The top floor of the Grand Ducal Palace.

A sigh of melancholy escaped as a moment of lonely solitude arrived.

Hertian sat on the windowsill, mulling over the situation from earlier several times.

‘I foolishly couldn’t say anything.’

He had left without even responding to Anette’s words, as if fleeing.

“We’re just in a contract relationship, so you don’t need to worry about every little thing.”

He clearly knew.

What he currently was to Anette. He also knew she needed time to open her heart, having been isolated after losing Rian.

And Hertian was confident. That he could wait as long as it took.

But hearing it directly.

‘It’s more difficult than I thought.’

He hadn’t disappointed Anette since reuniting with her until now. Yet it seemed he was only this much of an existence to her. The fear that he would forever remain stuck in this state weighed heavily on him.

“Hah……”

Hertian let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding as he was lost in thought. He hadn’t even been breathing properly without knowing it.

“This is pathetic.”

He was realizing how small of an existence he was in front of Anette each time.

He raised his slumped body. There was no time to be disheartened. He intended to take a proper step forward this time, as much as she had drawn a line. There was no need to rush anyway, since the leech by Anette’s side had fallen off, and they were already married.

“More importantly, Anette’s health comes first.”

Having regained his composure, Hertian approached the bookshelf and took out an ancient book he had brought from the emperor’s library. When he opened the pages, the smell of old paper wafted up strongly. The fluttering pages stopped at a certain point.

The page he had closely examined several times.

On the paper was written a word difficult to explain. As with most old books, most mysteries had been proven to be human-made illusions, but there was just one thing. One that had no clear evidence of being fake.

“……Possession.”

A truly absurd word.

Below it were listed examples of those possessed. People whose personalities completely changed suddenly and who often spoke words not of this world. It is said that most display genius. It also states that the majority of cases end in death after suffering from strange illnesses.

Though it was clearly an implausible story, Hertian couldn’t just ignore it. If she had simply been a contract marriage partner it would be one thing, but he had been watching over her all this time.

A stack of envelopes piled high in a box without a speck of dust. Strange letters written on yellowed paper edges. There were words written that even he, who had roamed battlefields across the empire, no, the world, had never seen before.

And it wasn’t just one. Often the letters she sent contained words he found difficult to understand.

Just like those described as ‘possessed’ in this ancient book.

‘Did I upset him?’

It was the first time Hertian had left without answering, going out ahead.

I had said those words thinking I was making things easier for him.

But his expression suddenly hardened, and he left the dining room just like that, clearly with an upset face. Why? I lessened his burdensome duties. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand him.

‘Should I apologize?’

That’s strange too. It would be weird to say, please care about me again.

Knock knock.

Just then, Bonisa came in.

“My lady, I’m here.”

Seeing her, my cluttered thoughts became neatly organized.

I had important things left to do after all.

“So, did you find out what I asked you to?”

“I went down to the village and asked the peddlers, and they said that Kursia has completely blocked entry to the temples.”

“The reason?”

“They said all the temples will be closed for a while as they’re scheduled for a complete reorganization. Everything you said was right, my lady!”

Bonisa answered excitedly to my question.

‘Even the timing is helping me.’

If Kursia has started closing the temples, it will be easier for that man to find out information. The imperial palace and temple sides will already be busy looking for alternatives.

“You’ve worked hard.”

My heart felt much lighter. If the deal is successfully concluded, I can lessen some of Hertian’s heavy burdens too.

“My lady, I also finished making all the tapestries you ordered.”

Moreover, Bonisa’s words made me even happier.

“You already finished making that large amount?”

“I’ve been making nothing but tapestries my whole life, so a mere few dozen is no big deal.”

She added nonchalantly.

“Still, making such a large quantity at once is no easy task.”

“The maids in the Grand Ducal Palace helped a lot. They said everyone here has made them at least once since it’s a cold region.”

“I see.”

How impressive.

I stroked Bonisa’s hair. The feeling of her flat-tied hair was nice. I had wanted to touch it for a while, and now I got my wish.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Bonisa blushed shyly and asked me.

“My lady… what are you going to do with the tapestries?”

“I’m going to take them to the frontier villages. It’s colder there since they’re at higher elevations than regular villages. Besides, most only have thin cloth tapestries that are inadequate for blocking the wind, so I wanted to give at least these out to each household.”

That place was not fit for human habitation.

Even the Grand Ducal Palace is so cold it’s barely livable, but the village halfway up the mountain was extreme. Even with fires blazing, white breath still rose in wisps.

‘We may have to go there often from now on, so we need to do at least this much to endure.’

Since we can’t renovate the entire village, I had tapestries made as an urgent measure.

“But this is the expensive cotton fabric you bought as your dowry when you got married, my lady.”

Bonisa was right.

Originally I had brought it to make clothes needed for the Grand Ducal household, but we already had more than enough dresses.

I had simply put it to better use.

“Isn’t this better than just using it for dresses?”

“Still, shouldn’t we keep some for you, my lady?”

“The tapestries in the palace are plenty good enough.”

Once we earn money from the business, we’ll renovate the Grand Ducal Palace too, so there was no need to be greedy.

“But still…”

Bonisa stood there for a while with a face that couldn’t understand. Then she suddenly raised her head and said,

“There’s quite a bit of fabric left over from making the tapestries. I’ll use it to make clothes for you, my lady!”

She seemed unable to let it go.

“No, we’ll use that to make outer garments for the maids in the palace.”

“Huh…? With that precious fabric?”

“Yes. Bonisa, I’ll have two made especially for you. What kind of clothes are these? You’ll catch a cold right away.”

I had been concerned every time I saw the maids walking around in thin clothes.

It made me feel cold just looking at them.

So I was planning to make and have them wear them even if they refused.

Bonisa stared at me blankly.

“But we can’t…”

“If you refuse, I’ll give you my clothes instead. How about that rabbit fur one over there?”

As I made a motion to open the wardrobe, she hurriedly ran over to stop me.

“Ah, no! I’ll wear them!”

Seeing her agree to wear them so readily, I turned around pretending to be disappointed. Then suddenly remembering the fuss over the dress decorations at the wedding, I asked her,

“By the way, is there still no letter from Cassian? He should have replied by now since we sent a response at the wedding.”

The letter is late, though.

Even accounting for slower delivery in the north compared to the capital.

“The only letter that’s come for you is the one from the Count, my lady.”

Bonisa answered glumly, matching my expression.

‘Did he feel burdened when it came time to actually meet?’

In the last letter, I had set a date to meet.

I had given plenty of time so he wouldn’t feel pressured. But if there was still no reply, he may not be fully prepared yet.

“It will come soon. But he may have forgotten, so contact the Count’s estate just in case.”

“Yes, my lady.”

These days, Bonisa’s face was full of vigor.

‘My lady is truly a wonderful person.’

It was because of Anette, who had given Bonisa hope to live on from their first meeting until now.

Though she had followed her recklessly, she didn’t regret it for a moment. Rather, life in the north was enjoyable as it reminded her of her hometown.

“I should hurry and make the clothes to show my lady.”

With an overflowing heart, she headed to where the maids were.

The maids would soon know how good a person Anette was too.

However, before she could even open the door, voices from inside instantly shattered her expectations.

“I hear the lady has gotten into the fun of going out these days?”

“That’s right. They say she spends all day wandering around the castle for fun without taking care of any household matters.”

“I knew it. What good is it that she’s kind? She doesn’t care at all about us or the people of the domain.”

She knew they liked to gossip behind people’s backs, but she hadn’t realized they would even badmouth someone they didn’t properly know.

“That’s how all those noble young ladies from the capital are. They just live for the fun of dangling jewels all over themselves.”

Bang!

Unable to listen any longer, Bonisa burst through the door. The two maids merely glanced at Bonisa without paying her any mind. Instead, they continued their conversation in louder voices now that Bonisa had entered.

“I wonder if our domain’s money is just being wasted now that the lady has come.”

“I know, right? The lady is a noble from the capital, how could she understand our circumstances?”

“How would she know our true feelings… Ack!”

Just then, a heavy pile of fabric fell heavily on top of the maids’ heads. Bonisa had thrown it.

She could no longer stand to hear the maids spouting nonsense about Anette when they knew nothing about her.

“What are you doing all of a sudden?”

The maid glared at Bonisa irritably.

“Hey… leave her be. She’s the maid the lady brought with her.”

The maid next to her hushed the other and looked Bonisa up and down.

“You must be happy. Staying warm and comfortable by the lady’s side.”

“I heard it was the lady who ordered us to make tapestries yesterday? I hear she’s weak and susceptible to cold, so I suppose she plans to hang them all over her room? I wonder if she’ll even be able to bear children later if she can’t handle this much cold.”

Bonisa’s neck had already turned red.

She wanted to grab them by the hair. Yet she didn’t act rashly because she didn’t want Anette to be cursed because of her. Bonisa just glared at them, gritting her teeth.

“Why are you looking at us like that? We’re just worried about the lady. You’re not thinking of running to tell the lady what we said, are you?”

“…Just get ready to make the clothes.”

Then she said, swallowing her tearful voice.

“Or is the lady going to bring in new dresses again?”

In fact, aside from the dresses Hertian had gifted her, Anette wore layered existing clothes.

But in the maids’ eyes, Anette only appeared to be a frivolous young lady who just played around.

‘Miss Lily was right. She came to enjoy herself comfortably as the Grand Duchess.’

Moreover, since the couple got along well, there was no one to scold her for eating and playing.

The maids inwardly thought it was fortunate that at least Lily was here.

“So how many sets do we need to make?”

At the curt question, Bonisa swallowed her indignation and answered.

“50 sets.”

You’ll regret this later.