At Cadel’s question, Jaina let out a short sigh before answering.

“I asked her to organize my schedule before we leave for the Empire.”

“We depart in three days.”

“Will the blizzard stop in three days?”

She turned her head toward the window, gazing at the relentless snowstorm raging outside.

He likely did not know—not even in his dreams—that the snow was, in truth, rain conjured by artificial means.

“Even if it does not, we will leave. We’ll use a teleportation stone. There is nothing for you to worry about.”

Cadel spoke as he took a seat on the sofa.

“In that case, why not leave at once? The marriage vows have already been concluded. There is no reason to delay.”

She shifted her gaze from the window back to him.

Cadel held her blue eyes steadily.

The sudden meeting of their gazes made her heart pound hard against her chest.

It was ridiculous. Just a glance, and yet her heart betrayed her like this.

As she scolded herself inwardly, Cadel spoke.

“Three days is fine, isn’t it?”

“…Pardon?”

‘What exactly is fine?’

Her eyes widened slightly at the ambiguous reply.

“I heard you reprimanded Violet.”

Reprimanded.

The single word struck her like a blade to the heart.

She had expected this. And yet, hearing it from him still hurt.

“Ha….”

A hollow laugh, almost a scoff, slipped from her lips despite the sting inside her chest.

“Is that why you came?”

She was incredulous.

No—she was almost impressed by how utterly unchanged he remained. If there was any consolation, it was that she had learned this so early.

“I’m not trying to criticize you for scolding her. I only—”

“Mind your tone.”

Jaina cut him off sharply.

Cadel’s face hardened at once.

“At the very least, while I remain your wife. That is the courtesy owed to me—and to those who recognize me as the Grand Duchess.”

“My tone…?”

Cadel began incredulously, then broke off with a long sigh.

After a brief pause, as though collecting his thoughts, he looked at her again.

“I only meant to say that the reason Violet was reprimanded today was not entirely her fault.”

“…….”

“She has called me that for years. We grew up together—like siblings. And her mother, my wet nurse, is like a mother to me. More so than my own.”

Like siblings.

Violet was four years older than Cadel.

The way he referred to her as though she were some younger subordinate struck Jaina as absurd.

“And?”

She met his gaze squarely.

“So you’re asking me to overlook a servant calling you by name in my presence?”

The chill in her eyes deepened, and Cadel’s already rigid expression grew even colder.

“Why? Because I’m not a noble? Because I’m of common birth and merely became Grand Duchess due to divine power?”

“Jaina.”

“What is it, then? That someone like me has no right to reprimand a woman you cherish so dearly?”

“Jaina!”

“Then what exactly are you trying to say?”

At his raised voice, she raised hers as well.

Cadel stared at her in silence before releasing another brief sigh.

“I know you don’t hold favorable feelings toward Violet. But to treat her harshly over something that is not truly her fault—”

“Not her fault? That woman is four years older than you. Surely you haven’t forgotten that?”

A mocking laugh escaped her. He continued to refer to an older woman as ‘that child’.

The color drained from Cadel’s face.

Jaina wiped the last trace of a smile from her lips and carried on.

“Did you just say that I was tormenting Violet?”

“…Ah.”

A groan escaped Cadel’s lips.

It was only then that he seemed to realize how inappropriate his choice of words had been. His expression instantly shifted to one of dismay as he hurried to correct himself.

“That was a slip of the tongue. I didn’t mean torment. I only meant that you—”

“That’s enough. I don’t wish to hear any more.”

“…….”

“And in the future, I would appreciate it if you did not come to my bedchamber over matters like this.”

Jaina deliberately let her voice turn cold as she delivered the request.

“If what displeases you is that I reprimand Violet, then simply remove her from my sight. It’s a simple solution.”

“It’s not that I dislike you reprimanding her. I only—”

“Hearing only her side and coming here to question me in this manner—once is sufficient. If you treat me this way again, I will leave this place immediately.”

“Jaina.”

“Please keep that in mind.”

Her gaze was unbearably cold as she looked at him.

“As long as I remain your wife, I hope you will refrain from subjecting me to such humiliation again.”

***

A dark shadow of worry fell across Cadel’s face.

Humiliation.

The very thought of it seemed ridiculous.

All he wanted to say was that it wasn’t entirely Violet’s fault she had called him by name. After all, he had allowed it from the beginning.

Pressing his fingers to his throbbing temple, Cadel leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment, as though trying to steady himself.

“Why are you making that face again, Your Grace?”

Adil, who had been reviewing documents, narrowed his eyes as he looked up at Cadel.

Moments earlier, Cadel had sharply reprimanded Violet for entering the study without permission, demanding to know what she was doing there. He then followed her out. Now, after quite some time, his superior returned, his expression as sombre as at a funeral.

Adil’s curiosity was understandable.

“Adil.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

At Adil’s response, Cadel straightened from where he had been leaning against the backrest and looked at him.

“In your view… does my attitude toward Jaina seem excessive?”

“…Your attitude?”

“Yes. My attitude.”

“I’m not certain which attitude you’re referring to….”

Adil tilted his head, clearly puzzled.

Cadel leaned back once more and let out a long sigh.

“No matter how I think about it, I can’t see it.”

“See what, exactly?”

“…….”

“You’ll have to speak plainly if you expect advice.”

At that, Cadel looked at him.

After a brief pause, as though sorting through his thoughts, he finally spoke.

“The truth is…”

He explained why Violet had come to his study, and how he had then gone to see Jaina personally after hearing her account, in order to clear up what he believed to be a misunderstanding.

“You went to see Her Grace?”

Adil’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“What else could I do? If this continues, Jaina will never stop thinking of Violet as an insolent servant. She already has no favorable feelings towards her. At the very least, she should know that calling me by my first name has felt natural since childhood…”

“That’s not the point, Your Grace!”

Adil sprang to his feet.

“You listened only to Lady Violet’s words and then went straight to your wife to tell her not to scold her!”

“I didn’t tell her not to scold her. I merely said that Violet calling me by name is not a problem—”

“What difference does that make?”

“…….”

“From Her Grace’s perspective, it amounts to the same thing.”

Cadel’s brow twitched.

“The same how?”

“Pardon?”

“I asked what is the same.”

The genuine incomprehension on his face drew a weary sigh from Adil. He shook his head slowly.

“I knew you were not particularly sensitive to others’ feelings. But failing to consider the heart of your own wife—the Grand Duchess—is a far graver matter.”

“…….”

“Think about it. From Her Grace’s perspective, did you not act like a husband shielding a mistress in front of his wife?”

“A mis—!”

The word mistress made Cadel’s expression twist at once.

“That’s absurd! How dare you imply such a relationship between Violet and me—”

“I am not saying that such a relationship exists. I am saying that from the Grand Duchess’s position, it could easily be misunderstood.”

“That makes no sense. Jaina knows the nature of my relationship with Violet.”

Adil had already revealed the circumstances that Cadel would rather have kept hidden, despite his own wishes. Jaina knew why Adil went to Violet’s room on rainy nights. There was no reason to suspect anything improper between them.

Adil let out a long, weary sigh.

“Must I truly explain this when I have not even married yet?”

He continued, his voice heavy with exasperation.

From Her Grace’s perspective, Lady Violet is unsettling, regardless of whether she is having an affair. Is that not obvious? After all, she’s the woman you sleep with every time it rains.”

“…….”

“Even knowing the reason does not make it easy to accept. Few would take such a matter lightly. Even in a marriage without love.”

Adil added that, in a way, it was fortunate Jaina was not a noblewoman by birth.

Cadel’s brow furrowed faintly at that.

“Just imagine that either the headstrong daughter of the Count or the formidable daughter of the Marquis had become Grand Duchess.”

Both had previously pursued marriage negotiations with him, solely because of his appearance.

At the mere thought, Cadel’s expression hardened.

“Do you truly believe they would have tolerated Lady Violet? She would have been relentlessly harassed for wounding their pride. I would not be surprised if blood had been spilled within the Grand Ducal estate.”

On further consideration, it was clear that very few noblewomen would have shown such restraint.

What aristocratic lady could calmly accept her husband spending the night with another woman — worse still, a woman of servant origin — whenever it rained?

Even if that woman were later granted a noble title?

Above all, noblewomen guarded their lineage and pride more than anything else. Had he married a noblewoman, she would certainly not have been gentler than Jaina.

Then, without warning, he remembered something Violet had once said.

“Choosing the saintess as Grand Duchess… you did think of me, at least a little, didn’t you?”

Cadel’s brow knit even more deeply.