Most of the noble ladies she knew would normally first ask about their monthly allowance and how much wealth they could access in such a situation.
Moreover, given that she’s a six-month terminally ill duchess, most people would try to increase their wealth during that time, but to ask about family rules…
Clea bowed her head and answered, seeing Mercian’s serious expression as she questioned.
“My lady. It is as the master said.”
“Huh?”
“Our ducal family doesn’t have separate rules. The master has been frequently absent from the duchy for a very long time, and since the Canoloup madam has lived separately after the master received the title of duke at 18, there hasn’t been anyone to manage this place. As a result, the master gave each maid and servant their own tasks and didn’t interfere with what they did after completing those tasks. You can do anything as long as it doesn’t harm the reputation of the duchy.”
“Ah, I see.”
As long as it doesn’t harm the reputation of the duchy?
In fact, unless I go out to look for a house to live in within 6 months, I won’t have any reason to go out. So I guess it doesn’t matter to me?
“But now that you are the mistress of this duchy, if you want to create rules, you can do so.”
There’s no need for someone who will only live here for 6 months to touch a duchy that’s already running well.
Thinking that she would live as if she didn’t exist since she would be leaving soon, Mercian shook her head and replied.
“No. I’m someone who will leave here in 6 months! So I don’t want to touch anything in the duchy.”
Clea, seeing Mercian who was somewhat different from the noble ladies she had known, felt sorry for the fact that Ruan was terminally ill.
The duchy, which had always been bleak, changed with Ruan staying for just two days.
The servants of the duchy, who saw their master, who had lived with an indifferent expression to everything, now having expressions on his face and ordering food from the chef for his wife, were rejoicing that it finally felt like a place where people lived.
Clea, who had been worried because she was from a low-ranking family, also liked Mercian, who had much better character and personality than any high-ranking noble ladies.
It’s really good that such a nice person has become the mistress, but is the master’s poison really incurable?
Clea wished more earnestly than when she first learned about Ruan’s poisoning that he could be detoxified.
[This is the timeline separator]“Then, Clea, is there nothing I need to do separately as a duchess? Don’t I need to hold banquets or balls or anything like that?”
Mercian, who had never formally learned noble etiquette, was worried about what would happen if she had to hold a banquet.
If there was enough time it wouldn’t matter, but it’s impossible to perfectly learn noble etiquette in just a month or two.
“No, my lady. You don’t have to hold banquets separately, but since you got married, shouldn’t you hold at least a ceremonial family tea gathering?”
“Family tea gathering?”
“Your family members will also be curious about how you’re living, so it would be good to hold one for that reason as well.”
Mom and sister…
Somehow I don’t feel like it. But if I don’t hold one, they’ll probably torment me asking when I’m going to hold one, right?
Moreover, my sister said nonsensical things before she left, surely she wouldn’t search the duchy during a tea gathering, would she?
Clea, seeing Mercian’s expression change momentarily at her words, thought she had made a mistake.
“My lady, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to hold a family tea gathering.”
“Alright, thank you. I’ll think about it.”
Mercian fell into contemplation over the difficult problem Clea had thrown at her.
“Oh, and my lady, Ed says he has something to tell you.”
“Ed? Tell him to come in.”
After Clea left, Edward entered with a stack of documents.
“Ed? What’s all this?”
“This is the duchy’s annual budget and monthly operating expenses.”
“Ah, operating expenses.”
Mercian looked at the operating expenses Edward handed over and checked the amount again, seemingly surprised.
“Wait, the duchy’s monthly operating expenses are 250 gold coins?”
“Yes, since the duke started getting sick, we’ve been using a lot of medicinal ingredients, so the operating expenses are quite high.”
Despite Edward’s explanation, Mercian still looked surprised, recalling Ruan’s request to her yesterday.
“You want me to set the monthly operating expenses at 250 gold coins? But currently, 100 gold coins are enough to run the duchy, why are you using so much?”
“I want to give it to my wife.”
“What? Oh, I see. Then I’ll calculate the operating expenses according to what the master said.”
“Thank you.”
Mercian, keeping her gaze fixed on the documents, continued speaking.
“No matter how I think about it, the operating expenses are too high, and why on earth are the duchess’s dress expenses so high?”
“This amount is what ladies of ordinary noble families usually use.”
“Is that so?”
Mercian nodded at Edward’s words and said.
“Ed has been managing the duchy well until now, so continue to do so.”
“Then, I will give you the remaining amount at the end of each month, my lady.”
“Remaining amount?”
Mercian recalled Ruan’s words and nodded.
“Alright, please do that. Oh, and I don’t particularly need dresses, so remove that money from the operating expenses.”
At Mercian’s words, Edward made a troubled expression and replied.
“That’s impossible, my lady. The duke has already approved it, so if you don’t want to purchase dresses, I’ll add it to the money I give you at the end of the month.”
Mercian didn’t want Edward to be in a difficult position because of her, so she reluctantly nodded.
“Then, I’ll take my leave now.”
After Edward left, Mercian once again fell into contemplation about the tea gathering.
At that time in the imperial palace, in Ruan’s office.
“So you’re saying you fall into a deep sleep without sleeping pills next to the duchess?”
“And within 5 minutes at that.”
At Ruan’s words, Cassel shouted in disbelief.
“That’s amazing. You said you would wake up after two hours even after taking so many types of sleeping pills. Then, as you said, the duchess might be your sleeping pill.”
Sleeping pill…
Ruan could tell that when he slept with Mercian, for reasons he couldn’t understand, his heart felt at ease and his mood improved.
Is it because my heart is at ease that I sleep well? Or?
Recalling Mercian squirming into his arms, Ruan smiled without realizing it.
“Is that so? Well, the soft feeling when I hold the duchess’s body is nice. Once I start touching, I feel the urge to keep touching.”
“What?”
When Cassel asked about the incomprehensible words, Ruan changed the subject as if it was nothing.
“It’s nothing. Oh, what about that viscount’s daughter?”
“Today, His Highness the Crown Prince and that viscount’s daughter had a secret meeting, I hear.”
“Oh? So what evidence did the viscount’s daughter hand over to the Crown Prince? Didn’t she say she would find evidence of treason within a few days?”
“No, she didn’t say anything like that.”
“What?”
“According to the informant who secretly listened to their conversation, the viscount’s daughter spent the entire meeting with His Highness the Crown Prince lamenting about how much the duchess looks down on her.”
“That means the duchess rejected her sister’s proposal.”
“Well, that’s the conclusion, I suppose?”
She chose me over her sister whom she’s lived with for a long time?
She thought her husband was more important than her own family?
Ruan’s mood improved at Cassel’s words, and a smile appeared on his face.
What’s this? Why is that person smiling so frighteningly again when it doesn’t fit?
“Cassel, do I have any other work to do today?”
“No, there isn’t.”
“Then I should leave the palace now.”
“Wait a moment, Duke. I don’t think we’ve discussed the really important matter yet?”
“What important matter? Speak quickly.”
This person… It’s about your life!
Cassel looked at Ruan in bewilderment, as he usually worked through the night as if he would bury his bones in the imperial palace, but was suddenly trying to leave work early.
“I’m talking about that curse of yours, Duke.”
“Ah. Right, the curse. The line is slowly rising towards my heart. And I collapsed once this morning. Fortunately, I regained consciousness soon after.”
Ruan recalled Mercian putting her ear to his heart with worried eyes this morning.
Thanks to that, I was able to sleep soundly in my wife’s arms.
“You collapsed? Sigh, how can you say such a big thing as if it’s a morning greeting? It seems the symptoms are starting to appear little by little. After I found and consulted all the magicians of Allomond, including sorcerers…”
Seeing Cassel hesitate, Ruan spoke in an irritated voice.
“Sigh. Are you playing some kind of game with me now? Just say it, why are you beating around the bush?”
“The curse the elder spoke of was correct.”
“You mean that witch’s curse?”
“Yes… The method to break the curse is also as the elder said, if you come to love someone so much that you would be willing to stake your life for them, the curse will be broken.”
“Is that so? So that’s how it is.”
Ruan responded with an indifferent expression to Cassel’s words.
“Then, the elder said that with this curse, the heart gradually hardens as time passes. Are there no other symptoms? This morning, I suddenly collapsed with the feeling that my heart was stopping, without any precursor symptoms. Do such symptoms occur frequently?”
“Just a moment.”
Cassel rolled up Ruan’s sleeve and examined his wrist.
“Fortunately, it’s not serious yet. According to the elder, with this curse, these thin lines like capillaries gradually thicken over time, and as they approach the heart, you feel tremendous pain. If you feel like your heart is about to stop, smell this scent bag.”
“What is this?”
“It’s a temporary remedy, but it’s a scent bag made specially for you by the elder, using dried flowers of a plant called Pomeranian. They say that smelling it can temporarily reduce the occurrence of heart-stopping phenomena.”
“A scent bag?”
Ruan smelled the scent bag Cassel handed over.
The scent bag with its subtle fragrance was less stimulating than expected.
“It’s not bad, actually.”
“Always carry it with you. Of course, for now, even if you collapse, you’ll soon wake up so there’s no major problem, but when that thin line passes through your shoulder towards your heart, even this scent bag won’t be of much help. So before that…”
“Find a love worth risking my life for?”
“Since that’s the only way to break the curse.”
Ruan nodded indifferently as he put the scent bag in his breast pocket at Cassel’s words.
“I understand. You can go now.”
After Cassel left, Ruan rolled up his sleeve and quietly looked at the red line.
When he heard that he was going to die soon, he actually felt nothing.
How many years have I spent not knowing when I might die in war, so isn’t it fortunate to know when I will die?
At least I have time to put things in order before I leave…
I thought I had no regrets left after fulfilling Olivia’s last wish, but…
Ruan couldn’t understand why Mercian came to mind in this situation.
He only knew that he desperately wanted to see her right now.
[This is the timeline separator]“Where’s my wife?”
As Ruan opened the door of the duchy and entered, looking for Mercian, a woman with striking red hair and exceptional beauty ran towards him and threw herself into his arms, saying,
“Beloved Ruan, I’m back!”
Why She Is Still Unmoved (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: He uses various methods to seek her affection, but she remains unmoved.
Synopsis:
Si Qingyu is a doctor who has saved countless lives and enjoys tranquility.
Luo Shaoxuan is ruthless, deeply scheming, and the top young master in the capital. He admires Si Qingyu.
Luo Shaoxuan: I want to be the only one in your eyes and heart.
Features a cold and calm female lead vs A noble and scheming male lead.
There will be both sweetness and torture towards the male after their marriage.
