There may be times when I hinder what you are doing. I apologize in advance.

Is that what she meant earlier? Kaella’s heart sank without her realizing.

What is Peon doing now to Beatrice Lavalle, whom the Emperor specially sent through a magical device?

‘He shouldn’t do that.’

Ironically, even she, who had experienced death and was willing to accept another death, thought so. He shouldn’t do that. This is going to be a big problem.

If they go against the Emperor, even the insufficient support coming into Lucenford will be cut off, and if it gets worse, the Emperor will raise an army and trample Lucenford.

She did not want to face again the calamity where innocent blood would be spilled on the snow, and wailing and despair would cover the land.

In Kline, he managed to please the Emperor well enough and even married Kaella without a single complaint, so why is he like this to Beatrice?

They are two people who are said to be remembered as tragic lovers, long recorded in future generations.

Even the fact that Kaella would remain in history as an interfering presence, a foreign object, was a great humiliation to her, but how could Peon declare they were nothing and then immediately become so hostile? Does that make sense? Peon and Beatrice were supposed to be immortal lovers.

“Hey, Peon, what’s wrong with you? We’ve known each other since we were how old?”

If Kaella was surprised, how much more surprised must Beatrice have been? This was something that could never happen in the world she lived in.

When the three of them who grew up together gathered, she always had the initiative, and Kaella was just an annoying tag-along. But now he’s telling that tag-along to show respect?

He had made her prioritize Beatrice and the Empress above all else in the world, had Peon gone mad?

“If we’ve known each other since childhood, does that mean there’s no need for protocol or manners? Then you should also decline when I show you respect. You want to receive but not give. How convenient to use imperial protocol.”

Kaella’s shoulders, covered in fur, instinctively shrank. It was a familiar contempt. Though not directed at her but at someone else, Peon was frightening when he despised someone. He was cold, icy, and even intimidating.

Even that meddlesome butler was slowly moving to a corner and staying silent, so how must Beatrice feel, facing his contempt directly?

“I, I thought we were all close friends, so that’s why, our friendship hasn’t changed, has it, Peon? Why are you acting like this?”

Beatrice had never needed to speak logically. That was something only desperate people like Kaella did. For her, a smile, sometimes a sad expression, or even a single tear was more than enough to solve everything.

That’s why she asked with an expression of great disappointment and hurt, ‘You’re strange for treating me like this, why are you doing this?’ It was an expression that made onlookers feel as if they had committed a great sin by daring to hurt and embarrass the beauty of the century.

Usually by this point, everyone around would take care of the situation as Beatrice wanted. But there was no one here to do that.

‘What is that wench doing!’

The flustered Beatrice glanced at Kaella, who should have taken her side, as was proper. Shouldn’t this much younger child, whom she had treated like a maid since childhood, step up on her own?

But that stupid Kaella, thinking she was something special because Peon was on her side, just stood there blankly. Beatrice became even more irritated. This was a situation she had rarely experienced.

“Close friends, you say.”

The low, powerful voice reacted as if hearing such words for the first time.

“If that were the case, wouldn’t you first exchange greetings and ask after each other’s well-being? Is shouting freely and getting angry as you please, like addressing a maid, what you consider friendship, my lady?”

It wasn’t even worth dealing with further. Peon turned back to Kaella.

“My lady, let’s go inside now. You’ve had enough fresh air, now you need to rest…”

“I-I’m sorry!”

Beatrice’s scream-like voice, erupting impulsively, drowned out Peon’s words.

It was so loud that it echoed several times off the stone walls of Lucenford Castle’s corridor. With her face bright red, Beatrice did something she had never done before, fixing her gaze on the floor.

“I’m sorry…, I apologize. I’m sorry.”

Her shaky voice became smoother and regained its original composure with each repetition.

The speed at which this happened was so fast that the head maid watching nearby was inwardly shocked to see Beatrice’s flustered expression disappear completely and her usual shameless face resurface as if nothing had happened.

“My joy at seeing you got the better of me, and I made a big mistake.”

But at the same time, the head maid didn’t miss the tightly strained neck visible between the shimmering silver hair, and the trembling fingers between the long sleeves of her dress.

“Your Highness will forgive me with a generous heart, won’t you?”

There was emotion in the word “Your Highness,” spoken with forced emphasis. Overall, it was quite an insincere and perfunctory apology. And it was also the first apology Kaella had ever received.

People’s gazes now turned to Kaella. She wasn’t at all pleased by this kind of apology that demanded forgiveness. Not only did she not want to forgive, but it wasn’t something she had obtained directly, rather something the Grand Duke of Lucenford had gotten for her.

If the Grand Duke took her side, her status in Lucenford would rise, and if he ignored her, she would fall endlessly to the bottom. Whenever things happened, she always thought she should just die quickly. There was no hope in Lucenford.

“Please excuse the poor preparations, since you came so suddenly, sister. We’ll try to prepare a new room, but it might take some time.”

She doesn’t say she forgives her. She absolutely doesn’t say that people can sometimes act like that, covering up Beatrice’s behavior. Kaella doesn’t return the ball Beatrice passed. She only uses it well.

“While we’re preparing a room for you, sister, we should also prepare rooms for the investigators the Emperor said he was sending. When are they expected to arrive?”

Peon looked at Kaella, who was extracting the most important information for him. No, in fact, he had been looking only at her for quite some time now, not at Beatrice.

“How should I know… know that?”

Beatrice glanced at Peon as she corrected her speech.

“Then do you know when the investigators left Kline?”

The Grand Duke’s wife seemed to be exercising infinite patience towards the rude Lady Lavalle.

But for Kaella, it wasn’t patience, but rather that she didn’t even feel it was worth getting angry and shouting. She knew well that people don’t change, and Beatrice would be like that until she dies.

“I believe they left about two weeks ago… sir.”

To use honorifics unilaterally to that wench! Beatrice’s pride was severely hurt.

“Ah, two weeks ago. That will be very helpful in preparing the rooms. You can stay in my room for tonight.”

Beatrice unconsciously furrowed her brow as she looked at Kaella.

‘Is she really looking down on me openly?’

There’s an atmosphere that can be felt in the tone. The naturally dropping informal speech was extremely unpleasant.

‘How dare she… try to match me.’

Beatrice suppressed her unpleasant thoughts. Right now, Peon, that stickler who considers following protocol and manners the most important thing, was taking Kaella’s side, so there was nothing she could do.

“Yes, let’s do that.”

But she didn’t realize that her hostility was being read clearly in the eyes of the head maid, the butler, and Kaella and Peon. She had never managed her expressions in front of people she looked down upon.

*

Kaella could see everything so clearly ahead that it wasn’t even interesting anymore. Beatrice would come and stir things up again. And the plan to count the silver tableware with Peon tonight was canceled.

She should stay put in her room for a while. No, before that, should she send Mary away first?

Whenever Beatrice came to Lucenford, Kaella’s position always narrowed. It was because Beatrice always wandered around the castle with her wide-reaching interference and suddenly appeared by Peon’s side.

It was truly remarkable. Kaella knew, having heard it before she died in the northern tower, that Beatrice despised Peon as an idiot.

Yet the dedication with which she chased after Peon was surprising. Was it because the Emperor ordered her to? Or perhaps Beatrice loved the Emperor that much?

‘Ah, I see…’

Kaella understood that because she had been the same. When you love someone, you can do anything. If you could just see them happy, you could work all night, and even if they just smiled at you, you were grateful. That’s how it had been.

Anyway, since she didn’t want to see Beatrice putting on a desperate act for love or ambition, she should just stay cooped up in the Grand Duke’s bedroom for a while.

Kaella even had her dinner sent up to the bedroom, using the excuse that she wasn’t feeling well. There was no point in eating at the table with Beatrice and the Grand Duke anyway; she’d just end up with indigestion and vomiting.

“Your Highness.”

Cecil, who had been the first to get used to the new title, approached. It must be the meal being brought. Kaella nodded and was about to get up.

“His Grace has arrived.”

“Huh?”

Before she could confirm, Kaella came face to face with the enormous man who strode in, filling the spacious bedroom.

“What brings you here, Your Grace?”

“That’s what I should be asking. Where are you hurting? Are you in a lot of pain?”

He spoke quickly with an anxious look, unlike his usual taciturn self. His purple eyes flickered, thoroughly examining her even as he spoke.

“Did you fall ill from being out in the wind today?”

Hands that looked like they might reach out to grab and examine her at any moment but ultimately grasped only air, trembling eyes, a slightly pale face – when faced with these, the doubts she had buried kept raising their heads. Why? Why is he like this? As if he had done something terribly wrong, why?

“I’m just a little unwell. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“How can I not worry? You’re unwell because I took you out. Please sit down. Quickly.”

He made Kaella, who had stood up, sit down again, and personally covered her knees with the blanket that had been pushed aside. Then he sat opposite her and checked the meal being set on the table. Unexpectedly, the meal was for two people.

“I decided to just eat here too.”

“But Your Grace, a guest has arrived, shouldn’t you go to the dining room?”

“How can I go anywhere leaving my lady behind?”

That wasn’t a question, but a declaration that he had nowhere to go so he would just stay here. The crisp end of his words was resolute. Then, does that mean Beatrice Lavalle would come out to eat alone in the dining room? It was a serious breach of etiquette.

“Your Grace. Wouldn’t it be better to dine together with the person sent by His Majesty the Emperor?”

“She barged in without any notice.”

He spoke slowly as he handed a warm wet towel to Kaella. As she took it reflexively, he picked up his own towel and wiped his hands.

“If the lady of the house is ill due to an unfortunate incident, the guest should be understanding to that extent.”

Peon had a face with strong, masculine features, but his black eyelashes were long and his eyes were delicate. The purple eyes beneath the fan-like spread of eyelashes glanced at her.

“…I’d rather be with my lady than with an uninvited guest.”

His eyes were anxious and nervous, as if afraid she might tell him to go. Was it because of Kaella’s remaining foolish hope that it appeared so, or was it real?

As situations opposite to the familiar routine kept popping up, she hesitated to answer for a moment, sizing him up. It was Peon who couldn’t bear even the brief silence that followed.

“I really don’t want to go to the dining room.”

“Then don’t.”

The face that had looked like a whining child suddenly turned black with despair.

“No, I mean do as you wish.”

It brightens up again instantly. At a glance, there seemed to be no change, but Kaella knew because she had been watching this man since they were very young. So it was fascinating.

It was amazing to see the great Grand Duke, the master of Lucenford, being so swayed by the words of the insignificant Kaella. It was so amazing that she wanted to live a little longer just to see more of it.

The fact that she had such thoughts herself was surprising, but sharing a meal sitting across from him was even more amazing. Kaella, who was used to always eating quietly alone in Lucenford and was picky about food, felt awkward even with Peon sitting across from her.

“Is that all you’re eating?”

Kaella looked up at him as she was about to dip her spoon into the potato cream soup, then looked at his soup bowl. The deep bowl was filled with two and a half ladles of soup, but Kaella’s bowl wasn’t even half full.

Peon was very tall and large-boned, so he probably needed to eat a lot to maintain that physique, but Kaella didn’t. However, he asked with a very serious face.

“Did you ask for only that much, or…”

Or did the impertinent kitchen dare to restrict the Grand Duke’s wife’s meal portions from the start? Peon, who couldn’t trust anything in Lucenford Castle at all, thought he needed to stick closer to Kaella. Things might have been twisted from the smallest, most trivial things.

“This is the amount the doctor approved. I can’t eat more than this anyway.”

Soup, well-boiled vegetables, meat simmered until tender – that was about the extent of the Grand Duke’s wife’s meal.

“How have Your Grace’s meals been lately? I’ve tried to have various dishes prepared.”

“Ah. So that’s why the meals have changed a lot recently. I liked it.”

“Really?”

Seeing Kaella’s eyes widen, Peon unexpectedly burst into laughter.

“Why would I lie about meals? I liked it. It reminded me of the food I ate in Kline.”

They were nostalgic foods he ate while living with his mother in a corner of the imperial palace, whom others pointed fingers at as dirty and unjust.

Peon, who originally thought that food was merely a substance to fill the stomach and gain strength to fight, realized in Lucenford that he had long forgotten the joy of eating.

“I’m glad. We are looking for a chef who can handle various cuisines from this area or even a bit farther. If you could tell me which days the food particularly suited your taste, I will make sure to consider that when making the final selection.”

The food on his tongue was sweet, and the conversation was not just comfortable but extremely enjoyable. It was just an ordinary conversation between a lord and his wife, but how could it be this interesting?

No, it seems that Kaella’s very existence was what was interesting. Even when she smiled just a little formally, Peon felt happy and joyful.

Could they not just stay like this for a little while, just a little longer, until the suspicion that had captured him became reality?

He dared to hope for a reprieve from punishment. He recalled the question he had asked in the realm of the evil dragon as he gazed at his incredibly beautiful wife.

…Is there a possibility that someone else could also return to the past?

The question he had asked the master of magic while trembling miserably was becoming clearer and clearer, but he yearned for a reprieve. Not yet, just a little longer. Please.