CHAPTER 96………………………
“Your Grace!”
A hurried voice called out from behind.
A man dressed in a butler’s uniform approached.
He looked quite advanced in age, and when he saw Julian, he let out a regretful sigh.
“Did you fall again? Oh dear.”
Again?
Apparently, this wasn’t the first or second time he’d fallen.
I noticed someone walking slowly behind the butler, and, putting on my most sociable smile, I greeted him.
“Hello, Your Grace Duke Andreas. It’s an honor to finally visit the place I’ve only heard stories about.”
“……”
But there was no reply.
Something felt off, so I looked at the Duke’s face—his gaze wasn’t on me.
It was directed past me—over my shoulder.
Following that gaze, I turned around and saw Melin standing there blankly.
When our eyes met, Melin gasped, “Ah!” and lifted her dress slightly.
“Hello, Your Grace! The flowers are so beautiful!”
Her manners weren’t perfect, but the greeting was charming enough in its own way.
What—am I biased because it’s her? Well, so what if I am.
But seriously… what’s with him?
Once again, the Duke didn’t respond. I frowned.
He looked as if he’d forgotten how to breathe.
“Please… come in.”
The Duke finally spoke, his face pale.
“Kane.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The old butler replied.
“Show our guests inside—properly.”
“Yes, sir.”
* * *
The Duke of Andreas’s Estate, during the evening meal.
“The sherbet is delicious. Your chef must be quite skilled.”
I tried my hardest to draw out a warm, friendly atmosphere—but it didn’t last long.
“…Yes. Indeed.”
The tiny spark of conversation I’d managed to light was quickly extinguished by the two men at the table, leaving only the clinking of cutlery.
Even when I sent pleading glances her way, Melin seemed too hungry after the long journey to notice, focusing entirely on her food.
I’m going to lose my mind.
One man kept glancing nervously at me, while the other couldn’t take his eyes off Melin.
Feeling suffocated, I gulped down cold water.
I began to wonder if coming here had really been a good idea after all.
The unbearably awkward and uncomfortable dinner finally came to an end.
The Duke dabbed his mouth with a napkin, then spoke to me.
“Countess, may I have a word with you in private?”
“Oh—of course.”
Was this the time to discuss business?
But after such a suffocating dinner, I really just wanted to retreat to my room and rest.
No, don’t be weak.
An awkward, silent meal was still better than one full of rude remarks.
Maybe I’d grown soft after living a relatively peaceful life in this world compared to my past one.
“Julian, would you keep Lady Jacqueline company so she doesn’t get bored?”
Julian, who had remained quiet and cautious the entire time, rose hesitantly at the Duke’s words.
“Yes. My lady, would you care for a walk in the garden?”
“Hmm. Yes, I’d love that!”
Melin nodded eagerly and waved at me.
“See you soon, sis!”
“…Right. Okay.”
I wasn’t exactly pleased watching her happily follow Julian out.
Why was she so trusting of strange men?
A walk in the garden at night, really…?
Even though Julian seemed as harmless as a puppy, knowing what I knew of his other intentions, I couldn’t help but worry about letting them be alone together.
But I couldn’t exactly say, “I’ll come too, because I’m afraid your son might try something.”
After they left, I followed the Duke down the corridor.
Portraits of former heads of the family lined the walls.
They all look… pretty stern.
It was hard to believe Julian descended from them.
Unlike his gentle face, the former dukes all looked handsome but cold and severe.
Except—they all shared that same pink hair.
“This one…”
I stopped before a portrait of a young boy.
“That is… a portrait of me as a child,” the Duke said.
“Oh… I see.”
I had mistaken it for someone else.
The sharp, cold air the painting gave off made it hard to believe this was the same man as the gentle Duke before me.
Though, looking closely, I can see the resemblance.
But why was there a child’s portrait among those of only the family heads?
As if reading my silent question, the Duke spoke quietly.
“My father passed away early, so I inherited the title at a young age.”
I see.
For some reason, that made me feel a strange sense of kinship.
When we arrived in the drawing room, the air was filled with the delicate aroma of black tea.
“Please, have a seat.”
“Thank you.”
I sat across from him and took a sip.
The flavor was familiar.
It was Mariette Tea, the most famous black tea in the capital for the past twenty years.
Remembering that Mariette Tea originated in this duchy, I decided this was my chance to steer the conversation toward business.
“The scent is lovely. This is Mariette Tea from your duchy, isn’t it?”
Yes—perfect. Use a local specialty to ease into the business discussion.
“Indeed. It’s one of the few things our duchy can be proud of.”
The Duke smiled faintly, almost bitterly.
“Your late wife began the tea business, didn’t she?”
“Yes.”
The achievements of the late Duchess were remarkable.
She had turned what was once a remote military outpost into a thriving, beautiful island known for its tea, flowers, and sea.
Before her time, the Duchy of Andreas had been focused solely on military training.
But after she came, it transformed into a famous tea-producing region and tourist destination.
“The name ‘Mariette Tea’ is so pretty.
Sometimes I think it sounds more like a person’s name than a product.
Is it named after someone, by any chance?”
“……”
The Duke said nothing, taking a slow sip of tea—as though swallowing back words he couldn’t say.
Sensing the heavy mood, I too quietly sipped mine.
Once again, the same suffocating silence from dinner descended upon the room.
“It was the name we promised to give our daughter… if we ever had one.”
“—Cough!”
The tea went down the wrong pipe, and I choked.
It was publicly known that the Duchess had died giving birth to their daughter.
Damn it, did I just step on a landmine?
Why does every conversation with him go sideways?
As I scrambled for a way to steer the talk elsewhere, the Duke spoke again.
“There’s… something I’m curious about.”
Cough. “Y-Yes, please go ahead.”
“Countess, have you ever seen your younger sister, Lady Melin Jacqueline, as an infant?”
“Melin, as a baby?”
“No—not as a toddler. I mean when she was a newborn.”
“Well… I was very young myself back then, so…”
Even though I had inherited the original’s memories, her childhood memories of Melin were faint and fragmented—mostly of being scolded by our father and crying in secret.
“How many years apart are you and Lady Melin?”
The Duke didn’t seem ready to give up on the topic.
I found his persistence odd, but I answered anyway.
“We’re six years apart.”
“Then you weren’t that young. Please, try to remember carefully.”
Something desperate flickered in his eyes. I couldn’t ignore it.
Melin’s infancy…
I frowned, trying hard to recall.
After a long silence, I wet my lips with tea and spoke slowly.
“I’m sorry, but I really don’t remember much. I was too young.
I wish I could give you an answer.”
“…It’s all right.”
I glanced at him, uneasy at the heavy atmosphere.
His gray eyes were calm, but behind them were threads of pain and disappointment, fraying like torn cloth.
His hand, holding the teacup, trembled slightly.
So I asked, carefully,
“Then… did you ever get to give that name to your daughter, as you’d promised?”
I knew he didn’t have a daughter.
But I asked as if I didn’t,
as if I were just an innocent fool saying something thoughtless.
Because—this was something that had to be confirmed.
