Chapter 52
My Wife, I Know Her Better
Bolonico whispered to her without blinking.
"But Grand Duchess Ariesta is there. How can Bolonico favor you? There must be a reason, a justification. Bolonico needs to know a secret that the entire family has hidden away to make you the main character. Give Bolonico a reason to want to create such a justification, Lady Regina."
Rumors were already rampant that she was the First Prince Bolonico's 'hidden' lover.
If Bolonico attended the ball with Grand Duchess Ariesta instead of Regina, Regina would suffer a great humiliation.
Attention on a different level than Draycoop Treloni would be poured onto Bolonico and Regina.
That much was clear, if nothing else. It was the best choice she could make.
The Imperial Court Debutante was only a month away.
Cornered as she was, Regina finally said,
"...In my father's study, there's a side room."
A brief piece of information about the space that Geret Pellieze had not even allowed Frederick and Regina themselves into began to emerge.
His bright blue eyes shone brightly and curved into a smile.
"Estate inspection?"
"Yes. Not that I'm saying you should look around the entire estate. Just get a taste. Even just this Central Rockenhardt."
Klaud's face was nearing normal.
And it was Lancelot's suggestion, who had been closely watching the miracle of him personally looking through reports.
Klaud's frequency of taking headache medicine had significantly decreased, and his sensitive behavior had also noticeably lessened.
It was only natural that Lancelot would want to subtly pass Klaud's duties back to him.
"Even though Rockenhardt belongs to the Marquis Lev's territory. Once you receive the Rockenhardt County title, all rights are yours, right?"
Currently, the Black Manor was located in the Lev's territory, at the far northwest end of Euphris.
Within it was the 'Rockenhardt County,' a distinct territory in its own right.
This vast territory, densely forested in places, was the property of Klaud's mother, the late Empress Eleanor, and upon her death, Klaud was supposed to inherit it naturally along with the title.
Of course, it was part of the Lev's territory, so taxes had to be paid there as well, but thanks to the Lev family's consideration, the meager taxes were all coming to Klaud every quarter.
"Is there anything to see? Even ten years ago, there were only a handful of people."
"There is. It hasn't become a slum yet, but many people who try to make a living in the capital or surrounding territories end up being pushed out to these outer territories."
It was due to Emperor Igor's tyranny, which made life increasingly difficult.
He was engrossed in hunting and pleasure, neglecting state affairs entirely, so the great nobles who shared the burden of state affairs gained power.
However, the Emperor's reign of terror was so great that even the imperial authority was not threatened.
Everyone was living in a time of walking on thin ice.
"I heard you even went to our family cemetery? I'm curious how people will react if the lord shows his face for the first time in ten years?"
"Not really."
The reason people came to Rockenhardt was simple.
Even though Klaud had been out of politics for the past 10 years, he had never raised taxes, and as long as the barren land was cultivated, it could be leased long-term, so there was still hope that if they worked hard, they could make a living.
Since the country was raising taxes to the maximum, the local lords naturally followed suit.
Only Rockenhardt remained slightly outside that range, so there were quite a few people who came, thinking it was better to have even a small amount of crops on barren land than to have them taken away by others.
Naturally, the feelings they had for the lord, the 'Monster' Deposed Emperor, were far from hatred or contempt.
He was just existing, and there was no news, so even if it wasn't respect, it was at least at the level of thinking that our lord was better than others.
Lancelot, having heard the news that Klaud was starting to come out of his bedroom quite often, hoped that Klaud would take care of his land outside the Mansion on this occasion.
Privately, it was the heart of a friend who hoped he would no longer hide, and publicly, it was the wish of his brother, Eddie Lev, that he would one day raise his voice against the Emperor who was carrying out a reign of terror.
But whether he knew Lancelot's heart or not, Klaud had a nonchalant expression on his face at his cousin's words to look around his land.
Lancelot narrowed his eyes at the reaction he had fully expected and whispered.
"I heard your wife hasn't left the White Forest yet. Except when she visited the Lev family cemetery."
"What. She's busy going to the Chapel or somewhere every day."
Klaud pointed out the window with a light chin gesture.
Yuan was chattering, mixed in with the procession going to fetch water.
Realistically, she couldn't visit her sister's grave often, so Yuan would go to the small Chapel where the memorial tablet was enshrined to pray for her sister's soul.
Lancelot watched Klaud's expression, which seemed displeased with his wife going out, for a long time before slowly raising the corners of his lips.
Aha, so that's how it is.
"Your wife must be feeling 'suffocated.' It must be time for this Mansion to feel 'suffocating' to her. How many months has she been here? Seeing her keep going out on the pretext of the Chapel even after moving the body, she must want to get some fresh air. You 'suffocating' fool. You don't know the first thing about a woman's heart."
"Don't be sarcastic."
"At least I know women better than you do."
Klaud, who was staring at the wagon heading towards the White Forest beyond the Iron fence, threw the documents on the table into Lancelot's arms.
"You may know women well. But I know my wife better."
"Oh. Wife?"
Lancelot's face flushed rapidly, and his grinning lips stretched wide.
"......"
"Wife? My wife? You used to say she was like a sick Crow... annoying... and told me to take her away. Now she's 'my' wife?"
"Shut up. Get out."
"I told you to treat her well during the day if you can't be affectionate at night, right? So it seems like you've gotten quite close now. Can you at least admit that my advice was quite effective?"
Lancelot, who was smiling and trying to force his lips down, said again to Klaud, who turned his head away as if he didn't want to hear it.
"Don't you have a gift from your wife? If you receive something, you have to give something back."
He was talking about the West Annex.
Lancelot smiled as he saw a red glow on the back of Klaud's neck, who didn't answer, and left the bedroom.
Judging by the reaction, there seemed to be no need to worry.
Lancelot left the Mansion, gave instructions to his confidant who was waiting outside the fence to always keep an eye on whether the Deposed Empress was uncomfortable or needed anything at the Chapel, and immediately mounted his horse.
Suddenly, looking at the Black Manor from afar, he felt strange.
Even though it was only a very small corner on the left, the fact that there was one place that had regained its red color made him feel a wave of hope, like a tide filling his ankles, that things would be different in the future.
That day at lunch.
Yuan's eyes widened at the unexpected proposal while waiting for Yuan, who had been to the Chapel.
"An estate inspection?"
The busy hands, which had been spreading out newly picked herbs in the West Annex's yard to dry, slowed down subtly.
"Estate..."
As Yuan murmured with a dazed face, Klaud quietly said a word.
"So don't go to fetch water tomorrow."
"Estate inspection..."
"You keep singing 'Mistress, Mistress,' so why don't you try acting like a Mistress for once-"
"So, is this our first date... or something?"
Klaud's gaze, clearly flustered, turned to Yuan's eyes, which were beginning to sparkle faintly.
Her flushed face was looking up at him with anticipation.
...It was a disaster.
Yuan chattered all day long about the estate inspection.
Klaud had only ever seen her quiet or flaring up, so he just quietly watched her excited face, as it was the first time he had seen her like that.
Yuan Pellieresse seemed to be even more excited about his estate than he was.
"Actually, I've never been into the village. Last time, when I rented the wagon, I rented it at the entrance to the forest path leading to the village, so I couldn't see anything. Actually, even if I could have seen it, I wouldn't have been in the right state of mind to see it..."
"Is there any need to be so excited? It's just a village tour."
Yuan blinked her big eyes.
Hesitating at his nonchalant reaction, she soon lowered her eyes.
"I've never been on a village tour."
The West Annex's yard, where the chattering voice had disappeared, was quiet.
Klaud crossed his arms and stood leaning, looking down at Yuan, who was fiddling with the herbs she had already spread out.
"I've been in the Pellieresse Mansion all my life since I was very young. The closest thing to a village tour was when Marquis Kompani bought me earmuffs and gloves because I looked cold when I came here, and I briefly stopped by the village to see them. And staying at the inn there for a while."
Yuan scratched her cheek, recalling the day she was brought here almost like an object, dazed by Louise's death.
Klaud didn't answer.
Although he had been confined to the Black Manor for 10 years, Klaud had traveled around the country with the men of the Lev family and sometimes with his father, the late Emperor, since he was very young.
After entering the academy, he would travel around the surrounding countries with Lancelot Lev every vacation.
Just because he had closed his eyes for 10 years didn't mean that the scenery and people he had seen in his childhood disappeared from his memory.
The monsters pushing down from the north.
The vast wheat fields of the east.
The endless desert of the west and the warm coast of the south.
The small and large pieces of memories that had been there brightened his heart even when he was stuck in this Black Manor.
Of course, it had become a more hellish memory because he hadn't gone out for the past 10 years, but that was generally the case.
"...There's nothing special."
Yuan raised her head to look at him at the low voice that cut through the rustling sounds.
"If you had stayed home, you wouldn't have had to go through this hardship. You'll want to come back."
A slight sadness lingered in her big, black eyes.
Klaud didn't know why Yuan was feeling sad at his clumsy consolation, so he closed his mouth for a moment and stared at the swollen tears for a long time.
"I still want to go..."
The woman, who was holding back tears with her lower lip twitching, replied in a choked voice.
"Don't leave me behind, please take me with you. You said you would take me with you."
A very weak voice of resentment.
Klaud blinked slowly and eventually let out a hollow sigh that rose from below his neck.
The woman, not knowing what to make of that sound, squatted down again as she was.
The white fingertips that were fiddling with the herbs trembled.
Klaud suppressed the low laughter that was trying to escape between his lips and erased his expression. Then he reached out and grabbed Yuan's wrist, pulling her up.
Yuan, who was pulled along powerlessly, didn't have the confidence to look up at his face, so she buried her face in his broad chest.
Instead of pushing her away, Klaud made a suggestion.
"Tell me what you want to do when you go out."
The buried face went deeper into his chest instead of answering.
Klaud grabbed her shoulders, which had her face buried in his arms, and urged her again in a low voice.
"If you're too embarrassed to say it, try writing it down."
Yuan, who had been rubbing her reddened eyes against his chest for a long time, nodded with a very small movement.
A short, slow exhalation poured out once again over her clean crown.
A low vibration that started from Klaud's chest tapped her cheek.
Yuan paused her breath for a moment and slowly raised her head to look up at him.
Klaud was laughing softly.
It wasn't a coincidence.
It wasn't ridicule either.
For some reason, Klaud smiled briefly because of her.
Yuan buried her face in his arms again like a child caught doing something wrong.
'Your Highness... smiled.'
Her face was too hot and her neck felt itchy, making her feel unbearable.
