“Hello, Duchess! Ah, this place is wonderful. If I had known, I would have come here instead of Leana.”
“I’m glad to hear you’re comfortable here. Um, Lady Barania?”
“Oh come on, just call me Lisa, Duchess.”
“Alright, Lady Lisa.”
“Oh, by the way, how did you know I was there? I ran away without my mother knowing, so I took a ton of detours to get here.”
“Hmm. Well, it just happened.”
Before Agnes could finish her sentence, Lisa brought up a new topic.
“Right, Duchess. Would you like a souvenir I brought from Leana? I originally bought one each for Max and me at a stall by the docks, but then Max said he didn’t want it. Oh? Where is it? I’m sure I put it here somewhere.”
Sigh.
Agnes buried her head in her hands and let out a deep sigh.
The reason why Lisa was here next to her was written out in detail.
<We have secured the youngest daughter of Count Barania. What should we do with her now?>
<Duchess, do I need to keep her with me?>
<I really can’t stand it anymore. Can’t you take her away?>
<If there’s no further response, I’ll assume you agree and send her over.>
<I said I would send her. I’m serious.>
That was the last letter from Roland.
It seemed the first letter arrived the very next day after she left for the south.
Lisa arrived in Estar along with the last letter from Roland.
It had barely been an hour since she started talking to Lisa, but she was already feeling very fatigued.
In good terms, she was lively and curious; in bad terms, she was scattered, careless, overly nosy, and, crucially, she talked too much.
Moreover, she was very clumsy, having already knocked over her teacup twice and caught the hem of her dress on the corner of the sofa, causing quite a commotion.
She meant no harm, but she was a peculiar person who made those around her very uncomfortable.
Agnes forced a smile and said, “Please relax. If you need anything, just let the butler know at any time.”
“Oh my, thank you so much for your hospitality, Duchess.”
Lisa beamed brightly.
Internally, Agnes kept repeating, “Count Barania. Count Barania.” as she smiled back.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
The next morning, Agnes woke up and was startled.
“Wait, why is everyone gathered in my bedroom?”
As she rubbed her eyes and sat up, she saw Ney and about a dozen maids standing politely in a line.
As a few maids confirmed that Agnes was awake, they quickly approached her.
“What’s going on this early in the morning?”
“I’m Rachel, and I’ll be serving you from today.”
“I’m Bey.”
“I’m Lydia.”
The string of introductions left her head spinning.
“I only need Ney and Anita to serve me.”
“We apologize, madam. We have been inadequate in serving you until now.”
“I’ve never felt that there was anything lacking.”
“From now on, everyone here will serve you wholeheartedly, madam.”
“Wait a minute. Who instructed you to do this? Niall?”
Rachel shook her head.
“The master personally gave the instructions.”
Agnes was taken aback and stood there with her mouth slightly open.
“Where is Laslo right now?”
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
“You’re telling me that I should increase the number of maids attending to me to ten out of the blue?”
“If it’s not enough, just say so. I’ll bring in more maids.”
“Not enough? It’s overflowing.”
Agnes replied calmly. Laslo, however, spoke even more seriously than before.
“I think I’ve been too neglectful of you until now.”
“Neglectful? When exactly?”
“I heard you’ve only had two maids until now.”
“That’s right. But even when I was at the palace, I didn’t keep many maids.”
“Agnes, you are the mistress of Sutmar. You should never have any deficiencies, no matter what.”
“I’m telling you that two is enough!”
“It’s not enough.”
Laslo was very firm.
Agnes suddenly felt confused about why he was being so insistent.
“Laslo, I appreciate your concern, but ten is too many. Even Her Majesty the Queen doesn’t take ten maids with her at once.”
“If you’re lacking anything compared to Her Majesty the Queen, that’s even worse.”
Laslo was ready to counter anything Agnes said.
In the end, Agnes shook her head in exasperation.
“Ugh, fine. But ten is still too many. The room is too small for ten maids to be coming and going at once.”
“The room is too small?”
He muttered.
The ripple effect of that one remark was immense.
After finally agreeing to keep the number of maids to about seven, Agnes returned to her bedroom only to find the walls had collapsed.
“It seems you won’t be able to stay in this bedroom for a few days due to construction.”
“What kind of construction are you talking about?”
“The master instructed that your room is too small, so he ordered the surrounding walls to be torn down and rebuilt.”
“What? What are you doing? My room? Where am I supposed to sleep?”
For that reason, Agnes angrily knocked on Laslo’s bedroom door.
“Duke Arpad!”
“You’ve arrived.”
He opened the bedroom door as if he had been waiting for her.
“What’s going on? Why are you suddenly renovating a perfectly good room?”
“Thinking about it, it seems the room is a bit small for you.”
“Small? The bedroom I use is the second largest room in this castle.”
“It’s not the largest room, though.”
“Huh?”
Agnes gaped in disbelief.
Before she could even respond, Laslo cut her off.
“For the time being, you should sleep here.”
“Then where do you plan to sleep?”
“There’s a small bedroom connected next to this one.”
“Fine. If that’s the case, then let’s just sleep together.”
“Um, that’s not possible…”
“If you can’t do that, then immediately stop the renovations on my room.”
“…….”
He closed his mouth. Agnes smiled triumphantly.
She thought that saying this would make Laslo give in and stop.
“Let’s do that.”
“What?”
However, after a brief moment of contemplation, Laslo silently nodded.
“Please go ahead and sleep. I have some work left to do, so I’ll be back shortly.”
He left after saying just that. Agnes blinked in surprise.
“Why is he acting like that? Ney, where are you? Hmm? Where is Ney and why are you here?”
“Ney went to the kitchen for a moment, madam. Should I prepare the bath?”
A maid named Rachel came rushing in to ask.
“Do that.”
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
As Laslo entered his office, someone waiting there quickly walked up to him.
“I heard you called for me, milord.”
“Right. What was the last report?”
“On the first day, the Count assigned five maids to monitor the madam.”
Ney said respectfully, clasping her hands together.
“How was Agnes treated?”
“Well, to be honest, on the surface, she was treated without any deficiencies.”
“Is that so?”
“They kept her in an incredibly lavish room, and since it was hot at night, they brought in lots of ice to fan her.”
“Hmm.”
“Every time she went to a banquet, they sent her plenty of dresses and diamond jewelry.”
Ney recalled and spoke one by one. Laslo listened to the report without showing any expression.
“I don’t know what happened afterward, but I later heard from the madam that she drank with the Count until dawn.”
“All night?”
“Yes. I think they had a drinking bet.”
“You mean she stayed up all night drinking with the Count….”
Laslo’s face hardened more than before. Ney quickly closed her mouth, sensing the tension.
He tapped his fingers on the desk for a while before speaking.
“Did you hear what happened with the Count on the Night of Roses?”
“Oh, um. I heard they had dinner on the ship and danced together. Oh, and during the meal, the Count said something very embarrassing that made her flustered.”
“What did he say?”
“Well, you know, the kind of flattery one uses to court a woman in the capital. She said it was so teasing that her face turned red.”
“Anything else?”
“That’s all I know, milord.”
“Good work. You can leave now.”
“Yes.”
After sending Ney out, Laslo called for Niall.
He bowed to Laslo.
“How far along is what I mentioned?”
“We’re almost at the final stage. It should be ready in a few days.”
“Alright. Got it. But do you remember when Agnes had her clothes fitted?”
“As far as I know, the last time was when she called a merchant before going to the capital this spring.”
“So that was already a few months ago.”
“Yes.”
“Call the tailors who came last time to the castle. No, wait.”
Laslo quickly changed his mind.
“Contact the dressmakers in the capital and tell them to bring fabrics here immediately.”
“Yes? The dressmakers in the capital?”
“Choose the most popular ones and send them here. Oh, and since we’re at it, order new jewelry, so call the jeweler as well.”
“The jeweler too?”
“Yes. Tell them to bring diamond necklaces, bracelets, and… well, just make sure to bring everything to adorn her from head to toe with diamonds.”
He almost asked why he needed to buy so many diamonds but held back.
Laslo’s expression was so serious that he didn’t dare to voice any objections.
Niall nodded in understanding and left the room.
Laslo attended to some remaining tasks before getting up from his seat.
When he returned to the bedroom, a maid rushed over and said in a small voice,
“She’s sleeping.”
He waved his hand lightly to dismiss the maid.
As he walked to the bed, he saw Agnes sleeping peacefully, her breath steady.
He carefully sat beside her.
Reaching out to brush her hair, he clenched his fist in mid-air.
He felt uneasy despite her being right next to him.
Though they were bound by the name of marriage, it was, after all, a political union, and what troubled him the most was,
– Do I love you?
– …….
– No. Rather, it’s closer to respect and loyalty.
