Chapter 24
Episode 24
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A few days later.
“No one’s really interested.”
I came to that conclusion after receiving information about the central lands.
As expected.
It was natural since the land wouldn’t be valuable until years later.
As expected, the future is in real estate!
“Buy up the land around there little by little under an alias.”
Pielle bowed his head at my words.
“I will relay that immediately.”
Then he gestured to a nearby maid. She was a maid who resided on the 4th floor.
Watching them, it became clear.
The Argenta people on the 4th floor were completely different from those on the 3rd floor and below.
I was beginning to understand why Dielo said that only the 4th floor could be trusted.
First of all, there seemed to be an intangible wall on the 4th floor, and servants didn’t dare to go up there carelessly.
And those who freely came and went on the 4th floor were more tight-lipped and in higher positions than other servants.
“Don’t forget to buy it with my money.”
I emphasized again.
Dielo already knows my future plans anyway, and he’ll find out more, but it would be shameless to use Argenta’s money.
“Ah, and.”
I almost forgot something important.
I ordered Pielle again.
“If they’re Argenta’s informants, they should be able to create a new commoner identity, right?”
At that, Pielle asked back.
“Are you talking about a forged identity?”
“I can’t go all the way to that land as Krua Alroze.”
I was pointing at the map when.
“Krua.”
At that moment, a small knock was heard along with my name.
Looking at the door, Dielo was peeking his face through the gap.
His fine, jet-black hair sparkled in the room’s light.
His Blue Eyes, visible between his hair, were even more so.
“Krua, may I come in?”
He’s already halfway in and asking now?
I laughed.
“Come in.”
Only after permission was granted did Dielo fully step into my office.
Then he discovered the map on my desk.
“……”
His blue eyes scanned the map.
His gaze was directed at the center of the map.
“Are you really going to go there?”
I shrugged at his words.
“I have to go. Either way, when the real Pero comes, my existence as the former wife will inevitably be a nuisance to Pero…”
Wait a minute. I stopped abruptly while speaking.
Hasn’t it been quite a while since I saved Redius Argenta?
It’s about time the real Pero came, right?
…No, hasn’t the time already passed?
“—You can just stay in Argenta.”
At that moment, Dielo suddenly took over my words.
For a moment, I blinked, wondering what he meant, and then laughed.
“You’re saying you’ll welcome a new wife while the former wife is still in Argenta?”
At those words, Dielo’s blue eyes blinked a few times.
“Yes. Is that not allowed?”
His blue eyes sparkled with innocence.
I was dumbfounded.
Even if I leave this mansion, Pero would still be bothered by the fact that his former wife is staying in Argenta, right?
Besides, I heard that Pero has quite the temper?
“They say there’s no such thing as friends between men and women. What are you going to explain?”
He has to truly share his heart with Pero to fully awaken the head of the family’s abilities.
It’s over if Pero can’t open his heart to Dielo.
Besides, in this world’s aristocratic families, scandals arise even if men and women are just close to each other.
But he’s going to leave his former wife in Argenta as is?
“Hmm…”
At my words, Dielo tilted his head as if in thought.
If I stay in Argenta even after Pero comes.
Putting aside the gazes of Kartiel, who knows I’m fake, and the Alloze, whose plans have been exposed, there would be more than one or two problems.
Above all, there’s Dielo’s new wife, the real Pero, who’s the problem.
If Pero finds me annoying, I’ll have nothing to say, right?
“I’ll just introduce you as an Argenta.”
At that moment, Dielo suddenly opened his mouth.
He smiled brightly.
“Become an Argenta, Krua. It wouldn’t be strange for an Argenta to stay in Argenta.”
“Oh my.”
In the end, I pressed hard on my throbbing temples.
I have no intention of being in the middle of a love triangle, okay?
I waved my hand.
“I’ll politely decline. My goal is a peaceful retirement.”
“Peaceful as in?”
Dielo immediately took over the words. I answered without hesitation.
“I refuse to be in the position of a woman caught between a new wife and an ex-husband, I also refuse the title of ex-wife, and furthermore—”
If I get divorced, the social circles will be noisy, right?
The social circles, which don’t know Pero’s secret, will especially think that I just broke off the engagement with Dielo and stayed in Argenta because I had nowhere else to go.
I waved my hand.
“I also refuse to be in a position where I have to be mindful of the new wife, and I completely refuse to have my name mentioned in social circles. Then there’s only one way, right?”
I raised my index finger in front of his eyes and shook it.
“I have to leave here.”
Is there any other way?
At my words, Dielo touched his lips as if he was troubled.
“……”
His silent expression was tinged with regret.
How is he going to live in this harsh world with so much affection?
I let out a deep sigh.
“I’ll still drop by sometimes.”
Because Dielo seems too regretful.
I chuckled.
“Ah.”
I almost forgot to ask something important while talking.
“But is there any news about the real Pero?”
I wanted to ask outright why he wasn’t coming when he should be, but I couldn’t.
Dielo slowly shook his head at my words.
“Not yet.”
Not yet?
I almost asked back without realizing it.
Did I miscalculate the time?
Or did I remember the order of events wrong?
That can’t be.
It’s been quite a while since I saved Redius Argenta, so there should definitely be news about the real Pero.
In the original story, around this time, Dielo Argenta welcomes the real Pero, and Krua Alroze finds out that she is a fake Pero.
After that, the real Pero and Dielo Argenta’s uncomfortable marital relationship begins.
Thanks to the original story being written mainly from the perspective of the Alloze family’s maids, I couldn’t know why the two were uncomfortable.
But well, not everyone is comfortable with their destined partner.
“Not even a little bit of news?”
But it was strange that there was no news at all yet.
When I asked again, Dielo nodded slightly.
“No.”
What the heck?
So far, the only thing I’ve significantly twisted from the original story was saving Redius Argenta.
What does that have to do with the timing of Pero’s arrival?
What went wrong first?
A strange sense of unease lingered in my mind.
“…I hope he comes soon.”
But for now, it was time to retreat.
“I hope so too.”
Dielo also smiled slightly, as if he was regretful, and turned around.
I was looking at his back when I suddenly had a strange thought.
…But, what did he come to say, that person?
* * *
That afternoon.
The peaceful mansion was suddenly filled with the sound of horses’ hooves and loud noises.
“Huh?”
Looking outside without thinking, I saw Dielo.
He was wearing the royal guard uniform that he wears when going to war, and he was running out somewhere in a hurry.
Behind him, the knights following him rushed out, kicking up dust.
Is he going towards the Endless Sea?
At the moment I was wondering, a maid rushed over.
“Madam.”
“What’s going on outside?”
At my words, the maid bowed her head.
“There’s been an incident at the border of the Endless Sea, so he’s been dispatched urgently.”
Areas 3 and 4 have been noisy lately, so there was no guarantee that other places wouldn’t be noisy as well.
I nodded slightly.
“He ordered me to tell you not to worry.”
The maid said to me with a cautious face.
When he went to District 4, he left without saying a word, but this time he seemed to have the presence of mind to at least convey a message.
“Okay.”
There shouldn’t be any major incidents until Pero comes, so there’s no need to worry.
I nodded slowly and raised my eyebrows slightly.
But really, isn’t it about time for Pero to come?
My head became unnecessarily complicated.
In the end, I put down the documents about Argenta that I was looking at.
—Creak.
As I pushed back my chair and stood up, Pielle approached.
“Madam?”
“I can’t concentrate. Let’s go for a walk.”
Then Pielle immediately bowed his head to me.
“I will escort you.”
I guess it was obvious that I couldn’t concentrate.
Pielle willingly led me to the hallway.
A cool breeze was blowing in the evening.
Thanks to the wide windows in the hallway being wide open, the scenery wasn’t bad.
—Swoosh…
Watching the wind blow, I fell into thought.
If the real Pero comes to Argenta himself.
Since it’s probably already known that Dielo is married to Pero, he’ll try to enter very carefully.
If Argenta finds him and brings him, I wouldn’t not hear about it.
Either way, it can’t be this quiet, right?
—Tap, tap.
I crossed the hallway and went down the stairs. I was planning to see the flower garden at sunset.
But.
“Huh?”
When I reached the first floor, I suddenly stopped walking.
The knights on the first floor seemed a bit different than usual.
Of course, it was impossible to remember all the faces of the Argenta who came and went in the mansion.
But there was no way I wouldn’t recognize the knights on the 4th floor, whom I saw often.
Why are the 4th floor people here?
At my words, Pielle answered briefly.
“The head of the family ordered them to be stationed here.”
“Dielo did?”
I raised my eyebrows.
He wouldn’t have reinforced the defenses on the first floor as he was leaving… It was when I felt a strange feeling.
“Madam!”
A hurried footstep was heard from above.
It was a maid from the 4th floor running down the stairs quickly.
“In the head of the family’s office…!”
The office should be empty right now.
Whether she went in to clean or something, the maid was holding a white cloth in her hand.
“In the office, the contract is burning!”
“What? Why all of a sudden—”
I was about to ask back, but I paused.
—Fwoosh!
I remembered Mirta’s contract, which had flared up with blue flames and disappeared as soon as Dielo’s signature was finished.
“Could it be, Mirta’s contract?”
Mirta, the one who recently left Argenta.
A 4th floor servant who wrote a blood contract not to reveal anything about Argenta.
“Yes. It seems she violated the rules.”
The maid said with a serious face.
“It’s a betrayal.”
“……Ah.”
I rubbed my forehead.
