“Oh.”
Kathryn. It was a name that I knew now.
The Duchess of Bastion, who died early.
It seemed that she, the proud boss of the previous generation with great achievements, had closed her eyes right here.
I quietly put my hands on my knees and observed the atmosphere.
I know. Kathryn was Wolfgang’s wife before she was Levi’s mother.
‘In addition, she must’ve been a very loved wife.’
Seeing that she was captured and lived, even while she was beating on the back of a man of the duke’s status. I could only imagine.
Wolfgang smiled as he spotted my eyes darting from side to side.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“…I feel like I should?”
“Oh.”
He rubbed my head roughly with his big hand.
I think I’ve adjusted to his strength, but nevertheless, my slender neck moved as if it were about to break.
Phew. Anyway, there were more than one or two things to teach.
In the meantime, I pressed down my messy hair with both hands and asked with dissatisfaction.
“I’ve felt this for a long time. You don’t pat people on the head very often, do you?”
He’s raised two sons, and yet he’s so clumsy at physical contact.
Of course, I couldn’t speak about the second son, but Levi’s personality was quite unique.
At the very least, they needed a better father figure than a bachelor.
“Look.”
I held his hand, put it on my head, and made it move smoothly as if he was touching the fur of a small animal.
“This is how you do it.”
“….”
“Especially because my hair is very curly, so you have to pay attention.”
Did he get it? When I let go of his hand after asking, Wolfgang proudly said.
“I’m not sure yet.”
“I need you to concentrate for a moment. It’s like this. While you stroke my hair…”
Wait a minute.
I squinted my eyes, and stared up at Duke Wolfgang.
Sure enough, his face was full of laughter.
“You’re a total fraud.”
“Your tone.”
“Huh, just admit it properly.”
“What?”
“You’re crazy about me.”
“Yeah.”
There you go, like that.
After nodding my head, I stopped.
Did I hear it wrong?
As I froze in a daze, I heard Wolfgang’s voice again.
“Do you have to become my daughter-in-law?”
“…What?”
“There are many ways you can join the family.”
Those words.
I pressed down on my cheeks as the blush rose up to the sky.
Oh, my. This was crazy. What was I going to do about this magical charm?
Even though Levi was deliberately waving me away with his hand and turning up his nose, Wolfgang was more certain of his courtship.
“I can adopt you.”
“Haha. Oh, as the youngest daughter…”
“As a pet dog.”
“I’ll fight you.”
God, I was going to h*ll to face the devil.
Losing my temper, I grabbed Wolfgang’s sleeve.
Benjamin, who’d been watching all of this, trembled again when he saw it. This time, I felt like I’d really done.
I dared to shake the Duke of Bastion’s arm a little when I’d become sincerely angry.
“Don’t joke around! My life is at stake…!”
“Your life?”
Oh.
At that moment, I came back to my senses and closed my mouth. I quickly put down the shirt sleeve I’d grabbed.
I almost went too far. I almost crossed the river that I couldn’t come back from.
I pretended to be calm on the outside, as I smoothed out Wolfgang’s wrinkled shirt.
“Sir, it’s important enough to risk your life. How can I become the future Duchess of Bastion without that kind of determination? Hahaha, why is it so hot? I think I’ll get some fresh air for a bit.”
While I muttered, I naturally jumped to the floor.
It’s hot, really hot.
As I left the office with my tousled hair, a veiled gaze followed me.
I walked down the hallway for a while, then let out a ragged breath and broke out in a cold sweat.
What if I was driven out for heresy after I talked about holy power even though he only offered to adopt me as a pet dog?
No matter how bad his relationship with the temple was, the Duke of Bastion was also an important figure in this world.
It meant that basic truth and common sense would prevail.
In this world, temples and holy power were sacrosanct. A sacred area that could never be touched.
Perhaps the day would come when that belief was broken, but as long as the sacred nation that held the world tree was alive and well.
In addition, the story about the Duke of Bastion’s mana was also a sacred topic.
But it was why the people of the family had passed away, but a stranger shouldn’t be able to offer up any proof.
‘In addition, if I said that his son was going to die young…’
Ugh.
I rubbed at my neck, which was feeling cold for no reason.
Anyway, I had to be careful. I needed to build more trust, and be much closer than we are now. If I don’t…
“I won’t throw away this chance.”
I muttered without realizing it, and flinched.
I gently patted my stiff face with my palm to loosen it.
No, nope. This wasn’t like me.
As I stretched my facial muscles and made all kinds of funny faces, the passing maids found me and burst into laughter.
I laughed along with them, as bright and cute as possible.
Just like my usual self.
***
“Above all, going straight at the situation is most like me.”
Therefore, I suddenly tried to attack. To Levi.
But every time I tried to advance, servants would pop out and I failed.
Geez, no matter what gap I was aiming for, they would grab me when I just happened to be passing by. I even tried to hang outside the window.
At this point, I was thinking that the assassins raised by Wolfgang were actually hiding among the servants.
Or it was just that everything in the world was trying to interfere with my survival.
“Oh, life.”
Queensbury and Ignite soothed me, I grumbled while I hugged the foal’s neck.
“Am I too anxious?”
“Puru.”
“But spring vacation is short.”
The spring vacation in this world was about three weeks, and in that sense, one-third of it was already gone.
The opportunity to flirt with Levi was flying by.
I couldn’t help, but feel anxious. If school started like this, then I would have to wait until summer vacation to try again.
There was no guarantee that I wouldn’t be kicked out before then.
“In reality, getting married in two weeks would be too much, right?”
“Puruu.”
“Then, I’ll aim for an engagement!”
I really tolerated a lot!
I’d been feeling depressed lately, but when I raised my fist, the Queensbury family rejoiced with me and lent me their strength.
It was Tony, who’d come to clean the barn, that ended our sudden victory lap.
“Oh, my. You’re going to get hurt! Don’t run in such a narrow space!”
“Aww.”
Tony’s eyes were on the mare, even as I hugged the relatively small foal, he checked to make sure she wasn’t injured from all the running.
Tony always worried, and took care of Queensbury.
Of course, postpartum care was important, but it didn’t seem that they cared about the mare just for that reason.
In the first place, he’d desperately asked me for help with Queensbury, who’d become sensitive before childbirth and stopped eating grain.
“Mr Tony, favoritism isn’t good.”
“Huh?”
“If you’re only nice to Queensbury, then Ignite and the foal will be upset. Aisha will get upset too.”
When I crossed my arms, even the rich black stallion snorted, and turned his head away.
Tony nervously waved his hands in the air.
He’s quite naive, and fun to tease.
“It’s not like that…”
“Excuses are bad.”
“Queensbury is an important horse.”
Tony, who was contemplating for a while with a face wondering if he could say this, whispered quietly.
“She was the Duchess’ favorite horse.”
“Oh.”
With a single exclamation, I turned my head.
When I asked Queensbury, ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ with my eyes, she replied ‘You didn’t ask!’.
Crap, that’s what it was. It was my fault that I didn’t ask you first.
Having belatedly gained valuable information, one hypothesis suddenly came to mind.
Maybe Levi…
‘Was he so angry because he thought I’d hurt his late mother’s horse?’
That’s why he tried to kill me by stepping on me like I was an enemy.
If that was true, it was a little unexpected.
The fact that he doesn’t like the mansion also meant that his mother’s existence also had quite an impact on him.
He didn’t look that affectionate with Wolfgang. His mother was special. Was that what it was?
The more I knew, the more mysterious my candidate for husband was.
‘But it’s good news.’
My candidate for mother-in-law personally showed me the courage, and possibility of convincing Levi.
As expected, she’s a boss. My savior, who came to save my life.
Feeling like I’d found a breakthrough, I grabbed Tony’s arm and asked.
“What was the Duke’s boss, I mean his wife, like?”
“She was… a very good person.”
Tony answered as he looked off into the distance.
Why did it seem like he was hiding a vague sense of longing, sadness and other emotions?
I tried to coax him, but he couldn’t get any more answers.
Then.
“Queensbury, your master…”
“Neighhh”
“Yeah, I know. She was a good person.”
Even Queensbury was feeling a little sad and nostalgic.
Ignite and the foal comforted her as she grieved silently.
Oh, no. Unfortunately, I had no choice but to step down from here. It was hard to ask questions about the deceased.
Of course, I didn’t give up on collecting information.
I wandered around the mansion, and asked questions to the servants that wouldn’t overwhelm them.
“The madam? She was a good woman.”
“She was a very good person.”
“Good person…”
Not that!
Please answer with something other than that!
As the sun faded, I dragged myself out to the back yard and threw my tired body into the bosom of the wolves.
There was no vivid report that the duchess was picked up somewhere, or that she hit Wolfgang’s back like a dried pollack.
I could understand why the servants didn’t want to unnecessarily make a fuss about the family history of the horrible demon dukes.
But it’s okay to tell me about what she looked like and how she acted, or anything like that!
While I was grumbling, I happened to see someone pass the yard at the back of the mansion.
And they were about to leave the mansion!
“Sister Vivi!”
“Oh, what?”
“Let’s talk.”
“Get lost.”
Vivi spotted the wolf, and was meekly led to me.
Considering Vivi’s age and career, she would’ve never met the deceased duchess in person. However, there must be rumors inside the mansion that only the servants know.
“Excuse me, but I must ask to borrow the beautiful intelligence of an old rival.”
I shouted at Vivi, who looked at me as if she was wondering what nonsense I was talking about now.
“Give me the information on the deceased duchess!’
“There’s not that much.”
Oh?
I was stunned for a moment by Vivi’s concise answer.
It wasn’t ‘I’ll give you a hundred admissions that you won’t understand.’
“There isn’t that much?”
“Yeah, because there weren’t any rumors in the first place.”
Perhaps because the wolves were watching, Vivi answered bluntly and sincerely.
“The only thing known about her was that she was from the Viscount Gale family. In addition, she never went outside the territory or the townhouse… And she always wore a mask, even inside the mansion.”
“What do you mean by a mask?”
“I heard she hid her face securely, even from the head maid. Seeing that her hair color changed often, I think she even wore a wig.”
“But why?”
“I don’t know. Maybe there was a reason why she wanted to hide it.”
It was pretty interesting intelligence. She was a duchess who covered her face even in the mansion.
Let’s check if it was true or not, and the story behind it.
“Is that the end of the information about the Duke’s wife?”
“That’s it.”
“Really?”
“What else did you need?”
I needed more. That’s what my instincts were telling me.
I stroked my chin, and murmured.
“Every person I ask gives the same answer.”
“Oh, that one.”
The answer popped out from Vivi, who was picking at her ear.
“They’re just scared.”
“So…”
“According to the legend passed down among the seniors, whenever she and her husband had a fight, he would get kicked.”
The previous boss!
“Oh.”
Kathryn. It was a name that I knew now.
The Duchess of Bastion, who died early.
It seemed that she, the proud boss of the previous generation with great achievements, had closed her eyes right here.
I quietly put my hands on my knees and observed the atmosphere.
I know. Kathryn was Wolfgang’s wife before she was Levi’s mother.
‘In addition, she must’ve been a very loved wife.’
Seeing that she was captured and lived, even while she was beating on the back of a man of the duke’s status. I could only imagine.
Wolfgang smiled as he spotted my eyes darting from side to side.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“…I feel like I should?”
“Oh.”
He rubbed my head roughly with his big hand.
I think I’ve adjusted to his strength, but nevertheless, my slender neck moved as if it were about to break.
Phew. Anyway, there were more than one or two things to teach.
In the meantime, I pressed down my messy hair with both hands and asked with dissatisfaction.
“I’ve felt this for a long time. You don’t pat people on the head very often, do you?”
He’s raised two sons, and yet he’s so clumsy at physical contact.
Of course, I couldn’t speak about the second son, but Levi’s personality was quite unique.
At the very least, they needed a better father figure than a bachelor.
“Look.”
I held his hand, put it on my head, and made it move smoothly as if he was touching the fur of a small animal.
“This is how you do it.”
“….”
“Especially because my hair is very curly, so you have to pay attention.”
Did he get it? When I let go of his hand after asking, Wolfgang proudly said.
“I’m not sure yet.”
“I need you to concentrate for a moment. It’s like this. While you stroke my hair…”
Wait a minute.
I squinted my eyes, and stared up at Duke Wolfgang.
Sure enough, his face was full of laughter.
“You’re a total fraud.”
“Your tone.”
“Huh, just admit it properly.”
“What?”
“You’re crazy about me.”
“Yeah.”
There you go, like that.
After nodding my head, I stopped.
Did I hear it wrong?
As I froze in a daze, I heard Wolfgang’s voice again.
“Do you have to become my daughter-in-law?”
“…What?”
“There are many ways you can join the family.”
Those words.
I pressed down on my cheeks as the blush rose up to the sky.
Oh, my. This was crazy. What was I going to do about this magical charm?
Even though Levi was deliberately waving me away with his hand and turning up his nose, Wolfgang was more certain of his courtship.
“I can adopt you.”
“Haha. Oh, as the youngest daughter…”
“As a pet dog.”
“I’ll fight you.”
God, I was going to h*ll to face the devil.
Losing my temper, I grabbed Wolfgang’s sleeve.
Benjamin, who’d been watching all of this, trembled again when he saw it. This time, I felt like I’d really done.
I dared to shake the Duke of Bastion’s arm a little when I’d become sincerely angry.
“Don’t joke around! My life is at stake…!”
“Your life?”
Oh.
At that moment, I came back to my senses and closed my mouth. I quickly put down the shirt sleeve I’d grabbed.
I almost went too far. I almost crossed the river that I couldn’t come back from.
I pretended to be calm on the outside, as I smoothed out Wolfgang’s wrinkled shirt.
“Sir, it’s important enough to risk your life. How can I become the future Duchess of Bastion without that kind of determination? Hahaha, why is it so hot? I think I’ll get some fresh air for a bit.”
While I muttered, I naturally jumped to the floor.
It’s hot, really hot.
As I left the office with my tousled hair, a veiled gaze followed me.
I walked down the hallway for a while, then let out a ragged breath and broke out in a cold sweat.
What if I was driven out for heresy after I talked about holy power even though he only offered to adopt me as a pet dog?
No matter how bad his relationship with the temple was, the Duke of Bastion was also an important figure in this world.
It meant that basic truth and common sense would prevail.
In this world, temples and holy power were sacrosanct. A sacred area that could never be touched.
Perhaps the day would come when that belief was broken, but as long as the sacred nation that held the world tree was alive and well.
In addition, the story about the Duke of Bastion’s mana was also a sacred topic.
But it was why the people of the family had passed away, but a stranger shouldn’t be able to offer up any proof.
‘In addition, if I said that his son was going to die young…’
Ugh.
I rubbed at my neck, which was feeling cold for no reason.
Anyway, I had to be careful. I needed to build more trust, and be much closer than we are now. If I don’t…
“I won’t throw away this chance.”
I muttered without realizing it, and flinched.
I gently patted my stiff face with my palm to loosen it.
No, nope. This wasn’t like me.
As I stretched my facial muscles and made all kinds of funny faces, the passing maids found me and burst into laughter.
I laughed along with them, as bright and cute as possible.
Just like my usual self.
***
“Above all, going straight at the situation is most like me.”
Therefore, I suddenly tried to attack. To Levi.
But every time I tried to advance, servants would pop out and I failed.
Geez, no matter what gap I was aiming for, they would grab me when I just happened to be passing by. I even tried to hang outside the window.
At this point, I was thinking that the assassins raised by Wolfgang were actually hiding among the servants.
Or it was just that everything in the world was trying to interfere with my survival.
“Oh, life.”
Queensbury and Ignite soothed me, I grumbled while I hugged the foal’s neck.
“Am I too anxious?”
“Puru.”
“But spring vacation is short.”
The spring vacation in this world was about three weeks, and in that sense, one-third of it was already gone.
The opportunity to flirt with Levi was flying by.
I couldn’t help, but feel anxious. If school started like this, then I would have to wait until summer vacation to try again.
There was no guarantee that I wouldn’t be kicked out before then.
“In reality, getting married in two weeks would be too much, right?”
“Puruu.”
“Then, I’ll aim for an engagement!”
I really tolerated a lot!
I’d been feeling depressed lately, but when I raised my fist, the Queensbury family rejoiced with me and lent me their strength.
It was Tony, who’d come to clean the barn, that ended our sudden victory lap.
“Oh, my. You’re going to get hurt! Don’t run in such a narrow space!”
“Aww.”
Tony’s eyes were on the mare, even as I hugged the relatively small foal, he checked to make sure she wasn’t injured from all the running.
Tony always worried, and took care of Queensbury.
Of course, postpartum care was important, but it didn’t seem that they cared about the mare just for that reason.
In the first place, he’d desperately asked me for help with Queensbury, who’d become sensitive before childbirth and stopped eating grain.
“Mr Tony, favoritism isn’t good.”
“Huh?”
“If you’re only nice to Queensbury, then Ignite and the foal will be upset. Aisha will get upset too.”
When I crossed my arms, even the rich black stallion snorted, and turned his head away.
Tony nervously waved his hands in the air.
He’s quite naive, and fun to tease.
“It’s not like that…”
“Excuses are bad.”
“Queensbury is an important horse.”
Tony, who was contemplating for a while with a face wondering if he could say this, whispered quietly.
“She was the Duchess’ favorite horse.”
“Oh.”
With a single exclamation, I turned my head.
When I asked Queensbury, ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ with my eyes, she replied ‘You didn’t ask!’.
Crap, that’s what it was. It was my fault that I didn’t ask you first.
Having belatedly gained valuable information, one hypothesis suddenly came to mind.
Maybe Levi…
‘Was he so angry because he thought I’d hurt his late mother’s horse?’
That’s why he tried to kill me by stepping on me like I was an enemy.
If that was true, it was a little unexpected.
The fact that he doesn’t like the mansion also meant that his mother’s existence also had quite an impact on him.
He didn’t look that affectionate with Wolfgang. His mother was special. Was that what it was?
The more I knew, the more mysterious my candidate for husband was.
‘But it’s good news.’
My candidate for mother-in-law personally showed me the courage, and possibility of convincing Levi.
As expected, she’s a boss. My savior, who came to save my life.
Feeling like I’d found a breakthrough, I grabbed Tony’s arm and asked.
“What was the Duke’s boss, I mean his wife, like?”
“She was… a very good person.”
Tony answered as he looked off into the distance.
Why did it seem like he was hiding a vague sense of longing, sadness and other emotions?
I tried to coax him, but he couldn’t get any more answers.
Then.
“Queensbury, your master…”
“Neighhh”
“Yeah, I know. She was a good person.”
Even Queensbury was feeling a little sad and nostalgic.
Ignite and the foal comforted her as she grieved silently.
Oh, no. Unfortunately, I had no choice but to step down from here. It was hard to ask questions about the deceased.
Of course, I didn’t give up on collecting information.
I wandered around the mansion, and asked questions to the servants that wouldn’t overwhelm them.
“The madam? She was a good woman.”
“She was a very good person.”
“Good person…”
Not that!
Please answer with something other than that!
As the sun faded, I dragged myself out to the back yard and threw my tired body into the bosom of the wolves.
There was no vivid report that the duchess was picked up somewhere, or that she hit Wolfgang’s back like a dried pollack.
I could understand why the servants didn’t want to unnecessarily make a fuss about the family history of the horrible demon dukes.
But it’s okay to tell me about what she looked like and how she acted, or anything like that!
While I was grumbling, I happened to see someone pass the yard at the back of the mansion.
And they were about to leave the mansion!
“Sister Vivi!”
“Oh, what?”
“Let’s talk.”
“Get lost.”
Vivi spotted the wolf, and was meekly led to me.
Considering Vivi’s age and career, she would’ve never met the deceased duchess in person. However, there must be rumors inside the mansion that only the servants know.
“Excuse me, but I must ask to borrow the beautiful intelligence of an old rival.”
I shouted at Vivi, who looked at me as if she was wondering what nonsense I was talking about now.
“Give me the information on the deceased duchess!’
“There’s not that much.”
Oh?
I was stunned for a moment by Vivi’s concise answer.
It wasn’t ‘I’ll give you a hundred admissions that you won’t understand.’
“There isn’t that much?”
“Yeah, because there weren’t any rumors in the first place.”
Perhaps because the wolves were watching, Vivi answered bluntly and sincerely.
“The only thing known about her was that she was from the Viscount Gale family. In addition, she never went outside the territory or the townhouse… And she always wore a mask, even inside the mansion.”
“What do you mean by a mask?”
“I heard she hid her face securely, even from the head maid. Seeing that her hair color changed often, I think she even wore a wig.”
“But why?”
“I don’t know. Maybe there was a reason why she wanted to hide it.”
It was pretty interesting intelligence. She was a duchess who covered her face even in the mansion.
Let’s check if it was true or not, and the story behind it.
“Is that the end of the information about the Duke’s wife?”
“That’s it.”
“Really?”
“What else did you need?”
I needed more. That’s what my instincts were telling me.
I stroked my chin, and murmured.
“Every person I ask gives the same answer.”
“Oh, that one.”
The answer popped out from Vivi, who was picking at her ear.
“They’re just scared.”
“So…”
“According to the legend passed down among the seniors, whenever she and her husband had a fight, he would get kicked.”
The previous boss!
