“Are you going to be my new sister?”

When I turned around, there was a girl with abundant pink hair falling down.

She was about a head shorter than me, a cute child dressed in a large ribboned dress.

“Who are you?”

“I asked first. Are you my new sister? The one Hertian brought?”

Was her tone typical for this house?

But Hertian doesn’t have a family.

In the Duke’s house, which otherwise had no family, there was this girl dressed so brightly. She looked like a noble’s child.

“Yeah. I’m Anette. You are?”

“I’m Liri.”

Liri.

A name I hadn’t heard before.

I looked around. If there were any servants, I would have sent the child back. There were no signs of people in this vast place.

“Tsk. Just had to be pretty.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

“It’s not a compliment! Don’t covet Brother Hertian.”

Seeing the unbridled Liri, I wanted to tease her a bit.

“I don’t covet. He is just mine now.”

“No!”

Liri shrieked as if she had lost her temper.

I almost burst my eardrums.

“Aren’t you two married because you love each other? It was strange that you got married suddenly. Liri knows everything.”

“Liri may not understand because she’s young, but we are truly in love.”

“I’m not young! I’ll have my comingofage ceremony next year.”

Comingofage ceremony?

I was fooled by her astonishingly youthful beauty.

‘So she’s nineteen now.’

If she’s an adult next year, we can’t let this unruly behavior slide.

“Liri. When you’re in the Duke’s castle, use respectful language with me.”

“Why should I? Did Hertian tell you to say that?”

“No. It’s a request from your new sister.”

“You can’t even properly hold a capping ceremony, what kind of sister are you.”

Come to think of it, we had a capping ceremony.

Looking at Liri, I understood. Other people in the dukedom may also find me undesirable and suspicious. They would also doubt why we got married so suddenly.

“Didn’t we promise to send off our capping ceremony hotter than anyone else?”

Liri’s eyes widened.

“You must be lying.”

“Do you want to bet with me? If I carry out the capping ceremony safely, you agree to speak to me politely.”

“No need!”

I let out a loud snort.

“You’re noisy when you’re blustering. You don’t have confidence, Liri.”

“No! Do it. You won’t win. If I win, I’ll chase you out of here.”

“Do as you please.”

I responded leisurely and passed her, holding my head high.

I’m doomed.

I hadn’t even thought about the capping ceremony.

“I finally found it.”

Thump.

The dukedom was too vast, it took quite a while to find Hertian’s office.

Even though a servant guided me, how is this castle so complicated like a maze.

I was so tired that anything would be good now.

I directly opened the office door and shouted.

“Hertian… the capping ceremony is hot and intense… pant.”

This was a promise with Liri.

I couldn’t continue because I was catching my breath.

Feeling something strange in the unusually quiet room, I raised my head and saw only Osen, Hertian’s aide, in front of the rotating chair.

“The servant said Hertian would be here…”

Was it a wild goose chase?

Do I need to go around looking for another place?

“…Your Grace, the Duchess?”

Osen adjusted his glasses and greeted me respectfully.

“Where is the Duke?”

“He’s here.”

And from behind the rotated chair, Hertian’s voice was heard.

“What are you doing there?”

Even though I arrived, Hertian didn’t turn around.

“I’m just looking at the territory’s scenery… cough.”

“The office is also cold. What will you do if you catch a cold?”

“Don’t come closer.”

I was going to cover him with a blanket, but Hertian hurriedly stopped me. I sadly put down the blanket and turned my gaze to the aide who was next to us.

“Osen, sorry but I have something to discuss with the Duke, could you wait outside for a while?”

“Understood.”

After Osen left the office, I brought up the main issue.

“Hertian. You didn’t forget that today is our capping ceremony, did you? Even though our marriage is contractual, let’s share the room for a while, even if it’s uncomfortable.”

“…Okay.”

Fortunately, he coolly agreed.

“Please come in early today.”
Having left that message, I departed from the office again.

After Anette had left, Osen returned to the office.

Was it just his mood?

Even though the room had been chilly until just now, it felt warm.

He wondered if the Duchess had come and lit the firewood, but there was nothing but ashes in the fireplace.

‘Well, she wasn’t born with that kind of sense.’

However, it seemed the heat was coming from somewhere else.

A faint mist rose from the chair facing the window.

“Commander…?”

Osen carefully approached his master.

“Osen.”

His heated voice made him stop in his tracks.

“Prepare for a hot, intense night.”

“The butler mentioned that there are herbs in the Duke’s palace.”