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Grace, the daughter of a poor viscount whose family had a long noble history but whose estate was little more than a lake shrouded in bizarre legends, had been thinking carefully.
The reason she had come this far in her thoughts was that, considering the power of Duke Felton, she could have refused the emperor’s proposal—or rather, the proposal disguised as a suggestion.
Throughout history, only the Felton family had been able to effectively oppose the northern beasts, and only they could supply top-grade magic stones.
In the long run, it was the empire that would regret this, not Benjamin.
Even if the Duke of Felton were to send his troops immediately, it was obvious that the beasts would come roaring down to the capital.
Yet the Duke had married to show loyalty to the empire and to protect its innocent citizens.
Grace believed Benjamin’s loyalty must be strong. After all, in the story, Benjamin tended to comply with nearly every proposal the crown prince made.
‘Wasn’t he invited to that masquerade festival, too?’
And he had been invited.
Grace nodded to herself as she reached this conclusion.
‘So that’s why.’
The proposal had been made to demonstrate to the royal family that they were maintaining a proper marriage arranged by the empire.
Finishing this long chain of thought, Grace felt a sense of relief.
“That could have been a disaster. I almost thought Benjamin had feelings for me.”
There was no way he could like me.
I nearly got hurt thinking about saying we should divorce later.
Grace let out a breath.
“Now that my thoughts are clear, I might as well get some sleep.”
Feeling lighter, she placed her diary in the drawer of her bedside table. Thinking about it this way gave her a sense of separation and comfort.
The reason Benjamin had been so kind to Grace was entirely to show his loyalty to the royal family, to prove he harbored no rebellious intentions.
Every time she thought he might like her, her chest felt tight—but now, with her thoughts organized, she felt at ease.
‘But is he going to go crazy and try to kidnap Aria?’
A loyal servant of the empire trying to kidnap a saint, becoming an enemy not just of the empire, but of the world?
Grace pulled the blanket tightly around herself and closed her eyes.
‘He’s my husband, but he’s really crazy.’
Well, among the main characters in a romance-fantasy story, who isn’t a little crazy?
Love itself is a little mad, she murmured.
‘Though he’ll soon be my ex-husband.’
⋆★⋆
After clearing her thoughts, Grace’s mood brightened slightly, and her speech became more composed.
It was simply that she had separated her emotions from those of the previous Grace she had been possessed by—but everyone assumed she was excited about the masquerade festival.
‘Hmm, I feel lighter.’
Until the masquerade, Grace had little to do.
The staff of the annex were counting down the days meticulously, and they debated daily which cloak and mask would suit her best for the event.
Grace stretched her newly lighter body and thought positively: maybe she could even do some light exercise now.
‘Dieting always works best at the start.’
When Grace questioned Sally, it seemed that even the original Grace hadn’t had a particularly good memory.
Trying to recall all the memories of a person with a poor memory naturally brought up mainly emotional moments.
Ruminating on the emotions of someone you had a crush on—no wonder it led to sadness.
And it wasn’t just a crush—it was a crush fueled by self-loathing.
Even when reminding herself it wasn’t her own emotions, the sadness was unavoidable.
‘Emotions are contagious.’
“Milady~ how about this color?”
Stopping her stretch, Grace saw Sally approaching, as if waiting for her cue.
“Huh?”
Sally held a thick navy-blue cloak.
“Wouldn’t it be hot?”
“It’s fine. It’s made from the fur of a beast called Lechtern. It absorbs heat, keeping it cool during the day and blocking the chill at night.”
That sounded very convenient. Grace nodded as she listened—but one word caught her attention.
“Beast?”
Her eyes widened as she looked at Sally.
“Why is beast fur here?”
Beast fur, unless low-grade, would usually go to the auction house first, then to the Mage Tower, magical item unions, or dress shops.
‘That doesn’t look low-grade to me.’
The fur was undamaged, shiny, and smooth. Such a cloak wasn’t fit for just a village festival.
“Found it by chance!”
“By chance?”
“Yes!”
Grace noticed the Felton family knights outside the window behind Sally, looking slightly tattered.
“……By chance?”
Sally subtly blocked Grace’s view.
“Yes, by chance!”
Grace thought, ‘Somehow this feels burdensome.’
What if she said navy-blue wasn’t to her taste? She didn’t know what Lechtern looked like, but she knew beasts were generally troublesome to deal with.
‘Of course, they didn’t just catch Lechtern for me.’
But whatever the reason, they had brought the cloak right away.
Grace had at least that sense.
Since the cloak was made from a non-low-grade beast, she didn’t want to come off as an ungrateful mistress complaining about the color.
“Sally, step aside for a moment.”
Grace moved Sally aside and approached the window.
“…….”
Some of the knights looked extremely tired, huddled in the corners.
“Sally, did you really get this by chance?”
“Well, um…”
Sally hugged the cloak tightly, checking Grace’s reaction.
“Did His Excellency tell you to say you found it by chance?”
“…….”
Silence. Grace narrowed her eyes.
“Milady, you’re delicate, and the festival is long and crowded…”
‘Delicate?’
Grace looked at her reflection in the window. Far from delicate, she had a sturdy frame.
“But it wasn’t caught just now!”
“Yes.”
“It was trapped and captured over the past few months.”
“……?”
Grace looked at Sally, thinking, ‘What is she talking about now?’ Sally, as if confessing her guilt, began to explain everything.
“Lechtern isn’t active right now, so we specially selected people to find it. And also…”
“No, that’s enough.”
Grace raised her hand to stop Sally from speaking.
“……Hmm.”
Pressing her forehead, Grace thought about what to do.
Even if she didn’t ponder why Benjamin had brought her a beast-fur cloak, she felt she should reward the knights somehow.
Of course, Benjamin would compensate them properly, but Grace couldn’t help feeling concerned.
The knights wouldn’t usually go hunting a difficult beast just to make a cloak for their mistress.
‘Hmm?’
Grace narrowed her eyes at the navy-blue cloak in Sally’s hands.
The cloak had golden cords, and at the edges of the cords were pale green gemstone brooches.
“……This.”
“Not your taste?”
“No.”
Grace recognized the cloak.
‘This looks like the first gift Benjamin would give Aria after kidnapping her later.’
After the Duchess died and Benjamin was no longer married, he would kidnap Aria, drape this cloak over her, and smile, saying how well it suited her.
‘That smile was kind, but Aria must have been afraid.’
Of course she would be. A kindly insane person is terrifying.
Grace almost felt uneasy again but steadied herself. Right, Benjamin had been kind to her to prove loyalty to the royal family.
All his true feelings were for Aria. Repeating this internally three times, she suppressed any rising expectations.
“I’ll just wear it. Seems fine.”
Grace’s affirmation brightened Sally’s expression.
“And I should give a gift to the knights who brought this cloak.”
“A gift?”
“Just giving money seems insincere.”
Money is good, but giving only money might seem lacking in thoughtfulness. Grace pondered this.
But money is still appreciated.
Recalling her previous life, where golden materialism was rampant online, and her own past days of misery despite being wealthy, Grace considered.
“Money, and… hmm, it would be nice if I had something else to give.”
Some treat would be nice. But since Grace had been on an extreme diet recently, there was no sweet food in the annex.
She racked her memory and came up with an idea.
“Could we buy a cookie set outside, enough for everyone?”
“Yes!”
Thinking it through, Grace realized Benjamin would give the money, so she didn’t need to.
In fact, giving money might make some dissatisfied if the amount seemed insufficient, or others might take offense, claiming it insulted the honor of the knights.
