‘Got you.’
I looked down at her with my gaze lowered, suppressing the corners of my mouth that were curling up.
“What is it?”
“…Can you really promise me? That you can stop the mine development?”
Her eyes, which had earlier looked so hollow, now shone with desperation, as if she were a different person.
I looked at her intently for a moment before grinning.
“I’ll just say that His Majesty the Emperor always listens to the people’s opinions.”
I gently took her hand off my skirt.
“Well then, think it over and let me know.”
❖ ❖ ❖
It didn’t take long for the Countess to completely change her mind.
By the next morning, a letter arrived, signaling her agreement.
‘That was quicker than I expected.’
“She had no other options. Thank you for coming.”
In the reception room of the Count’s estate, where I visited for the second time, the Countess awaited me with warm tea and simple refreshments.
She still looked tense, but soon she began to cautiously share the story she had kept to herself about her husband.
“…It was 20 years ago when I met Count Olsen, Felix. I was thirteen, and Felix was ten, so we were quite young.”
Were they in a May-December relationship?
“I had run away to escape my mother’s nagging, and ended up under the tree. Coincidentally, Felix had also claimed that place as his hideout.”
The Countess of Olsen smiled softly, as if recalling a memory from long ago.
I hadn’t realized she could make such an expression.
“At first, he yelled at me, saying it was his territory. I remember thinking, ‘What kind of brat is this, treating a lady so rudely?’ Later, I found out that Felix also thought I was quite annoying.”
She chuckled.
“At first, it was almost like we were fighting over the territory. Usually, after such an encounter, you’d want to avoid seeing the other person again, but neither Felix nor I did that.”
“In a way, you were well-matched even then.”
“Yes. Looking back, I think it was interest in each other, though we didn’t realize it at the time. We were just kids.”
The Countess shrugged.
“We argued endlessly, but still met under that tree every week like clockwork. One day I brought cookies I had baked, and on another day, Felix picked flowers to give to me.”
“……”
“We met like that for a full ten years, under that tree.”
Ten years—long enough for even landscapes to change—yet these two had maintained their bond all that time.
It suddenly struck me how remarkable that was.
“Then one day, my father, Viscount Downing, told me my marriage had been arranged.”
A brief silence fell.
She fiddled with her teacup, her eyes downcast.
“Unlike Felix, who was the heir of a respectable count’s family, I was just the youngest daughter of a poor viscount. My father wanted to marry me off to a wealthy merchant to restore our declining family fortunes.”
Using one’s daughter for profit—whether it was Eloise’s father or hers, it seemed there wasn’t much difference.
I only thought this to myself, continuing to listen attentively.
“I didn’t want to marry that man. People say a woman’s virtue is to find a good match, dedicate herself to her husband and family… but sending me, just past twenty, to a merchant over forty was too much.”
“…Over forty?”
Correction: Marquess Alphius, Eloise’s father, wasn’t so bad after all. At least Ian was a handsome royal of her own age.
I barely managed to suppress the curse that almost slipped out.
“…So, what did you do?”
“I ran away from home.”
If I were in her shoes, I’d have done the same if told to marry someone twenty years my senior.
I nodded sympathetically.
“But where could a young woman in her early twenties go? After wandering for a while, I ended up crouched under that tree after the sun had set.”
“……”
“I didn’t want to go back home, so I just cried until night fell. That’s when Felix found me, looking disheveled from running around searching for me.”
She paused, as if reminiscing, then continued.
“He grabbed my hand and said, out of the blue…”
“……”
“‘Marry me.’”
“Wow, that’s incredible.”
I couldn’t help but let out a rough exclamation.
“…Your Highness the Grand Duchess?”
The Countess of Olson looked at me, bewildered by my uncharacteristic interjection.
“Ahem, it’s nothing.”
I cleared my throat belatedly and gestured for her to continue.
‘This isn’t good, but the story is just too interesting.’
I shouldn’t be so engrossed in someone else’s past, especially that of a widow, but their story was simply too captivating to listen to dryly.
“Some say that falling in love is an enchanting moment, but it wasn’t like that for me. I simply realized in that moment, when Felix took my hand under that cedar tree, that I had liked him for a very long time.”
Considering they had spent a whole decade together, wouldn’t it be stranger if she hadn’t known that?
This rational thought popped into my head, but I kept silent, not wanting to break the mood.
“Felix told me that as soon as he heard I might get married, his heart sank. He said he couldn’t bear to let me go to that merchant, so he proposed to me.”
I held my breath, expecting another round of hearty exclamations.
“It was difficult, but I eventually succeeded in persuading my father, and we had our wedding under that jujube tree.”
As I listened, I thought to myself: If I were the Countess, I wouldn’t have been able to give up that tree either.
“…Even after our marriage, we often spent time under that jujube tree. It was a place where Felix and I could be truly alone together. We couldn’t visit as often after Felix’s health declined, though.”
As far as I knew, the Count had passed away a few years ago after a long struggle with complications from a plague that had swept through his lands.
If modern medicine existed in this world, it might have been different, but unfortunately, it didn’t, and the Countess could only watch as he slowly withered away.
‘And they didn’t have any heirs, either.’
No one knew whether that was the Count’s problem or the Countess’s, but in any case, it was tragic that she had lost her husband at such a young age without leaving any descendants.
“…You must have suffered a lot.”
“No.”
The Countess firmly shook her head at my sympathetic tone.
Then she lowered her gaze and gently stroked the ring on her left ring finger.
“…They were the happiest ten years of my life.”
A gentle smile spread across her thin face.
It was undoubtedly the face of someone in love.
“…Before Felix closed his eyes, he said he wanted to go to that jujube tree. All the servants tried to stop him, but I couldn’t do that.”
“Then…”
“Yes. Just like when we first met, I let him go under that jujube tree. Felix closed his eyes with a face that looked like he had simply fallen asleep.”
After she finished her story, I found myself speechless, staring at her.
“…….”
“It’s not much of a story.”
“No!”
I practically shouted, as if to directly refute her words.
The Countess’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Your Grace…?”
She looked at me as if to say, ‘I didn’t expect this kind of reaction from you.’
In disbelief, I asked her.
“How on earth did you keep such a story hidden?”
“I didn’t hide it; I just didn’t see the need to share it. Who would be interested in such a personal story?”
“Everyone would be!”
“Y-Your Grace…?”
Watching the flustered Countess Olsen, I thought to myself.
This story is more like a novel than a novel itself.
‘If this were written as a romance novel, it would have been a bestseller. My instincts as a heavy reader are telling me so.’
After wiping my slightly teary eyes, I folded my handkerchief and placed it down, gently holding her hand.
“I completely understand your feelings.”
“…Thank you for saying that.”
“And don’t worry. A story like this will undoubtedly touch anyone’s heart.”
“…Are you sure this is okay?”
The Countess still seemed a bit skeptical.
I squeezed her hand reassuringly and said with confidence, “It’s more than okay.”
More than okay indeed.
I was on the verge of tears myself, barely holding back my emotions.
“I’ll write up the announcement, so you just sit back and watch.
”
I smiled at her triumphantly.
♧♧♧
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