[Chapter 008] The biggest sucker of all, the Count of Acacia

The Count's pleading voice didn't reach my ears. Instead, I suddenly remembered what Bianca had firmly told me before I became the Grand Duchess.

"Rien, if the Grand Duke happens to have a mistress… just pretend you don't know."

Everyone keeps their mouths shut and has other lovers too. Bianca had said that as advice for me, who had no mother. At that time, I didn't pay attention, but now, those words echoed in my heart along with the Count's sobs. When I was so intimidated by my weakened body that I couldn't even sit up in bed on my own… .

'If he takes another woman, healthy and beautiful, as his mistress, how can I tell him not to?'

I think I had that thought sometimes. That's why I would suffer alone, but then I would be reassured by his gifts and letters filled with love, and that became a cycle. He was always kind and warm. He treated me as if I were a delicate glass doll.

'But why?'

Why did Noebian have to take a woman who looked so much like me as his mistress? Our faces, heights, body types, even our eyelash colors were the same. What new thing could he have found in this woman? There were countless black-haired women in this country. Most of the people passing by had black or brown hair. Did Noebian have such a strong preference that this woman caught his eye? If so, what about the tender feelings we had shared for so long? If he had wanted it strongly, we could have slept together. My body wasn't that fragile from the beginning of our marriage.

'You're precious.'

Those words warmed the body and mind of the nervous new bride, and made me believe that this man was my true companion, someone I could trust completely. I was 20 years old, I was young. He was 28, much older than me. It was common knowledge in aristocratic society that the Grand Duke Noebian, who had a young bride, was extremely devoted to his wife and her family, the Duke of Pireta. Adrienne was a beloved Grand Duchess. At least to her husband, Noebian Trovica. 

One day, when a chilling wind blew, Neil felt a deep chill and was more on edge than usual. His lord, Roardness, hadn't slept since returning to the capital. He was acting so strangely that one might think he was the husband of the Grand Duchess of Trovica. Everyone thought it was the Crazy Prince's whim, but Neil, who had served him closely for two years, thought differently. Roardness was clearly shocked by the Grand Duchess's death. The reason was easy to understand. Wasn't a colder wind blowing in front of him than the northern Trovica territory?

"Grand Duke."

It was because Roardness, with his bare body wrapped in bandages, a cast on his arm, and only a jacket thrown over him, was standing face to face with his uncle, with a cold expression, in the Imperial Palace, where proper etiquette was required.

'Please, let's just pass by without saying anything strange.'

Neil, standing behind him, held his breath at the unusual atmosphere. The Grand Duke Noebian's pale face looked so precarious that anyone would want to comfort him. The Grand Duke bowed slightly first. His blue eyes, which were always sharp and cold, were shadowed with darkness, and he looked thinner. On the other hand, Roardness, who was just as pale but seemed to hold all the light, didn't bow. His pupils, which shone red in the light, looked down at his uncle, who was almost the same height as him.

'Is Adrienne Pireta really dead?'

He only had to utter that one sentence. Despite his arrogant expression, Roardness's mouth was so dry that he couldn't move his tongue.

"I heard there's a useless event called a victory celebration… ."

"Congratulations on your victory, Your Highness."

"Of course, the Grand Duke will grace the occasion."

"… ."

Neil pulled slightly on Roardness's jacket from behind, as if to tell him to shut up, but his mouth didn't stop.

"The Grand Duke himself sent you to victory in the battlefield, wouldn't I be upset if you didn't come?"

"As you know… ."

Noebian's blue eyes were fixed on Roardness.

"I'm in mourning."

"… ."

"I must attend my wife's final journey, so I will be leaving the palace now."

Soon, Noebian's rough voice echoed through the cold hallway. Roardness forced himself to hold his head high. Final journey. Those words made his ears ring.

"…I will offer my condolences."

Noebian forced a smile. It was unclear if it was a gesture of gratitude or something else. After showing a subtle and sad smile, Noebian bowed and left. Neil, who had been watching this pointless power struggle with trembling hands and feet, approached Roardness, who was standing still.

"You already paid your respects, Your Highness."

"I haven't seen the body, so I haven't paid my respects yet."

"The Grand Duke has already been informed that Your Highness visited."

"It doesn't matter."

"But Your Highness, the Grand Duke hasn't released the body since the first day of the funeral."

Vincento, who had been quiet, spoke up.

"… ."

"He personally informed His Majesty the Emperor that he didn't want the Grand Duchess's body to be a spectacle."

"Wow. He's quite strong, isn't he? They say he's a romantic, but… ."

"Even the Grand Duke can't hold out for days. It's a procedure that even the late Empress Retinna couldn't avoid. If you want to pay your respects formally, I will follow the procedure."

"No need for that."

"Yes…?"

"That bastard won't release the body."

"What… ."

Roardness, who had been sighing deeply, as if releasing a breath he had held for a long time, and running his fingers through his hair, suddenly spoke again.

"…Send that damn victory celebration invitation to the Count of Acacia's mansion."

"Suddenly?"

"He's a vassal of the Grand Duke's family, so he probably won't attend, right?"

The lord himself isn't going, so there's no way the vassal can go there and laugh and chat. Neil muttered back and forth with Vincento, then suddenly looked up at Roardness again.

"Perhaps…?"

"I heard that the lady of the house is a young woman. So, she'll have a maid or two following her around."

Neil and Vincento stopped at the same time, their eyes wide.

"Are you trying to meet Lady Mazi?"

"Why the maid of the Count of Acacia's family all of a sudden?!"

Roardness, who had been standing still, staring at the hallway where the Grand Duke had disappeared, didn't answer their questions and disappeared in another direction. 

I stayed in the mansion for a while, shocked. I flipped through the newspapers and gossip magazines that Mazi brought me, but I had lost my will, and my body, which had been full of energy, slumped. "A ball to celebrate the victory of His Highness, the Second Prince Roardness. The latest fashionable dresses and hat brands that will capture the heart of the veiled, beautiful, and dangerous unmarried prince?!" The gossip magazines were full of stories about the Second Prince Roardness. It seems that the nobles are quite interested in the news that he returned to the capital earlier than expected, after completely wiping out the remnants of the western rebels and the monsters. It was understandable. The Second Prince Roardness hadn't come to the capital for several years. The Crown Prince and his wife were leading the way in external activities, and the other princes and princesses didn't show their faces around unless they had a close relationship. The Second Prince Roardness was known for his outstanding appearance, so he often appeared in gossip magazines, but he preferred to roam the battlefield to build his achievements rather than attend parties with dancing and music. Perhaps he, too, would become a Grand Duke or Duke of a valuable land, when his older brother, the Crown Prince, ascended to the throne, recognizing his achievements.

'Just like Noebian did.'

My chest suddenly felt tight when my thoughts turned to Noebian.

'I don't want to be involved anymore. I don't want to be caught in the middle of this. In the first place, wasn't the reason we had that absurd wedding to make you the Grand Duke's mistress legally?'

The Count of Acacia had told me clearly. Blier had married him to become Noebian's "legal" mistress.

'That's ridiculous.'

There's no such thing as a legal mistress in the first place. That statement would mean that he followed the aristocratic social custom of not having unmarried men and women as mistresses. This empire, which is so lenient about having mistresses, even when their spouses are watching, washes away the guilt by specifically defining the qualifications of a mistress as someone who is already married.

"Ha-."

It felt really disgusting from my point of view, not knowing anything, but everyone lives like that. Everyone… .

"Madam. The dresses that have finished their fittings have arrived."

"Dresses?"

Yona, the maid, interrupted my pessimistic thoughts. Yona, who, along with the head maid Mazi, was in charge of me, had never been that afraid of Blier and often talked to me.

"Yes, they're the ones that were remade as you ordered last time."

I thought about the dresses that were crammed into the dressing room. I rarely wore going-out clothes. But I had quite a lot of clothes, both for the sake of maintaining my dignity and as gifts from Noebian, but Blier had an absurd amount of clothes for the size of the mansion.

"You said you wanted to make your debut at this season's debutante ball, right?"

Yona asked curiously when I didn't even think about twitching my eyebrows in response. Debutante ball. Originally, the debutante ball isn't just once, but it's something you do throughout the season at the parties. Of course, I didn't attend many parties because I received a marriage proposal from Noebian right after my first debutante ball… .

"I… haven't even had a debutante ball yet?"

"That's what you said, right?"

"I thought I was twenty-two?"

"Yes! You said you were so upset that you hadn't had a debutante ball even though you were twenty-two, that you would burn down the mansion if they didn't prepare something befitting your status, to the Count."

My face flushed red in an instant. It wasn't something I actually said, but I was embarrassed, the one who had taken over this body. What was this woman, Blier, thinking when she said that? In any case, it's clear that she's not from a noble family.

"So… where are my dresses now?"

***

Matthias, who worked at Madame Leblond's dress shop, swallowed hard. The Countess of Acacia, known for being the biggest sucker of all, was frowning at the bill today, for some reason. She had no eye for goods, and while she was a sucker, she had a terrible temper. He felt dizzy remembering the time he almost got his head cracked by a perfume bottle she threw at him, complaining about the poor finishing of the hem of a dress.

'Even if I know, how much do I really know?'

He couldn't cheat the great ladies, but these ladies from humble families who tried to chase after the tails of the great nobles were perfect for cheating. 'You don't know what you're talking about, this part, for example… .' If he started like that, there were countless ladies who would nod their heads, fooled by his eloquent words. The Countess of Acacia was one of those customers. She would order 'the best' or 'the most luxurious' without matching her budget, and she couldn't even tell if the jewels were real or not. But… .

"You really tried to cheat me, legally."

The Countess of Acacia's cold voice, the biggest sucker of all, echoed through the main hall.

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