“So you came to play the spy, not the duchess.”

Their marriage was within a complex relationship.

The king’s order from Valquiter was sudden.

How many times did I reread the telegram saying to marry Vermonte, unable to believe my eyes even after seeing it?

If Valquiter had given Kaian any hint about his marriage issue beforehand, it wouldn’t have been so bewildering.

From Kaian’s perspective, both the order to marry and the fact that the partner was Vermonte were utterly absurd.

But if he felt that way, so must have Clodel.

‘Don’t make me repeat myself. I asked for your name.’

‘Clodel Queen… Vermonte.’

Lately, he kept recalling Clodel’s face from their wedding night, her features flickering in the candlelight’s shadows.

Even after exchanging vows before God, Kaian had no interest in who his wife was.

From receiving Valquiter’s telegram, rushing to the royal palace as if fleeing the castle, meeting the king who told him ‘Just go north and marry like this,’ until arriving in Falmond.

His mind was blank throughout, only coming to his senses after returning to Lowen Castle.

Yet thinking of the trembling woman that night made him feel sorry, and a bit irritated.

‘So do you think you did well now? What about my position? If this reaches Duke Vermonte’s ears.’

‘Your position? Who do you think is misunderstanding now?’

Clodel was no longer a Vermonte.

Clodel Queen Temnes.

She was Kaian’s wife.

But Clodel still didn’t feel completely subordinate to him.

“I really can’t understand.”

Why she trembled so much before Duke Vermonte.

Duke Vermonte was a cunning and petty man.

At least the Temnes don’t stab you in the back while doing different things from before.

Even without the ancient ancestor’s affairs, the free-spirited and straightforward Temnes would have eventually clashed with the dubious Vermonte who hid his true intentions between sarcasm and vitriol.

“Am I not much better than that old fox?”

Duke Vermonte had pushed Clodel into a death trap.

He literally sent her to Lowen to die.

There’s no way Duke Vermonte didn’t know about or lacked the ability to obtain the medicine Kaian could get, literally.

Wasn’t the prescription obtained through the wanted notice stamped with the Vermonte family seal?

On top of that, he even sent her to marry empty-handed, assuming she would die.

Most noble men wouldn’t know such things.

Many husbands had no interest in what their wives adorned themselves with or carried until they were presented with a bill, only then judging extravagance based on the numbers.

Kaian had a great interest in Clodel, so he noticed due to his sharper intuition than others.

And he was also solving Clodel’s insomnia problem.

Although this solution was very pleasing to Kaian as well, isn’t it true that he was granting her wishes?

“Yet she’s still swayed by that garbage of a duke.”

Kaian, who had never bowed to anyone since birth, overlooked this point.

That for ordinary people, those who hurt and strangle them are more frightening than those who warmly embrace and comfort them.

If he had understood Clodel’s heart, would he have known that she was more anxious about the heartless man who sent her to her deathbed possibly ordering her to return to Falmond at any time, rather than the surprisingly peaceful life with the Temnes?

Their paths were so different that Kaian couldn’t understand Clodel’s feelings.

He was merely displeased that the woman who had become his seemed to be acting as if she would inwardly follow Duke Vermonte’s words.

Knock knock.

When he knocked on the door, he sensed a light, hurried footstep approaching from inside the room.

‘Why rush to open it?’

Whenever he knocked, Clodel always ran to open the door, which was quite cute and adorable.

“Kaian.”

Hannah bowed her head behind the woman who greeted him happily.

“Shall I bring some tea?”

“No need. I’ll just have a short talk and leave.”

As the perceptive maid closed the door and disappeared, Kaian spread his arms towards Clodel.

Then, as if a fairy had flown in, she gently embraced him back, slipping into his arms.

“What brings you here?”

Originally, Kaian saw Clodel about twice a day.

After slipping out of her bedroom at dawn, he would go about his busy schedule and have lunch with her at noon.

After that, he would tend to the affairs of the territory and only see her face again when he went to the bedroom at night.

But even then, they were too busy with bodily conversations to have much opportunity for talk.

The woman who had suffered from lung-scraping pain during her illness with Herzol tried to endure by clenching her mouth shut.

Now, the cute sounds escaping from her slightly parted lips pleased Kaian quite a bit.

Since they were caught up in nightly activities, there was no time to talk about other things, and lunch time was too short. But when he spent all day with Clodel during the time he skipped his daily schedule after being stood up by Valquiter, it was nothing short of heaven.

He could understand why the cliché expression of a ruler corrupted by a woman’s skirts came about.

Since then, Kaian suffered from symptoms of wanting to see Clodel every three hours.

Before, he lived well seeing her only twice a day – in the morning and evening.

Now when his focus on work wavered, he wondered what Clodel was doing and thought of her.

‘But I can’t say that.’

What would happen if I said I came because I missed you?

Would Clodel’s telegram to Duke Vermonte say ‘My husband has completely fallen for me. I’m awaiting your orders.’?

Telegrams are priced per character.

It was customary to compress the content as much as possible so that only the sender and recipient could understand, writing and revising sentences several times to reduce the length of the text to be paid for.

The omitted content was ‘Please don’t send Irena as the duchess’, and Kaian, not knowing that sentence had flowed into ‘I’ll do well’, thought he couldn’t give Clodel room to think she had him tightly in her grasp.

“I stopped by to check if preparations for the festival are going well.”

Pretending to check that there were no issues with the official lady’s schedule.

“I’ve been practicing dancing every day.”

“Can I look forward to it?”

“Of course.”

The smiling woman captivated his eyes.

She didn’t seem human.

Kaian had seen many women in his life, but this was the first time his heart had been moved like this.

But Clodel was his wife, and as long as she didn’t easily fall for the machinations of that old, weak fox who seemed to have not many days left, regardless of Vermonte or whatever, it would be fine.

“Are your festival preparations going well?”

Clodel asked out of the blue.

“Me? What preparations do I need to make?”

“It’s your first time going to a festival with me, isn’t it? Won’t the order be different from when you hosted alone? Adding a dance together is a new item in itself.”

He hadn’t thought of it at all.

“You didn’t know, did you?”

“How could that be? The lord of Lowen doesn’t neglect such things. It’s the territory’s only annual festival after all.”

“Ah. I was going to show you the schedule the butler organized.”

Stroking Clodel’s soft cheek, Kaian lowered his head.

“Do you think I wouldn’t know about such things?”

He worked hard on image management in front of his wife.

It was also more urgent to kiss her now.

It was a secret that Kaian called for the butler to bring the same documents as soon as he left her room.

Three days before the festival.

Madame Marcel arrived at Lowen Castle with ten large carriages.

“Hello. I pay my respects to the Duchess.”

Clodel blinked at the appearance of the sophisticated and lively beauty.

“Welcome.”

“I am the new seamstress of Lowen Castle who will be serving Madam from now on.”

“I hear you’re quite popular in the capital?”

“Oh my. You’ve heard of me?”

“Your skills are famous, and catalogs circulate even in the North. I heard it takes a year of waiting in the capital to buy a dress.”

In fact, Clodel had no interest in dresses, but she could answer smoothly with what she had picked up from Irena.

“It’s an exaggerated rumor. But I can confidently say that I have the skills to please Madam.”

“I look forward to it.”

“Would you like to see the dress for the festival?”

“You must be tired, are you sure?”

“Of course.”

As the friendly seamstress opened the door to Clodel’s bedroom and called her assistant, servants and her assistant placed a torso in the middle of the room and dressed it in a new gown.

“Wow. I’ve never seen a dress like this before!”

Hannah, who had gone to the kitchen to bring tea, exclaimed in admiration.

“The red dress from before. That was very pretty too.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Clodel was also momentarily speechless.

Unlike the cold northern dresses, Lowen-style dresses often had designs that exposed the shoulders or upper chest.

However, even though there were several such daring dresses in the closet, Clodel had never chosen to wear them.

For her, even baring her neck felt awkward and embarrassing.

The dress with a V-line above the chest looked like it would expose quite a bit of skin.

“Will this suit me?”

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

To the puzzled Madame Marcel, Hannah answered instead.

“Madam has only worn northern dresses all along. She’s never worn a dress with this kind of design.”

“Really? That’s impossible. Of course it will suit you well.”

Madame Marcel exclaimed confidently.

“This dress was made solely for Lady Clodel. The entire territory will fall for Madam’s beauty!”

Clodel felt grateful for her words, even if they were just words.

Now that she heard it, the dress did seem a bit daring, but it was certainly pretty.

“You must have worked hard preparing a new dress on top of traveling such a long way.”

“It was no trouble at all.”

Madame Marcel could only smile thinking of the gold coins Kaian had paid her.

“Madam has a different atmosphere from the capital ladies.”

“Me?”

“A charm that draws people’s eyes, I’d say.”

If the noble young ladies of the capital were flowers cultivated in a greenhouse, Clodel was a flower blooming in nature.

In Madame Marcel’s eyes, Clodel would be the most striking flower among a hundred blossoms, inspiring her with ideas for new dresses.

‘I’m glad I came to Lowen. Really.’

In fact, applying for the job in far-off Lowen from the capital was half an impulsive choice.

Knowing that Kaian had rejected a string of renowned seamstresses in the process made her feel like it was a challenge against herself, making her want to try even more.

But after meeting Clodel, she became even more excited about life in Lowen.

After exchanging proper greetings, they sat down for tea.

“Where is your hometown?”

“I was born and raised in the capital.”

“I see. I’ve never been to the capital myself.”

Madame Marcel also knew the common knowledge about the daughter of Vermonte. The rumors about the northern princess who was never seen in the capital’s social circles.

“I see. Feel free to ask me anything you’re curious about.”

After chatting about this and that for a while, Madame Marcel blurted out her true feelings.

“Where there are many people, there’s much gossip. Sigh. They really think I’m so easy now that I’m divorced. Men I couldn’t even approach before are now such a nuisance.”

“You must be very charming for that to happen.”

“It’s all empty talk.”

Then Clodel hesitated before speaking.

“Is it alright to ask this?”

“Ask me anything.”

But the question that came out of her mouth almost made Madame Marcel spit out her tea.

“Is there a secret to capturing a man’s heart?”

…What?