“There must be something wrong if this looks cute!”

Did I tap Yezar’s head with the scabbard instead of Wizlet’s?

My serious exclamation made him laugh even more. I really don’t understand what’s so funny.

“Yezar! Stop laughing.”

“Hahaha, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’ve been laughing so much lately.”

I was about to pout a little, but it’s good that he’s laughing. I decided to let it slide this time.

“Let’s hurry. We need to go back and take care of our work now.”

“Is it greedy of me to want to chat with my lady a bit longer?”

“I’d like that too, but work needs to be done before we can enjoy our conversations. As the duchess, and you as the duke, we should finish our duties so we can relax without worrying about work later.”

“You’re quite strict in this regard.”

I wonder who he learned that from. Calling me strict.

“That’s rich coming from someone who never misses daily dawn training. Besides, spending every day with Yezar naturally makes one strict in these matters.”

I was trying not to be a burden to him. His sincere dedication to his duties as the head of the family was so admirable. To the point where I wanted to emulate him.

“The person I find most admirable is someone who doesn’t procrastinate, gives their all, and is diligent. That’s why I’m trying to be like that too.”

Normally, I’d be lazily lounging around. But since coming here, I hadn’t neglected my duties as duchess, social activities, or sword training.

“Could that person possibly be me?”

“Don’t you know? But they say couples grow to resemble each other. Maybe it is you.”

I kissed the tip of his surprised chin and ran away. I saw his face turn red. I couldn’t help but smile.

I used to wonder why people say couples grow to resemble each other. Now I understood. The more time you spend together, the more you influence each other, big and small.

***

As the day of the banquet approached, Ember was busy coordinating my dress and Yezar’s uniform, her eyes ablaze with determination.

It seemed she wanted to dress us in outfits that would make anyone see us as a couple. She was meticulously checking not just the clothes, but the accessories as well.

‘It doesn’t look like I have much to do. Staying still seems to be the best way to help.’

Perhaps it was because Ember was preparing everything with such dedication. I was leisurely handling my duties as duchess. With summer approaching, we needed to prepare for possible floods from overflowing dams or droughts.

The butler told me this was a brief respite before things got extremely busy. Having finished today’s work, I stretched out languidly.

Through the window, I could see maids bustling about busily. I felt almost guilty for being so relaxed. Suddenly, I asked the butler.

“Butler, you know.”

“Yes, what is it, my lady?”

“You know about our contract marriage, right?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then do you also know about Yezar’s difficult times because of the Empress?”

Ember’s face when she came to ask me to help her forget her old love was still vivid in my mind. The butler hadn’t told me about it himself, though.

He must have been one of the people who witnessed Yezar’s struggles. I wanted to steel myself before the banquet.

“I do know. How could I not? Seeing the duke suffer so much, it felt like my heart was breaking.”

His tone was calm, but the devastation in it seemed quite deep.

“Even the physician could only say it was a sickness of the heart, unable to offer any real prescription. All we could do was watch our master grow weaker and crumble day by day.”

There was regret in his voice as he said that was all they could do. They must have all known about Yezar’s long-standing love. And they must have known how it would end.

“How did Yezar manage to get back on his feet from that state? He was struggling so much. It must have been unbearable.”

The ending in the novel concludes with Bertisha and Camileo’s wedding as a happy ending. Even in the epilogue, it only shows them living happily together.

In that story, Yezar was just a supporting character who disappeared behind the scenes. Regardless of whether he was suffering or sad, the main characters bloomed in their own love and sang of their happiness.

Thinking about it this way, it was a cruel world indeed. The feelings of those who weren’t the main characters didn’t matter at all.

Then, the answer to my question came slowly.

“I think time might have helped. At least he gradually started to come out and walk, and began to look at the work he had stopped.”

I see, he started pretending to be okay. Because people around him were worried.

“When he suddenly said he was going to get married, I was very surprised. And a contract marriage at that. I nearly fainted.”

I would have felt the same. After suffering from love, to suddenly say he’s getting married and rushing through it like cooking beans in lightning.

I realized I had agreed without much thought. But the point where the butler nearly fainted wasn’t that.

“I was so shocked by the duke’s rudeness.”

“Huh?”

“He had suffered so much from love. It wasn’t like he had fallen in love at first sight. It was obvious to everyone that he had chosen a loveless marriage partner.”

By now, the butler’s eyes were filled with anger. Wait, wasn’t he one of the people who cared for Yezar?

“And a contract marriage at that! Marriage isn’t a joke. To set a time limit and exchange contracts. What kind of rudeness is that?”

I see. I had just stamped my approval, but somehow it seems the people around us are more shocked than I am as the person involved.

“At that time, I scolded the duke for the first time in a long while. Even when he was young, he never made me angry. But now, all because of love. How could he make someone else’s precious young lady suffer like this?”

I, who was referred to as that precious young lady from another family, could only blink my eyes.

“I, I was fine with it.”

I wasn’t even that precious of a young lady to begin with. But I kept this to myself, fearing it would only make the butler more agitated.

“My lady, you are naturally kind-hearted and gentle. If it had been other young ladies, they wouldn’t have stood for it. They would have been angry, saying they were being taken lightly. Just as I scolded the duke.”

Somehow, the mood seems to be turning strange. Wasn’t he just feeling heartbroken over Yezar’s painful love a moment ago?

“But about that contract marriage… Wasn’t he going to have to find a suitable marriage partner anyway due to family pressure?”

I thought that there was no need to get so angry then, but the butler’s expression suddenly darkened.

“What are you saying? It was all the duke’s unilateral decision. He must have made up his mind about something. When he came back after finishing everything on his own… Ah, just thinking about it gives me a headache.”

I see. So it was all Yezar’s doing on his own. Why did I interpret it as family pressure on my own? I thought he came to me specifically because I met the conditions.

‘The reason he decided to get married must have been because of Bertisha, right?’

As the Duke of the Perhaem duchy. Take a duchess. Produce an heir. There would be a lot of such talk, so I thought it was to nip all that in the bud.

Of course, the butler must have understood it that way too and gotten angry at Yezar. I wonder if they’ve made up. Seeing how indignant he still is, it seems he still thinks Yezar’s actions were wrong.

“He must have had his reasons. Don’t be too angry, butler. I’ve had nothing but good experiences since coming to the duchy.”

“There could have been bad things too.”

“Come on, I already knew the rumors about Yezar. I knew he wouldn’t treat me carelessly, that’s why I even stamped the contract. I thought it would be great if we could get along well. And the man I actually met was kind and gentle, so I didn’t regret this marriage.”

At this, the butler’s demeanor softened considerably. Seeing his eyes return to their usual calm from their previous anger, I said to him,

“You can see how he treats me, butler. Even if it’s because of the obligations of our contract marriage, that kindness isn’t fake. That’s why I think I made the right choice in having this contract marriage with him.”

I hadn’t anticipated that I would come to feel that the passing time was precious.

“I think it will be painful when it’s time for you to leave, my lady.”

“That’s how this marriage was set up.”

“The contract marriage itself was the duke’s unreasonable idea. I never thought of you as someone who would leave from the beginning.”

I thought he was just being sentimental.

‘It’s sad to say you’re someone who has to leave, my lady.’

In fact, he had been expressing his anger towards Yezar while saying this. Ah. Now I understand. I was wondering why the butler was particularly kind to me.

“Still, I have no intention of breaking the contract. But I will fulfill my role as duchess with the most sincere heart. Just as I told you at the beginning, butler.”