Meanwhile, as Aisha was trying to smooth relations within the family like that, rumors were spreading thickly through high society because of the nobles who had visited the Valencia manor.
Aisha Valencia really was crazy!
After all, after darkness suddenly fell over the party hall, unlike her previous brightly smiling appearance, she showed a nervous and irritable side.
Then she suddenly collapsed, and she didn’t wake up for a long time.
Because of that, the party, which still had events scheduled, fizzled out just like that, nothing proceeded, and the nobles had no choice but to return as they were.
“Aisha is crazy?”
As everyone wagged their tongues, the news even reached Aisha’s father, Marquis Selturode.
“…My Lord.”
“Ha!”
The Marquis let out a loud, hollow laugh as if it were ridiculous, then soon twisted his face like a yaksha.
“That thing that’s even worse than a filthy convert.”
Bang.
The table he slammed down roughly let out a loud crash.
“Please calm yourself.”
The butler tried to calm him, but it was of little use. It was news of his daughter he was hearing after a very long time, and to hear that she was crazy!
On top of that, it was infuriating that they had dared to hold a banquet while completely excluding House Selturode.
“Ugh.”
The Marquis ground his teeth, at a loss over what to do with his rage.
From the start, it had been a displeasing marriage.
Even so, the Marquis had no power to refuse the Emperor’s order. It had been forced upon him so strongly. And during all that time living there, they hadn’t shown him his daughter’s face even once.
“…I can’t let this stand.”
From right after the marriage until recently, he had steadily sent letters asking to meet, but because Aisha had refused, the meetings had been postponed for that reason.
At first it was an adjustment issue, and after that there were various reasons for refusal such as pregnancy and so on.
Even the Emperor stepped in to dissuade him like that, and the Marquis had no choice but to postpone meeting his daughter again and again.
“What will you do?”
“I’ll go find her.”
“…A letter…”
“What letter?! She’ll just refuse again!”
“My Lord, are you saying you’ll visit without any notice?”
“They say my daughter has gone crazy!”
Believing that she was doing well also had its limits.
He felt like he would only be at ease after going and seeing for himself.
The Marquis kept fuming, and the butler seemed to think that trying to stop him would be useless, so he stopped speaking further.
Honestly, the Duke really had gone too far.
***
The noblewomen who returned to the Capital from the Valencia Duchy were excitedly spreading stories about Aisha.
Luzbel had also heard about the rumors regarding Aisha circulating in high society.
No matter how much Valencia had the Imperial Family backing them, it was impossible to control the mouths of noblewomen.
For now, he was simply watching, but if it crossed the line, he naturally intended to step in.
However, he thought that rumors like that would die down with time anyway, and since it wasn’t true that she was crazy, he didn’t take it seriously.
“Oh, right!”
“Yes.”
“Shouldn’t I apologize or something to the nobles who came to the banquet?”
“What? Why would you apologize, Aisha?”
Luzbel immediately frowned.
If she knew that those people were enthusiastically tearing her apart behind her back right now, she wouldn’t have said something like this, but he didn’t want to stress her out over something unnecessary.
There was, of course, no need to apologize to people like that.
“Well, I suddenly collapsed and the party ended up a mess.”
She had heard that the party fizzled out because she collapsed, but she had completely forgotten about the aftermath.
Between the confinement and the appearance of the real Aisha, things had been so chaotic.
Once things settled down to some extent, thoughts about the banquet finally came to mind.
There had been quite a number of nobles who attended that day, and since they didn’t get to enjoy themselves much before she collapsed, it seemed likely that quite a commotion had occurred.
“It is not something to apologize for, and I already took care of everything.”
“…Is that so?”
If the follow-up response was handled well, it was fine to let it pass with a suitable greeting.
In most cases, they would ask for understanding and apologize on the spot before sending people back, and that day, Monet, Luzbel’s aide, took on that role instead.
Now that Aisha had woken up, all that remained was to send refined courtesy greetings to the nobles who had attended the party.
Luzbel, who didn’t want Aisha to be criticized over something she could get through without being sufficiently attacked, had already taken care of everything.
However, as if it were only natural, Luzbel gently reassured Aisha not to worry about it.
“You don’t need to worry about anything and can just get plenty of rest.”
“…Mm. All right.”
“Do you perhaps want to hold a banquet again?”
If Aisha wanted, he was willing to hold another party at any time.
Since there was also the option of a tea party rather than a large gathering like before, he would do it if she wished.
“Well.”
She was curious about parties, but she was satisfied with just having briefly experienced one.
From the start, the main purpose had been that she wanted to make friends for Jeron.
Although she had collapsed before properly enjoying it, the memory of being tired was stronger.
A woman named Rosena had been itching to attack her, and the other noblewomen, pretending otherwise, had been subtly egging it on.
Since it was presumed that the real Aisha had a nasty personality, it seemed likely, just as Luzbel said, that she had more enemies than friends.
Seeing it that day only strengthened that conviction.
“Just tell me anytime. I’ll prepare everything for you.”
Well, even so, if she kept living here, she would eventually end up meeting others at some point.
But, for now, it wasn’t important.
***
Jeron’s lessons were drastically reduced to a level suitable for a five-year-old child.
Aisha met the tutors in charge of the subjects that had originally been scheduled for Jeron’s lessons.
As soon as she entered the reception room, they sprang up from their seats and welcomed Aisha and Luzbel.
They all seemed to be Jeron’s tutors, and there looked to be around fifteen of them.
“Greetings, Duchess Valencia. I am Viscount Ludan Tulki, in charge of etiquette lessons.”
Starting with Viscount Tulki at the front, they lined up and introduced themselves one after another.
“…Viscount Tulki, a pleasure to meet you.”
He looked stiff, as if extremely nervous, but to Aisha, who knew nothing about it, he seemed to be a teacher with quite excellent manners.
“I am Viscount Elbot! I am in charge of the Young Master’s diplomatic studies!”
Diplomatic studies.
Just hearing the name made it seem like a subject that would give her a headache.
It didn’t seem like something Jeron needed to learn already.
“I am Hult, in charge of swordsmanship lessons. I serve as the commander of the Ducal House’s knight order.”
Swordsmanship seemed like a fairly necessary subject.
After all, if Jeron was to grow up strong and healthy, he would need some proper physical exercise.
Only after quite some time passed did the introductions of the subjects they were in charge of finally end, and Aisha selected the subjects to trim down appropriately.
“The reason I summoned you here is to reduce Jeron’s academic schedule.”
“Yes? Did we do something wrong…?”
“No, it is just that the schedule seems too packed. Each of you only teach for an hour or two and then leave, but Jeron has to keep attending classes.”
“…Ah. About that, we also thought it might be a bit too much.”
“Right?”
They seemed like people she could communicate with well, so they quickly agreed and asked to be called again later.
The tutors themselves were aware that there was a problem with Jeron’s schedule.
However, since it was something the Duke had ordered, they couldn’t refuse and had simply been teaching for the time being.
“Th-then, if you ever need the economics subject again, please!! Be sure to call me!!”
“Hm?”
“The Young Master is a genius!!”
“Please call me for diplomatic studies too, Your Grace!”
The tutors who had taught academic subjects in particular praised Jeron’s talent until their mouths went dry.
Their stance was that whenever the time came and they were needed, they would like to teach Jeron again.
It seemed he really did have that Male Lead aura typical of a romance-fantasy protagonist.
“…The teachers are all coveting you, aren’t they?”
Listening to the tutors’ fawning, Aisha looked at Jeron with a pleased expression.
“I am only grateful.”
Jeron simply replied modestly.
***
Deikan was gradually adapting to the Valencia estate.
The people were kind, and there was a certain sense of fulfillment in treating the villagers that Reed had supposedly ruined.
“Again?”
“I’m telling you. This time it was a real uproar.”
“I don’t really know, but what on earth was the Madam like before?”
However, recently, the estate had been somewhat unsettled.
When he asked the people he ended up greeting in passing, they only avoided the topic.
Thinking it was probably not something an outsider like himself should get involved in, he suppressed his curiosity and focused on his work.
Then he noticed the servants gathering together and whispering among themselves.
“How she was? I’ve never seen such f*ucking crazy behavior before.”
“What? How can you talk about the Madam like that?”
It seemed they were gossiping about the Ducal couple, the masters of this manor.
At the merciless language, one servant jumped up and scolded them, but the other servant didn’t even bat an eye.
Even to Deikan, that servant’s words and behavior were unpleasant.
The Duchess didn’t seem like such a bad person.
She had even made accommodations so that he could live comfortably, after all.
“If you don’t know, then keep your mouth shut. Didn’t you see how she changed after the blackout not long ago? That was the Madam’s true self, I’m telling you.”
A blackout?
The Madam’s true self?
He couldn’t fully understand what they were talking about, but it was clear that something had happened recently.
Just what could it have been for them to act like that?
Had the Duchess turned out to have a terrible temper after all?
And then, at that moment.
“Deikan.”
Someone called his name.
Since he had unintentionally ended up eavesdropping on others, Deikan flinched and turned around in surprise.
“Hii—Du, Duchess?!”
It was the very Duchess they had been badmouthing!
