Moreover, the content is quite substantial.
‘The handwriting looks suspiciously similar to Count Sehera’s. Could it be because she’s his real daughter?’
Just then, the assistant who had entered glanced at the book he was reading and couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
“Oh? This is the bestseller I saw in bookstores recently. I bought it to get a sense of the Empire’s movements, and it’s so easy to read. It’s really interesting!”
“Right. No wonder it’s a bestseller.”
“Yes! It’s been a recent sensation. It even broke the record set by the late Marquis Berto’s book. I didn’t know you had a copy of that book, Count!”
“Right.”
As he stared at the front page of the book, his face suddenly grew puzzled.
‘Giselle never attended the academy, so how did she help with the editing?’
It was the moment when he began to wonder if the private tutor might have been exceptionally talented. I saw the assistant patting the shoulder of the person next to him, still holding the book.
“Oh, you should read this book too.”
“Well, the title’s a bit… it feels like a book you should read secretly.”
But even as he said that, his hand was already reaching for it.
He must be curious about how one makes 10 billion.
The hands flipping through the pages sped up, and soon, other subordinates gathered around him.
“How is it? Commercially viable, right?”
“…Oh?”
“Wow, this is really interesting! So this is what it’s about. I’ve never read a self-help book before!”
“By the way, at the very beginning of the book, it says ‘Thanks to Giselle.’ Who is this Giselle? It’s the same name as the young lady.”
A soft smile naturally formed on my lips.
“That Giselle is the one.”
Just then, one of the subordinates, who had been watching Count Floret’s satisfied smile, sneered and added.
“Oh, come on. That Giselle? No way. Did she just add a fork to the table? What’s going on?”
This person was close friends with Mariposa and had come here to assist with checking the business records.
Everyone’s attention turned to him.
Among them, Count Floret’s gaze was the coldest as he whispered.
“You.”
“Yes?”
“Do you usually speak like that about a lady of the household?”
“W-well, that’s…”
The oblivious subordinate looked flustered.
He seemed completely caught off guard, which only made it more ridiculous.
“Get out now.”
“Y-yes, sir?”
“I said, get out now.”
After sending the subordinate away, the atmosphere turned tense. He began recalling the words Giselle had said.
‘Mariposa had assigned an engaged man who was 30 years older to Giselle. And didn’t she mention that Giselle didn’t even have a maid?’
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have had the time to think about Giselle with all the work he had. Sorting through business records under a pseudonym and calming the increasingly volatile atmosphere in the territory already left him with no time to spare.
But now, with the gift of the book from Giselle, the embers she left behind slowly began to ignite.
‘The atmosphere at the mansion is certainly suspicious.’
He had neglected to care for his friend’s daughter because he was too busy. Perhaps he thought that simply providing for her was enough.
But now, sensing something was wrong, he couldn’t just leave the child unattended.
“I’ll have to repay her for the second gift.”
“Yes?”
When he received the thick book, a faint memory resurfaced.
The crumpled letter the little girl had handed him when she first arrived at his mansion.
At that time, he had sworn to protect the shy child.
“Find out in detail what happened to Giselle while I was away.”
“Yes.”
He recalled Giselle’s words: “Don’t trust my reputation,” and furrowed his brows once again.
“…And find out what Giselle is doing, even if it’s just a brief check.”
“Yes, understood. I’ll carve out time to look into it!”
Finally, in “Will You Regret It When I Die?”, a mysterious chase began that had never occurred even once before.
—
At the same time.
“Huh? Duke kalinos, you mean, my older brother has found a lady to marry?”
The younger brother of Duke kalinos, Teran, often referred to as ‘the Duke’s idle son’, had wide eyes in surprise.
Seeing his confusion, the assistant cautiously added,
“Yes. He even got the approval of the Senate. It seems like he fell in love at first sight!”
“My brother fell in love at first sight? That’s impossible.”
Only certain things could stir his brother’s heart: swords and armor designed to kill monsters, healing potions, and the widespread distribution of those to many knights and wizards.
“That’s all that excites him.”
“It seems like he fell in love at first sight and decided to marry! I cross-checked it with the Senate, and it’s true.”
Looking at the assistant’s expression, it seemed there was no lie in his words.
‘Why on earth would my brother suddenly want to get married…?’
As Teran pondered the current situation and his brother’s personality, his face suddenly turned pale.
“Could it be… I know it’s unlikely, but maybe… are you planning to kidnap the lady? Could it be that my brother, pressured too much to get married, has finally snapped and is planning something like that?”
“Oh, no, surely not!”
“Think about it. Did you notice anything strange?”
“That’s not possible. Well, sure, there are scoundrels like that nowadays. They call it ‘marriage by abduction’, right?”
A terrifying image of forced marriage flashed through Teran’s mind.
“Eh, no, it’s not like that. You’re being overly paranoid!”
Since the tragic death of the eldest brother, Teran had become the head of the family at a very young age.
Although there were a few eccentricities, he bore the heavy responsibility of his position.
There was no way his brother would do something like that…
“…Let’s just keep an eye on it.”
Teran’s intuition strangely pointed to something ominous.
—
The next morning, at the kalinos family’s breakfast table.
Sitting across from Duke kalinos, Teran set down his utensils with a confused expression.
‘It definitely seems like my brother is acting a little strange today.’
His brother, who usually wore a plain black suit every day, was wearing a white handkerchief pinned to the left side of his chest today.
There was another difference.
His brother hadn’t brought the usual research materials to the table today. This was the first time in his life that he hadn’t.
‘Is something going on with him? He’s barely eating today.’
Teran frowned with a worried look on his face.
‘He didn’t really kidnap the lady, did he?’
While he wished for his brother to find happiness and build a family, he certainly didn’t want him to go so far as to kidnap someone to get married!
“…Ren, Teran.”
Lost in thought, Teran was startled by his brother’s voice and snapped back to attention.
“Ah, yes. What is it?”
“I have something to tell you.”
The tone was somewhat ominous, but Teran couldn’t hide his nervous heart. He was worried his brother would say something like “I kidnapped the lady.”
At that moment, Duke kalinos quietly declared, dropping a bombshell onto the pleasant breakfast table.
“I have a lover.”
And,
“I’m going to marry her, within this month.”
It was a huge bombshell.
Teran slammed his hands on the table and shouted without realizing it.
“Y-you’re going to get married? To who? What kind of lady? She’s a lady, right? Not anything else …?”
“She’s a lady.”
Teran’s eyes widened in shock as he jumped up, flailing like a fish out of water.
“W-who is she? Who is she?”
“Lady Giselle Floret.”
“Pardon?”
“Should I say it again?”
With a look of comple
te confusion, Teran slumped down into his chair.
He, who frequently mingled with high society, knew well who ‘Giselle Floret’ was.
‘Lady Giselle, she was an incredibly fragile lady!’
