟩

Blood had seeped through the hem of his thin pants, as if cut by a mirror shard. But he didn’t inform the woman in the bathroom. As if he didn’t want to worry her…

No, perhaps it was just Letsy’s imagination.

The fact that he mistreated Janet remained unchanged, enough to overshadow the meaning of such actions.

The duke had even imposed a ban on Janet going out. So Letsy’s role had extended to monitoring madam to prevent her from going out for several days.

‘Is this right…’

Although she was following orders, Letsy was deeply troubled. Last time too… when she had hidden the location of the charity event from this woman as ordered, hadn’t she returned collapsed?

But what could she do? She was just a servant, and couldn’t get involved in matters between them…

“Letsy.”

“Yes, yes?”

When Janet, who had been quietly receiving her grooming, called her name, Letsy answered with a start. Janet looked into Letsy’s eyes and asked.

“Is something bothering you?”

“Th-that…”

Feeling as if she’d been hit right on the mark, Letsy found herself blurting out words involuntarily.

“I… how are you feeling today? I’m sorry, after you returned from the charity event and collapsed, I really…”

“Ah.”

Janet nodded calmly. Then she spoke again as if nothing was wrong.

“Letsy, you knew where I was going too, right?”

She meant whether Letsy knew she was going to Philodis Cathedral—the place she had set on fire, which had resulted in her spending five years in prison.

And of course, Letsy did know.

She couldn’t answer and chewed her lip. She mentally sorted through several possible explanations, trying to find one that would serve as an excuse.

“It’s alright.”

But Janet spoke first.

In such an emotionless voice.

“You’re the duke’s person, after all.”

At that moment, Letsy felt her heart drop.

“Pardon…?”

“I understand. It’s natural for you to follow the duke’s orders.”

Janet truly thought this was natural. Letsy, as a servant of House Reynes, might care for and consider her, but she couldn’t place a powerless person like herself at the top of her priority list in this mansion.

She wasn’t the most important person to anyone right now.

This wasn’t something to be concerned about. So Janet said to Letsy, who was at a loss for words and opening and closing her mouth several times,

“Well, if you feel uncomfortable, that’s… pitiful guilt. I think it would be easier if you thought of it that way.”

Janet smiled lightly, with eyes that seemed to find Letsy pitiful, thinking that Letsy harbored the same thoughts toward her as Rihanel did.

But hearing Janet’s words, Letsy’s mind became truly complicated.

I’m the duke’s person? Then who is madam’s person? The question that arose churned through her mind.

As Letsy continued to look stunned, Janet seemed concerned and even went so far as to say,

“I’m grateful just for you naturally dressing me like this every day.”

“Ah… it’s nothing.”

“You said you’re going to visit your hometown in a few weeks, right?”

“Yes, yes. Beji, ah, a servant who’s been in this mansion longer than me, will take good care of you, madam.”

“Yes, don’t worry and have a good trip.”

Letsy nodded vigorously and absently brushed Janet’s hair. Even though madam was cooped up in her room today with nowhere to go.

***

Rihanel entered the red-decorated room. No matter how many times he saw the lavish interior, he couldn’t quite get used to it.

This was one of the emperor’s 23 private rooms located in the palace, not an audience chamber or reception room. To accommodate his capricious tastes, each private room had a different atmosphere.

“You’ve arrived.”

The emperor glanced at Rihanel while leaning back against his desk.

The man, who was about five or six years older than Rihanel, had the ash-gray hair that was the symbol of the imperial family. His gaze was cold, but his slightly downturned eye corners had the effect of softening his impression.

In his hand, which wore an ill-fitting rough glove, he held scissors with a blunt tip. And in his other hand was a yellow flower about the size of a fist…

Thud.

It had just been cut and fallen.

“You summoned me, Your Majesty.”

Rihanel said, shifting his gaze to the floor following the flower. The floor was already strewn with numerous decapitated flowers.

“I thought I’d try flower arranging, but it’s not easy. Anyway, good to see you.”

Emperor Airus shrugged. It was half true, as some intact flowers were haphazardly bunched together on the desk.

“What matter brings you to call for me?”

“Ah, nothing special. It seems I haven’t yet greeted your duchess.”

“…With all the commotion, I haven’t had a chance to visit. With my wife…”

“Would tomorrow be alright?”

Airus picked up another flower and trimmed its sprouting leaves.

Isn’t tomorrow too soon? As Rihanel was about to utter a polite refusal to the emperor who was focused on the flower.

“You’ll come, right?”

The emperor raised his head as he cut off another flower head. His eyes did not contemplate the possibility of refusal. In the end, Rihanel swallowed his intended words and answered,

“It would be an honor to be invited.”

After a brief exchange of smiles, Rihanel left the emperor’s room.

His head throbbed.

Seeing the door close, Airus resumed trimming flowers with an indifferent expression.

⟨So… you’re saying the duke seems to have entered into a fraudulent marriage to the woman a grant noble status?⟩

He recalled a recent conversation.

The speaker had been excitedly denouncing the young duke, even puffing out breaths of excitement. They insisted that the couple’s relationship should be verified, and if found to be false, the marriage should be invalidated.

There was no need to get so excited; given the circumstances, the duke’s marriage was obviously strategic. Does it make sense to fall in love with a woman he’d just met and wait five years for her?

He thought everyone knew but pretended not to, but apparently that wasn’t the case. Already, how many people had come to him to discuss the ‘necessary conditions’ for marriage between nobles and commoners?

But Airus had little interest in the subject.

Honestly, what difference did it make if it was a strategic marriage or a love marriage? It seemed excessive to make such a fuss about noble blood when they weren’t even part of the imperial family.

Choosing each other because the value of what they give and receive matches up is a convention that has naturally existed until now.

But what could he do about the Noble Special Law that had already been created? Especially for someone in the position of a duke, it was appropriate to at least make a show of enforcement.

If they got caught in that enforcement…

It couldn’t be helped.

Thud, another flower head fell.

With an indifferent expression, Airus threw all the trimmed flowers into the trash.

The imperial palace, where irrational emotions did not exist, was boring today as well.

***

“…It’s been a while.”

Rihanel found himself muttering like an idiot.

That was understandable since he was seeing the woman after a week. Despite living in the same house, he hadn’t seen her once.

Her face when he changed her gauze. That expression, as if enduring something unpleasant against her will, kept coming to mind, and he didn’t seek her out, trying to ignore this irritating feeling.

Fortunately, it seemed she didn’t want to run into him either, as they hadn’t crossed paths for a week without even making an effort to avoid each other.

So Rihanel only confirmed through Letsy that she changed her gauze daily and rested obediently. Though it seemed she wasn’t just sitting still, as she was going in and out of the library.

“Yes. The wind… is cool.”

Janet turned lightly toward the garden.

“So many yellow flowers…”

“Where? Aren’t there more red ones?”

“Ah… you’re right.”

Janet smiled lightly.

Fortunately, the week of rest seemed to have had an effect, as today she neither had a pale face nor was trembling slightly.

That was his first concern.

Last time… he hadn’t paid any attention to that at all.

The next thing he noticed was her expression.

As always, it was calm. He knew she was a woman with great composure, but could she be this serene when going to meet the emperor?

“Aren’t you nervous?”

“We agreed not to lie. There’s nothing difficult about it.”

“No lies, huh…”

Rihanel let out a laugh at Janet’s words and boarded the carriage.

The distance from the duke’s mansion to the imperial palace wasn’t far, so they arrived before the silence in the carriage could become heavy.

A spacious dining room with a large chandelier decorating the high ceiling.

The emperor wasn’t alone inside. There were about three or four other nobles as well, and judging by the seats prepared, it seemed five or six more would arrive.

Rihanel quickly scanned the nobles and Janet’s attire as if comparing them. Fortunately, Janet’s current demeanor passed muster.

It was a somewhat sudden summons, but they were formally invited to the imperial palace. It was also Janet’s first visit.