Only then did Conrad slightly pinch the bridge of his nose. Fatigue rushed in all at once. With the treaty with Heferty approaching, as his assistant to the Foreign Minister, his work was piled up like a mountain.

And he had to look after the housework, too.

It was as if he had taken on new work at the mansion, where he had come for a short break. Conrad let out a faint breath and checked the ledger.

Besides the quarterly bill settlement ledger, the review of budget items, and the status of Madelleine’s territory.

Conrad, who gritted his teeth thinking of Jade, soon seemed to give up and shrugged his shoulders. There were rumors in the palace that the deputy commander of the Third Knights, Madelleine Knight, was devoted to fencing like a madman.

It seemed to be related to the work he came with a pale and fatigued face a few days ago, but Conrad didn’t want to call Jade and talk again. If it was resolved even if he tortured his body, that would do.

Conrad picked up his pen again. And he found the record of the last final approval. Unlike the stained ledger in front of him, the front part of the book, where the final approval was completed, was clear at a glance.

It would be nice to just sign the ledger that is so clearly organized.

The moment Conrad, who was looking at the top of the ingredients and Esella’s boutique, and the transactions with various vendors, froze like ice.

When did I stop caring about the household ledger?

My father, the Duke, is ruined by state affairs. It was only natural that Conrad, the young count, took care of the housework.

What changed that natural course was.

“Me, I can look at the ledger well now. Big brother!”

5 years ago. So when I was twenty, just became an assistant. At that time, Olivia was.

“……fifteen.”

The faint voice leaked out. Right, fifteen. Olivia’s ledger, which was a mess at first, gradually improved.

To the point where I only had to do the final review quarterly instead of checking once a month.

Conrad lowered his head.

Now was not the time to fall into such a sentiment. It’s just one person gone for a while. The Emperor still watches over Olivia and Esella, so my father will naturally push Olivia back to the prince’s side.

Everything will return to its place by then.

So it’s done.

Without even knowing what was done, Conrad struggled to convince himself. So he decided to overlook this situation.

The always same flowers in vases even though spring is ending.

The meals that are somehow straying from my taste.

The mansion’s atmosphere as heavy as winter.

Even the gaze that always felt beyond the corridor is gone.

Somehow, it felt deflating. Conrad gritted his teeth and stared at the numbers in the ledger.

Ignoring the familiar elegant handwriting, Conrad wrote down new numbers.

Ignoring the heart that was somehow emptying out, too.

(This is a time separator.)
Beyond the carriage window, Olivia’s eyes caught sight of a road that looked somehow familiar. Dense trees and flowers of modest height. Olivia glanced at the passing road and exclaimed softly, “Ah!”

It was the road she had seen on the way to the abandoned mine. At that time, she had kept looking back through the carriage window, feeling a sense of longing as she left.

Once the memory began, the trees and flowers she had seen then, and the abandoned mine she had followed along the secluded road, became as vivid as if they were painted before her eyes.

Olivia sat close to the window, but the road to the abandoned mine had long passed. Regret welled up in Olivia’s eyes.

“If we go there, I can show Edwin my mine.” Olivia was momentarily conflicted.

Should she find a way to utilize the abandoned mine and then speak? Or should she speak now?

It was just when Olivia was recalling the abandoned mine documents inside her bundle.

“Olivia, are you uncomfortable?”

With a worried face, Edwin looked at her, and Olivia put down her hand.

“No way.”

“The bedding was harder than I thought yesterday. Don’t forget to tell me right away if you feel sick, okay?”

Edwin admonished, as he had at every crossroad on the way to the duchy.

Olivia chuckled.

To be honest, the journey to the duchy was a continuous joy.

The picniclike lunches featured warm soups, salads, fresh fruits, and new dishes, and the hotels in the villages where they stayed every night were nice.

Edwin and Howard Interfield were the ones who fretted over the accommodations.

To them, it seemed that she was still a precious lady who had only slept on the fine bedding of a duke’s residence.

Olivia had slept on straw beds since her childhood and had experienced various lodgings while traveling different regions by the order of the princess.

However, Olivia said nothing.

Their treatment of her, as if she were a precious lady, was both awkward and pleasant. She didn’t think their attitudes would change if she told them about her past. But still.

She wanted to enjoy this newfound happiness for as long as possible.

.

.

.

“You must be uncomfortable for sure.”