“The two of them had a big argument at the banquet and I hear they’re not on good terms since then.”

I expected their relationship to be strained, but I didn’t know they had a major fight.

“They argued?”

“Yes. Duchess Eckert brought up Duchess Stemun’s background first, and in response, Duchess Stemun turned the banquet hall upside down, so to speak…”

“Hah. What an amusing lady.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

However, the butler’s expression turned serious as he spoke.

“It’s no laughing matter. The servants who were at the banquet at that time are terrified to even mention the two duchesses. Anyway, unfavorable rumors about Duchess Stemun spread after that, and we suspect it was Duchess Eckert who spread them.”

“I’m sure. The other party doesn’t seem like the type to just take it lying down either.”

“So my advice is that if you accept Duchess Stemun’s tea time invitation first, Duchess Eckert may not be too pleased about it.”

Knowing their relationship, I grinned widely.

“In other words, if I accept Duchess Eckert’s tea time invitation first, there’s a high chance Duchess Stemun won’t be happy about it either.”

So, I had to win over one of their hearts… It was clear that accepting the invitation of Duchess Eckert, a prominent figure in high society, would be more advantageous. But strangely, the Stemun family name sounded familiar. Did it appear in the novel?

“By the way, what is Duchess Stemun’s full name?”

“Sarsina Stemun.”

I asked, thinking it couldn’t be. But I know that name well. Too well.

I picked up the invitation sent by Duchess Stemun.

“To be honest, it would be right to accept Duchess Eckert’s invitation, but… I’m intrigued by Duchess Stemun. I’m thinking of accepting the Stemun Duchy’s tea time invitation. What do you think, butler?”

Perhaps, I had a feeling I might gain a reliable backing.

The butler looked at me with a contemplative expression before composing himself.

“I respect your choice, my lady. However, just in case, I think it would be best to accept Duchess Eckert’s invitation soon after attending Duchess Stemun’s, since we don’t know what may happen.”

Since they were on bad terms, it was obvious how they would react if I only accepted one invitation and ignored the other as the new duchess who hadn’t even participated in social activities yet.

‘One hundred percent chance bad rumors will spread about me.’

Yes. Definitely.

“Alright. Let’s do it that way then.”

“Thank you, my lady.”

For now, the decision on which gatherings to attend and scheduling them was done. I stretched and left the study with light steps. The butler saw me off with a smile.

“Is today the day you’re having a match with the lord?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“You seem especially energetic today, my lady.”

He wasn’t a veteran butler for nothing.

“Then I’ll get going.”

“Yes, and if the lord accidentally hurts you, please let me know. I will give him a stern scolding.”

Those were truly reassuring words. To the point where I wondered if it was alright to receive this much love from the servants despite being a contractual lady.

One afternoon. Silver hair that sparkled in the sunlight fluttered in the breeze. Bertisha blinked as the glaring sun hurt her eyes. Emperor Camileo, who was beside her, carefully shielded the sunlight for her.

Perhaps it was because they were enjoying time alone in the imperial garden. The imperial servants had quietly withdrawn.

“Is something troubling you?”

At that kind question, Bertisha made a deep frown and spoke.

“…Yezar isn’t replying to my letters.”

Camileo comforted the gloomy Bertisha.

“He must be busy, that’s why.”

“But he didn’t attend our wedding either. Moreover, I found out about Yezar’s marriage belatedly.”

Camileo understood Bertisha’s disappointment as the three of them had always been close, and answered bitterly.

“That’s true. He was a friend who never hid anything from us.”

He recalled the moment he briefly spoke to Yezar on his wedding day.

‘Yezar, congratulations on your wedding. It would have been nice if you had told us beforehand.’

Even though he spoke casually in private…

‘…I’m busy so I’ll get going first.’

Yezar just left a single remark with his back turned to him and disappeared. Why was he suddenly avoiding them? Camileo had no idea why. Then, Bertisha asked in a very worried voice.

“Could it be that Yezar married a strange woman? Otherwise, there’s no reason he wouldn’t inform us of his marriage. And no reason not to reply to my letters.”

“Calm down, Bertisha.”

“But Camileo. What if Duchess Perhaem is really jealous of me and isn’t delivering my letters to Yezar?”

“That can’t be. There’s no way Yezar would choose a strange person.”

At that answer, Bertisha stared into Camileo’s eyes for a few seconds. Tears welled up in her beautiful eyes.

“Then why is Yezar avoiding us?”

As tears flowed down her cheeks, he hugged her tightly and wiped them away with his hand.

“Bertisha, don’t cry… You know it breaks my heart when you cry.”

“Sob… I’m sorry, Camileo. It just feels like a friend who was always by my side is suddenly pushing me away…”

“I’ll bring him here even if I have to use an imperial order. Don’t cry. Things will return to how they were once we talk. Yezar must have a reason too.”

After comforting Bertisha for a long time, Camileo thought that he should arrange a meeting with Yezar, even if he had to force it. Bertisha seemed to have calmed down as she kissed his cheek and whispered.

“…Thank you, Camileo. By the way. Can you also bring Lady Orbetian, who married Yezar?”

Feeling an inexplicable sense of unease, he asked why.

“Why?”

“I want to check. If she’s really a good person.”

Camileo, facing her purely shining eyes, considered it a mere feeling and nodded. And he held out his hand to her.

“The sunlight is harsh. Let’s go inside now.”

“Okay. Camileo.”

Bertisha’s face, smiling as she held his hand, was as radiant as a blooming flower.

As I strode energetically into the training grounds, the knights greeted me.

“Welcome, my lady!”

“We’ve been waiting for you!”

I told them they didn’t need to welcome me like this. Judging by their even more enthusiastic reaction today, it seemed they had heard the news that Yezar would be sparring with me. I glanced at Yezar and his eyes were very sharp.

“I’m sure I told each of you to focus on your own sparring. Do my words seem amusing to you?”

“No, sir!”

“We apologize!”

Seeing the knights immediately focus on their sparring with tense expressions, I laughed joyfully.

“You don’t have to scold them like that.”

“No, my lady. They were making such a fuss upon hearing I would be sparring with you. It seems they weren’t focusing on their own training, so I gave them a warning.”

“Is that so? But I’m not an official knight and I can’t promise a spar of the level you might expect. Plus, Yezar has a handicap too.”

Since I wasn’t an official knight, Yezar said he would spar with me lightly to avoid injuries. Moreover, as a handicap, he said he would hold the wooden sword with his non-dominant left hand, which he wasn’t used to.

To that, Yezar shook his head and answered.

“Those fellows just want to tease me, expecting me to go easy on you out of consideration.”

“If that’s the case, I think I know why Yezar was frowning so deeply.”

“I apologize… For showing such an unpleasant expression in front of you, my lady.”

At his startled apology, for some reason the sparring knights seemed to stiffen up. He must seem like a merciless Knight Commander to them. To me, he’s a man as soft as silken tofu.

“It’s alright. Before that, I want to warm up too. Would it be okay if I swing the wooden sword at that wooden dummy a few times?”

“Feel free to do as you wish, my lady. You can keep swinging at it.”

“Hmm… Are there many wooden dummies in the duchy?”

“We have several prepared.”

“That’s good then.”

Smiling brightly, I approached the firmly fixed wooden dummy. And I swung my sword vigorously a few times. But before the wooden dummy could be wrecked, the wooden sword cleanly broke off from the handle.

“Oops. I’m sorry, but I think this wooden sword is defective. It broke…”

At that, I spun around to ask for a new wooden sword. But it was so quiet that not even breathing could be heard. The knights had also stopped their actions and were all staring at me.

“Um… Did I do something wrong?”

Why are they all acting like this?

As I stood there blankly, not understanding the situation, Yezar approached me.

“My lady… Do you often break wooden swords like this?”

“Occasionally?”

“When you say occasionally, roughly how often do you mean?”

“Usually, by the time I wreck three or four wooden dummies, the wooden sword breaks too.”

As a bonus, I also damaged various other equipment. The baron’s knights wailed so much because of it. Because of that, rumors spread among the baron’s knights that I was a walking disaster.

“Did the baron’s knights say anything else while watching you train?”

“What else would they say? Ah. They did complain that when I pick up a sword, I create a mess around me. So I tried to control it as much as possible, but…”

I did try to control it. But it seemed some defective wooden swords had made their way into the duke’s supply. I don’t know who’s bringing them in, but as the duchess, I should look into the merchant group distributing the wooden swords and inform the butler.

But somehow, that doesn’t seem to be the important issue right now. I peeked at the knights and heard them muttering with gaping mouths.

“That slender body possesses monstrous strength…”

“My lady was hiding her power…”

Monstrous strength? And hiding power? Who?

It seemed everyone had greatly misunderstood something.

“Hey, I’m saying this because the atmosphere feels strange. This wooden sword is the problem, I’m telling you.”

Then, one of the knights who had been listening quietly answered.

“We believe the wooden sword couldn’t withstand my lady’s strength and broke.”

“Yes, there’s nothing wrong with that wooden sword.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.