Chapter 15
I was still fuming when it happened.
“Hmmm.”
A light, almost humming sound broke the air. Startled, I turned to look at him, but he had already spun his body around, so I couldn’t see his expression.
Cerulean humming? I hadn’t known him long, but if there was one thing I was sure of, it was that humming didn’t suit him at all.
Cerulean Lucrani making a humming noise while reading gossip about himself.
“Mom! My fiancé suddenly got weird!”
Should I think of this as another side of him?
Of course, no answer came.
Cerulean murmured in a low voice.
“As I thought… His Excellency must also have read your article in the gossip sheet that day.”
“What? What did you say?”
I wasn’t sure I’d heard correctly, but he didn’t answer—he just turned away.
“I’ll take a look around the house.”
“Uh… okay, sure.”
I crossed my arms and watched him leave through the door.
Gossip magazines and Duke Lucrani…
Don’t tell me my father-in-law is my fan too.
As if something that good could ever happen. I shook my head quickly.
Two days passed in no time.
All that nervousness had been for nothing—I went about my days as usual. I ate well, I slept well.
Especially on Tuesday, when I went to the neighborhood flea market and found a rare novel that had long been out of print. I spent the entire afternoon reading.
Ahhh, this kind of peace is wonderful.
If only days like this could continue forever.
But then, the moment I opened my eyes in the morning, someone banged on my door. Thud, thud, thud. I let out a sigh.
“Just a second.”
It had to be Cerulean. Maybe I really was waking up too late these days.
Ugh, so annoying.
I splashed water on my face, threw a shawl around my shoulders, and opened the door with the intention of telling him to come back in two hours.
“Hello, madam!”
Standing at the door was a cute-looking woman with short brown hair, her eyes sparkling.
“Wh-who are you?”
I had been so sure it was Cerulean. To see an unfamiliar woman instead left me completely flustered.
And… what did she just call me?
It was a title I’d never been called before.
“Madam?!”
Good heavens. Me, a madam?
I just stammered in confusion, until a familiar face poked out from behind the woman. Cerulean.
“Right now it would be better to call you Lady Edel,” he said calmly.
“You seem far too startled,” the woman chimed in.
How could I not be startled? I’d just been living as an ordinary commoner, day by day, and suddenly they were calling me madam?
While I was still gaping, the brown-haired woman pouted, her large eyes narrowing.
“But since you’ll be getting married soon, isn’t it pointless to keep changing titles? You’ll be called Young Madam anyway, so wouldn’t it be better to get used to it from the start?”
“A reasonable opinion,” Cerulean agreed.
“Wait, wait, wait!”
Could they not decide how to address me without asking me first?
And Cerulean—he was the type to let them call me that just because it was “reasonable.”
Besides, there was way more to complain about than titles.
“What is all this?!”
It looked like I was moving houses—boxes upon boxes had been delivered and were piled up in the garden like a small mountain. Curious neighbors had gathered to watch the commotion with great interest.
That alone was more than enough to draw attention.
And what’s with this massive tea table in my tiny little yard?
The garden, which had always given me small tasks to tend to, was now stuffed with tables, chairs, a waiter serving tea, and a cook arranging dainty treats onto plates.
And why are all the neighbors joining in too?
Every face sipping tea looked familiar. They were awkward but visibly delighted.
This place has turned into a full-blown outdoor tea party venue.
While I was gaping, Cerulean gave me a short explanation.
“This morning, I decided that I wanted to start my day by drinking tea with you.”
What nonsense was that? I shouted.
“Then you could’ve just come alone, like last time!”
“That was nice too,” he replied, taking my hand gently, “but I wanted to give only the best to my fiancée.”
“…Huh?”
My face went pale. After all, here was a complete stranger in my house now!
“W-why are you doing this all of a sudden?”
But I quickly figured it out.
“Because you wrote it in the article, Madam! You wrote that Cerulean Lucrani enjoys drinking tea with his fiancée,” the brown-haired woman said brightly, holding up the freshly printed gossip paper.
“That was just…”
Just some harmless seasoning to boost sales.
But Cerulean, with a serious face, put his hand over his chest.
“I felt a responsibility to make that article true…”
“Ughhh!”
My face was about to explode. I grabbed his arm and dragged him inside.
“If you don’t want my face to literally burst, come in already!”
“Ah, wait just a moment.”
At his signal, people waiting nearby began carrying the boxes from the garden into the house.
Oh no, my house is going to burst instead.
It was already small to begin with!
Since my mother’s death, this little house had been plenty for me to live alone. For the first time, it now felt cramped.
“What are all these boxes?” I asked, dumbfounded.
“Completed dresses, with matching hats, gloves, shoes, and so on. Do you have a storage space?” Cerulean answered calmly.
“There’s a cellar under the kitchen if you lift the floorboards—wait, that’s not the point!”
Outwardly, my house looked like a shabby one-story, but in truth, under the dining table was a staircase leading down to a cellar for storing sausages and wine.
At my words, the brown-haired woman’s eyes sparkled like stars as she leaned in close.
“Oh, that’s very important information, Madam. A hidden cellar under the floorboards. Since I’ll be protecting you from now on, I need to know these things.”
“Huh? Protecting me?”
She was shorter than me, and suddenly being so close made me shrink back. She stepped into my home with a bright smile.
“Sorry for the late introduction, Madam. I’m Kalima. From now on, I’ll be in charge of your daily life. Don’t mind the tent in the garden—that’s where I’ll be living!”
“Wha—”
Sure enough, when I looked out, there was not only a tea table but also an actual teepee tent. Just as I was panicking about this new housemate, Cerulean added calmly,
“Kalima is a skilled mercenary. You can rely on her. And also…”
“First, please sign this, Madam!”
“…She’s also one of your biggest fans.”
What she held out was none other than the gossip magazine where I regularly serialized ‘The Ups and Downs of High Society.’
What? An autograph?
The situation was so absurd I could only gape. But Kalima didn’t give me time to recover—her words poured out at machine-gun speed.
“Madam, you’re a genius! You wouldn’t believe how much I look forward to your gossip and those wicked mother-in-law vs. daughter-in-law stories every week!”
“Uh… well, thank you.”
Meeting a fan out of nowhere—what an unexpected experience.
I found myself signing the cover she offered, dazed, while Cerulean sat down on the sofa.
“Kalima is handy with crafts and skilled in swordsmanship. She’ll be of great help in many ways.”
Cerulean never exaggerated, so if he said that much, her skills must be excellent.
But whether she was skilled or not was a separate matter from having her live in my garden. I turned to Cerulean.
“Cerulean, I’ve managed to protect myself this long just fine. I don’t need someone to guard me.”
He immediately countered, as if he’d expected it.
“But this house contains the family’s Yellow Sapphire. Of course it must be heavily guarded.”
“…Oh. That’s true.”
The Yellow Sapphire.
Plenty of people might be after that.
While I hesitated, caught between agreeing and protesting, Kalima whispered to Cerulean,
“Wow, Captain, you sure lie well. You don’t care about the jewel at all, do you?”
“Shhh.”
What were they scheming together?
So she’s here with some hidden agenda?!
I narrowed my eyes, but Kalima just smiled cheerfully at me.
“Please, speak comfortably, Madam. I’m your servant, after all.”
“That’s a bit sudden…”
Seeing my lukewarm response, she quickly added,
“Or just think of me as a friend. A friend your rich, unpopular husband bought for you.”
“…That’s a sharp way of putting it.”
A rich but unpopular husband?
It was such a biting description of Cerulean that I had to laugh.
Kalima gave me a playful push toward the back.
“Let’s talk more later. For now, let’s get you ready! Today is an important day.”
“Huh? What day?”
“The day you wear this dress for the first time!”
Kalima opened the largest of the boxes. Inside was the green dress with a wide neckline and lush pleats—the one Cerulean had personally ordered from the Madame.
My eyes widened.
“Wait… Don’t tell me today is the day I meet Duke Lucrani?!”
