Ch 3.4
Time flowed on and on, and by the time two weeks had passed since returning home, Mary returned to my side.
“You could have stayed longer.”
I had given her a month of vacation, but Mary returned after only fifteen days.
I said this while looking at her with a disapproving gaze.
“I’ve rested enough.”
“You missed your family.”
“I’ll be seeing them often now anyway. Have you been doing well without me, Young Lady?”
Truthfully, it was quite inconvenient without Mary.
Since the person who knew everything like my own hands and feet was not by my side, let alone the physical toil, I was distressed because my mind was uneasy.
“As expected, I can’t do without you.”
I hugged Mary tightly.
Then Mary hugged me back, as if she knew it would be so.
We sat across from each other on the sofa again.
It was because I had something I absolutely had to say to her.
“About your marriage issue…….”
“My marriage?”
“Yes, you should get married now too.”
“I’m not quite ready yet…….”
Mary trailed off with a hesitating expression.
Recognizing what that meant, I brought it up immediately.
“You might not be ready, but I think Sir William might feel differently?”
“Pardon?”
Mary looked at me with eyes startled like a rabbit.
“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”
I said with a sly smile, implying that I had known for a long time.
“But…… I am…….”
She hesitated, unlike the Mary who always showed a confident attitude.
“Sir William has noble blood flowing through him, even if he is a half-blood, while I am just a commoner…….”
So William was an illegitimate son…….
Reflecting on the fact that I had only just learned this now, I resolved to look into William’s family in more detail.
“If that becomes a problem, I will help you, so don’t worry. More than that, you two still like each other, right?”
“Young Lady…….”
Mary’s eyes welled up with tears, her face overcome with emotion.
“I told you before that Lian is like a younger brother to me. It’s the same for you. You are like an older sister to me. So stop worrying and let’s start preparing for the wedding.”
Mary was two years older than me, turning twenty-four this year.
Mary had served Belita for over ten years, but I had only spent a little over two years with her.
If we hadn’t gone on the trip together and had just remained as a lady and a maid in the mansion, we wouldn’t have become this close.
But we traveled together through thick and thin, and that was worth enough to leap over a long span of time.
“I am grateful for your words, but I will absolutely never get married before you do, Young Lady.”
“What?”
However, Mary, whom I thought would jump for joy, suddenly threw out an unexpected remark.
“After you meet a good person and get married, Young Lady, then I will get married as well. So please don’t do anything for now.”
Mary’s expression was firm.
“If you do that, you might not be able to do it even after several years pass!”
I had no intention of getting married yet.
Of course, as a noble lady, I had the duty to prosper the family through marriage, but I had no intention of doing it with just anyone.
“It’s alright. I like staying with you like this, Young Lady.”
“Mary!”
She seemed to have no intention of bending her will at all.
I let out a small sigh and gave her a look that wasn’t truly resentful.
“Don’t blame me later. Understood?”
Mary nodded, and with those words, we closed the matter regarding Mary’s marriage.
As the news spread that I had returned to the capital, countless invitations arrived at the Ducal mansion.
I rejected them all since I didn’t want to go anywhere yet, but finally, the one invitation I couldn’t refuse arrived.
While having breakfast with my parents in the dining room, Father spoke.
“His Majesty the Emperor has invited the members of the three Ducal families to the Imperial Palace.”
“His Majesty the Emperor?”
“Yes. He’s likely using the excuse of harmony between the families to gather us again.”
Dining with the Emperor was a long-standing custom.
It was to express the reason for the puppet Emperor’s existence—to prevent the balance of power among the three families from tilting to one side while
simultaneously striving to prevent clashes between families with powerful military might.
When the Emperor acted as the host and arranged a meal, those invited wore their respective masks of “good people” and had a time of probing and checking one another under the guise of harmony.
“A long time has passed since you became an adult, so you are now qualified to attend.”
Just as Father said, I had become an adult long ago, but it was a gathering I had never attended because I was traveling.
I looked at Father, having the qualification to go but not really feeling the desire to do so.
However, Father was sending me a firm look that said I must not miss it.
“I have to go, right?”
“Do you think it will still be difficult for you to see Duke Maxius?”
Seeing Kane didn’t really matter.
I just simply didn’t want to go to such a heavy gathering.
But I had promised myself that once I finished the trip and returned, I would accept the things given to me without a word.
Now was the time to keep that promise.
“No. I think I’ll be fine.”
“If it is still difficult, I will not force you.”
“Yes, Belita. You don’t have to go if it’s forced.”
Though his gaze was firm, Father was fully respecting my will and feelings.
Furthermore, even Mother added her support, giving me the freedom of choice.
Thinking of such parents, I absolutely did not want to avoid my duty.
“I’ll go. I’m an adult now too, and I should fulfill my responsibilities.”
When I replied and smiled, my parents looked at me with proud faces.
“Right, well thought. And…….”
“Dear!”
“Ahem…… no. Continue your meal.”
‘What is it? Why are they stopping mid-sentence again?’
I looked at my parents with a puzzled expression.
However, they avoided my gaze and focused on their meal.
Even if I wanted to ask what they were trying to say, it didn’t seem like they would answer, so I could only continue eating.
After finishing the meal, I returned to my room.
And I pondered over what it was my parents were hiding from me during the meal earlier.
Nothing in particular came to mind.
‘What could it be.’
Including the talk about House Bayon that was briefly mentioned before I went on the trip, Mother always put on the brakes whenever Father tried to speak due to his impatient personality.
I tried to recall the contents of the novel.
But after breaking the engagement with Kane, I had decided there was nothing more to worry about regarding the original story and had lived completely forgetting it throughout the trip, so I couldn’t even remember the details well now.
‘Well, it’s probably nothing serious.’
And if it were something that would harm me, my parents would have told me long ago.
Thinking so made me feel at ease, so I decided not to think about that issue anymore.
A few days later was the day of the dinner at the Imperial Palace.
I was very busy from the morning washing and grooming to prepare for entering the palace.
And around the time the sun was just setting, I finished all preparations and stood before the mirror.
“Young Lady, you are so beautiful.”
Mary praised my appearance with a voice full of admiration.
Today, I specially wore a light purple dress that would go well with my golden hair.
Furthermore, putting on a hair ornament much darker than the color of the dress, I looked quite pretty and fresh even to myself.
‘Pretty.’
When I used to frequent House Maxius, I had to look good to Kane, so I went around dressed up by force, but while traveling, I went around with minimal adornment.
So, seeing myself styled from head to toe like this for the first time in a long while, it felt unfamiliar and awkward, yet quite satisfying.
