Chapter 4
The future Duchess herself had come to the imperial palace to see the Duke.
Just that fact alone was enough to keep the whole room buzzing.
The men who waited by the door and met her face-to-face showed obvious curiosity, but Lady O’Hara remained calm. There was no sign of agitation in her as she exchanged perfectly proper greetings.
The same was true of Duke Teze.
In fact, his posture was even more upright than hers, so cold and flawless that it seemed to drain all warmth from the room. If an ordinary man and woman had been left alone behind closed doors, people would have had all kinds of guesses.
But with these two, even that was impossible.
At the very least, they could only assume they had not been fighting.
And of course, there was no way it had been anything affectionate.
“Then let’s process the agenda items brought up today as they are and report them to His Majesty.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Call in the department heads, review the final documents, and submit the detailed points within two days.”
His tone was as sharp and precise as a pen laid down straight on a desk.
The people who had been watching his mood lowered their heads and slowly withdrew one by one.
This was not someone you could keep busy with pointless curiosity. If anything, you would only get your own neck bitten.
“…”
Even after everyone had left, Duke Teze’s posture did not waver.
With both arms resting neatly on the desk and his lowered eyes shaded with a thoughtful look, his profile was as precise as if carved from stone.
He was so quiet that even the reminder about approving the military supply request got swallowed back down.
“…Um, Your Grace. I know this might not be the right time to say this.”
“Then don’t.”
Phylon had worked up the courage to speak, only to bite down on his own words.
He was not someone who had only just met the duke. He knew very well how deeply in thought the man was right now.
What on earth is going on?
His friend had always been far too serious, but now it felt like even that seriousness had gone too far.
Only after Michael, who had been waiting outside, came back into the meeting room did Decarno finally lift his indifferent gaze.
“Your Grace, the lady has departed for the ducal estate.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. We sent her in a different carriage, so she will go straight to the estate.”
Michael, who understood the duke’s intentions, tried to reassure him.
The driver sent with the duke’s carriage was one of their own, with a verified identity, so they could deal with any possible incident.
“She will check in as soon as she reaches the annex and then return.”
“…I see.”
For some reason, the duke’s answer did not sound satisfied.
That was one matter, but there were still things left to settle, and his irritation had not gone anywhere.
“Was the security of my house really that lax?”
“…Pardon? Your Grace, what do you mean…?”
“That person heard news I had not even heard myself. And came all the way to my house directly.”
The duke’s interlocked fingers tightened even more.
Above them, his sharp gaze gleamed like a beast’s, and Michael shrank slightly.
House Teze’s security had always been as tight as the imperial palace.
Ever since the previous duke had died suddenly under suspicious circumstances, every visitor had to be announced in advance or carry an invitation.
Even relatives had to turn back if they arrived unannounced.
That was the rule of the house.
Except for one place.
“Forgive me, but the annex is under Lady O’Hara’s jurisdiction. Today’s banquet was held in the annex, and since the carriage came from the O’Hara Trading Company, we could not stop it from our side.”
“…”
Michael, who had already roughly understood the situation, quickly explained.
On the wide grounds of the ducal estate, only the western annex had belonged to the duchess from generation to generation.
If there was one tradition in House Teze, it was that even the family head did not interfere there.
“If Your Grace still has questions about today’s matter…”
“Go yourself, or send someone trustworthy—no, go personally to the O’Hara Trading Company. Find out exactly when the incident happened and what the circumstances were.”
Decarno changed his words and directly appointed Michael.
At the mention that the duke’s personal secretary would go, Phylon, who had been holding his breath and watching, also began to look serious.
“What? So something really did happen.”
“If you keep that mouth in check, it may yet become as if it never happened.”
“Ha…”
At Decarno’s words, which carried both a warning to be careful and a firm resolve to uncover everything, Phylon clicked his tongue.
Even if he did not know the details, his instincts were already telling him he did not want to get involved in something complicated.
But getting up and leaving first was not easy either.
“Which country currently holds ownership of the Rieman Sea area? Was it Kale, outside Addis?”
“Hm? Yes, but why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“Because you’ll be going there now.”
“…”
At the duke’s flat tone, Phylon stared at him in disbelief, mouth slightly open.
It was the same tone one would use to say, Let’s go hunting since the weather is nice, or, Let’s fence together after work.
If this had been a mere merchant ship, that would be one thing.
But Decarno was speaking with shocking calmness about Bellice Empire naval ships entering another country’s waters.
“Why? Is it difficult?”
“…I’m not joking. You served in the military too, so how can you not understand what that means? Addis might be one thing, but Kale is practically an enemy country that even fought a war with us once.”
“We’ve signed a ceasefire treaty again.”
“Ha…”
Now there was nothing left to be surprised about, so all that came out was a hollow laugh.
But Decarno’s words were not the kind you could dismiss as a joke.
Just as Phylon was about to object again, Decarno had already pulled out a single sheet of paper from a pile of documents beside him.
“Hey!”
“This should be enough for travel expenses.”
The duke’s handwriting moved smoothly as his fountain pen glided across the page.
Even the naval budget proposal that had been put on hold hours earlier was, in his hand, no different from a simple check.
Leaving Phylon at a loss for what expression to make, Decarno rose from the desk, bracing one hand on it.
“Bill them separately for all compensation and expenses they demand.”
“…Honestly. What is this even…”
“You don’t need to know.”
It meant: find out as much as you can, then erase it from your mind immediately.
With that, everything he could do now was finished.
As Decarno headed back toward the door, he once again faced Michael, who was waiting there.
“You shouldn’t be here right now.”
“My apologies, Your Grace. I only had one more thing to ask.”
Michael stepped forward with a hurried expression.
He had to place the duke’s orders above everything else, but if there were two orders, then he had to decide which had priority.
“…Then should I cancel the lady’s birthday gift for now?”
◇ ◆ ◇
The scent of roses carried on the night breeze was refreshing.
The glass greenhouse was the most secret and most foreign place in the western annex of the ducal estate.
It was filled with rare flowers and trees that were rarely seen in the Bellice Empire, and it reminded one of a tropical island Evangeline had once visited by ship.
“How is it? Do you like this place?”
The late previous duchess had loved this place the most.
She had originally come from the northern Duchy of Nyx as a princess, so she must have seen countless rare things in her life, yet here she could not hide her pride.
The ducal annex and secret garden of House Teze were the dream and final destination of every lady in high society.
“From now on, this will be your kingdom alone, Evangeline.”
She probably had never known.
She probably never imagined this was the shape my life would take.
Remembering the voice of the previous duchess, who had been as dignified as her own son, Evangeline smiled bitterly.
Her elegant and beautiful future mother-in-law had sometimes been very strict. Even after deciding to accept her as a daughter-in-law, it had taken several months before she finally spoke to her properly.
If that woman could see her now…
With an amused smile, she stroked the pale blue petals of a rose.
This too was a rare species that only grew here, and it made her chest feel strangely tight.
Would there ever be another day when she could touch it again?
Even though she knew it was far too early to be thinking such things, the scent felt especially different today.
But what she truly felt reluctant to let go of was not a few rare flowers.
“Woof! Woof!”
“Rex!”
Just as Evangeline had bent down to smell the flowers, she suddenly turned around and opened her arms.
Rex, with his rich silver fur flying about, was not an ordinary dog.
Rex was a precious ancient lion-hound bloodline that the previous duchess had brought from the North when she married into the family.
She had personally raised the line until that dog gave birth, and then until the puppies had puppies of their own, so it was only natural that she would feel immense pride in its history and bloodline.
Unfortunately, the previous duchess had passed away before Rex was born, so she never got to see his birth herself, but she had stroked his mother’s belly many times.
