Chapter 30
When I went down the stairs and turned the corner ahead, the training grounds appeared.
Originally, it was the place where guests’ carriages came and went, but since the walls blocked the cold wind, Kailen had moved the training grounds there.
When I stepped outside, a few knights who recognized me stopped training and greeted me.
I saw a carriage I had never seen before.
He’s here!
I held back my bursting smile and looked around. Kailen wasn’t there. And Isaiah, the sub male lead, wasn’t there either.
Did they go somewhere else already?
As I looked around, one knight who had been swinging a wooden sword approached me. He bowed politely and asked carefully.
“What brings you here…?”
“Oh. I came to find the Grand Duke, but he’s not here.”
“If you’re looking for the Grand Duke, he’s probably in the break room with Sir Isaiah.”
The knight pointed somewhere with his finger.
Where he pointed, there was a wooden door leading back into the castle. I walked through the half-open door and found a spacious room with wooden chairs and a large table for knights to rest.
I was surprised at how nicely it was arranged, but my attention shifted to a door further inside, where I heard voices. Kailen and Isaiah must be in there.
Without realizing it, I held my breath and moved closer.
“Do you know how shocked I was? Suddenly getting married like that!”
I froze in place. I heard Isaiah let out a loud sigh.
“What about the Crown Prince? Are you sure she has nothing to do with Ferdinand?”
Why are you suddenly connecting me to that psychopath?
I glared at the door.
“She has nothing to do with Ferdinand.”
It was Kailen’s voice.
“Are you sure?”
That must be Isaiah’s voice.
“Yeah. I’m sure.”
There was a moment of silence. I was about to quietly turn around, thinking I shouldn’t eavesdrop, when Isaiah’s next words made me stop.
“So… is she pretty?”
I knew that question would come eventually.
Should I just barge in? Should I go in and show my face?
As I stared at the wooden door, debating, I heard Kailen’s answer.
“…She’s… okay.”
Heat rushed straight to my face.
He didn’t even say I was pretty, so why was my heart racing like an idiot?
I quickly turned around and rushed out of the break room.
“Your Grace, the Grand Duke isn’t inside?”
The knight who told me where Kailen was approached me. He must have thought I didn’t find him.
“No, it’s not that… I just suddenly remembered something urgent. I’ll be going now.”
Holding up my heavy dress—even heavier with my coat—I hurried away, trying to control the smile tugging at my lips.
But I couldn’t hold it back.
I burst into laughter.
The empty halls of Winterford Castle echoed with my laughter.
A useless, ridiculous apricot indeed.
“Nice to meet you.”
Isaiah politely took my hand and kissed the back of it.
“I’m glad to meet you, Sir Isaiah Varks.”
After laughing alone in the hallway for a while, I returned to the Grand Duchess’s office and was happily staring at the pile of documents that were finally nearing completion.
That was when Benjamin came to tell me that Kailen was looking for me.
Following Benjamin to the reception room, I finally met Isaiah Varks — the sub male lead of the original novel — formally.
“You are very beautiful.”
Isaiah smiled with his eyes as he said the same compliment I had been thinking.
The original author’s description was accurate. I couldn’t help but give her a thumbs-up in my mind. It really felt like spring had arrived in the freezing Winterford.
Before I knew it, I was smiling like him.
But then someone suddenly pulled me backward.
“Don’t be fooled by that face.”
It was Kailen.
Holding my arm, he frowned at his brightly smiling friend. Isaiah blinked in surprise for a moment, then shrugged.
“That applies to you too, doesn’t it?”
“The number of young ladies who cried after being fooled by your pretty face is more than the fingers and toes you have.”
True, true.
I nodded in agreement.
A handsome man who is kind to everyone never settles down with just one woman.
And the woman he eventually fell for… turned out to be Kailen’s lover.
So Isaiah quietly, silently buried his feelings deep inside his heart.
“…Um, why are you looking at me like that?”
Isaiah scratched the back of his head when he saw my expression.
“Yes?”
“It feels like… you’re pitying me a lot?”
Oops.
I quickly straightened my face and shook my head.
“I was just mourning for the young ladies who cried after being fooled by your looks.”
“Haha… ha. I see.”
Avoiding my eyes and scratching his head, Isaiah glared at Kailen. Kailen snorted and walked over to sit on the sofa.
“So when are you going back?”
“I literally just arrived.”
“When. Are. You. Leaving.”
Isaiah looked offended by Kailen’s annoyed expression and then looked at me with sad eyes.
What was I supposed to do?
I subtly shook my head. Shoulders drooping, Isaiah sat across from Kailen.
Since I couldn’t stay standing alone, I sat next to Kailen, leaving space between us. Isaiah clenched his fist and answered:
“I don’t know.”
Kailen’s face twisted.
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I mean I don’t know when I’m leaving.”
“How can you not know?”
“I don’t know!”
When Kailen was nine, after his mother died, he was practically kicked out and sent to Marquis Gasten’s border territory.
The one who helped him regain the will to live was the Gasten Marquis and his son, Isaiah.
Since they were the same age, Kailen and Isaiah quickly became close friends, and Kailen stayed there until he was eighteen.
Maybe because they were close from childhood, the childish bickering between the two made Kailen look unexpectedly relaxed.
“Pfft.”
I let out a small laugh without meaning to. Both men immediately stopped arguing and looked at me. Kailen cleared his throat, realizing how immature he must have seemed.
“As you can see, Winterford’s situation isn’t good. We can’t properly host guests right now.”
Isaiah looked around the reception room and nodded.
“So go back. When things improve, I’ll officially invite you again. Send my regards to Marquis Gasten.”
Isaiah pouted at Kailen’s firm tone and crossed his arms.
“I don’t need to stay for free. How much? How much do you need? Huh? How much?”
For a moment, the face of a famous Korean actor overlapped with his. And over that face… the financial report of Winterford Castle.
“…How much can you give us?”
Both Kailen and Isaiah stared at me with wide eyes. I clasped my hands over my chest and said:
“We… we really need money.”
I had no idea how desperate my expression looked.
We decided to charge him a hefty lodging fee.
We even wrote a contract.
Isaiah, shocked by my thoroughness, sarcastically told Kailen that it seemed he had married well.
Whatever.
Since we needed funds, I decided to give Isaiah my bedroom — the one I had planned to fix up but kept delaying because of money. Kailen opposed it, but since there was no alternative, he stayed silent.
So Kailen and I would continue sleeping together for a while.
Because Isaiah arrived without notice, we didn’t have time to prepare a banquet, so we postponed it to the next day.
The next morning, to prepare for the dinner, I called Greta and Benjamin early.
“You… you finished reading all of this?”
Benjamin was shocked when I told him to organize all the books and documents I had already read.
“This much is nothing.”
Benjamin’s eyes filled with admiration and respect. Feeling satisfied under his gaze, I waved the contract Isaiah had signed.
“Since he’s not a free guest, let’s put effort into tonight’s banquet.”
Benjamin’s mouth dropped open as he slowly read the contract.
Benjamin pressed a hand over his heart, moved nearly to tears by the much-needed money. I understood how difficult things had been for him, so I spoke more energetically.
“Benjamin, you don’t know the cuisine of the capital or the palace well, so I want Greta to help you. But it doesn’t need to be extravagant like the capital or imperial palace banquets. Just do our best with what Winterford has.”
Since this was the first guest of the Grand Duke and Duchess, Greta’s eyes shone with passion.
“I trust both of you! Now, let’s hurry!”
I clapped loudly, and the two bowed before turning to leave the office.
Now… how should I spend the money Isaiah gave us so people will say it was used well?
Smiling brightly, I buried my face back into the documents to find the most urgent expenses.
