Chapter 8
Chapter 008.
"Then, I'll stop here."
Vertein, who had escorted us to the entrance of the banquet hall, bowed politely and quickly walked away.
Young ladies, who had been glancing at us enviously, headed towards him one by one.
Reinia scoffed as she watched the extravagant dresses crisscrossing the banquet hall.
"They only look at faces."
"You only look at money."
She shook her head with a serious expression.
"Money doesn't have a different face and inside. Unless it's counterfeit."
Who made you like this?
As I was sending a worried gaze towards my best friend, who was full of distrust in humanity, I saw Orion approaching, having spotted us.
Beside him was a knight with an exotic appearance that I hadn't seen before.
With slightly dark skin and dark gray hair, the man had a look that was rare to see here.
His gentle brown eyes turned to me.
As my eyes met his, Orion introduced the knight standing beside him.
"This is Beihan Rune. He's the Vice Commander of our Dukedom's Azure royal guard. As you can see, he's from a desert tribe."
"I'm Merian Miller."
"Beihan Rune."
Lenny, who was standing next to me, was scanning Lord Rune with interest, so I was about to introduce her.
But Orion, with a determined expression, opened his mouth before I could.
"As you know, the ceremony is over, and the wedding reception has begun."
"Yes, it has."
"Through the marriage, you are now a proper couple."
"Yes."
"Now, you should use the Miller surname, ahem."
I blinked at his words and the cough he made.
'Merian Miller.'
I see.
He wanted me to introduce myself like that.
Mom was recognized as the Duchess by the imperial envoy.
So, her daughter, me, was naturally recognized as a member of the Dukedom.
But still…
'I wish you would include the subject in the sentence about being married from earlier.'
If someone who doesn't know hears it, they might misunderstand that I'm the one who married him.
It's our Mom and the Duke who got married.
"Yes, I'm Merian Miller."
It felt strange to say a surname I wasn't used to.
The surname Button was created by Mom when she was just starting to make a name for herself as an actress.
Sometimes the surname would change through marriage, but she always returned to 'Button.'
And I had never changed my surname until now.
It would be more accurate to say that there had never been an occasion for me to introduce myself to someone with a changed surname.
I tried to shake off the unfamiliar feeling and introduced Lenny.
"This is my friend. Her name is Reinia Locke."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Vice Duke Miller. I'm Reinia Locke."
Seeing Reinia's polite greeting, it seemed that the etiquette that her uncle had spent hundreds of gold on teaching her wasn't useless.
'The problem is that she can do this, but she usually goes around grabbing the hair of noble young ladies.'
Orion nodded lightly in response to Reinia's greeting.
"I've heard of the Locke family. You pioneered trade routes with the Eastern Continent, I believe."
"We're focusing on the domestic market these days."
Reinia smiled.
"Yes, I hope you'll get along with 'my' sister in the future."
"Oh my, she's 'my' friend."
Was it just my imagination, or were strange accents being emphasized in their conversation?
I could see Lord Rune next to me turning his head, trying to hold back a laugh.
Orion was the first to surrender in the staring contest, where the two were shooting sparks from their eyes.
As I poked Reinia, who was happy to have won the staring contest against the Vice Duke, Orion spoke again.
"By the way, my wife said she needed a few days to pack her things and move her residence. Merian, do you need any manpower?"
"Excuse me?"
"If you need it, I can provide some of The Duke's Residence's servants…"
"No, Mom will be fine."
"Still, isn't it moving a mansion? You'll have your luggage too."
"Why do I need to pack my things?"
Orion paused.
He stared at me with wide eyes before asking cautiously.
"You don't need luggage to move into The Duke's Residence? Are you going to live that frugally?"
"I'm not planning on moving into The Duke's Residence."
His eyes, filled with shock, met mine.
No, I should be the one who's flustered.
Why does he have a look on his face as if he's heard something unbelievable?
"I have a dormitory at the Academy. I'm planning to stay there starting next semester."
"Th, that can't be."
He staggered.
His complexion turned pale, as if he had a chronic illness.
Reinia glanced at Orion and didn't hide her contemptuous look.
Thanks to my impudent friend, I felt sorry instead.
'I haven't even brought up the story about the broken Communication device yet.'
He barely calmed down and asked me.
"Th, Merian."
"Yes."
"We're family now. Shouldn't we spend a lot of time together to become naturally close to each other?"
"I suppose so."
But separations always came before we could even become a proper family.
Thanks to the experiences I had living as Mom's daughter, I knew that not giving my heart in the first place was the way to get hurt less.
'He still has illusions because he hasn't experienced our Mom.'
Instead of shattering his dreams, I made an excuse.
"I want to stay in the dormitory because I need to focus on my studies."
"There are more important things in the world than studying."
"Now is the time when studying is important."
He looked at me with a gloomy face.
I stepped back at the sight of his desperate eyes, which would make others misunderstand.
"The Dukedom has hired thirty new people for the two of you."
"Oh dear."
Why did you do that?
If you had told me in advance, I would have told you not to.
The Miller family was quick to handle things, but they were unfriendly when it came to sharing information.
Lord Rune muttered next to me.
"Many of them will lose their jobs and be driven out onto the streets."
"Co, come to think of it, I think I heard some of the maids say during the interview that they had given up their studies to raise their younger siblings."
I didn't want to ask why the Vice Duke had personally attended the maid interviews.
But I couldn't help but flinch at the thought of innocent young breadwinners being driven out onto the streets.
Reinia, who was next to me, fanned herself with a leisurely expression and said a word.
"Give me the list of those young breadwinners. Our trading company will hire them and take responsibility for their younger siblings."
It wasn't the right time to say this, but I couldn't help but admire her confident words.
"Reinia, that's amazing…"
"Hmph."
As expected, it's good to have a lot of money.
Reinia's shoulders rose an inch higher when I muttered that she was amazing.
However, Orion, who was in front of me, had teary eyes again.
It was clear that my new brother was suffering from severe dry eye syndrome.
On the way home after parting with Orion, who promised to meet again, Reinia urged me.
"Looks like you need to keep your wits about you."
"If things go wrong, you might get charmed and dragged into the Dukedom."
If I refuse a few times, they'll let me go on their own.
Why would those people be so passionate about trying to trap me?
The atmosphere at the house I returned to, after rejecting Reinia's offer to stay over, was strange.
Dana, who approached cautiously, whispered to me.
"Laura caused an accident. She broke the trophy that the Madam cherished."
My hand stopped.
"Which one? The Lifetime Achievement Award she received from the salon?"
"Yes."
You can always buy new luxury goods.
She was a fairly generous owner.
However, even to her, who was usually generous, there were things that were dangerous to touch.
Things that were like symbols of being recognized as an 'artist' or 'artiste.'
I nodded, looking at the maids with anxious faces.
"I'll talk to her."
"Miss, and… the Madam is a little drunk."
Was that why she came back early from the banquet?
As I opened the door and entered, the sweet and bitter smell of alcohol filled the room.
She held a luxurious wine bottle and glass in each hand.
Her cheeks, reddened by the alcohol, made her look even more innocent.
The humming, which was nothing more than humming, scattered beautifully in the air.
Mom, who was sitting on the bed and dangling her feet, smiled at me when she saw me.
Her unguarded smile was flawlessly pure and beautiful.
"You're here?"
"Yeah, how much did you drink?"
"I'm just in a really good mood."
She smiled bashfully.
I brushed away the hair that was sticking to her innocent face and reached out my hand. She obediently handed over the glass and bottle.
"A lot of people came today."
"Yeah, it must have been a bit annoying for you."
"It's enough if Mom is happy. It's Mom's wedding. You like lively things, don't you?"
Mom's taste, which was to hate being alone and to fill her surroundings with lively things, was still difficult to digest.
But just seeing her happy face, just seeing her happy, was enough.
If the person I like is happy, what could I possibly hate?
At my words, she laughed softly and lay down on the bed as if collapsing.
Then she muttered.
"This is the last time."
"This is the end."
I paused for a moment at her laughter-filled mutterings.
She, lying on the bed in the dark room, soon began to breathe softly, as if she had fallen asleep.
"Not even once…"
She was someone who had never talked about the end.
It was a bit surprising to hear her talk about the last time.
The Duke's serious face flashed through my mind.
Certainly, this wedding was a bit different from the others.
I didn't know if it was because the other person's status was high, or if Mom's thoughts had changed.
Could the Duke really be her last?
I shook my head to shake off the curiosity and covered her, who had fallen asleep, with a blanket.
Would it even be meaningful to ask?
She's someone who changes her mind every moment.
Anyway, she'll be out of her mind with a hangover tomorrow morning.
She might not even remember what she said in her drunken state.
I reached out and stroked her face once before leaving the room.
I could see the luggage piled up in the hallway for the move.
'Because both of you are becoming members of the Miller family.'
Orion Miller's words lingered in my mind.
'Is this some kind of new curse?'
A chill ran down my spine.
