At Cedar’s blunt remark, Lady Briar was taken aback and let out a hollow laugh.

‘Even if I did it, shouldn’t a child try to understand why their mother had to resort to such actions?’

But instead of trying to understand a parent’s heart, to make such ill-mannered threats.

Lady Briar frowned and replied in a sharp tone.

“Are you really going to act like this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you really know who I’m doing this for? It’s all for your sake.”

“Is my life over if I don’t become a duke?”

At Cedar’s calm retort, Lady Briar’s thin patience finally snapped.

She set down her teacup with a clatter and raised her voice.

“I’ve raised my son wrong. It’s easy to grasp, so you don’t know how precious it is! That’s why you’re trying to throw it away so easily!”

A duke. It’s a position so high that there’s hardly anyone in this country you need to bow your head to.

How could he speak of discarding it so easily?

‘After all the hardships I went through to get to this position!’

But Cedar was equally unable to understand Lady Briar’s words.

“I’m not throwing away something easily gained! It was never mine to begin with!”

“You’re the eldest son of the Granite family! You’re the firstborn! So why do you say it’s not yours!”

“Mother.”

In Cedar’s mind appeared the image of his younger brother, whom he’d met long ago and whose face had grown dim.

Grisha Granite.

The brother who would have grown up comfortably and loved, without any hardship, if Cedar had not been born.

[Was it you who caused our mother’s death, elder brother?]

Just remembering that moment made his heart feel like it was being squeezed.

“Mother, do you really not feel any remorse towards Grisha?”

Cedar’s eyes trembled finely. Lady Briar lifted her chin and replied to Cedar in a cold tone.

“What should I feel sorry about?”

“…I suppose I can’t do anything about the past. But Mother.”

Yes, this was the kind of person Lady Briar was.

Instead of saying more about things she wouldn’t understand even if told, Cedar gazed at Lady Briar with a straight gaze.

“If you touch Nelly, I won’t stand idly by.”

“Nelly? Who’s that?”

“I’m talking about my wife.”

At Cedar’s warning, Lady Briar’s mouth gaped like a fish out of water.

Then she let out a shrill scream.

“You, are you really in your right mind!? Don’t tell me you actually love that woman who’s no better than a corpse?”

“Yes. Thanks to you, Mother, I’ve learned that a woman who doesn’t speak much is even more lovable.”

“Cedar Granite!”

The shriek was loud enough to split eardrums. Cedar waved his hand.

“I know what you did to the previous duchess.”

“…! Wh-what are you saying?”

“I have evidence too. Until now, I’ve only held onto it because of filial affection, but if you touch my wife, I can’t guarantee I won’t use it.”

Cedar stared at his mother with cold eyes.

“I hope you take my warning to heart.”

Hearing Cedar’s words, Lady Briar trembled as she glared at her son, then stormed off with loud footsteps.

Left alone, Cedar scratched his head and sank deep into the chair.

‘Ah, I’m tired.’

The mental fatigue was considerable.

Even more so because he had to bring up the incident with the previous duchess that had been buried for so long.

‘I’ll have to stick close to Nelly for a while. Mother seems likely to act out.’

As he pressed his fingers against his throbbing eyes, Nelly naturally occupied his thoughts again.

[Ah, come to think of it, of course you wouldn’t suffer any loss even if I died.]

“Ah, really.”

In that moment, he gripped the sofa armrest so hard it crumbled to dust.

Cedar pressed his fingers hard against his head, which was now throbbing twice as much as before.

‘Is that something to say with those big blinking eyes and a cheerful voice?’

Did she think I was such a cold-blooded person that I would let even a contract wife die if it was for my benefit?

‘I may have treated her a bit coldly, but… No! According to Hail, I was extremely caring and gentle! Why is she the only one who doesn’t know that!’

Though his mind was bustling, since the turmoil was only internal, outwardly he just looked like the usual low-pressure Cedar.

And well, coolly thinking about it, she wasn’t wrong.

‘With Mother even sending assassins, the benefits of this contract marriage have clearly tilted in my favor. For Nelly, who’s maintaining the marriage to save her life, it’s become another life-threatening situation.’

As she said, even if she were killed by an assassin, the meaning of the contract marriage wouldn’t be diminished for Cedar.

So it was natural for Nelly, who had more to lose, to ask for time to think about the contract.

‘Still, I don’t want to divorce.’

Cedar, who had been dusting off the now-powdered armrest, clenched his fist again.

It was truly an unreasonable thing, but in that short time, he had given his heart to her.

‘I don’t understand myself either.’

Nelly was different from the women Cedar had seen before.

She didn’t use elegant and soft speech, didn’t know how to wear dresses properly, and didn’t braid or tie her hair to look pretty. She probably didn’t even know how to tie it.

On top of that, she always left her vegetables, and if left alone, she’d eat only a mouse’s portion.

And then she’d collapse here and there, not knowing her own strength.

But strangely, those aspects shook his heart.

Not knowing his feelings, she kept saying things that made his insides churn, which made him angry but also endeared her to him.

‘Still, I shouted too much today because I got too worked up.

I should have been considerate and let her think it through and decide.’

But divorce. Just the thought made his fist clench again.

After thinking about Nelly for a moment, he shook his head.

‘No. This isn’t about keeping her by my side, it’s just about me wanting to protect her.’

It was clearly love, but it shouldn’t be love. Cedar’s eyes sank darkly.

‘The day I found out how the previous duchess breathed her last, I realized it. A happy family is too much to hope for someone like me.’

But during the argument with Nelly, he had inadvertently thought of it. Her standing by his side, and someone who resembled her…

Bang!

Even though Lady Briar had left, a subordinate who was startled by the loud sound from Cedar’s office rushed in.

“Wh-what’s the matter!”

And what the subordinate saw was Cedar with his forehead planted on the table.

He had hit it so hard that there was a round, tree ring-like crack on the table.

But as expected of someone who had trained his body to the extreme, there was no trace left on his forehead. Cedar coolly brushed his bangs and answered.

“…It’s nothing. I just felt too pathetic.”

He had headbutted the table because he felt pathetic for daydreaming about something that would never happen.

But the subordinate didn’t have the ability to read people’s minds, and came up with a plausible reason that was no different from a novel.

Something like the Swordmaster’s anguish in expressing his pain from the confrontation with his mother.

‘As expected of the captain!’

He must surely be in some terrible agony that a criminal couldn’t even imagine.

The subordinate’s eyes sparkled as he cheered for Cedar.

“I support whatever choice you make, sir Cedar! No matter what, you are our captain!”

“You don’t even know what I’m worrying about.”

“Your worries must be painful, but please don’t forget this. Humans live to be happy.”

Though he was just throwing out words without knowing Cedar’s situation at all, it was exactly the advice Cedar needed right now.

‘Happiness, huh.’

His words were right. He was overthinking things too much right now.

“Yes. Thank you for the good advice.”

Cedar got up from his seat and patted the subordinate’s shoulder. Then he grabbed his jacket and left the office.

Seeing him preparing to go out, the subordinate followed behind with round eyes.

“Where are you going?”

“Home. Tell them I’m on vacation for a week.”

“What?”

It’s not like he had tasted the sweetness of love with Nelly, he had only just become aware of his feelings.

Yet his worries were too deep. Even though this love could end up being one-sided.

‘I want to be by her side right now. Isn’t that enough for now?’

He needed to tell Nelly sincerely.

That no matter what happens, even if a terrifying dragon comes, he will protect her.

So please maintain this contract marriage a little longer.

‘If push comes to shove, I’ll just say there’s no such thing as divorce in the Granite family. Like on the first day, if I say it’s a family tradition, she’ll probably let it slide generously.’

Thinking such thoughts, Cedar arrived at the mansion in an instant.

As he opened the front door and entered, he happened to run into Hail, who was carrying a tray with warm tea.

Hail’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Captain, why are you here?”

“I took a vacation and came. But…”

Cedar’s gaze went to the tea tray. There were two teacups.

Hail shrugged and answered.

“Ah, a guest has come.”

A guest. Somehow, he had a bad feeling about this. Cedar, who had been standing still for a moment, hurriedly moved his feet.

There was no need to sense where the two people were.

“Haha.”

Nelly’s clear laughter poured out from the reception room.

It was the first time he had heard that woman laugh out loud.

Cedar’s face grew increasingly stiff.

“…”

Through the open door of the reception room, he could see Nelly smiling brightly and a black-haired man.

How strange it was.

Just a moment ago, he thought the face was dim, but the moment he saw him, he recognized who it was.

Grisha Granite.

His half-brother was sitting in the reception room of his house.