MLHRGD 40

#40. Proof (4)

“What are you talking about!”

Pavel shouted in panic.

“It’s all nonsense.”

Waving his hands frantically, he firmly denied it and quickly tried to explain.

“I’m hearing this for the first time. I didn’t even know the Goriki family had a daughter. I don’t know how old she is, I’ve never seen her face, and I don’t even know her name. Of course, I’ve never once thought about marrying her.”

As Pavel rattled off excuses without pausing for breath, Olga chimed in supportively.

“Adults often say such things jokingly. The young master has absolutely no interest in that young lady.”

“No, really. Damn it… it’s true. I’m not interested in any other girl at all.”

Pavel nervously glanced at Sasha, but the truth was that Sasha hadn’t heard a word of their conversation.

Alright.

Having shut her ears and retreated into her own world of thought, Sasha had come to a conclusion.

For now, I’ll just focus on doing my best… and when Pavel wants me to, I’ll disappear!

As she thought that, she lifted her head. Startled by her sudden movement, Pavel quickly blurted out,

“I’m not interested in that girl at all—”

“Pavel. Don’t worry.”

“Huh? About what?”

“I’ll never get in the way.”

Pavel’s eyes widened. He couldn’t understand what Sasha was promising.

“Get in the way of what?”

You and your future lover?

But there was no need to say such a thing to a still-young Pavel.

Sasha simply smiled faintly as she stroked the fur of Aika, who was rubbing her face against Sasha’s knee. She didn’t answer Pavel’s question.

Busy days

Though Sasha now understood why Maria Goriki was so hostile toward her, she didn’t take any special action.

She had too many other things to worry about and tasks to complete.

Not only did she have to act as the Grand Duke’s deputy in household affairs, but she also had to run the castle in place of the missing Grand Duchess.

With Ivan and Yelena’s help, Sasha became more familiar with paperwork, gained a deeper understanding of the castle’s inner workings, and memorized basic information about the staff. She truly had no time to rest.

Sharing tea and snacks with Pavel and chatting with him was the only real break she had.

Ah, there was one more.

“Where’s Aika?”

Petting Aika’s soft fur soothed the exhaustion from endless work.

So this is why people in my previous life were so fond of animal therapy, Sasha thought as she looked around for the dog.

But there was no sign of him.

“Dunno. Haven’t seen him since earlier,” Pavel said.

“Really? Where could he have gone? Is he out walking alone?”

Back at the annex, Aika had always been attached to Sasha and Pavel, but lately he was always busy running around somewhere, and she rarely saw him.

“What if he gets hurt wandering around alone… or worse, what if he bites someone?”

“He’ll be fine. Anyway, here—eat this.”

“Mm.”

As she accepted and ate the cookie Pavel handed her, Sasha reasoned to herself.

Everyone knows Aika is Pavel’s dog, so no one would dare harm him. And he’s gentle; he wouldn’t bite anyone first.

Her body, reassured, relaxed into the sofa as though swallowed up by it.

With Count Tula gone, there was nothing to worry about.

I hope these peaceful days continue like this…

Sasha was quite satisfied with her current life.

Although the lack of free time was frustrating, the work itself wasn’t bad.

As she got used to it, she even felt a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment.

Apart from Maria Goriki, no one openly opposed her.

After all, it was Grand Duke Volkov himself who had directly appointed Sasha and given her authority.

No matter how much Maria disliked Sasha, as long as the Grand Duke remained in the duchy, she had no choice but to respect Sasha as his deputy.

Because of that, Sasha was able to endure Maria’s ridiculous provocations.

If it had been a group of people acting against her, she would have been annoyed, but she could put up with Maria alone.

When Maria started to yap, Sasha simply fiddled with her ear and let her words go in one ear and out the other.

She didn’t want to create unnecessary conflicts and make her life more troublesome.

However, no matter how tolerant Sasha tried to be, she couldn’t just turn a blind eye when a crime was happening right before her eyes.

Suspicious merchants

Every day, merchants visited Velikor Castle.

During the process of erasing all traces of Count Tula, most of the castle’s furnishings had been discarded. Everything—from curtains to hallway decorations—needed to be bought anew.

Managing the household was Sasha’s responsibility, and it was Maria Goriki’s role to teach her how to decorate.

So it was always Sasha and Maria who had to select items suitable for the Grand Duke’s residence from what the merchants presented.

The problem was…

“This color is pretty. If we make curtains from this—”

“We can’t possibly display curtains made from such low-grade fabric at Velikor Castle.”

Every time Sasha tried to choose something, Maria criticized her.

“This one! The blue is so beautiful. We should buy this fabric.”

And she would deliberately pick something that was the exact opposite of Sasha’s choice.

“……”

Sasha narrowed her eyes.

She knew Maria was just nitpicking to embarrass her. It would be best to ignore it.

But the flaws in the items Maria selected stood out too clearly to Sasha.

That’s cheap fabric with only the dye job making it look fancy. It won’t last long.

All the items Maria chose were of poor quality.

Worse yet, they were exorbitantly expensive.

If they were at least cheap, you could justify it as “cost-effective”—though a Grand Ducal family shouldn’t really be penny-pinching anyway.

But Maria’s picks were both poor in quality and outrageously overpriced.

She’s really going to buy those at that price?

While Sasha was silently aghast, Maria smugly offered “advice.”

“Watch and learn from me so you can improve your eye for quality. Even if you were lucky enough to become Grand Duchess, people will look down on you if you don’t have the dignity to match.”

Maria’s constant needling was chipping away at Sasha’s patience.

To waste Pavel’s money like this… I’d rather throw the money into a pit!

Although it was technically the Grand Duke’s money now, it would all be inherited by Pavel eventually.

Sasha couldn’t bear the thought of it being squandered.

Still, she barely, just barely, managed to hold back.

At least, until Maria was about to fall for a scam that would drain the castle’s coffers.

“This piece… I only just managed to acquire it! Other buyers have made inquiries, but I felt this belonged only in the Grand Duke’s residence, so I brought it here at all costs.”

The merchant with the goat-like beard pulled away the white cloth covering the table.

Revealed was a large painting, so big it could barely be held with two arms.

Inside a gilded frame was the image of a calm, beautiful woman with brown hair, reading a book leisurely in the midday sunlight by a lush lakeside.

As soon as Sasha saw the woman’s face, her body flinched.

“What is this?”

Maria asked curiously.

The merchant chuckled proudly as he explained.

“This is from the legendary painter Tabarishi, known as the Magician of Light, part of his famous series Her Day and Night. This piece is Her Day.”

“Oh my! A Tabarishi painting?”

Maria exclaimed dramatically. The merchant continued confidently.

“This painting has been missing for so long that all kinds of rumors have spread about it. Some even said it was destroyed in a fire when its original owner died…”

Flinch.

Sasha’s shoulders trembled again.

But Maria, absorbed in the merchant’s story, didn’t notice Sasha’s odd reaction.

“How much is it?”

“Well…”

The merchant hesitated, then lowered his voice and named a price.

Even Maria Goriki, who had been throwing money around like water, hesitated at the staggering amount.

“It’s more expensive than I expected.”

This time, even Maria couldn’t easily agree to purchase it.

Seeing her hesitation, the merchant hurriedly added,

“But it’s worth every coin! Honestly, I should be charging twice this amount, but I’m giving you a huge discount because it’s for the Grand Duke’s household. I’m barely making any profit at this price…”

“Hmm…”

Maria still seemed uncertain, so the merchant whispered suggestively.

“Do you know why I’m so eager to sell this to the Grand Duke’s household in particular?”

“No. Why?”

“Because this painting must be paired with its counterpart, Her Night, in order to fully realize its value.”

“And?”

“Oh my, you don’t know?”

Maria’s brows furrowed. She hated being looked down on more than anything.

“Are you saying I don’t know something?”

The merchant chuckled awkwardly and answered.

“Why, doesn’t Velikor Castle already have the painting Her Night?”

Does it?

Sasha tilted her head.

When she had toured the castle with Olga, she hadn’t seen that painting.

If she had, she would have remembered.

Because that painting…

As Sasha recalled Her Night from her previous life, the merchant’s voice pierced her ears.

“The late Grand Duke was a great lover of art, was he not? I heard he kept Her Night in the collection of masterpieces he amassed during his lifetime.”

Sasha finally nodded in understanding.

So there was a separate storage space for the paintings. I’ve never been there, so of course I didn’t know.

Although Sasha could move freely throughout most of Velikor Castle, there were two places she couldn’t set foot: the late Grand Duke’s treasure vault and the former Grand Duchess’s bedroom.

Meanwhile, the merchant finished his long explanation.

“Tabarishi himself said in his lifetime that Her Day and Night must be kept together to be truly valuable. That’s why I turned away all other offers and came here.”

The merchant looked self-satisfied, as though he were doing them a great favor, and Maria’s buying impulse flared.

The word limited edition had a way of making people desperate to buy.

If it was a Tabarishi painting, even a rough sketch would sell for a high price. And now they were claiming this was part of a rare pair whose value would multiply if kept together.

It was only natural that Maria felt compelled to buy it.