Chapter 12
“Looks like everyone’s here. Thank you for coming, even at this late hour.”
The Grand Madam naturally took the seat of honor and made brief eye contact with Count Bolani, Marquis Fenian, and Count Kael in turn.
Marquis Fenian, who felt a bit sympathetic toward the Grand Madam, returned a polite nod. Count Kael simply gave a small nod of acknowledgment.
The one who voiced his displeasure was Count Bolani.
“Everyone? One seat is still empty.”
“Marquis Cheren is on a critical mission. It can’t be helped. And he’s not exactly the type to report his every move, is he?”
In other words, they didn’t know where he was, so they couldn’t summon him.
While Count Bolani was scoffing inwardly, Marquis Fenian, worried Bolani might say something reckless, asked the Grand Madam to redirect the topic.
“So, what’s the reason for this sudden summons?”
“First, take a look at this.”
At her signal, Olvia—who stood behind her—handed each of them a document from the stack she carried.
It wasn’t very thick—just four pages. A single person’s life condensed onto those pages, and the three men quickly skimmed through it.
“Hmm. Working tirelessly day and night to treat the grandmother who raised her? Quite the admirable young lady.”
“She looks cute like a little squirrel, but it says here she took down several grown men single-handedly? I’d like to test her strength myself!”
Bang!
The Grand Madam slammed both hands on the table and stood up abruptly, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Admirable? Cute? Do you even know what kind of woman she is?”
“Well, no, that’s why we’re making guesses.”
“What kind of woman is she to make you so angry?”
“She’s a vixen who doesn’t know her place and dares to aim for the position of Duchess!”
“She wants to be the Duchess…? This young lady?”
“Yes!”
The Grand Madam’s face turned bright red as her anger surged again.
The three men exchanged glances and shrugged. None of them took her words too seriously.
“Whether she knows her place or not, it’s not like she’s the only woman who’s ever aimed for that position.”
“And His Grace the Duke isn’t exactly easy to win over. He’ll take care of things himself.”
“That’s precisely the problem! The Duke is the one who brought her in!”
“The Duke brought her himself?”
Now that they finally seemed surprised, the Grand Madam looked even more pitiful, as if the conversation was finally starting to make sense.
“Yes. He brought her in without even informing me. The Iris Hall repairs were finished ages ago. He gave her the Red Beryl ring and even said he’d give her the Lajuli key… Oh, my poor head…”
She pressed her hand to her forehead.
“It’s outrageous. How can he give the title of Duchess to some commoner woman whose background is completely unknown?”
“Commoner or not… isn’t it a good thing?”
“What?!”
The Grand Madam glared fiercely at Count Bolani.
“What did you just say?”
“Wasn’t it your long-standing wish for His Grace to marry quickly and produce an heir?”
Looking for agreement, Count Bolani glanced at the others. Marquis Fenian nodded.
“No matter which young lady was introduced, the Duke always refused. He even once said that if we arranged another such meeting, he’d… ahem, declare himself… well…”
“At the time, I thought his tastes were rather unique. But now he’s brought home a healthy and decent young woman. Isn’t that something to be glad about?”
“Glad? You must be joking… ugh…!”
“Grand Madam, please calm down!”
Olvia hurried to support her as the Grand Madam clutched the back of her neck and nearly collapsed.
Barely conscious, the Grand Madam looked at the three men with betrayal in her eyes.
“You… You would allow the blood of a commoner to mix into the family you swore loyalty to?”
“Well, ideally she’d be from a noble background…”
“But we can’t exactly force His Grace to change his mind if he doesn’t want to.”
“Besides, Her Majesty the Empress is also of commoner origin, isn’t she? It’s not like having a commoner become a duchess is unheard of…”
“And that Empress was mocked because of her background too!” the Grand Madam snapped.
That shut everyone up. It was a fact they couldn’t deny.
“Only thanks to the World Tree Spirit’s blessing did the Crown Prince and Princes earn the respect they deserve. But what about our Ludian? He still hasn’t found a divine beast.”
A heavy silence fell.
The important mission Marquis Cheren had been entrusted with?
It was to find the egg of a divine beast that might have been smuggled out of the estate 25 years ago.
“In a situation like this, do you really think a child born from a commoner duchess would be respected as the next Duke?”
“…It would be difficult.”
More importantly, if they continued to fail in finding the divine beast, it could bring calamity to Pennington.
“This could bring ruin to Ludian’s prestige and prosperity. Do you now understand why I summoned you?”
“We understand what you’re saying. But will His Grace really change his mind just because we object?”
“Matters of love only grow stronger when opposed, don’t they?”
Count Kael held back the rest of his thought, but the Grand Madam’s twitching cheeks showed she understood exactly whom he was referring to.
“Hah! I must have misjudged you all. So you don’t have the loyalty to risk your lives for your lord, hmm?”
“Of course, we’ll come up with our own countermeasures, but…”
“Enough! You sly cowards. If Ludian falls into decline, it will be entirely your fault!”
Only Olvia followed the Grand Madam out.
The three men didn’t try to stop her or follow.
Instead, they waited until her presence completely disappeared before letting out a deep, collective sigh.
“She really needs to retire soon. The pressure she’s putting on everyone is only getting worse.”
“Why would His Grace cause this mess by bringing home a commoner girl…?”
“Not to imply anything, but… you don’t think he did it just to spite the Grand Madam, do you?”
Count Bolani asked, and Count Kael answered with a bitter look.
“Honestly, that’s entirely possible with the current Duke… but would he really go this far just to get under her skin?”
Compared to the heavy, commanding presence of the former and previous Dukes, Elkiers—now twenty-five—seemed like a reckless brat in their eyes.
And yet, none dared to challenge the young Duke’s authority, because despite his appearance, he had an incredible grip on the household.
Each of his moves was bold and unconventional. For example, he had redirected all funds from the Iris Hall’s upkeep to renovate a park and boost Pennington’s spirit through quarterly festivals.
The Grand Madam was constantly clutching her neck in stress, but the citizens of Pennington welcomed the Duke’s policies.
In that way, even without a divine beast, he managed to uphold Ludian’s prestige without fault.
Would he really have brought some random young lady into the Iris Hall just to mess with the Grand Madam?
Especially when…
“I’ll be honest. I don’t have the courage to go up to His Grace and object.”
“Same here. And honestly, he wouldn’t listen even if we tried…”
“If we’re going to try persuasion, it’d be smarter to approach the young lady herself.”
Marquis Fenian tapped the portrait of Iris in the documents.
“I’m just worried we’ll stir things up and end up repeating past mistakes.”
“Past mistakes… Ah, you mean Duke.”
Count Kael let out a pained groan.
“Duke really was something, wasn’t he? I never imagined his escape would last this long.”
“He must’ve run out of money by now. How is he still living on the run…?”
The Ludian family was still sending search parties after Duke.
But even after two years, they hadn’t caught him or found a trace.
It was clear someone was helping him from the shadows, but no one could figure out how a pampered noble like Duke had ever made such a connection.
“Now that you mention it… you don’t think the Grand Madam would try the same thing she did back then?”
“The same thing? Oh, you mean when she gave that maid an envelope full of money?”
Marquis Fenian waved the concern away.
“No need to worry. She no longer has the Lajuli key. She even complains that the monthly allowance isn’t enough to maintain her dignity. She doesn’t have the money. No way that’ll happen again.”
