Chapter 46
“Then, let’s wrap up for today.”
Elkiers’ aide, Matthew, organized the documents, stood up, and checked the time.
It was just barely quitting time. If he went home, took a warm shower, he’d be right on time for dinner.
In the past, he often had sudden overtime, returning home close to midnight. But for the past two months, he’d been clocking out at a regular time.
Sure, he made more money during those overtime stretches, but Matthew much preferred the extra free time, even if it meant earning a bit less.
“Why are you grinning like that? Got a girlfriend or something?”
“No, I just really like being able to leave work on time these days.”
Matthew knew very well who he owed this good fortune to.
Glancing at Elkiers, who was fixing his outfit in the mirror, Matthew jokingly said,
“You should’ve brought her here sooner. Why did you just creepily watch from the shadows all that time?”
“…What?”
Elkiers turned around, his eyes flashing sharply.
But Matthew, a bit dense as he was, didn’t notice and kept chatting while putting the documents into his bag.
“I honestly had no idea you two had feelings for each other. If you were worried about her walking home at night, you could’ve just boldly said, ‘It’s dangerous at night, I’ll walk you home.’ Why all the sneaking around?”
Then Matthew suddenly remembered something.
“Oh! That Rose Frost play — you were sitting next to the future duchess, right? I thought you were abusing your authority to pretend you were on a date or something creepy, but now I get it. It was a secret date all along.”
“…I just wanted to see the face of someone I like.”
“Sorry, what was th—HIEK!”
Matthew hiccupped without meaning to when Elkiers looked him straight in the eyes.
“D-Don’t look at me like that, Your Grace.”
“You seemed to be reminiscing about the days with lots of overtime. I’m debating whether to bring those days back for you.”
“Whaaat? I wasn’t missing them at all!”
“No, you just don’t realize it. You miss those days dearly because you’re so clueless about your own feelings.”
Elkiers gestured with his chin at the bag Matthew was clutching tightly.
“What are you doing? Get those documents back out.”
“B-but I was planning to eat fried chicken tonight while reading The Hero and the Saint’s Night, a very wholesome book…!”
“That very unwholesome-sounding book can wait until dawn. Get the documents out. Now.”
Just as Matthew, on the verge of tears, was putting down his bag—
Knock knock.
“Your Grace, the future Duchess has arrived.”
Unless something urgent came up, Elkiers always had dinner with Iree every evening.
Today was no different, so Iree arrived at Lapis Hall on time. Elkiers instantly changed expressions and tilted his head, as if to say, Why are you still standing there?
“Go home.”
“See you tomorrow!”
The person who made all my free time possible! So grateful!
Hugging his bag, Matthew rushed out of the office and cheerfully greeted Iree in the hallway.
“Enjoy your dinner!”
“You too, Sir Matthew.”
It’s really great having the future Duchess at the mansion. So, so great.
Matthew hummed a happy tune, thinking it would be wonderful if Iree officially became the Duchess soon.
* * *
The Duke disliked people moving around nearby during meals.
So when dining alone with him, all the courses—from appetizers to dessert—were brought in advance, and the servants were kept out of the dining hall.
Thanks to that, I could talk honestly with him about what had happened today.
“The figure written on the proposal Lady Dowager gave me was exactly what you said it would be. How did you know?”
“Easy enough to guess. I’ve planned plenty of events.”
The Duke handed me a sea bream steak with lemon cream sauce, saying it was delicious and I should try it.
Seeing it reminded me of Miss Belle, who bragged that our chef made the best salmon steak.
It really was good.
While thinking fondly of the cheerful Belle, the Duke asked me,
“So, how did the dow—your mother react?”
“She probably didn’t expect you to respond so boldly. She fainted again.”
“Really?”
The Duke only chuckled, as if fainting was now routine for her, but I was genuinely concerned.
“Shouldn’t she get a more thorough health check? She collapses so often, I’m starting to worry.”
“Her doctor reports to me every time, and nothing serious has come up. But if you’re concerned, I’ll send our Lapis Hall physician to check her separately.”
“Yes, please do.”
My grandmother had collapsed suddenly, even though she’d seemed fine. So I couldn’t help worrying about the Dowager, who fainted so frequently.
Honestly, I might be the biggest source of stress for her…
Is it really okay for me to keep staying at the mansion under the excuse of collecting the money envelope?
What if she never gives it to me? How long am I supposed to stay here?
Come to think of it, when I signed the contract with the Duke, we never actually set a clear end date.
It’s been nearly three months since I moved into the mansion. I was starting to feel the need to bring it up with him.
“So, anything else happen today? Make much progress?”
“Oh, right!”
I almost forgot.
I put down my fork, pulled an envelope from my pocket, and held it out to the Duke.
“Here, please take this, Your Grace.”
His face instantly went blank.
“…What is it?”
“An invitation I wrote myself.”
“An invitation? …Ah. For a moment I thought…”
The Duke gave a small cough and opened the envelope, pulling out the paper inside.
To hide my embarrassment, I kept talking.
“Miss Vanessa made the guest list, but I volunteered to write the invitations. Yours is the very first one I wrote.”
“Why did you think to send me one? You didn’t have to—”
“Well, yes, since it’s Vanessa’s banquet, of course you’ll attend. But I wanted the first invitation to go to you.”
I cleared my throat and looked him directly in the eyes.
“Your Grace. Will you attend the banquet as my partner?”
“Ah… Good heavens, Iree.”
The Duke covered his face with his hands and lowered his head.
Worried I might’ve said something wrong, I cautiously asked,
“Are you okay, Your Grace…?”
“Just give me a moment. I’m imprinting this memory into my brain so it’ll flash before my eyes when I’m dying.”
“…Huh?”
Muttering something cryptic, the Duke soon looked up and smiled brightly at me.
“I’d be honored.”
“Thank you!”
“No, I should be thanking you. What are you going to wear? Choose anything you like. I’ll match whatever dress code you pick.”
Excited about attending the banquet, the Duke started recommending various jewels.
More than half of them I’d never even heard of, so I promised to let him know once the dress code was finalized.
“Actually, the day after tomorrow, we’re having people from the dress shop and jewelers come in. Miss Vanessa and I will decide then.”
“Ah… So Countess Cale will probably come too.”
“Countess Cale?”
“Yes. She owns the largest jewelry shop in Pennington. I’ve heard she’s always the one called when the mansion orders jewelry.”
“You mean the one in that three-story building?”
“Yeah. Have you been there?”
“No, but I’ve walked by and wondered how much money I’d have to make to shop in a place like that.”
It wouldn’t be my money, but I’d still get to see all those beautiful, rare jewels up close, right?
I was already looking forward to the day after tomorrow.
