“By any chance… are you here to see me?” Julia asked, feeling flustered.
For a brief moment, no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t guess why he had come to see her in person.
But looking at his face, it seemed that he had indeed come to see her.
“Why did you…?”
“Could we talk for a moment?” Aiden politely asked Julia. Unconsciously, Julia found herself nodding her head.
***
As Erin was about to return to the mansion from the boutique, she changed her mind and headed towards the Charte’s residence. After meeting the Duchess of Endernia, she felt the urge to have a conversation with Julia.
As she alighted from the carriage a short distance from the mansion, she spotted someone coming out from the Charte’s residence. “Ah,” it was Aiden. “Perhaps he’s on his way out after meeting the Charte Baron,” Erin thought.
Feeling delighted to greet him, she was surprised to see someone else following Aiden.
“…Julia, my dear?” Aiden had brought Julia along.
“Aiden, were you here?” Erin asked as she walked towards the two of them.
“Yes, I had something to discuss with Lady Charte,” Aiden explained.
“With Julia?” Erin asked, puzzled by what Aiden could possibly have to discuss with Julia.
“I noticed Lady Charte’s remarkable skill in sculpture when I met the Baron Charte last time,” Aiden continued.
However, Erin still couldn’t fathom the significance of the situation.
“I need a security device for a letter I’m sending to Lady Quiness, and I thought it might be good to conceal it inside a gift sculpture,” Aiden explained.
Erin’s eyes widened as she understood the situation.
“Moreover, it would seem natural, given the close friendship between the Charte Baroness and Lady Quiness,” Aiden added, to which Erin readily agreed.
It was such a good idea that Erin wondered why she hadn’t thought of it first.
“Is that why you decided to do it?” Erin asked Julia.
“Yes. Although I don’t recall, my mother mentioned that Lady Quiness had admired me when I was younger. I want to help if I can,” Julia replied.
“Thank you. With you, Julia, we don’t have to worry about it getting exposed,” Erin expressed her gratitude.
Indeed, Julia seemed to be the most suitable person in many ways. Just as Erin was about to express her trust in Julia, Aiden interjected, “So, what brings you to the Charte’s estate, Erin? Do you have an appointment?”
“No, I didn’t have one. I just suddenly wanted to see you all,” Erin replied. Julia felt pleased at Erin’s seemingly nonchalant response.
“Are you going to stay here longer?” Aiden asked Erin, who had just arrived.
Moreover, it seemed like he was putting a little pressure on her.
‘What’s wrong? It seems like there’s something bothering him right now.’
Erin noticed Aiden’s subtle change in expression and looked at him closely.
“Unless it’s something important, how about going back with me today?” Even though Aiden spoke as casually as possible, Erin immediately caught on.
He didn’t want to go back alone.
Moreover, he seemed concerned that Erin would spend a long time at the Charte estate and return late, which was why he tried to evade.
“…Maybe.”
Erin answered, biting back the corner of her mouth that was about to go up slightly.
She hadn’t come for any special reason anyway.
“Julia, my dear. I’ll come to visit again next time.”
With a light farewell, Erin took Aiden’s hand and turned away.
On the way back to the mansion with Aiden, who had been in a good mood the whole time, muttered as if talking to himself.
“You did well to run into me today.”
“…?”
“If you hadn’t, you would have been late coming back from the Charte estate.”
“Heh.”
At that, Erin’s laughter bubbled out naturally.
She imagined what Aiden had been thinking when they met at the Charte estate.
Then, she suddenly realized something.
When she had seen Aiden and Julia together earlier, she hadn’t been worried at all about the fact that the two of them were alone.
She had just been curious about what was happening.
‘Well, there’s no need to worry.’
In that moment, she wondered why she would worry about leaving Aiden, who was concerned about her being late because of meeting Julia.
It seemed like there wouldn’t be any cause for concern after all.
***
Erin was receiving a general report on the management of the mansion from the butler. Although she received reports every week, she always made sure to carefully review the detailed changes in the property status once a month. Today was precisely that once-a-month day.
As she carefully went through the report, Erin’s gaze stopped at one point. There was a property change that Erin was not aware of.
“What is this?” she asked.
“This is something that the Duke jointly recorded this time,” the butler answered as if he already knew what Erin was pointing at, without properly checking the document.
Erin’s eyes narrowed.
It was a real estate document related to the rights and distribution of the Lienster mansion and Café Angela.
For a moment, Erin’s mouth curved up as she was lost in thought.
It seemed like she knew why Aiden had changed the document in this way and what it meant. If there were joint names on the document, both parties had to agree if they wanted to sell it again or if any issues arose.
Nothing could be done alone; it had to be handled together by both parties. That was exactly Aiden’s purpose.
Creating a reason why Erin can’t easily leave even if she wants to. I knew that Aiden was still concerned about it, but I didn’t know that he was actually putting it into practice.
Erin recalled the conversation she had with Aiden. Despite deciding to completely ignore the original work and stay with Aiden, it was the next day after she finally spent a proper first night. When they were spending leisurely time together, they had a passing conversation.
“Erin will continue to manage the mansion and Angela in the future.”
“Will she?”
“Then wouldn’t it be better to change the ownership on the related documents?”
“There’s no need to do that. There’s been no problem so far.”
At that time, Erin casually mentioned it without much thought.
Since then, she had forgotten about it… Erin gazed at the document silently. “I’ve told you several times that I need to inform the lady in advance.
But the Duke said that the lady already knows…”
The butler carefully offered excuses, evidently considering Erin’s discomfort.
One corner of Erin’s mouth lifted. The image of Aiden secretly conducting this affair naturally formed in her mind.
“It must have been quite a sight.” Aiden must have pursued it surreptitiously, anticipating that Erin would object if she found out first.
Aiden’s deep feelings were fully conveyed through just this one document.
“Aiden likes me this much.” Aiden never gave Erin the chance to feel anxious.
Like a living person needing to breathe, Aiden naturally expressed his feelings in various ways.
“Yeah, you don’t have to report to me that I understand.”
“Huh…?”
“Aiden must be doing more than just this one thing.”
Surely Aiden had other things prepared or in progress to bind himself and Erin together.
“Do as Aiden wishes.”
“Yes, I understand.”
The butler responded with relief when Erin spoke with a smile.
After the butler withdrew, Erin continued to gaze at the document for a long time. She wanted to frame the document and display it, if she had her way.
***
Erin happily hummed a tune while sipping her tea.
“Mona.”
“Yes?”
“Do you think Aiden likes me a lot?”
Erin asked, caressing the document carefully.
“Of course. How much does he like you? I have never seen anyone liking the lady more than the lord.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Mona spoke the truth and the desired answer for Erin.
Erin smiled broadly and threw another question at Mona, “And Julia seems to like me quite a bit, doesn’t she?”
“Not just quite a bit.”
“Yeah, she really likes me a lot.”
Erin nodded confidently. Julia’s favor towards Erin was so obvious that it was natural.
“Heh, yes.”
Mona let out a faint chuckle.
Although Erin was naturally confident and assertive, she didn’t seek validation by speaking it out loud like this. She seemed like a child who wanted to be loved.
Since childhood, Erin has been unusually mature and rational, but occasionally had moments like this.
Mona found it simply pleasing to see Erin looking content.
“I am liked too. Aiden and Julia both like me,” murmured Erin resolutely, brushing herself off as she stood up.
Julia already likes me. She knows I won’t betray her in a trustworthy relationship. Of course, Aiden goes without saying.
Erin’s confidence soared to the skies. Binding the documents together meant a definite decision not to divorce.
Sorting through all these documents alone would consume an immense amount of time and mental energy in the event of a divorce, not to mention the lack of guarantee for tidy organization.
Thus, it wasn’t something easily done without absolute certainty. Erin liked this fact.
Aiden’s intent was to prevent Erin from leaving easily. Thanks to that, Erin too now held something Aiden couldn’t easily change his mind about.
‘Come to think of it, when Lady Quiness got divorced, property division was an issue.’ In the original, the Duke of Quiness tried to minimize the losses.
Lady Quiness, on the other hand, wanted to settle things as reasonably as possible, as the divorce was her main goal, but couldn’t agree to the Duke of Quiness’ overly calculated approach.
This led to drawn-out negotiations. ‘But this time, there is no need to drag the negotiations like that.’ Erin knew how to quickly conclude negotiations using the original content.
She headed straight to Aiden’s study.
