[……I believe there is no longer any reason to protect the estate.

Will you grant me a divorce?

With sincere regards, I send this message to you, wherever you may be, Your Grace.

From Sehera Planer.]

After writing the above content in one flowing stroke, Sehera’s hand hesitated briefly at the part where she had to write her final name.

Since she’d only written the letter and not sent it yet, she was still technically the Duchess of Croft. But she didn’t want to remain bound to this family even until the moment she left this letter behind.

That name never gave me anything. Not even the name Planer I’ve written here now.

But at least this was something she could claim as entirely her own. In the end, Sehera finished the short letter by writing the name Planer.

Sehera set down the quill pen and looked out the window.

She opened her mouth, which hadn’t uttered a single word since this morning, and blew out the candle that had been melting the sealing wax.

The sound of folding the stiff letter paper, the sound of opening the envelope and sliding the paper inside with a soft rustle.

In the quiet ducal estate, even small movements echoed loudly.

She tucked the wax-sealed envelope slightly under the candlestick holder on one side of the desk and stood up.

She was still wearing her nightgown even though the sun now hung high in the sky. Yesterday, she hadn’t met anyone. Today, she had no plans to meet anyone either.

At some point, the dresses in her wardrobe had stopped catching her eye. It had been quite a while since she’d felt any need to change clothes.

Sehera left her room. Even walking down the long corridor to the hallway railing overlooking the first floor, she saw no one. 

When she listened carefully to the floor below, she could occasionally sense signs of people in the far distance, but above the second floor, it was so quiet she could practically hear dust rolling around.

“Maybe I should move my room to the first floor.”

Then could I hear signs of people a little closer?

The ducal estate was remarkably clean and massive, displaying its past glory. That was the problem. Things had changed so drastically from the past, but the house didn’t shrink to match.

The glorious Croft ducal estate of the Empire had fallen into decline after the defeat and death in battle of the previous Duke Croft, who had been the knight commander.

The Empire showed no favor to Croft, who had become a defeated soldier, and withdrew its trust even from Ethan, the only son of the former Duke Croft who had been mentioned as the next knight commander.

Having lost its master and its glory, the ducal estate was gradually becoming a relic, starting with the mansion building itself.

“Ah, my lady, you’re up. Would you like lunch?”

Leri’s voice rang out. If Sehera spoke to anyone during the day besides talking to herself, it was almost 99% certain to be the head maid, Leri.

She was the only one who spoke to her first.

The others had no reason to interact with her, and even if they happened to pass by, they would just bow and move on without a word.

The Croft ducal estate kept running with just this small number of people.

Even without the Duke, even without the Duchess.

“Yeah. I’ll eat.”

“Please come down slowly. I’ll have it prepared.”

In fact, whenever the Duchess with no presence said she wanted to eat, at any time, it could be prepared immediately.

Sehera descended the stairs, her beautiful blonde hair flowing. 

The hair she’d inherited from her mother always flowed softly even without much care. Though it didn’t shine with brilliant luster, it rippled beautifully.

It wasn’t just her hair. Her brilliant blue eyes, though slightly unfocused, had incredible depth, and the faint blush on her fair skin created a pretty peach color.

She had truly beautiful features at a glance, and though a peach-colored blush bloomed faintly on her cheeks… there was no vitality to be found in her.

Her brilliant blue eyes gazed somewhere far away, and her peach-colored lips, similar to her cheeks, were firmly closed like they’d forgotten how to speak.

Moving slowly step by step, Sehera felt like a doll moving only as her body remembered.

“Come this way, my lady. Today I’ve prepared clam soup and noodles. Shall I bring you some bread?”

Though it wasn’t fancy or luxurious cuisine, the use of fine tableware made it look appropriate for a ducal lunch.

“No, you don’t need to bring bread.”

“You could eat it though…”

“I don’t move around much, so this is enough. I don’t think I’ll need dinner either.”

‘If I save one piece of bread I would eat, it becomes provisions for the employees. It wasn’t bad enough to worry about starving, but there was no harm in saving.’

Leri quickly caught on to why she was refusing the bread. But when Sehera mentioned she didn’t think she’d need dinner, Leri couldn’t say anything more and retreated to the kitchen.

Once, feeling sorry for her eating so little, Leri had prepared various foods for her, only to have Sehera actually skip dinner.

Leri moved briskly. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that 80% of the reason the ducal estate ran smoothly without Sehera’s direct involvement was thanks to this head maid.

As Sehera began eating, Leri quietly took her position over there. Under her watchful gaze, Sehera began eating slowly, chewing thoroughly.

She used to insist stubbornly that Leri eat with her because eating alone felt lonely. 

But once she realized that eating with her would deprive Leri of time to eat comfortably with the other maids, she gave up even that.

“Is there… no news of the Duke?”

“Ah… No. The last time he left the estate… was a month ago. There’s still no word.”

Leri, momentarily flustered by Sehera’s question, gave a very typical answer, then bit her lip slightly like she’d made a mistake. Sehera’s fork had stopped, pressed firmly against the noodles.

“A-A month means it’s about time for him to return, right? I hope he stays a bit longer this time… I have no idea what kind of work he’s doing. I just hope he doesn’t come back injured this time…”

Unable to bear the silence, Leri rambled on before closing her mouth tightly again.

“Right… I hope he doesn’t get hurt.”

At those words, Leri finally set down her fork. But she couldn’t leave her seat. If she got up now, this food would be thrown away.

“If only he hadn’t gotten hurt…”

Sehera murmured softly once more.

Leaving behind the ducal estate that had fallen so far, the master, Duke Ethan Croft, was constantly away from the mansion. 

No one knew where he went. She couldn’t tell if he didn’t inform anyone, or if someone knew but wouldn’t tell her.

The current quiet mansion, and what had drained Sehera’s vitality, were all because of that man… but what had sustained her through nearly two years of continued absence was that Ethan occasionally returned injured.

Whatever he was doing, the thought that he was working hard at something enough to get hurt like this, the thought that there must be a reason he kept going back out despite getting injured.

However it had started, she was still part of Croft, and when he was gone, she thought she was the one who should protect this estate.

For the first year… she still had motivation.

I’m not a Planer, I’m the mistress of House Croft.

But no one sought her out from outside, and no one inside gave her any tasks. Even the household management of the ducal estate was led by the butler and head maid.

On top of that…

‘Don’t come in!’

‘But… you’re injured. Let me nurse you…’

‘What nursing could you possibly do? There’s a doctor here, so get out!’

That time when he’d returned with bandages wrapped all over his body, Sehera had been terribly distressed seeing the white bandages soaked with blood, but she’d rushed straight to him.

Naturally, the doctor had rushed over quickly. He’d had fevers or sprained ankles a few times before. A servant had run to fetch the doctor, and seeing him enter, Sehera had naturally entered with him…

She remembered Ethan discovering her and shouting loudly.

Sehera hadn’t seen Ethan lying on the bed inside the room. In that situation, hearing Ethan’s roar… left her even more dejected.

“Still, there are many days he comes back uninjured. It’ll be fine. So… please eat a bit more, my lady.”

In this house, Leri was the only person she could rely on.

A ‘person’ who spoke to her and moved with warmth. Where could she find a reason to remain in this estate?

When Ethan, who had been in such pain and difficulty that he’d needed to call for a doctor as soon as he arrived at the estate, shouted and tried to drive her out like that… why exactly should she remain here?

Why should she… wait for that man in this place?

At Leri’s words, Sehera picked up her fork again. She lifted the noodles and brought them to her mouth. When they touched her lips, she opened her mouth to take in the food and moved her jaw.

The hardest part was swallowing it, but she managed even that quickly. It continued to repeat.

Like this, she ate food and extended her lifespan by another day. For that extended time, she would continue living in the Croft ducal estate.

For what purpose, for something that might come looking for her someday… For Croft? Or for Planer, who sent me here…?

She couldn’t tell if the food was going into her mouth or up her nose. 

Simply leaving the act of consuming to her body, Sehera sank deeper and deeper into herself, feeling like she was becoming a doll.

***

“The wound has opened! Quickly! Bring hot water! Gakun! Sterilize the needle!”

Sehera’s eyes flew open in bed in the middle of the night at the commotion. And she knew reflexively.

Ethan had returned.

She scrambled out of the bed where she’d been sleeping and ran out of the room barefoot, without even finding her slippers.

Though it was a summer night, her body was ice-cold because she hadn’t even been covered with a blanket, but she had no time to worry about that.

“Your Grace!”

Her husband had returned after a long absence. This time was relatively quick. But before she could rejoice at his quick return, this commotion made her feel ominous again.

She ran across the corridor barefoot on the cold floor. Ethan’s room was there. She could already see servants and the doctor’s assistant Gakun gathered there, murmuring.

“What’s happening?”

Sehera’s face turned white as a sheet as she tried to push through the servants. 

For some reason they tried to stop her, but she gave them a firm command, pushed them aside, and rushed inside.

“Kyaa! Your Grace!”