“You’re quite fast on your feet.”
“Since our village is located on the side of a mountain, I am confident in my physical strength.
“Oh, I can’t take this anymore.”
“It’s my reward for helping me choose a gift for my wife.”
“Oh, if it was your wife, it was a gift for the Duchess? Wow, so romantic!”
While admiring, the woman placed the music box, which he had given in her hand, on Richard’s arm.
“Take it. Since the duke paid for it, you can give them both as gifts.”
One music box was enough to give to Anthea. Apart from this, her mansion was overflowing with things to give to her wife.
Like now, even if the Duke himself did not visit the store, he could move all the music boxes in the store into the mansion with a single word.
“It’s annoying.”
Richard was somewhat bothered by the attitude of the commoner woman who only refused. It was refreshing to see her as a commoner, talking to her with the nonchalance of not avoiding his eyes, but now he was just irritated by the delay in getting back to his wife. When he lowered his arm as if to shake off another music box resting on his arm, the woman was startled and grabbed the music box and his arm.
Even though he thought she was really annoying, Richard, who was holding the music box that was slipping from the woman’s hand, felt her eyes on him from a distance and only moved her eyes to check who she was talking to. Even more than the presence of her embarrassed maid and the guard knight wearing a cape and scabbard with the duchy symbol on it, Anthea’s presence, with only the top of her head slightly visible, was clearly visible, hidden by them.
He was uncomfortable because he couldn’t understand why the maids were in such a hurry to hide Anthea. The actions of those who hid her wife put pressure on Richard’s hands and caused her music box to crack. She grumbled softly, saying that it was a waste of the woman who was still touching Richard’s arm and the music box. Her hands were not strong enough to hold the music box she was gifting to Anthea. Regardless of his thoughts of happiness, Richard, standing face to face with Ann Thea, a small woman standing solely towards him, felt that the nervousness that had been urging her to walk just a moment ago had disappeared.
“Duke.”
The sound of her calling Richard, which flowed from Anthea’s mouth, was light and refreshing.
At Anthea’s call, which contained a bit of puzzlement rather than pure joy, Richard felt a sense of discomfort along with her pleasant sensation. While she was wondering what her discomfort was, the brown-haired woman greeted her and said that her name was Bianca. She fearlessly revealed her friendliness.
“This is Bianca. I don’t have a last name because I’m a commoner.”
Anthea’s mind as she looked at the brown-haired beauty, Bianca, was filled with only one thought.
‘Why are you coming out already?’
She was the woman who would become the duke’s first love.
Anthea almost questioned herself at the appearance of a female protagonist who continued to exude her presence. She was confused to witness Richard and Bianca together. The original female protagonist, Bianca, was supposed to appear at least two or three months later.
After the dissatisfaction of the duchy’s employees with Anthea, who became the duchess, began to pile up, the future trend was for everyone to be attracted to the bright and good-natured presence of Bianca.
‘I never thought we would meet like this.’
It was also disconcerting that the male protagonist, the Duke, appeared at the estate during a time when he should have been busy suppressing demonic beasts, and even the female protagonist, Bianca, appeared early.
Anthea, who was embarrassed for a moment, smiled.
‘Okay, then how should I react now?’
According to the original work, Bianca, a new maid brought in from outside to help Anthea, who was out of her usual routine, would stay at the Duke’s mansion. She had to be in the same house so she could bump into each other frequently and increase her closeness with the duke. In this way, the relationship between the duke and Bianca would become close enough for her to ask for a divorce even if it went against the emperor’s wishes. As the two became closer, the day when Anthea returned to the countess would come sooner.
‘I’d like to welcome you with open arms.’
In her heart, she wanted to take Bianca to the duchy, shouting ‘Welcome to’. However, it seemed quite natural for the two people to be standing close together, so Anthea’s actions were inappropriate in the current situation, as if the Duchess had witnessed the Duke’s affair.
He was a duke who maintained an excessively close distance from a beautiful commoner woman. She rolled her head with a smile, trying to remember how to behave properly as a duchess facing the two people. While her maids were holding their breath and unable to move her, Anthea casually walked towards Richard and Bianca.
“Should we say hello?”
It was an aristocratic act mixed with innocence.
Anthea, who was approaching Bianca, turned her gaze to Richard.
Here she was to see if he would be willing to formally introduce Bianca to his wife, Anthea.
If he shamelessly introduced Bianca as his mistress, Anthea would shed tears or show her wariness towards Bianca and lose her points. In essence, love burnt when there was someone who got in the way. If the disturbance was minimal, it would be a moderate stimulus.
Unlike Anthea, who calmly asked questions after completing her calculations in her own way, Richard’s blue eyes only slightly wavered, and she was unable to answer. It was Bianca, armed with liveliness, who actually stepped forward.
“You are saying hello to me, a lowly person. I’m really happy.”
It was an excessive reaction to show just by saying hello. Was it an illusion that she felt like she was going out of her way to praise him?
Bianca smiled brightly as she met Anthea’s questioning eyes and slightly tilted her head towards Richard.
“The Duke must be very happy that the Duchess is so lovely.”
Bianca and Anthea were having a conversation, but what she was most interested in was the reaction of Richard, who was standing in the back. Even though Richard was receiving attention from the two people, he showed no reaction, so Anthea smiled kindly and brightly at Bianca.
“Thanks for the compliments.”
“Oh, please speak lower.”
“I will, Bianca.”
“I am honored that the Duchess remembers my name.”
Bianca, whose name was called by Anthea, blushed slightly and was delighted.
As the beautiful woman with clear facial features, who looked innocent as she had no makeup at all, looked shy, a faint exclamation of exclamation flowed from her maid and her knight, who were standing behind Anthea.
Anthea’s specialty was winning her favor with just her smile. However, unlike Anthea, who honed her specialty and turned it into a weapon, Bianca did it so easily and unconsciously. Anthea seemed to be amazed that she was a heroine, so she did her best to smile.
She smiled with her eyes at Bianca and then tilted her head slightly towards Richard. It seemed that the duke had no intention of formally introducing her to Bianca, so she decided to go forward herself.
“Then, Duke, what I have to do as Duchess is to prepare a room for Miss Bianca?”
“What? A room for me?”
Bianca blinked her eyes in surprise at Anthea’s kind words with a bright smile on her face. Perhaps because she was a female protagonist, her surprised face was also pretty. Richard also stared at Anthea with his eyes filled with curiosity.
Anthea met Richard’s bright blue eyes and smiled with a lot of innocence.
“No matter how quiet it is, if you meet your lover in the alley, rumors will spread. If you are so close to her that she even gives and receives gifts… Why don’t you bring Miss Bianca into her mansion and get a closer look?”
She was clearly referring to Bianca as Richard’s mistress or affair. At this, Richard and Bianca only looked at Anthea as if wondering what they had just heard.
The two handsome men and women looked like a picture just by standing next to each other.
These two were destined.
The moment Anthea saw Bianca holding Richard’s arm and holding her music box in her hand, a scene from her original work came to mind. One day, she was depressed and locked in her room. Bianca tried to take care of her with her bright smile on behalf of her maids, who disliked Anthea. Bianca always smiled, and Anthea may have opened her heart a little. If only she hadn’t seen her with Richard out her window again and again.
The music box she threw at Bianca out of her suspicion and jealousy. The music box was the only gift the duke received. It was also a small incident that triggered the divorce. In the original, it was thought that Richard had lost her heart to Bianca due to her rejection and depression. In reality, the two had already been dating from an early age. Perhaps the two had already known each other before marriage.
It was an arranged marriage anyway.
Since it was a marriage with divorce in mind, there were no expectations. In that case, she would rather give in one step more for the sake of divorce.
“There are two music boxes. You are giving gifts not only to your lover but also to your wife. That’s kind of you, Duke.”
Richard’s blue eyes shook violently.
“Madam, what misunderstanding…”
“Oh my goodness! The duchess is giving me a room? Are you sure?”
The moment Richard, who was at a loss for words due to Anthea’s ridiculous misunderstanding, barely managed to utter a word, Bianca stepped forward. Although it was a beautiful voice full of joy and excitement, Richard almost grabbed Bianca’s thin neck for a moment. She could have been sure where her twitching fingertips would have been if Anthea’s innocent green eyes hadn’t been looking at Richard.
The sun was clear for Bianca, who had no idea that her life was about to disappear as if she had just blown out a candle.
“Oh my god, are you letting me in as the duke’s maid even though I don’t even have a letter of recommendation? I had a hard time finding a job since I had already left the place I lived, but I’m really happy.”
Bianca was truly happy and continued to say her thanks. Bianca’s constant chattering and friendly behavior, unlike her rigid Richard, broke Anthea’s silence.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on July, 24.
Want to read more?
Tragic but funny. Good luck Richard <3
Can’t wait for the next chapter 🙂