“Are you going to be my new elder sister?”

I turned around and saw a girl with lush pink hair cascading down.

She was about a handspan shorter than me, a cute child wearing a dress with a large ribbon.

“Who are you?”

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

Is this manner of speaking a family trait?

But Hertian doesn’t have any family.

A girl in such fancy attire in this ducal household with no other family. She looks like a noble child.

“Yes. My name is Anette. And you?”

“I’m Lili.”

Lili.

A name I’d never heard before.

I looked around. If I could see any servants, I’d ask them to send the child away. But there was no sign of people in this vast place.

“Tsk. Of course you’re pretty.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“It wasn’t a compliment! Don’t covet elder brother Hertian.”

Looking at the ill-mannered Lili, I wanted to tease her a little.

“I won’t covet him. He’s simply mine now.”

“No!”

Lili screamed at the top of her lungs.

I nearly burst an eardrum.

“You didn’t marry for love, did you? The sudden marriage was suspicious. Lili knows everything!”

“Lili, you’re too young to understand, but we’re truly in love.”

“I’m not young! I’ll have my coming-of-age ceremony next year, you know.”

Coming-of-age ceremony?

I was completely fooled by her youthful appearance.

‘Then she must be nineteen now.’

If she’s coming of age next year, I can’t let her ill-mannered behavior slide.

“Lili. You should speak politely to me while in the grand duchy.”

“I don’t want to. Why should I? Did Hertian tell you to make me?”

“No. This is a request from your new elder sister.”

“As if! What kind of elder sister can’t even consummate the marriage properly?”

Come to think of it, there was the wedding night.

Looking at Lili, I understood. Others in the grand duchy might find me unsatisfactory and suspicious too. Then they’d all be suspicious of our rushed marriage.

“We promised to spend our wedding night more passionately than anyone else.”

Lili’s eyes widened.

“You must be making that up.”

“Want to make a bet? If I successfully consummate the marriage, you’ll speak to me politely and respectfully.”

“No way!”

I snorted loudly.

“You were so confident before. Not so sure now, are you, Lili?”

“That’s not it! Fine. Let’s do it. If I win, I’ll have you kicked out of here.”

“Do as you please.”

I answered calmly, then passed by her with my head held high.

I’m doomed.

I hadn’t even thought about the wedding night.

[This is the timeline separator]

“I finally found it.”

Ugh.

The grand duchy was so vast that it took quite some time to find Hertian’s office.

Even with the butler’s guidance, this castle is somehow as complex as a maze.

My legs felt like they would burst, so I didn’t care anymore.

I immediately opened the office door and shouted.

“Hertian… the wedding night… passionately and intensely… huff huff.”

This was the promise I made with Lili.

I couldn’t finish my words as I gasped for breath.

Feeling something odd in the unusually quiet room, I looked up to see only a turned chair and Osen, Hertian’s aide.

“The butler said Hertian would be here…”

Did I come for nothing?

Do I have to search somewhere else again?

“…Your Grace, the Duchess?”

Osen adjusted his glasses and greeted me politely.

“Where is the Duke?”

“He’s here.”

Then Hertian’s voice came from behind the turned chair.

“What are you doing there?”

Hertian didn’t turn around even though I had arrived.

“Just looking at the scenery of the territory… cough.”

“It’s cold in the office too. What if you catch a cold?”

“Don’t come closer.”

I was about to drape a blanket over him, but Hertian hurriedly stopped me. I dejectedly put down the blanket and turned my gaze to the aide standing nearby.

“Osen, I’m sorry, but I have something to discuss with the Duke alone. Could you wait outside for a moment?”

“Certainly.”

After Osen left the office, I got straight to the point.

“Hertian. You haven’t forgotten that tonight is our wedding night, have you? Though ours is a contract marriage, let’s share a room for now, even if it’s uncomfortable.”

“…As you wish.”

Fortunately, he coolly agreed.

“Come back early today.”

Leaving those words, I left the office again.

[This is the timeline separator]

After Anette left, Osen re-entered the office.

Was it his imagination?

The room that had been chilly until just moments ago now felt warm.

He wondered if someone had lit the fireplace when the Duchess came, but there was only ash in the hearth, nothing else.

‘Well, she’s not known for that kind of thoughtfulness.’

However, the heat seemed to be coming from elsewhere.

A hazy steam rose over the chair facing the window.

“Commander…?”

Osen cautiously approached his master.

“Osen.”

The flustered voice made him stop in his tracks.

“Prepare for a passionate and intense wedding night.”

[This is the timeline separator]

“The butler said there were medicinal herbs in the grand duchy too.”

After leaving Hertian’s room, I sought out the butler again. I wanted to get some sumac to give to Jackson, as his skin condition had improved significantly. In the capital, it was easy to find at an apothecary, but I didn’t see any suitable place here.

“My lady. Is there something you’re curious about?”

“Butler, you said there were medicinal herbs in the grand duchy, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“I’d like to see them. Could you guide me?”

Usually, noble households had glass conservatories with constant temperature control. The Blandiche territory had harsh winds and low temperatures, making it unfavorable for plants to grow.

When I looked around the mansion, I didn’t see anything like a glass greenhouse, so there must be another place.

“Of course. Please follow me.”

The butler led me to a door deep within the grand duchy. The place he guided me to was not a glass conservatory or garden, but underground stairs leading down.

“Here?”

“To be precise, at the end of these stairs.”

The butler handed me a lantern.

It seemed like there might be a prison down there, with only the faint sounds of prisoners’ breathing audible.

Can plants really grow in a place like that?

Without a doubt, I took the lantern from the butler and headed straight down.

“Have a good trip, my lady.”

The butler didn’t follow, just bowed at the door.

“You’re not coming with me?”

“I have other matters to attend to.”

It’s scary to go alone.

‘But I have to go if I want to find the herbs.’

I forced strength into my heavy legs and descended the stairs.

How far underground had I come?

It was fine coming down, but the thought of going back up was daunting. No wonder the butler didn’t come along.

“Just wait if there’s nothing here. Just wait if some strange prison appears!”

Blaming the butler for no reason, I reached the bottom of the stairs. There stood a wooden door, just like the entrance.

When I pulled on the door that looked like a prison door at first glance.

“Wow.”

I couldn’t help but exclaim at the scene before me.

It felt like a scene from a movie. Vast land. Under the bright, mysterious light pouring from the ceiling, an endless meadow stretched out.

As I took a step in, the scent of earth tickled my nose.

“It really exists?”

A garden where grass grew, flowers bloomed, and butterflies fluttered about really existed.

How such a garden could exist underground was simply mystifying.

“But it’s warm here.”

Another strange thing was that it got warmer the further down the stairs I went.

Just a few steps up it felt like I would freeze to death, but here it was warm.

Moreover, a small spring flowed beside the field. The more I looked, the more bizarre it seemed. Because of this, a sudden strange thought occurred to me.

“I wonder if I could bring a bed here and live?”

The temperature here seemed similar to the capital.

“Let’s find the flowers first and then go back up.”

First, I rolled up my sleeves and set out to find flowers. The abundance of colorful fruits and herbs made me feel like I was in the backyard of the mansion after a long time, putting me at ease.

There was no sumac here. Instead, I found houttuynia, which has similar effects. After years of researching diseases, this much was a piece of cake.

[This is the timeline separator]

After getting the herbs, it took two hours just to memorize the layout of the castle, another hour to be introduced to the household staff, and three full hours to study the traditions of the grand ducal family.

Half of that time was spent shivering.

As I huddled and rubbed my body, the sun had set before I knew it.

Betty and Bonisa, who had followed me from the mansion, along with the maids of the grand duchy, had been scrubbing my body for an hour in preparation for the wedding night.

“Don’t scrub too hard.”

“Young lady, I mean, Your Grace. We must clean you thoroughly for the Duke to like it.”

“No… I think I need some dirt to survive here.”

I pushed aside the dried loofah in Betty’s hand.

Even with thick clothes, it was hard to bear this cold, so I thought having some dirt on my body might make me feel less cold.

It was finally over after a long time of washing and scrubbing.

I ran down the corridor filled with the cold night air.

When I opened the bedroom door, a fragrant flower scent wafted out.

The crackling sound of burning firewood. Along with candles softly illuminating the room, rose petals were scattered on the bedspread.

“Why did they have to pluck the flower petals so messily.”

I cleared away the petals and slipped my body into the thick blanket first.

The soft sensation and warm temperature made me feel drowsy. As my eyelids slowly opened and closed repeatedly, suddenly a man’s broad chest filled my view.

“Ah, you startled me!”

I involuntarily hit his chest muscles.

“S-sorry. I was surprised.”

My hand stung from the unfamiliar hardness, and I saw Hertian above me.

“I apologize if I startled you.”

He hastily closed his white robe. His hair was still wet, as if he had just finished bathing.

“Osen said you’d be late today. Did you finish all your work?”

“You said we must have a passionate… ahem. You said we must consummate the marriage, so I finished quickly and came back.”

I sat up against the headboard following him. His earlobes were red when seen from the side. It seems even an asexual person can’t help feeling embarrassed.

“Hertian, am I making you uncomfortable?”

There’s no way sleeping in the same bed could be comfortable.

“Should I sleep on the sofa? I don’t mind.”

The sofa in front of the fireplace was quite warm, so it wouldn’t be too uncomfortable.

I waited for his answer and picked up a pillow.

“It’s not uncomfortable.”

But he immediately stopped me. He quietly took the pillow and put it back in its place.

“You must sleep here together.”

I chuckled and flopped down.

“Hertian, lie down quickly too.”

Pat pat, I tapped the pillow next to me, and he looked down at me intently. I smiled with crinkled eyes and said,

“You worked hard, sleep well.”

And I buried myself under the blanket again. I’m sure I’ll wake up with body aches tomorrow. Just as I was about to close my eyes,

“…May I embrace you?”

I heard a trembling voice.