Chapter 37
Grisha’s Visit
April 6, 2024
Even so—how could he hit a grown adult?
I bowed my head slightly.
“I’m sorry. I’ll scold him properly when I see him next.”
“Yes, please do.”
Hyle nodded quickly.
I lightly pointed out his fault, too.
“Still, you were wrong not to return to the Order after leaving the mansion. It was during your working hours, wasn’t it?”
“…Yes, I’ll reflect on that.”
When the conversation was done, the only thing left in front of me was a sandwich—stuffed with greens and thin slices of ham.
I was hungry, but the sight of all that green made my appetite vanish like a ghost.
I swallowed dryly and, with a solemn expression, gripped the tray and said to Hyle,
“I’m going to eat now, so please wait outside the room. I’m allowed to stay inside the mansion, right?”
No need for him to watch me wage war with a sandwich.
But Hyle shook his head firmly.
“No, ma’am. I was ordered not to leave your side for even a moment.”
“Huh? Isn’t that a bit much?”
“The Commander received a guest and went to the Blue Dragon Knights for a while. Since I haven’t yet reached his level of perception to detect everything happening in the mansion, it’s better that I stay by your side.”
“A guest?”
I suddenly remembered—Madam Brier had said yesterday that she’d return today.
I shuddered.
Wait—does that mean she tried to have me assassinated last night, and now she plans to talk about remarriage with Sidor?
Was Madam Brier more dangerous than I thought?
A chill ran down my spine, and my appetite fled completely.
As I stared blankly at the sandwich, Hyle, thinking he was the reason I couldn’t eat, stepped back and said,
“Please pretend I’m not here.”
Easier said than done. How could I pretend he wasn’t there when he was standing right in front of me?
I pouted, then suddenly had an idea—my eyes sparkled.
“Then, if I eat without the vegetables, you won’t tell my husband, right?”
“…Is that the issue here, ma’am?”
No need to drag Hyle into my business with Madam Brier.
Without waiting for an answer, I busily plucked the vegetables out of the sandwich.
Where did they even get all this stuff? There were cucumbers, tomatoes—everything in perfect balance.
Tomatoes, ugh. One slice is fine, but after that, I can’t stand them.
And when the bread gets soggy, the whole sandwich tastes worse.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to eat vegetables—it was for the sake of flavor! Yes, that was it.
Hyle watched me remove the vegetables and shrugged.
“Well, the Commander is a bit overprotective.”
“Exactly! You can live a perfectly healthy life without eating vegetables! If you really want something from the ground, just eat potatoes!”
“That’s… not quite how it works.”
“A balanced diet is key to health,” he added, before hesitating a little and lowering his voice.
“I heard something big happened last night.”
So he did know about the attack—Sidor must’ve told him. I nodded.
“…Yes, it was quite a shock.”
It seemed Hyle was more trusted by Sidor than I’d thought. I mentally took note of that.
He shook his head and continued,
“The Duchess seems to be very anxious lately. I can’t say I don’t understand her feelings, though.”
“But why the sudden rush? She’s been quiet for a year.”
“Because he returned.”
“He?”
This was news I hadn’t heard from Sidor, so I tilted my head curiously.
Just as Hyle opened his mouth to answer—
Knock, knock—
“Oh? A guest?”
Right on cue, there came a firm knock—not from the front gate (whose lock I’d melted), but from the front door.
Hyle immediately turned toward the sound, giving me a strict warning as he ran off.
“Do not come out, ma’am. I’ll check it.”
Since I was supposed to be bedridden, it was true I shouldn’t be seen by any guest.
But somehow, I couldn’t just sit still.
My life is on the line—how can I leave it all to Hyle?
If I looked from my window, I might just see who was standing at the entrance.
I quickly got off the bed and pressed my palms against the windowpane, peeking outside.
And sure enough, I saw the visitor.
“Oh?”
When I recognized him, my eyes widened in shock.
Then, clutching the shawl Sidor had wrapped around me, I ran downstairs.
Hyle, struggling at the front door with the visitor, went pale when he saw me.
“Ma’am, you mustn’t come out—!”
“Grisha!”
I called out the visitor’s name loudly.
At the sound of my voice, the young man—whose sea-blue eyes glimmered like the ocean—softened his expression.
“Nellie.”
A deep, unfamiliar voice called my name.
Beaming, I ran to him and threw my arms around him.
It was Grisha, my friend from the Academy—someone I’d lived with like family.
He’d come to see me!
What the hell am I doing here?
Sidor sat in his office chair, propping his chin on his hand.
Across from him sat a beautiful woman with elegantly tied silver hair—Duchess Brier, his mother.
I wonder if Nellie’s all right. She must’ve been terrified last night.
He’d wanted to comfort her, but somehow ended up shouting about divorce instead.
Just recalling their conversation from that morning gave him a headache. He exhaled softly through his nose.
I need to get my mother to leave soon and head back to the mansion.
He’d promised Nellie three days to think, not that he’d completely disappear.
Sidor’s cold gaze shifted to his mother, silently asking When will you go?
“It’s been so long, Sidor.”
Feeling his stare, Duchess Brier smiled gracefully.
Even her voice was as beautiful as a bird’s song.
But to Sidor, everything about her felt repulsive.
“We met just yesterday. What’s ‘so long’ about that?”
“Yesterday, we only exchanged a few words in the street. That hardly counts as a proper meeting, does it?”
Her smile brightened.
“How nice it is to sit across from my beloved son, sharing tea like this.”
My beloved son.
As a child, Sidor had loved hearing those words from her.
Back then, even the harshest training vanished from his mind when she praised him.
But that was long ago.
Beloved son, my foot.
He’d realized her affection was never about him—it was about the heir to the ducal seat she had crafted.
Now that he opposed her wishes, he was nothing but a disobedient disappointment.
He sneered.
“Yesterday you called me childish, remember?”
That made her flinch.
Yesterday, she’d let her temper take over and spat cruel words before leaving.
Her doll-like eyes studied his face now, searching for a reaction—but he gave her none.
She bit the inside of her lip unseen.
How troublesome.
When he was a boy, a few gentle words were enough to soften him.
Now that he’d grown, he dared to insert emotion and defiance into their exchanges.
Still, she couldn’t lose him now.
With Grisha back, it wouldn’t look good for Sidor to keep living outside the ducal estate.
Suppressing her irritation, she forced a kind tone.
“I’m sorry about yesterday. I spoke in the heat of the moment. But you do know, don’t you, that this mother loves you more than anyone in the world?”
“Of course. You haven’t changed a bit, Mother. For a moment, I was worried you had.”
Sidor smiled thinly, pulled out a box he’d kept aside, and slid it toward her.
“A gift, for you.”
“Sidor…”
As he set the box down, blood seeped out, staining the white tablecloth red.
It was from the assassins who had attacked his house the night before.
Her expression froze instantly.
Sidor shrugged lightly.
“I prepared it personally, after meeting the guest you sent yesterday. I hope you like it.”
“The guest I sent? What do you mean by that?”
“Oh, go on—keep pretending. No matter what you say, I’ll believe they were your men. I even wrapped them up nicely; why not open it and see?”
Realizing her son had already made up his mind, Duchess Brier sighed deeply.
I’d planned to pin it all on Grisha if things went south…
A perfect scenario: a jealous older brother sending assassins to eliminate his rival’s wife.
But with Sidor this stubborn, that plan was ruined.
She sighed again, this time with deliberate resignation.
“If you despise the marriage talk that much, I won’t mention it again. But you must return to the ducal estate. How can the heir to the dukedom live in such a shabby house?”
Sidor chuckled softly.
Her intentions were so shallow he didn’t even have to think twice.
“You just want me out of the mansion so you can send your ‘guests’ safely again, right? You sent them last night, thinking I was away—the gate was locked, after all.”
