You can learn a lot of information by looking at a person’s belongings.

“It’s getting scary now. Did the Duchess also tell you that I’m married?”

“I could tell from the decoration on the sword.”

Besides the imperial family’s crest, there was a decoration made of woven threads at the end of the sword. The Emperor wouldn’t have put something so intricate and pretty on it, and subordinates certainly wouldn’t have gifted it.

Unless it was from a wife.

“What if you cut yourself with the sword that your wife prayed over for Sir Kantad’s safety?”

“She’s a wife I’ve only seen twice anyway.”

I looked up at him while wrapping the cloth.

“No, then you should have brought your wife here too.”

No matter how tired of love quarrels one might be. To leave his wife behind?

“To live with my wife in this tent?”

“You should build a house and live there!”

“Such a fuss. It’s a political marriage anyway.”

At his heartless answer, I shook my head. Suddenly I felt a bit grateful to Hertian. Even though it’s a contract marriage, he takes care of my health and daily life. If anything, it’s too much.

“It’s the opposite of my husband.”

“…You had a husband?”

He immediately asked back.

“Of course. Look at my beauty. Would men leave me alone?”

I shrugged my shoulders. He slowly closed and opened his eyes.

“That’s true.”

I said it myself, but I didn’t expect him to agree.

“It was a joke, I feel embarrassed when you answer so seriously.”

“I don’t tell lies.”

I laughed off his words as a joke.

“Are you on good terms?”

It was a difficult question to answer.

We were on good terms, but it was a manufactured relationship.

“Well. Ours was also something like a political marriage.”

This time I answered honestly. Here, I’m the Duchess’s proxy after all.

[This is the timeline separator]

Meanwhile, Jackson, who had returned from his business trip, heard Gilota’s report and his jaw dropped.

“What? Did Madam really buy medicinal herbs for 50 million gold and resell them for 3 billion?”

“Shh, shush! Lower your voice, Sir Jackson!”

Gilota kept trying to quiet Jackson’s loud voice, afraid the sound might leak out.

“It’s a secret from the master, you see.”

“Why? You said she already signed the contract. Wasn’t she going to tell him after the deal was done?”

Gilota shook his head vigorously.

“It’s not over yet. The Kursia side put a condition that Madam personally teach them the treatment method.”

“And Her Grace the Duchess accepted that?”

“Yes. She goes out every day saying that’s how she can earn 3 billion.”

For Jackson, who still looked perplexed, Gilota explained in detail what had happened.

“I understand the situation. But isn’t it strange?”

“What do you mean?”

“The reason Madam is so passionate about business.”

No matter how much he thought about it, Jackson couldn’t understand.

“Was the budget allocated to Madam insufficient?”

Life in the capital, no, the Duchess’s life was more than abundant.

It was enough budget to have fresh meat for three meals a day, and still have enough left over to have dresses tailored from the capital’s renowned clothing shops every season.

But why? What was lacking?

“Actually…”

At that moment, Gilota spoke with difficulty.

“Gilota, tell me everything without hiding anything.”

Jackson grabbed his shoulders tightly and pressed him. He couldn’t tell the Duke, but he couldn’t bear to keep it a secret from Jackson, his direct superior. It felt like walking on thin ice. Finally, the inside story spilled from his trembling lips.

“It’s because of the repairs to the Grand Duchy.”

“Repairs? Ah, because the castle isn’t luxurious enough? Well, the castle is a bit old.”

“Oh no, that’s not the reason. Her Grace the Duchess doesn’t care about such decorations. Rather, she said the castle was cold and wanted repairs. But when I told her there was no money for repairs because the budget went to Kursia, she immediately started the business.”

“She’s pursuing business to repair the castle…?”

Jackson chewed on those words several times. Then his eyes sparkled as if he had realized something.

“No, no.”

“Pardon?”

“Think about it. Have you ever seen someone start a business just because they’re cold?”

“Um… no?”

“Both you and I have lived here for over ten years, but we’ve never set aside a budget to repair the castle.”

“That’s true.”

Jackson put his arm around his shoulder and spoke secretly.

“Would Madam be any different? Besides, Madam has clothes made of rabbit fur, fox fur, squirrel fur, and a warm room, would she start a business just because it’s cold?”

“That’s right. Unless it’s to buy clothes.”

Now that he heard it, it made sense.

Who would start a business because they’re cold?

“There must be a hidden motive.”

“Ah.”

As expected of Sir Jackson!

All this time, Madam’s behavior had been somewhat incomprehensible, but it was all because of this.

Gilota felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest.

“Then why did Madam start the business?”

“Listen carefully, Gilota.”

“Yes.”

Jackson steadied his trembling voice and said.

“It seems that Madam… might be a person with greater ambitions than our master.”

“Pardon?”

“Listen. Even if Madam has the ability of foresight, she could easily do business within the empire. But why did she risk danger to extract 3 billion from the Kursians? What do you think it means?”

“I’m not sure… gasp.”

Gilota inhaled sharply as if he had realized something.

“Yes, it means Her Grace the Duchess intends to carry out the revenge that neither His Majesty the Emperor nor the previous Duke could achieve.”

Jackson’s voice was more choked up than before as he rubbed his nose.

Somehow, she had seemed different from their first meeting.

When he asked about the secret to her smooth hands and she immediately proposed a deal.

If she proposed a deal to him just for that, there’s no way she would stay quiet after losing the people of the territory.

As expected of the woman the Duke chose.

Jackson felt his chest swell.

“We might need to stock up on weapons. No, we might need to make a new map soon!”

“To think Madam had such intentions. I had no idea…”

“Hmph, Madam is truly a master strategist. Let’s pretend we haven’t noticed. That way Madam will be more comfortable.”

“Of course, of course.”

It was then, as the two were caught up in excitement.

The door creaked open.

Gilota was the first to spot the man leaning against the door.

“M-Master?”

There stood Hertian, a figure who shouldn’t have been there. He spoke quietly with his arms crossed.

“I’ll give you a chance to report honestly.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Three weeks passed.

Every day, I went to the frontier village to teach the soldiers the treatment method.

And each time, I had to tell a terrible lie to Hertian.

“Are you going out again today?”

“There are still places left to look around. I think I won’t need to look around anymore after about a week.”

He might have been suspicious, but he just stared into my eyes and quietly said he understood.

Each time, I wondered if he was asking while knowing my circumstances.

But that couldn’t be.

‘If that were the case, he would have stopped me long ago.’

It was then. The study door opened and the butler hurriedly entered.

“Master, Madam! A guest has arrived at the castle now.”

“A guest? We didn’t invite anyone.”

“Well, His Highness Prince Serdis has arrived.”

It’s because an uninvited guest has come.

Our eyes met at the same time. I let out a faint sigh.

“I guess I won’t be able to go out today.”

[This is the timeline separator]

It was a name I had completely forgotten since coming to Blandice.

“His Highness Prince Serdis.”

“Anette, it’s been a while.”

I never expected to see him even in the north.

It seemed Hertian felt the same, as he was staring at him fiercely with a stiff face beside me.

We could have quickly driven out an uninvited guest, but we couldn’t.

“Lady Anette, no, now it’s Her Grace the Duchess, it doesn’t roll off the tongue.”

It was because of the woman who timidly followed behind Serdis.

“Lady Violet.”

I remembered inviting her to the territory, but I hadn’t thought she would come with Serdis.

I looked back and forth between these two with a slightly bewildered face. It didn’t seem like the two had gotten closer.

By the looks of it, Serdis seemed to have followed Violet here without warning.

I looked at Serdis with a disgusted face before finally giving up.

“Please come inside for now.”

It was comical to see the four of us sitting side by side in the reception room. After all, this marriage had also happened because of Serdis.

“Lady Violet!”

Breaking the silence, Lili entered. She sat next to Violet and spoke to her familiarly.

“You didn’t say you were coming to the north. How did you come all the way here?”

“Lili, it’s been a while.”

They seemed to be acquainted. Unlike when dealing with me, she had a happy face.

I ignored Lili and carefully observed Serdis.

‘What’s his intention for coming all the way here this time?’

He wouldn’t have come to this far north without any thought. Whether to watch how well we’re doing. Or if he had other intentions. There must be a reason for his visit.

“What brings Your Highness here?”

“I was curious how you were living. But wow, the north is desolate and cold as I heard. The castle is rough too.”

He just looked around the castle, pretending to be innocent.

“Now that you’ve seen we’re living well, have dinner and leave. If you leave today, you should be able to return to the castle by tomorrow afternoon.”

“Anette. Why are you so cold after getting married? Are you two perhaps not getting along?”

Hertian put down his glass loudly.

I glanced at him and spoke. Since that day, I hadn’t had many conversations with Hertian. He also seemed to be mindful of what I had said, as he only came into the bedroom at dawn every day to hold me warmly.

‘This isn’t how I meant for us to be.’

I just hoped that he, already tired from work, wouldn’t become more exhausted because of me.

But overnight, our relationship had grown cold. It was too late now to take back what I had said. No, it seemed I could only treat him comfortably after the deal was over at the very least.

“You sound like you’re hoping our relationship has soured.”

Hertian’s voice broke my reverie. Serdis shrugged his shoulders and continued speaking glibly.

“Why say such hurtful things? I sincerely congratulated you more than anyone before the wedding and at the wedding. Have you already forgotten?”

“You did.”

I was the one who answered.

“You congratulated us so intensely that we didn’t even realize there was poison in Her Majesty the Empress’s glass. I almost drank the poison too.”

I deliberately brought up the incident Serdis had orchestrated. I wanted him to know that I had figured out the whole story of this incident, intending for him to leave.

But Serdis was not a man to back down so easily.

“That’s right. I had quite a hard time because of that incident too. Why the poison only went to mother. Whether someone had targeted her.”

He used his characteristic glib manner to shift the blame to someone else.

“There was only one person at that place who could have poisoned mother. Don’t you think?”