A gift came from Demian.

It was a newspaper with an article about the weekend date of the Vandermir couple and a small box. The Duchess opened the box and dropped it in surprise.

Inside was a clump of familiar blonde hair that seemed familiar.

‘Ah! No wonder there was no reply.’

The Duchess’s lips twisted. It had been over ten days since contact was lost with the spy who seemed pretty enough to be useful.

She had expected a bit more since the spy had done well, but it seemed she had been expelled and eliminated.

‘What’s this?’

The Duchess discovered a letter buried among the hair and picked it up with her fingertips.

The contents of the letter stamped with the red hawk emblem were concise. Formal greetings and notification, or rather warning, that the mansion staff had been largely changed.

“Unfortunately, the head maid also had to quit due to family matters. It must be very regrettable that you won’t be able to see her anymore.”

All the connections planted in the mansion were thus uprooted. The letter was miserably crumpled in the Duchess’s grasp.

“Cruel bastard.”

She muttered in a voice trembling with rage and ordered a maid to clear away the box. As she sat on the sofa to rest for a moment, the Grand Duchess Vandermir appeared.

With her graying hair neatly tied up, she maintained a very straight and stiff posture despite her advanced age. Her sharp eyes further intensified her stern impression.

“You’ve come, Mother.”

The Duchess hurriedly stood up and bowed her head. A dissatisfied gaze swept over her once.

“What happened with Demian? You said you would handle it, so why is there no news?”

“Ah, about that…”

At the sharp question, the Duchess hesitated.

Sending a spy maid to the Vandermir mansion was an operation she had led, with only her husband vaguely aware of the situation while the rest of the family knew nothing.

She had boasted of having a good idea, but now she found it difficult to admit failure.

However, the Grand Duchess was not patient or generous enough to wait for her hesitation.

“Stop dawdling and speak up quickly!”

“…I tried to cause discord by sending a spy as a mansion maid, but it failed. I’m sorry, Mother.”

The Duchess confessed with her eyes tightly shut. The Grand Duchess’s expression froze coldly.

“N-next time, I’ll approach more carefully…”

“Don’t you know that the longer we delay, the more advantageous it is for that child!”

The Duchess’s shoulders hunched at the thunderous scolding. She always failed to stand up to her husband’s mother.

“How can you be so incompetent? You’re of no help to our Alex at all.”

The Grand Duchess sighed and clicked her tongue.

She rarely approved of her son’s wife. She had dismissed the previous Duchess for being weak and timid, and the current one for coming from a humble family.

But in truth, there was likely no daughter-in-law in the world who would meet her approval.

Duke Alex Vandermir was the only son the Grand Duchess had given birth to with great difficulty. He was a child so precious it would hurt to even put him in her eye, her entire world.

She wanted to keep him by her side for life, too precious to give to anyone. No matter how good a family a woman came from, she only saw them as leeches trying to suck her son dry.

Even with two grandsons, the Duke was still a child in her eyes.

“If Demian inherits the family, it will surely harm our Alex. We must prevent that at all costs!”

Her bony, protruding hand clenched.

Over a decade ago, the Grand Duchess had seen a raging fire in the eyes of the child who had lost his mother.

Anger, resentment, sorrow, hatred…

It was a flame that had blossomed using such things as kindling. If left alone, it would surely devour her son alive one day.

‘From his efforts to create his own people in the family, to his direct and indirect conflicts with Alex so far… His mother was a problem for being foolish, but he is a problem for being cunning and persistent.’

The Grand Duchess shuddered as she thought of Demian, whose face was the spitting image of the Duke, but whose eyes reminded her of the late Duchess.

To her, Demian was not a lovable grandson but an object of caution who could harm her son.

“I think so too, Mother. That’s why I’m working hard…”

“Enough! How can I entrust anything to someone as slow as you?”

The Duchess’s words were cut off by the Grand Duchess’s gaze, which looked at her as if she were the most useless thing in the world. But the reproach didn’t stop there.

“You couldn’t even subdue one young noble lady before marriage and dragged things to this point. Pathetic.”

“…”

Arasila Hugo was not just an ordinary young noble lady.

The Duchess felt wronged but said nothing and bowed her head deeply. It was obvious that if she tried to explain, she would only be scolded for talking back.

“I can no longer sit idly by trusting you. I must remove what stands in the way of our Alex’s future myself.”

She had lived with such a mindset for decades already. Thanks to that, hadn’t her son safely ascended to the position of Duke Vandermir?

Whoever harmed her son, even if it was her grandson, the Grand Duchess would gladly bring them down.

As long as she could protect her son.

“I’ll have to go up to the capital.”

The Grand Duchess solemnly declared. The Duchess’s expression brightened for various reasons.

“Really, Mother?”

“Yes, I must properly show Hugo’s granddaughter what kind of family we are.”

As the Grand Duchess of the Vandermir ducal family and her husband’s grandmother.

Her lips smiled like a snake.

“I think I’ll have to be away for a long time soon for a mission.”

Demian announced this during breakfast. Eating together at least once a day – they had both grudgingly woken up at dawn to sit across from each other to keep that promise.

Unlike Demian who was picking at his food due to lack of appetite in the morning, Arasila was slowly eating and filling her stomach.

It was thanks to the habit of eating breakfast that she had cultivated since childhood.

“What kind of mission is it?”

“The imperial family has ordered an investigation, saying there are signs of large-scale movement of magical beasts in the eastern Etar Mountains.”

The Red Hawk Order was a force comparable to the imperial knights.

It was very common to receive orders like this. However, it was unusual for the Red Hawk Order to be commanded when the imperial knights currently had no assigned mission.

Demian took a sip of water, briefly recalling the crown prince’s seal stamped on the order. There was no need to tell his wife about this.

“Be careful out there.”

“I will. Please stay healthy as well, my lady.”

“Yes, but when are you leaving?”

Demian hesitated for a moment before answering.

“This afternoon.”

“…Is that what you call ‘soon’?”

That’s just today.

Seeing Arasila’s face clearly showing her incredulity, Demian cleared his throat awkwardly.

He had forgotten to mention it earlier due to the sudden order and rushed preparations.

“Tell me exactly what time and where you’re departing from. So I can come out to see you off.”

A wife couldn’t not show her face when her husband was leaving for a distant mission. All the more so since they had to appear as a loving couple to others.

“We gather at the Order’s training grounds at 3 PM to depart.”

“Hmm, alright.”

Arasila nodded as she went over her schedule for the day. 3 PM seemed manageable to slip away for a moment.

“Then I’ll see you later.”

“Yes, take care.”

Demian checked his pocket watch and stood up first. Arasila finished the rest of her meal and left for the Magic Tower.

0

Dozens of knights were lined up at the training grounds.

They glanced sideways at Arasila, who entered proudly wearing her Magic Tower uniform. Everyone knew that the captain’s wife was a mage.

But it was surprising to see her come to the Order in mage attire.

“You’re wearing your uniform.”

Demian also first noticed Arasila’s attire as she came to see him off.

The white and blue Magic Tower uniform stood out among the knight uniforms covered in black and red.

“Did you expect me to stop by home and change into a dress when I’m already busy?”

Arasila whispered softly, covering her mouth with her hand. It was just loud enough for only Demian to hear.

“Actually, I didn’t expect you to change clothes and come either.”

“That’s nice. That we both have low expectations of each other.”

This would be a bad thing for normal couples, but contract couples were different. It was better than harboring unnecessary expectations and getting disappointed alone.

“How long will you be gone?”

“About two weeks. Send a letter if anything happens.”

“You said you’re going east, right? By the time something happens and I send a letter, it’ll all be over.”

The distance from the capital to the eastern Etar Mountains was quite far. Of course, Arasila was a mage and could use magical communication, but there was still the physical time it would take Demian to return.

“I guess a warrior doesn’t need to worry about investigating magical beasts?”

“Don’t state your wishful thinking.”

“Ah, too bad.”

Even as they exchanged savage jokes, the couple’s outward appearance was harmonious.

They must really get along well?

The knights murmured and focused on the two. Demian hesitated before taking Arasila’s hand.

“Don’t cause trouble while I’m gone.”

“You’re saying funny things. Someone might think I’m your troublemaker seven-year-old daughter.”

Arasila laughed as if dumbfounded, then quickly changed to a smiling face.

“Haven’t you heard this from the Marquis?”

“Are you kidding? Tons of times.”

Morning, noon, and night without fail. Arasila, please don’t cause trouble when Dad’s not around. Like that.

However, unfortunately, Arasila had never listened to her father’s words.

“I’ll miss you, Demian. You have to come back soon. Okay?”

Arasila deliberately raised her voice so that those around could hear. Demian willingly played along with her.

“I’ll think of you every day without fail. Please don’t forget me and wait for me too.”

It was an overreaction for just being apart for two weeks. But it made them look like a couple with good marital harmony.

Unable to bring themselves to hug, they just held hands tightly as Arasila approached him and whispered:

“Work hard and get hurt less.”

“You too, always be careful of your mental health.”

After exchanging true well-wishes, the two let go of each other’s hands when it was time to depart.

After watching her husband leave with his subordinates in carriages, Arasila turned around.

Anyway, does this mean freedom for the next two weeks?

Although she hadn’t lived particularly constrained before, the freedom of her husband being away from home felt different. She walked lightly, humming a tune.

‘Should I go home after a long time?’

The atmosphere of the Vandermir mansion had become similar to her family home after bringing in maids from the Hugo marquis family. But there was a clear difference from the real thing.

Arasila, who was happily making after-work plans, narrowed her eyes when she saw Audrey waiting for her outside the Magic Tower with a carriage.

Audrey, who had come to greet her after a while, was waving her hand and shouting something from far away.

“Gr… Du… has arrived!”

What? A pig has arrived?

What on earth was this about? Arasila approached the maid in confusion. Had a wild boar escaped and attacked the mansion or something?

“My lady, my lady! It’s terrible!”

“What’s wrong, Audrey? Did a wild boar really attack?”

“What? No, no. That’s not it—”

Audrey shook her head with her eyes wide open. She cried out urgently.

“The Grand Duchess has come to the mansion now!”

“What Grand Duchess?”

“The Vandermir Grand Duchess!”

Ah… Ah. Ah?

Arasila blinked slowly. The cold face of the Vandermir Grand Duchess she had met at the wedding venue came to mind.

An unwelcome guest had arrived without notice. A powerful realization struck the back of Arasila’s head.

It seemed that the two weeks of freedom had turned into hell.