I laughed mischievously like a girl giggling at the sight of falling leaves.

“It’s a joke, a joke!”

“Is that so?”

His serious expression softened.

“Yes. At that time, I was just sick of everything. I knew it wasn’t right to go around seeking people’s love or reluctantly attending social gatherings I didn’t want to go to.”

The foolish Julieta, weary of loneliness, wandered here and there. She visited any place that sought her out, regardless of where it was, and formed groups by clinging to various young ladies to fill her emptiness.

“But when I actually stayed quietly at home, it was so boring, you know? So I tried to create various hobbies and stuck closely to the house I hadn’t been attached to before, having conversations with the servants.”

But it seems I couldn’t fill the loneliness and emptiness like Julieta either. In the end, I asked the man next to me to be my friend.

“I must have been lonely too. I thought it was time to end my seclusion, so I went on matchmaking meetings, and after they all failed, I was planning to go on a trip. That’s when Yezar appeared, you know?”

“So that’s why you told me that if we divorce, you’d travel and make new friends?”

“I’m sorry. I must have been quite drunk then.”

Normally, I wouldn’t say such things. When drunk, I feel good and words come out without filtering.

“Are you not denying it?”

Aside from feeling sorry, because it was the truth, I avoided his gaze without answering his question. I had said that after the divorce, I wouldn’t interact further with him who had been a friend. I thought he might feel hurt that I said I’d become friends with others.

But Yezar answered lightly.

“I understand. You said we’d be strangers after the divorce. How can I force my opinion?”

He shrugged and smiled. Knowing he said that deliberately to lighten the mood, I smiled back.

“Still, I’ll do my best to act as the Duchess of Perhaem for now.”

“The same goes for me. I’ll do my best to support you as your husband.”

I couldn’t help but laugh seeing him show such polite respect. I really liked this kindness of his. The way he didn’t try to assert his pride in front of me, and how he considered me while keeping the atmosphere flowing smoothly.

“This is enough, isn’t it? Anyway, that’s all there is to my story. Boring, right?”

His kindness was evident in how he listened silently to this utterly boring story.

“Rather than saying whether it was interesting or not, I enjoyed being able to hear your story.”

But such kindness unintentionally touches one’s heart. I should be careful.

“Saying things like that is too heart-fluttering for friends.”

“Julieta is my wife anyway, isn’t she?”

When he said it like that, it became awkward to coldly say we’d be strangers in two years. So I changed the subject.

“That’s true. So do you think you can clear up the misunderstanding?”

“Well, I’ll try my best.”

Unlike him, it wasn’t a definite answer. But since he wasn’t a man to say things he didn’t mean, I nodded.

“And there’s one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“No matter how much only Yezar and I know about our contract marriage, I can’t keep acting all the time within the mansion.”

I had realized my talent for acting, but I wanted to be comfortable inside the duke’s residence too. Pretending to be a loving couple was one thing, but passionately burning newlyweds was another.

“Acting?”

“Yes. Acting like we’re passionately in love with each other. I didn’t act like I loved Yezar because I thought all the servants knew, but now that I know that’s not the case, it’s hard to consciously respond and act.”

I should have properly experienced something that could be called love to know. I’ve only liked cute puppies and kittens. I’ve never passionately loved a person, so I didn’t know how to act.

“You seem to misunderstand, but Ember, the maid dedicated to you, knows that our marriage is a two-year contract. The butler of this mansion is the same.”

Huh? Then why was the reaction this morning like that?

While I was lost in thought wondering about this, Yezar cleared his throat.

“I’ve been thinking about something.”

“Yes, tell me.”

“In my opinion, it seems the head maid acted that way to deepen the relationship between us two. As someone who took care of me when I was young, she’s watched over all my struggles with unrequited love.”

No wonder she seemed like a veteran. She was the head maid who looked after Yezar when he was young and watched over the mansion. Now I somewhat understood why she was shocked when I said we could eat separately.

She must have been eager to find a woman for him to get attached to, but I said such things.

Now that I understood the situation, I felt very sorry towards Ember.

‘Ah, then wait a minute. If she knew we were in a contract marriage, she must have prepared something to strengthen our relationship…’

“Yezar, can I ask you something I’m curious about?”

“You may ask.”

“Breakfast isn’t usually that late, is it?”

His shoulders flinched. My eyes immediately narrowed.

“Your reaction is suspicious. Tell me. You deliberately delayed breakfast time so you could eat with me, didn’t you?”

That would explain the strange reactions of the maids this morning and the unusually late timing of my breakfast coinciding with his meal time.

“Have I been found out?”

“Yes. Definitely.”

He must have thought I really wouldn’t notice. Anyone could see that eating breakfast at that time didn’t make sense.

I let out a deep sigh.

“Don’t do that. It makes me uncomfortable. I feel like I’ve delayed your meal time and interfered with your important early morning training for nothing.”

“I’m sorry… But I also wanted to have meals with you.”

At that answer, I was reminded of our marriage life rules.

“Even so, having breakfast together is too much. I can’t get up at dawn, and I don’t want to delay your meal time either.”

At my reply, he looked at me regretfully. To that, I grinned and added:

“But remember, one of the rules we set for our married life is to spend leisure time together?”

At that, a sparkle appeared in his eyes that had been tinged with sadness.

“Do you continue training after breakfast?”

“Yes, unless there’s urgent work.”

“That’s perfect. We can spend time together then.”

With this, he won’t delay breakfast time just to eat with me. I felt refreshed by the neatly solved problem. On the other hand, he seemed to still have some questions.

“At that time, I might not be able to take care of you properly because I’ll be focused on training. Even if you watch, I’ll be covered in sweat, which isn’t a very good sight.”

I could see him shyly rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. It seems Yezar misunderstood what I said.

Indeed, it looked like we still had a lot to learn about each other.

“Who said I’d just watch? I meant I’d join the training too, you know?”

“What? You, my lady?”

“Of course. But since I’m not an official knight, please go easy on me.”

Yezar’s expression changed quite subtly. Then suddenly his gaze became extremely serious, and he glared at me like a knight commander facing an apprentice knight.

I flinched involuntarily at the stern atmosphere, different from usual.

“Could you hold out your hand for a moment?”

I obediently held out my hand. I felt like I’d be scolded harshly if I said something wrong here.

Yezar carefully examined the hand I held out.

“When you were touching my chest, I was too flustered to notice, but…”

“W-Why are you bringing that up now!”

But as if my voice didn’t reach him, his gaze was focused on my palm.

“These really are hands that have handled a sword. May I touch them?”

Unlike the hands of delicate young ladies, my hands had calluses. For noblewomen who never did menial work, hands with calluses were a disgrace.

‘Anyway, I didn’t set foot in social circles while living in seclusion, so I thought it didn’t matter and did it, but…’

When he asked if he could touch them with such a serious attitude, I hesitated a little.

“…It’s fine.”

At my permission, his hand caressed mine. He stroked each knuckle and traced the calluses on my palm, feeling the texture of my skin.

I suddenly realized how much bigger his hand was than mine. When his large, thick-jointed hand that could cover mine completely grasped my hand tightly, I unconsciously let out a sound.

“Uh.”

He stopped his movements.

“Does it hurt?”

When our eyes met, I involuntarily turned my head away. It was obvious that my face must have turned red. I understood that he was being serious as a knight who handles swords, but if he kept caressing my hand like that, even I would…

“It doesn’t hurt. I just thought… maybe you could stop touching now…”

Only then did some realization seem to dawn on Yezar, and he let go of my hand in embarrassment.

“I-I’m sorry. I got so focused on checking if you had handled swords before that I… I troubled you without realizing…”

“It’s okay. Really.”

Actually, it’s not okay. It feels like his body heat remains on my hand, and I can gauge how a man’s hand structure differs from a woman’s, and even estimate the physical difference between him and me.

I clenched my fist. If I kept my hand open, it felt like the sensation of him tracing it would come alive again.

“Shall we go out now?”

I tried to speak calmly, but my voice trembled at the end. And he also answered while deliberately not looking my way.

“…Yes.”

Seeing him awkwardly coming to my side, I felt strangely awkward again too.