Chapter 12
I quietly looked at Aden’s broad back as he personally led me to my room.
I was satisfied that everything had gone well.
But when I thought about what lay ahead…
The road still felt incredibly long.
Engagements between noble families were often made…
And just as easily broken.
That didn’t mean they were unimportant.
After all…
They involved entire families.
I remembered the worried expressions on my parents’ faces when I told them I was going to marry Layton Vladia.
If I had listened to them more…
If we had talked a little longer…
Would things have ended differently?
I had a feeling they would worry this time too.
Although Ripton was far more lively and prosperous than I had expected…
Most people still had a negative image of it.
My parents probably felt the same.
What kind of expressions would they make when they heard I was engaged to this man?
“Lady Brilloksen.”
While I was walking behind Aden, staring at his back, he turned around and called me.
“Yes?”
“What are your plans for dinner?”
“If you’d like, I can have a meal prepared.”
“I don’t really have an appetite.”
“I’ll probably just eat some fruit and go to bed.”
He quietly looked at me.
Why was he looking at me like that?
I tilted my head slightly.
Then Aden slowly spoke.
“I don’t think you need to lose any weight.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean there’s no reason to skip dinner.”
“Why fill yourself with fruit instead?”
“…”
So…
He thought I wasn’t eating because I wanted to lose weight?
His answer was so unexpected that I laughed a moment later.
Seeing me laugh, Aden frowned slightly.
I stopped laughing and shook my head.
“That’s not it.”
“I really just don’t have an appetite.”
“So you don’t have to worry.”
“I can’t believe you thought I was skipping meals just to lose weight…”
Smiling softly, I walked closer to him.
“You’re unexpectedly strange in the funniest ways.”
I never imagined hearing this man tell me that I didn’t need to worry about my figure.
It caught me off guard.
But it wasn’t meant in a bad way.
If anything…
Wasn’t it almost a compliment?
I spread my arms slightly and took a step back as if telling him to look carefully.
Aden quickly turned his head away.
“…Let’s go.”
Holding back a small smile, I walked beside him.
Aden slowed his pace to match mine.
When neither of us spoke, silence quietly settled between us.
The unfamiliar atmosphere made me rub my arm.
This was the castle where a Grand Duke lived.
Wasn’t it a little too dark?
“May I ask you something?”
Aden turned his head toward me.
His relaxed expression told me to ask freely.
“The number of servants seems unusually small.”
“The castle is so large, but there doesn’t even seem to be anyone to place candles in the hallway.”
“Shouldn’t you hire more people?”
At my question, Aden slowly looked around the castle.
His eyes quietly swept across the halls.
Then he closed his mouth.
Was it a secret?
Once his lips closed, they looked as though they would never open again.
If anything…
They looked even more tightly shut than before.
Had I asked something too rude?
Just as I was about to apologize, he finally spoke.
“There used to be many more servants.”
“There were enough people to maintain the entire castle.”
“But that’s no longer possible.”
“Why?”
Aden answered calmly.
“Because we don’t have enough money.”
“…”
“Five years ago, our contract with House Vozbon at least gave us some room to breathe.”
“But these days, even that is gone.”
“I’ve cut every expense I can.”
“But the budget is still too small.”
“So I had no choice but to reduce the number of servants.”
“The people still working here are the most our budget can afford.”
His answer was so unexpected that I couldn’t say anything.
Goodness…
Just how poor were they…
For a Grand Duke to openly say they had no budget?
I was speechless.
Even the mansion of a poor lord was usually full of servants.
Sometimes it was simply for appearances.
But it also kept money circulating.
The estate hired local people to clean and maintain the mansion and paid them wages.
It helped create jobs.
Even House Brilloksen employed more than forty servants.
Father had intentionally hired more people than necessary.
The workload became lighter.
And more people had jobs.
Yet here…
They couldn’t even hire servants because they lacked the money.
I didn’t know whether to feel sorry…
Or simply shocked.
“Even so, you should hire more people.”
“Without enough servants, the hallways feel dark and lifeless.”
“It doesn’t even feel like people live here.”
“The servants aren’t our greatest concern right now.”
“Once summer ends and winter arrives, the monsters begin trying to climb over the walls.”
“The road leading here has been repaired.”
“But the land behind the castle is still dangerous.”
“Providing clothing, equipment, and food for the soldiers stationed there is far more urgent.”
He began walking again.
I quietly followed beside him.
As I listened, I suddenly remembered something.
People had only been living peacefully in Hermonia for about one hundred and fifty years.
Before that…
Hermonia had been called hell.
Even the Imperial Family had abandoned it.
I couldn’t even imagine how terrible it had been.
The people who transformed that land into a place where others could live…
Were the Ripton family.
“Even so…”
“I still don’t think it’s right for the Grand Duke’s own home to be left like this.”
“Thanks to Lady Brilloksen, I think we’ll finally have enough breathing room to hire more servants.”
“But…”
Aden trailed off and looked down at me with a slow smile.
Why was he smiling like that?
I tilted my head.
Then he spoke.
“Are you always like this?”
“Once something catches your attention, do you have to know everything?”
“We aren’t even officially engaged yet, and you’re already acting like the lady of the house.”
Only then did I realize how many personal questions I had asked.
An outsider had no reason to know these things.
At least not before the engagement ceremony.
Aden had answered every question so naturally…
That I had forgotten I was crossing the line.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s become a habit…”
Whenever I received reports, I always asked about every little detail.
The habit had stayed with me.
Feeling embarrassed, I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
I glanced at him, wondering if I had upset him.
Instead…
Aden was quietly smiling.
“You don’t have to apologize.”
“I was only surprised that a noble lady would take an interest in this harsh castle.”
The smile was unbelievably gentle.
It was hard to believe this was the same Aden who had first greeted me with such cold eyes and an expressionless face.
Of course…
It disappeared almost immediately.
While I was still frozen in surprise, Aden opened a door.
“This room is cleaned regularly.”
“It shouldn’t be lacking anything.”
“But just in case, I’ll assign a maid to you.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I brought my own maid with me.”
“I’ll call her if I need anything.”
“The servants here are already busy enough.”
I politely refused.
I didn’t want to take away the few servants they still had.
Aden nodded once.
Then he looked at me and said,
“Then… have a good night.”
“Um… Aden.”
As he turned to leave, I hesitated before calling his name.
He looked back at me.
His calm expression silently asked why I had called him.
I smiled and spoke naturally.
“You gave me permission to call you by your name.”
“So please call me Sierra instead of Lady Brilloksen.”
It was a polite smile.
Aden looked at me silently for a moment.
Then he slowly closed and opened his eyes before speaking.
“May the land of Hermonia rest beneath the blessings of the night… Sierra.”
He softly spoke my name.
Even as the door slowly closed…
His eyes remained on me.
Thud.
The door shut.
The strength left my body.
I sat on the bed and slowly fell backward, closing my eyes.
“…Aden Ripton.”
It was my first night in Hermonia.
* * *
About four days had passed since I signed the contract with Aden in Ripton.
After returning to House Brilloksen, I was finally resting from the exhausting journey.
A maid gently massaged my head while I relaxed in the warm bath with my eyes closed.
Next time…
I’d either make Aden come to me…
Or stay in Ripton for a few days before returning.
Traveling through heavy rain had been absolutely miserable.
“Did something good happen, Miss?”
“Why?”
“You’ve been smiling this whole time.”
“I have?”
“Yes!”
The maid answered confidently.
I hadn’t even realized I was smiling.
As I touched my face in confusion, someone knocked on the bathroom door.
The maid walked over and opened it slightly.
She quietly spoke with the visitor.
Then she glanced at me before closing the door again.
She carefully approached me.
“Miss… Lady Bellietta has come to see you.”
“…”
Why was she here again?
Did she think this was her own house?
Seeing the worried look on the maid’s face, I let out a sigh.
Well…
There was no point telling Bellietta to leave.
She wouldn’t listen anyway.
Besides…
There was someone I wanted to see.
Bellietta.
The woman who had no idea that I had already taken her fiancé…
And who still kept copying me without a care.
“Help me get ready.”
I stood up from the bath.
* * *
“Sierra.”
The moment I stepped onto the spacious terrace where Bellietta was waiting, her voice reached my ears.
She immediately stood up.
Looking straight at me, she quickly spoke.
“Did you lie to me?”
She suddenly came here just to say something like that?
What did I lie about?
I stared at her in confusion.
Had she already found out about Aden?
I had never planned to hide it forever.
But I also hadn’t planned to tell anyone before I announced it myself.
