“The day after tomorrow.”

Claude stopped abruptly in her tracks.

“…What did you say?”

“The day after tomorrow.”

She was taken aback by the butler’s response.

Seeing Claude’s reaction, the butler tilted his head in confusion.

“Did the lord not inform you about the banquet yet, my lady?”

“Not at all! This is the first I’m hearing of it.”

As Claude’s voice rose in seriousness, the butler began to smooth over his master’s oversight.

“The lord has always been a reasonable person. Since returning from the five-year war, whenever his birthday came around, he would pay respects to the previous lord and lady, then rest for a day in the annex in the rear garden.”

“Is that so? I would have thought there’d be many wanting to celebrate the birthday of the head of House Temnes.”

The butler spoke proudly.

“Of course. But even the gifts received were sorted separately and used to support the serfs’ independence.”

“The serfs’ independence?”

“Yes. As the lord pays special attention to it, there aren’t many serfs left in Temnes now.”

A lord ruling over vast territories, vassals who mostly held noble status or were related to noble families, and below them the commoners of the fief – one might think that was the extent of it, but in reality, there was an even lower class.

The serfs were bound to the land.

Unlike commoners who could freely engage in commerce, services, technical work, or hold public office in the fief’s operations and management, these were people born on the land, tied to it for life, and buried in it.

The hands and feet that cultivated the vast territories.

Rather than being considered people, they existed like the soil spread across the harvested fields or blades of grass, becoming part of the farm even when the land’s owner changed, with nothing else changing for them.

Claude was passionate about serving outside the castle walls in Belmont too. It was partly because she couldn’t go outside the castle at other times, and partly because, having grown up as a commoner, she felt more comfortable with the down-to-earth fief residents than with the people in the castle.

However, as her own status changed overnight from commoner to noble, and a line was drawn that prevented her from interacting with her friend Hannah as before, she became more interested in the highs and lows of the class system.

What particularly pained Claude was that children born to serfs were destined to become serfs themselves, just like their parents.

Just as potatoes or wheat planted in the ground produce the same seeds.

But hearing that Kaian had paid attention to and resolved such matters made her feel as if light was shining into the dim corridor from somewhere.

“Except for the Pagos region near the capital, most have become commoners now.”

“I see. He’s truly done remarkable work.”

“He is an exceptional person indeed. More outstanding than anyone who has become the lord of Rowen Castle in hundreds of years. He easily accomplishes things that they couldn’t achieve over a long time.”

The butler’s words conveyed the pride he felt in serving such a master.

Although she had only known Kaian for a few months, Claude agreed with the butler’s opinion.

He was a man who could even save someone like her who had been given a death sentence.

“The decision to hold the banquet was made this morning.”

“Why did he decide to hold a banquet so suddenly?”

“Until now, he probably thought there was no one to celebrate for, since the previous lord and lady were not here. But now you are here, my lady. And being close to the autumn festival, he might not have given it much thought.”

As she listened to the butler’s words, Claude found herself in front of her room.

“Don’t worry about the banquet preparations.”

“Alright.”

However, even after Claude entered the room, the butler didn’t close the door, hesitating as if he wanted to say something more.

“Is there something else?”

“If you need funds to prepare a gift for the lord, you can use a promissory note.”

“Ah…”

“Due to your illness, I haven’t been able to inform you before, but there are funds you can freely use. The lord entrusted them to me separately, in case you might need them while he was busy.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Yes, my lady.”

The butler smiled contentedly, as if pleased that she would pay attention to her husband’s gift.

“Don’t worry too much. The lord is not a particularly picky person.”

After closing the door, Claude went to sit on the sofa.

“Phew.”

She sighed deeply as she sat on the soft sofa, closing her eyes. Then, as she got up, she stretched her feet.

“Not picky, indeed!”

Kaian’s tastes were extremely particular in every aspect.

The butler’s words were a very subjective assessment that had lost all objectivity.

This was because, having stayed in Rowen Castle even longer than Kaian, the butler’s standard itself was nothing short of ‘perfection’.

Claude could understand why the butler called Kaian a ‘reasonable person’.

Unlike Duke Belmont, he wasn’t the type to obsess over pomp and ceremony.

Surprisingly, he acted as he pleased, but due to his innate elegance, it didn’t look unsightly at all, but rather appeared refreshing and uninhibited.

“But everything he owns is of the finest quality.”

Each and every item Kaian used or owned had class. When you put them all together, you could see how discerning and high his standards were.

“Sigh. What should I give him?”

Claude felt a tightness in her chest.

“To find out about my husband’s birthday just two days before.”

After sleeping tonight, there would be only one day left.

“If we hadn’t married this way by royal decree, I would have at least known his birthday.”

Even in noble marriages, it was common to court for about a year.

Sighing to herself, Claude laughed, finding it ridiculous.

“What am I saying? If it weren’t for the royal decree, there’s no way someone from Temnes like him and I would ever have married.”

Thoughts that go round and round sometimes end after reaching an epiphany.

“A birthday gift…”

Wanting to give something is because you have feelings for him.

Although their relationship still had much to learn about each other, if she gave him something now, it would become a memory next year, the year after.

“What might he like?”

Something that would leave a lasting feeling of joy.

Claude suddenly looked down at her own hand.

On the ring finger of her left hand, she still wore the button ornament that Kaian had given her on the second night, like a ring.

At first Hannah, and after Hannah had become a loyal servant who swore her soul to Temnes, Kaian had made a fuss about taking it off and throwing it away.

But Claude didn’t want to do that.

“It’s the first thing I received from Kaian.”

Looking at the golden crescent moon-like shape on her slender white finger, the humiliation she had endured when receiving it didn’t become a wound in her heart.

Back then, neither Kaian nor Claude knew each other.

Their minds were blank on how to deal with each other and how to behave, given the antagonism of the previous generation.

Claude thought that Kaian was making an effort.

Although it bothered her that he kept trying to compensate her materially even though she was his wife, anyone who heard about it would say she was complaining about too much good fortune.

Perhaps that was also Kaian’s way of approaching her.

“I want to give him something nice too.”

It was not an easy dilemma.

Knock knock.

At the sound of knocking on the door, Claude slowly went to open it with a grumpy expression.

“Why such a face? You haven’t even changed your clothes yet.”

Kaian was in comfortable attire, having come to rest.

“I just heard about the banquet now.”

“Is that such a big deal?”

When he spoke dismissively, Claude bristled.

“Is this how I should find out about your birthday?”

“Was that the problem?”

“I need to prepare.”

“The butler is taking care of it, so there’s no need to worry.”

Thinking she couldn’t bring up the gift here, Claude kept her mouth shut. Thinking she was feeling burdened by the sudden news of the banquet, Kaian began to comfort Claude, holding her.

“Since you couldn’t attend on the third day of the wedding banquet.”

Kaian had thought that Claude, upset about the button ornament, had deliberately not come to the banquet to embarrass him.

‘What? She won’t attend?’

‘Yes, Your Grace. She says she’s too ill to attend.’

‘Tell her she’ll never be called to a banquet again.’

He had said such things in anger, but it was clear that the wise butler had not relayed those words to Claude.

Now he knew that she must have been truly very ill at that time.

It was a very fortunate thing.

“You only danced at the festival and returned to the castle, so you should properly show your face.”

“You’re the one who brought me back.”

“You enjoyed it though.”

Claude glared at the shameless man, but the strength in her eyes gradually faded. Often, when she looked at her husband’s face, her anger would dissipate just like that.

“Don’t be too nervous. The reputation has been good since the festival.”

“What are they saying?”

“I heard there was no one whispering about you being a Belmont.”

“That’s a relief.”

He pressed his lips against her forehead.

“It’s just having one dinner. There’s no need to feel burdened.”

“Alright.”

“You should prepare well. Shall I help you change?”

One of the things Kaian was most absorbed in these days was playing dress-up with Claude.

The next day, Claude headed to the rear garden after a long time.

She had been busy with the festival, then suddenly introduced to Rohan, and now the banquet.

There was no end to things to worry about.

“The life of a lord’s lady is naturally busy.”

Even her aunt, the Duchess of Belmont, was so busy that sometimes she couldn’t be seen even at mealtimes.

“The Rowen fief is even larger than Belmont. You knew you’d be busy when you properly became the lord’s lady.”

But she didn’t know her husband would be so uncooperative with his sudden announcements.

Claude, lying in the water, sighed and closed her eyes.

“Should I show him swimming as a gift?”

She still kept it a secret from Kaian that she had learned to swim.

She hadn’t forgotten how he had played a trick on her, offering to help her float but then letting go, causing her to sink.

So she had been thinking that when she became proficient at swimming, she would pretend to be drowning once to tease him.

She was also curious about how he would react when he saw her swimming skillfully.

Remembering how Kaian had looked as flexible as a mermaid and as elegant and free as a large fish when he first swam, she wondered if he would find her swimming just as beautiful.

“A gift. The gift is the problem.”

She had already been to the marketplace in the morning, but there was no way she could match Kaian’s standards with things from where ordinary fief residents shopped.

Everything he owned, even a single pen, was custom-made.

Claude’s eyes widened as she dove underwater.

Swimming down to the bottom of the lake, she stretched out her hand as far as she could and picked up something from the deep.

“Puha!”

As she emerged from the water and opened her hand, there was a small red stone about the size of her thumb joint on her palm.

“…It’s pretty.”

Strangely, the smooth pebble, which looked as if someone had carved and polished it, was heart-shaped.

“Should I give him this instead?”

However, thirty minutes later, Madame Marsel and Hannah exclaimed in unison:

“No way!”