“This seems cute to me, but I think there’s something wrong with that.”

Had I not struck Weaslet’s head with the scabbard, but Yezar’s instead?

My serious outcry only made him laugh harder. I truly couldn’t understand what he found so funny.

“Yezar! Stop laughing.”

“Ahaha, I’m sorry. Lately, I don’t know why, but everything just makes me laugh.”

I almost pouted slightly, but since his laughter was a good thing, I decided to let it go—just this once.

“Let’s go quickly. We need to return and handle the tasks waiting for us.”

“Would it be too much to ask to spend a little more time talking with you, my wife?”

“I’d like that too, but only when we’ve finished our duties can we truly enjoy our conversations. As the Duchess, and you as the Duke, we must fulfill our responsibilities so that when we rest, we can do so without thinking of work.”

“In that regard, you’re just like a blade.”

Who had taught him to say such a thing? Comparing me to a blade?

“You’re the one who never misses morning training, so you’re not one to talk. And after spending every day with Yezar, naturally I’ve become sharp like a blade in certain ways.”

I made the effort because I didn’t want to be a burden to him. His dedication as the head of the household was dazzling. I admired it so much that I wanted to become just like him.

“The kind of person I find most admirable is someone who doesn’t delay tasks and sincerely gives their best. That’s why I try hard too—because I want to be like that.”

Normally, I might have lived carefree and lazily, but since coming here, I’d never neglected my duties as the Duchess, nor my social obligations, nor my swordsmanship.

“Could that person possibly be me?”

“Do you not know? But they say spouses grow alike. Perhaps it is me.”

I quickly kissed the tip of his chin and fled. I saw his face turn red. Unconsciously, I started to smile.

I had once wondered why people said spouses grow alike. Now I understood. The longer you spend together, the more you subtly influence each other, in big and small ways.

***

As the day of the banquet approached, Ember became fiercely determined, busily matching my dress and Yezar’s uniform perfectly.

She clearly wanted us to look unmistakably like a married couple. Judging by how meticulously she checked even the accessories, that was certainly her intention.

‘I don’t seem to have much to do. Just staying still actually seems to help.’

Perhaps because Ember was putting her whole heart into preparations, I calmly continued handling my duties as the Duchess. Summer was coming, and we needed to prepare for floods or droughts caused by the dam overflowing.

The steward had told me this was a brief moment of respite before the busiest season. Having finished today’s tasks, I stretched my arms wide.

Through the window, I saw maids rushing back and forth busily. Their activity made me feel slightly guilty for lounging so peacefully. Suddenly, I asked the steward.

“Steward, you know…”

“Yes, my lady, please speak.”

“You know about our arranged marriage, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then do you also know about the time Yezar suffered because of Her Majesty the Empress?”

Ember’s face, when she came to me asking to help me forget my past love, was still vivid in my mind. The steward had never mentioned it to me directly.

But he was one of those who had watched Yezar suffer. Before the banquet, I wanted to steel my resolve.

“I know. How could I not? Seeing the Duke suffer so deeply, my own heart felt like it was crumbling.”

Though his tone was calm, the profound sorrow beneath it ran deep.

“The personal physician could only say it was a sickness of the heart and offered no real remedy. All we could do was watch our master grow weaker and more broken, day by day.”

His voice carried regret as he said that was all they could do. Everyone must have known about Yezar’s long-standing love. And they must have clearly seen how it would end.

“How did Yezar manage to stand up again from that state? He was in so much pain. It must have been unbearable.”

In the novel’s ending, it concluded happily with Bertisha and Camileo’s wedding. Even in the aftermath, it only showed them being happy together.

In that story, Yezar was merely a supporting male lead who quietly disappeared offstage. Whether he suffered or grieved didn’t matter—the protagonists bloomed in their own love and sang of happiness.

Thinking this way, the world seemed truly cruel. The feelings of those who weren’t the main characters simply didn’t matter.

Then, slowly, an answer came to my question.

“I suppose time helped heal it. Still, he gradually began going outside again, walking, and resumed the work he had paused.”

So he started pretending to be fine—for the sake of those around him.

“When he suddenly announced he would get married, I was utterly shocked. And an arranged marriage? I nearly collapsed.”

I would have reacted the same way. Suffering from love, then suddenly deciding to marry—like roasting beans under lightning.

Now I realized, I had casually agreed without much thought. But the steward’s shock wasn’t about that.

“I was too stunned by the Duke’s rudeness.”

“Huh?”

“He had suffered so deeply in love. It wasn’t as if he’d fallen in love at first sight. To anyone’s eyes, it was obvious he had chosen a marriage partner without love.”

The steward’s eyes had suddenly hardened with anger. Wait, wasn’t he one of the people who cared deeply for Yezar?

“And on top of that—an arranged marriage! Marriage isn’t a game. Setting a time limit and signing a contract? What kind of disrespect is that?”

I see. I had happily stamped my seal without hesitation. Somehow, it seemed the people around me were always more horrified than I was, the one directly involved.

“At that time, I scolded the Duke for the first time in years. Even when he was a young master, he never angered me like this. Now that he’s grown, what does he think love is? How could he make some other family’s precious young lady suffer?”

I, the ‘precious young lady’ being referred to, could only blink in silence.

“I was fine.”

I hadn’t been that precious to begin with. Adding that would only make the steward more agitated, so I kept quiet.

“Your ladyship is naturally kind and gentle. Other noble ladies wouldn’t have stayed quiet. They’d have been furious, shouting that he was mocking them—just as I scolded the Duke.”

The atmosphere suddenly felt strange. Hadn’t he just been grieving over Yezar’s painful love a moment ago?

“But that arranged marriage… wasn’t it inevitable due to family pressure? He had to find a suitable match anyway.”

I thought perhaps there was no need to be so angry. But the steward’s expression darkened instantly.

“What are you saying? That was entirely the Duke’s unilateral decision. Whatever resolve he had made, when he came back having finalized everything alone… Hah, just thinking about it makes my head throb.”

So it was all something Yezar did alone. Why had I assumed it was due to family pressure? I thought he sought me out because the conditions matched.

‘He insisted on marriage probably because of Bertisha, right?’

After all, he was the Duke of the Ferhaem family. “Welcome a Duchess. Produce an heir.” With such talk increasing, it made sense he wanted to cut the root of rumors early.

Of course, the steward likely understood it that way too, which was why he was angry at Yezar. But had they reconciled? Judging by how upset he still seemed, he probably still believed Yezar’s actions were wrong.

“He must have had his reasons. Don’t be too angry, Steward. Since I came into the Duke’s household, nothing but good things have happened to me.”

“There might have been bad things too.”

“No, I already knew the rumors about Yezar. I knew he wouldn’t treat me carelessly, which was why I signed the contract. I thought if we could get along well, that would be wonderful. And in reality, he was kind and gentle, so I’ve never regretted this marriage.”

Hearing this, the steward’s mood softened considerably. Seeing his eyes return to their usual calm, I said to him:

“You’ve seen for yourself how he treats me. Even if it’s just fulfilling his duty as part of an arranged marriage, his kindness isn’t fake. That’s why I believe I made the right choice in marrying him.”

I hadn’t expected to feel that time passing would become precious.

“I think I’ll be heartbroken when the time comes for you to leave.”

“But that’s how this marriage was meant to be.”

“From the beginning, even the idea of an arranged marriage was the Duke’s stubbornness. I never saw you as someone who would leave.”

I had thought he was simply sentimental.

‘It’s painful to hear you say you’re someone who must leave, my lady.’

Now I understood. He had been expressing his anger toward Yezar all along. Ah, I finally get it. This was why the steward had been especially attached to me.

“Still, I don’t intend to break the contract. But I will fulfill my role as Duchess with more sincerity than anyone. Just as I told you at the beginning.”