“Did I do that? I must be sleeping more these days! Don’t worry about it.”

“Are you sure I shouldn’t be concerned?”

“Yes. It’s fine. Yezar, you should go finish your training.”

Her smile as she said this seemed somewhat awkward. Come to think of it, she had been like that during their conversations before bed too. She used to always greet him happily with bright eyes when he came.

These days, when he opened the door, he was greeted by Julieta dozing off in a chair. Feeling bad about waking her, he would try to carry her to bed, only for her to wake up then and exclaim apologetically.

‘Ye…zar? Oh my. Did I fall asleep? I’m awake now, so please put me down!’

‘You look tired, my lady. You should rest.’

‘No! We must have our conversation before sleeping! If not now, when can we talk?’

Moreover, when he would rise at dawn, her usually calm breathing while sleeping soundly was different. It was as if she was pretending to be asleep while actually being awake.

After he left the bedroom, he could even hear rustling sounds from inside. Yezar tried his best not to show it until Julieta said something, but he grew anxious feeling like she was hiding something from him.

‘What could she be doing to be so tired? Could it be that my lady has grown tired of married life with me?’

As he imagined, his thoughts went to that extreme. Restless, Yezar reflected on whether he had always been such an impatient man.

With questions rising to his throat, Yezar finally gave up and decided to ask her. But since he couldn’t ask in the training grounds with all the knights present, he waited until nightfall.

Finishing his work faster than usual by concentrating, Yezar entered the bedroom to find the window wide open.

‘Why is the window open?’

Moreover, Julieta, who he had heard entered the bedroom first, was nowhere to be seen. Unable to find her no matter how much he looked, Yezar approached the open window. There, he discovered a rope tied to the bedpost extending out.

‘What is this rope for…’

Everything was puzzling. What’s more suspicious was that as he got closer to the window, he could hear grunting sounds of someone climbing up. The voice sounded too familiar to be an intruder.

Waiting quietly, Yezar was shocked by the figure that appeared at the window.

“My, my lady?”

Julieta raised her head at his call. As their eyes met, Julieta froze in surprise.

“What is this… Why are you entering through the window, my lady?”

Julieta, who had been frozen like ice, moved her lips.

“Well, you see.”

It was clear she was racking her brain for an excuse, not expecting him to come so early. Yezar had many questions but held back, extending his hand to her.

“For now, it’s dangerous, so please take my hand and come inside. We can talk in detail afterwards.”

Julieta took his hand. Her body lifted up as if being pulled from the ground. Safely inside, Julieta wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve.

Then, with lips that wouldn’t part, she spoke to him.

“Ye, Yezar. This is…”

Before Julieta could continue, Yezar asked her first.

“Just a moment, my lady. May I ask something first?”

“Yes. Go ahead…”

“Is the reason you’ve been tired lately because you’ve been secretly going out and coming back like this?”

“…Yes. That’s right.”

Julieta answered as if admitting her own fault. Yezar clenched his fist, growing anxious as she kept avoiding his gaze.

“Who have you been meeting in secret?”

“Uh… If you say meeting someone, that’s correct, but…”

Yezar felt his heart sink at that answer. Though he hated to imagine it, he wondered if she had grown tired of spending time with him. After all, they were a married couple by contract.

He was a man who had shown an unsightly side in front of her. So it was possible that Julieta had grown to dislike seeing him more.

“You said it was fine, but in truth, did seeing my disgraceful state make you hate this marriage? To the point where you can’t even bear the two years…”

He wanted to strike his lower half and render it useless. If Julieta would come close to him again, he was willing to do even that.

Of course, unaware of his thoughts, Julieta grabbed his hand in alarm.

“What? What are you saying? Hate it?”

“Otherwise, there’s no reason to secretly meet someone else…”

“No. What on earth are you imagining! I would never break the marriage rules! And it wasn’t a man, I met a woman!”

At that exclamation, Yezar’s senses returned.

“What? A woman?”

“I’ll explain everything. So please stop. Okay?”

Only then did Yezar realize his eyes had become moist.

Lately, it seemed Yezar had been paying extra attention to me. It might be understandable. After all, I was always yawning and dozing off.

Being as attentive as he is, it’s no wonder he’d notice. But I didn’t expect to make him cry.

I was a great sinner. To make such a handsome man’s eyes moist. Feeling sorry, I gently dabbed at his eyes with my handkerchief.

Yezar, who had been quietly listening to my story, asked me again.

“So you were visiting the merchant group you operate?”

I nodded with a gentle smile. You see, during my time in seclusion at the count’s mansion, I started a business. This world was a boring place with almost nothing to do at home.

Back then too, I was just rolling around in my room reading books. But that day, the mansion was unusually noisy.

Curious, I went to check and found some peddler shouting at our mansion’s main gate.

‘If you provide the funds, I, Pelanne, can earn a great deal of money! Count Orbetian, please invest in me!’

The woman with messy hair and a skinny frame was speaking while coughing, as if she had just come out of some closet.

I was watching, impressed by her boldness in asking for investment out of the blue. But father, of course, ordered her to be driven out without even a glance. As she was about to leave, looking dejected, I stopped her. I was bored anyway, so I thought I’d listen to her story. Though it immediately reeked of a doomed business.

‘This product I developed makes animal fur shinier and longer! With just one drop!’

‘But you say it’s expensive?’

‘It is expensive, but the effect is certain. Wouldn’t people spend this much on their beloved animals? If I can just get proper investment, it’s sure to be a successful business.’

It was sure to be a failed business. Unfortunately for her, an animal lover, the concept of pets didn’t exist in this era. It meant many people wouldn’t think to invest such a large sum in the animals they raise. Moreover, when shedding season comes, the fur needs to be trimmed. The idea of making that fur even longer wouldn’t be welcome.

But if her developed product were used elsewhere, it might succeed.

‘It all sounds good, but how about changing the target of this business?’

‘Pardon? Change it to what?’

‘Well, for example, human hair.’

Even in this era, baldness was an unavoidable fate. So I gave her a subtle suggestion. Of course, I didn’t forget to secure my share while giving advice.

‘If it can be applied to humans too, I’ll invest. But I’ll take half the shares. I’ll leave all the operations to you, Pelanne.’

‘Isn’t that too unfavorable for me…?’

‘If you don’t like it, you can just leave. Without my investment, of course.’

Pelanne, agreeing reluctantly, subsequently achieved great success in the business. She came to me in tears, pledging her loyalty.

‘Waaah. Thank you. Following your words, the business was a huge success. At first, I thought this was such an unfair deal, but I’ll never forget this kindness.’

True to her word, she didn’t forget me. Seeing my name listed as co-operator of Pelanne Trading Company, now one of the empire’s top merchant groups after expanding into various fields like an octopus, proves it.

Of course, not wanting to stand out, I told her to use a pseudonym, which she accepted. While I was called a co-operator, I was really just receiving money without doing any work.

Then this time, not wanting to leave Duchess Ekert’s actions unchecked, I contacted Pelanne after a long time. I knew she had expanded her business octopus-like and was dealing with various noble families.

When I contacted her, she sent a messenger bird asking me to visit as she wanted to hear the details, which is why I’ve been lacking sleep recently, secretly meeting her.

I didn’t want to cause a commotion in the duke’s household, so I went back and forth in secret. But today, I was caught red-handed by Yezar.

“I should have told you beforehand. I’m sorry. I wanted to handle this quietly and personally. Also, after the tea time at the Ekert mansion, I was worried that telling you about such rumors would upset you.”