Alex was dead. Olivia comforted herself that this was something she had prepared her heart for at some point, and looked at Winston. It was shocking news, but she could not show herself falling apart in front of so many people.
“Then, where is he?”
“There is something I must tell you regarding that.”
Having opened that way, Winston delivered the bitter news that Alex’s body had not been recovered. At that point, even the butler had no choice but to shut his eyes tightly and lean on a servant’s support.
“You’re saying the body was not found.”
“It was a battle in which a great number of casualties occurred due to an explosion from artillery shells. It happened when the encampment was ambushed, and even some of the remains are in a state where recovery is difficult.”
“What about personal effects? I thought there would at least be a dog tag, if nothing else.”
“I am sorry.”
At the excuse that a fire had left nothing behind, Olivia could not say anything further. And it seemed the same was true on his side as well.
The two, who had gazed at each other in silence for a long while, gave light bows and parted when Olivia took a deep breath as a signal. As the soldiers who had filled the entrance hall disappeared, it felt as though she could breathe a little easier.
“Young Lady……”
Olivia turned her head at the voice calling her. From the butler to every servant, all eyes turned toward Olivia. With the Duke absent and Madam Brown having fainted, the only person who could settle this chaos now was Olivia. Olivia, who had been blankly staring at the closed front gate, let out a small sigh and caught her breath.
“……First, I must go to Mother.”
No matter how unwelcome she might have found him, he was still her husband. And the Young Duke who would succeed the Duke, at that. Olivia knew better than anyone that his death meant the loss of her position. That was precisely why she had so desperately wished he would return alive.
‘What am I to do now?’
Olivia went to Madam Brown’s side, where she lay as if dead on the bed, and sat upright, keeping her place until all the servants had withdrawn.
And three days later, another piece of tragic news was delivered to the ducal residence, which was in the midst of preparing the funeral. It was the news that Duke Brown, who had collapsed upon hearing that Alex had died in battle, had also passed away in the capital.
* * *
“Masha. What am I supposed to do now?”
“……Young Lady.”
Due to the consecutive tragedies, Madam Brown eventually took to her sickbed, and Olivia, unable to endure any longer either, shut herself in her room for days, choosing to cut herself off from the world. The Duke’s death was something beyond her expectations.
“Just, call me Young Lady like before. That name is too heavy and painful.”
Olivia, holding a letter that had arrived from the Russell family this morning, giggled. It was an order to treat the guests coming from the Lambert Count family with the utmost hospitality.
It was likely a decision made on the judgment that the ducal title would pass to the Lambert Counts, the nearest cadet branch. Only one year apart in age from Duke Brown. How was she to accept being told to become the wife of Count Lambert, who had already buried three wives?
“It was certainly a choice I made in expectation of becoming a Duchess. But……”
She had not meant for it to turn out this way. If she truly became a Duchess, would everything be solved? Olivia recalled Count Lambert and his family, whom she had seen at the wedding. A mass of inferiority complexes, a clan that did not know the meaning of shame. If she became part of that household, even with the title of Duchess, it was obvious she would live watching others’ eyes.
“If it comes to this, what meaning does any of it have?”
Olivia felt suffocated thinking of a future in which the image of the Duchess she had admired would vanish without a trace. She reached toward the bedside table once more and picked up a glass of liquor.
“……Please stop drinking.”
“Masha. Give it here.”
Olivia extended her hand to Masha, who had snatched the glass from her hand.
“No. You’re drunk right now.”
“Masha!”
Olivia, who had been sitting on the floor, stumbled to her feet. Masha grabbed the staggering Olivia, who was about to fall, and shook her shoulders.
“Young Lady, it is precisely at times like this that you must become even more cold-headed.”
“How on earth am I supposed to be cold-headed!”
“Actually, I was always worried about that side of you, Young Lady. Being emotionless is not always a good thing.”
Masha straightened Olivia, who was avoiding her gaze, and ceaselessly met her eyes.
“Still, I thought it was fortunate when it came to the consecutive tragedies. I thought that even if ordinary people could not, at least you, Young Lady, would not collapse.”
“That’s a funny thing to say.”
“I know very well how firm your heart is, Young Lady. I am certain you will be able to get through this as well.”
“You overestimate me.”
“No. I am right.”
Masha answered with a confident face, then supported Olivia toward the bed. Having laid her down and covered her with a blanket, Masha ceaselessly whispered to Olivia, who was looking at her with a blank face.
“When you fall asleep and wake up, your thoughts will be different. Remember Olivia Russell, the finest lady in the kingdom.”
That day, Olivia fell into a deep sleep for the first time in a long while. So deeply that even after the sun rose, she could not leave the bed for quite some time. Waking from sleep and barely opening her eyes, Olivia recalled her behavior the night before and Masha’s words.
“Ah, Masha……. Truly……”
Olivia covered her face with both hands and held back her tears. Would she ever meet another person who cared for her like this? Having come to her senses like that, her current state looked so pathetic she could not bear it.
Olivia did not ring the bell but immediately threw open the bedroom door. Then, so that Masha, who would be in a nearby room, could hear, she shouted in a very loud voice.
“Masha! Prepare a bath!”
* * *
“How can such a thing happen in this world?”
“Two people died, but they will hold a funeral for only one, Duke Brown……”
Because the territory of the Brown ducal family was relatively close to the capital, quite a number of mourners visited despite the war. Perhaps it was also because the front line had passed through the northern part of the kingdom and crossed into the small kingdoms. Olivia stayed up several nights straight greeting the guests, and the noble ladies who arrived late could not hide their sinister intentions even as they pretended to worry.
“Who would have known that the Brown ducal family would come to this?”
“By the way, does the Duchess agree with this situation?”
“Whether she does or not, she must have judged that it was better to keep her mouth shut.”
Olivia, unable to even step into the drawing room, leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. Why she had no choice but to make this choice—the sight of people who knew well pretending not to and bringing it up was infuriating. Perhaps the tragedy of the ducal family felt like good news to them.
“The body was not found, so it is not death but disappearance. Can such sophistry exist in wartime?”
“That is their only way to hold onto the ducal title, so what can be done?”
“Is the Lambert Count side staying quiet?”
“Who knows. They will probably quiet down soon. The Young Duke’s wife is young, but her worldly sense is quite……”
Only the laughter was inaudible, but at the voices of those noble ladies anticipating the fall of the ducal family, Olivia felt all her strength drain away.
“Olivia.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Madam Brown, who had briefly left her seat, carefully called Olivia. Olivia, straightening herself, gave a slight signal to Sophia, the head maid supporting Madam Brown. When she stepped back, Olivia took her place.
“I’m sorry, but you will have to take care of the guests in my stead.”
“Don’t worry. It is only right that I do so.”
Madam Brown, gaunt but having lost none of her dignity, looked at Olivia with clear eyes. Then she gripped Olivia’s hand tightly and spoke.
“You must not lend an ear to their words.”
“Yes.”
Madam Brown looked at Olivia as if worried. She could not believe that Olivia, still young, would be able to handle this.
“It is not something I should say to you, Mother, but I have always been thinking of the worst-case scenario.”
Since it was wartime, the Russell family would certainly not think of coming to take her back. Even if she were to be sold off again someday, it would not be now. That was why Olivia absolutely had to protect this ducal family.
“I know very well how to present myself and how to treat whom in moments like this.”
At this point, the only person who could protect Madam Brown and Olivia was Olivia alone.
“I will definitely protect the ducal family. For you and for myself, Mother.”
And so Olivia, even while bearing the stigma of being an eccentric noble lady, ultimately received approval for the position of Acting Duke. It was the moment she finally gained a solid shield behind which she and Madam Brown could stay.
But that joy was short-lived. On the day she was acknowledged as Acting Duke, all peace was shattered.
“……Olivia, am I seeing things right now?”
It was understandable that Madam Brown would mistake it for a hallucination. For Alex was standing in one corner of the drawing room of the ducal residence after she returned from going out.
“……No. It really is Alex.”
Even as she said that, Olivia could not believe it either. She had insisted he was missing, but she too had thought he was dead. That man had returned alive.
With a child bearing a face exactly like his childhood, and the woman who had borne that child.
