“…What?”
“It means you are rude.”
Even though it was a rather strong remark, Richel’s expression as he looked at Ivelin didn’t change.
Still, a small question arose. Just who in the world was this woman?
She said she had lost her memories, but could even a person’s character change like this?
“Wife.”
“Yess?”
“Leave.”
“…Tch.”
Of course, it was only a small question. Nothing actually changed.
***
In any case, she had received permission to do whatever she wanted with the castle, and he had said he wouldn’t kill her, so Ivelin decided to be satisfied with just that.
And even though she had loudly told Richel he was unpleasant, she still felt more pity than resentment toward him, at least for now.
Perhaps because she knew the future.
If someone who looked that strong had decided on suicide, then even if he seemed fine on the surface, one corner of his heart must have already rotted away.
He was probably just pretending to be unaffected.
“Your Grace.”
“You have come again…”
“Hehe.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because you didn’t chase me away.”
“Leave.”
“As soon as I finish speaking—”
“Leave.”
“If you say you will eat with me, then I will leave.”
“…Leave.”
These days, Ivelin’s routine consisted of playing with Ether, having a meal, then coming to find Richel with a pile of work to do and loitering around for quite a while. Of course, alone….
Originally, the butler had been the one to bring work over to him, but after the butler’s funeral, she heard that Lotte had taken over.
Naturally, the one who volunteered to do it was Ivelin.
Ivelin was the only one who came to see Richel, who never left this shabby East Wing.
Except for the occasional visits from Lotte, that was.
There weren’t even servants who came to clean the East Wing.
Because Richel had refused them all.
To begin with, his range of daily activity wasn’t particularly wide.
It was simply that the lack of maintenance made everything feel excessively old.
“Then let’s just eat here together!”
“Wife, why on earth are you doing this to me?”
“You are only asking now?”
“I thought you would stop eventually. That it was just a small curiosity. But now, it is truly uncomfortable.”
She hadn’t thought it would be easy, but it was really difficult.
No matter how much she spoke to him or tried to approach him, his reaction was always the same.
And she had never expected him to say it so honestly like this.
“Are you very uncomfortable?”
“Yes.”
“I understand.”
“Then will you stop coming here now?”
“I will.”
When Ivelin nodded readily, Richel asked again with a slightly unsettled expression, as if to confirm.
She had approached him hoping that Ether would at least come to know his father’s affection.
But it was also true that she had neglected Ether lately because she had been so focused on Richel, so she thought it would be better to restrain herself for a while.
It wasn’t giving up, but restraint.
At least, for the time being.
Of course, Richel had no way of knowing Ivelin’s thoughts.
“Still, make sure you eat properly, and go for walks once in a while. I really am saying this because I’m worried.”
“Wor…ried?”
“Yes, worried.”
Richel tilted his head in confusion.
He wore an expression that showed he couldn’t understand why she was worried about him, or whether the word “worried” was even appropriate to use toward him.
Looking at that expression, Ivelin gave a bitter smile.
Because she thought that perhaps the current Richel was what Ether would become in the future.
After that day, Ivelin really did cut off her visits to the East Wing completely.
Lotte seemed regretful and subtly asked several times whether she had any intention of going back, but Ivelin firmly said no.
“More importantly, the etiquette tutor is coming from the Capital today, right?”
“Yes. He is Baron Pletanin, currently serving as a professor at the Imperial Academy. From what I looked into, he is a tutor nobles in the Capital cannot get even if they want to. It seems the Emperor truly put in the effort.”
“What does he teach?”
“He has been famous as a genius since childhood, and his field is politics. Overall, he is a well-rounded talent.”
“Oh, then since he is coming all the way out to this remote place, we should treat him properly.”
Ether was a genius among geniuses who learned ten things when taught one.
That wasn’t just a mother saying it. Lotte had even said she was starting to feel her own limits as a teacher because of how quickly Ether absorbed knowledge.
In contrast, Ivelin was still struggling with writing basic sentences in the Imperial language.
But that was absolutely not because Ivelin was lacking. Ether was simply exceptional.
“The payment for the demonic beast sales from the Capital arrived recently, right?”
“Yes. Here is the statement.”
If she gave this to Richel, it would surely all disappear again under the name of compensation, so Ivelin made sure to take charge of it herself.
As expected, since obtaining monster byproducts in the Capital was like plucking stars from the sky, it was quite a large sum.
On top of that, important daily necessities that could only be obtained in the Capital also arrived by wagon.
“What about the butler?”
“He will likely arrive together with Baron Pletanin.”
The butler of the Loyeti family was finally coming.
With how many things Ivelin had been setting in motion lately, she thought it would be good to have even one more helping hand.
In any case, they were doing their best to prepare so that Baron Pletanin would be comfortable during his stay.
“Where is Ether?”
“He is at the West Tower.”
“Still?”
“Yes. It seems he is enjoying painting.”
“I am glad he is enjoying it, but…”
The clever idea Ivelin had come up with to decorate the gloomy gray West Tower was to color it with paint.
Since it was a tall tower, professionals would be needed for the exterior, but for the interior, Ether could decorate it more than sufficiently.
She had thought it would be killing two birds with one stone, letting him play while also gaining a sense of accomplishment, and the child enjoyed it far more than she had imagined.
For now, they were using whatever paint they already had, and whatever was lacking would be in the wagons coming from the Capital this time. Along with professional workers.
When Ivelin headed toward the West Tower with Lotte, excited peals of laughter could be heard from outside.
Ivelin entered with a small smile of her own. Inside, Ether could be seen clapping his hands as he excitedly painted the walls with Tami and Rose.
“Ether!”
When Ivelin greeted him, he came running over and threw himself into her arms, his whole body smeared with paint.
Her dress was instantly splashed with all sorts of colors, but she didn’t mind at all and hugged him even tighter.
“Are you going to stay here all day today?”
“Mm-hm, it’s so fun!”
“Let’s do just a little more today, and then spend time with Mom.”
Ether thought for a moment, then nodded and smiled brightly.
“Yes! Being with Madam is fun too!”
“Oh my.”
Just as Ivelin picked up a brush to join in the painting,
“Over here! Lady Ivelin!”
A servant came running over in a hurry and shouted.
“Please come out for a moment!”
“What is it?”
“Th-that is….”
The servant, stamping his feet anxiously, continued carefully.
“…Nobles have come.”
“Huh? Nobles?”
She wondered if the tutor had already arrived from the Capital, but the servant’s expression was far too grim for that.
“Th-the compensation issue…”
Only then did Ivelin’s expression crumple sharply.
Those rotten bastards had really crawled all the way here.
She angrily hurled the brush she had been holding onto the floor.
“Where are they? Let’s go, right now.”
Perhaps sensing that Ivelin’s mood was no ordinary matter, Ether nervously took hold of her hand.
Only then did she flinch and smile at Ether.
“Ether, will you stay here and paint for a bit? Mom has to go somewhere for a moment and come back.”
“No. I don’t want to. Ether wants to go too…”
“No. Ether should stay here—”
“Hiiing.”
Ether whimpered and clung to her leg.
Since growing close to the child, Ivelin rarely frowned, but seeing her look angry right in front of him seemed to have made him anxious.
She let out a small inward lament, thinking it was her own fault, and pulled Ether into her arms.
“Let’s go like this.”
“Y-yes…”
Only then did Ether calm down and wrap his arms tightly around Ivelin’s neck.
***
Lotte went off, saying she would inform Richel, and Ivelin headed toward the castle entrance first.
Despite claiming to be nobles, they must have had nothing better to do, because six of them had come and were shouting at the servants.
When they saw Ivelin approaching at an unhurried pace, one plump noble clicked his tongue, scowling.
“Where is the Grand Duke?”
His attitude made it clear he didn’t even want to speak to Ivelin.
But Ivelin felt the same.
She had no desire to see vermin worse than bugs swaggering around.
Ivelin made the servants who were being put through an ordeal step back, then stood boldly in front of the nobles.
“Talk to me. Do not harass innocent people.”
“Hah, a mere Viscount’s daughter, and a sacrifice that was sold off!”
Not expecting to hear such words so openly, Ivelin hurriedly covered Ether’s ears.
Ether blinked his eyes.
Only after seeing her gesture did the nobles notice Ether, and they flinched backward.
“Don’t tell me?”
“Is that the child of Grand Duke Lekach?”
In the nobles’ eyes as they spoke so openly, fear and disgust surfaced at the same time.
“Bad luck to run into this.”
“It gives me a bad feeling. Hey, get that child out of here!”
The child flinched at the cruel words and hostile gazes, shrinking back before looking up at Ivelin.
“Huu…”
As if reassured by her still-gentle eyes, he let out a breath.
Ivelin felt like she understood exactly what it meant for her vision to go red.
‘How dare they trash my favorite person right in front of me?’
The already abysmal image she had of the surrounding territorial nobles hit rock bottom.
How should she make them suffer to feel satisfied?
Nothing half-hearted seemed like it would ease her anger, and as Ivelin glared at them fiercely, the nobles sneered and said,
“Still, it looks like you are defending him just because he is your own child.”
“Why would you say that?”
“What?”
“Even if my treatment is one thing, this child is undeniably a direct descendant and the heir of the Grand Duke Lekach.”
“…”
“Aren’t you afraid of the consequences?”
“We do apologize for our harsh words.”
One of the nobles tucked his tail between his legs.
“However, since Your Grace mentioned consequences, it would not be a good thing to make an issue out of matters from childhood later on.”
Still, he didn’t fully back down.
“More importantly, we came here to speak with the Grand Duke, not the Grand Duchess, so we ask for your understanding.”
In short, it sounded like: this is none of your business, so step aside.
She wasn’t accustomed to the nobles’ roundabout way of insulting, but she understood it perfectly and retorted.
“Even so, I was the one who handled it.”
“Your Grace must have acted without knowing better and made a mistake. Matters like these are originally for the Grand Duke to handle. The Lady of the House should concern herself only with internal management.”
Why are you, merely the wife, dealing with what should be the Grand Duke’s business? Mind your own duties.
That was what the noble said, smiling elegantly at Ivelin.
Ivelin smiled back just as gracefully and replied.
“For decades, the amount you have taken from House Lekach each year exceeds one billion gold. While carrying out my duties as the Lady of the House, I decided this was unacceptable and sent you a letter refusing any further compensation claims. Decades are not the name of someone’s dog. If you failed to protect your people for that long, then that is not a problem of House Lekach, but your own.”
“We will speak with His Grace, not the Grand Duchess.”
