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Chapter 11
“Sia!
I’ve been waiting.
I could’ve just left without writing, but I’ve found that exchanging letters with you is more enjoyable than I expected, so I’m sending a reply.
When we lived close to each other, there was never any need to write letters. This has its own charm.
I’ll probably arrive at Greje Castle the day after you receive this letter.
So many interesting things have happened here. I have a lot to tell you.
Now that I’m writing, I feel like telling you everything.
Let’s save the rest for when we meet.
I’ll come see you soon.
Your old friend,
Ian.”
Leaning against the headboard of her bed, Casia read the reply Drayan had sent, and the corners of her lips curved upward in satisfaction.
She was in unusually high spirits. It wasn’t so much because she was looking forward to seeing Drayan, but because thoughts of her hometown had begun to fill her mind.
In her previous life, she had always told herself she would visit her family someday, yet she never managed to do it. Managing the territory while Jester neglected all of his duties left her feeling as though even ten bodies wouldn’t have been enough. Besides, her parents’ home was far away—a full week by carriage without stopping.
Her father had been too busy building up the family to spare much attention for the daughter who had been married off to a poor barony. Unlike Casia, who had been “sold off” without bringing much value, her younger sister, three years her junior, had married into a prestigious marquis family and made their father immensely proud. That would happen three years from now, so at present he was no doubt busy quietly making preparations for that marriage.
Life…
But Casia had long since let it all go.
Simply not having to work herself to exhaustion until she bled from the nose was enough to make her happy. As long as she could spend her days idling about and eventually see the children, she would ask for nothing more.
‘Dear God, is there anyone as modest and kind-hearted as me? Please don’t throw me away just because I spent these extra ten years you gave me lounging around. When I die this time, please let me into Heaven properly.’
Still leaning comfortably against the headboard, Casia offered her silent prayer before preparing for an afternoon nap. She had always enjoyed taking walks, but ever since returning to the past, she had changed. Winter was cold, for one thing, and she had also discovered just how blissful it was to become one with the bed and waste away the hours.
“My lady.”
Just then, a knock sounded at the door, followed by Paul’s voice.
She had already stretched out on the bed for her nap, so his interruption felt rather annoying. Still, there was no reason to make a fuss over greeting him, so she answered casually.
“Come in.”
Though she replied without changing her lazy posture, Paul hesitated instead of entering.
“Um… My lady. The master is with me as well. He said he has something to discuss with you regarding the inspection of the territory…”
Judging by the way he awkwardly trailed off, Paul was worried she might receive Jester in the same relaxed state she always showed him.
The moment Casia heard Jester was there, she instinctively started to sit upright before stopping herself.
‘No. It’s ridiculous that my body still remembers to panic around that fool. Who does he think he is to make me tense up like this?’
With a quiet snort, Casia leaned lazily back against the headboard. She even pulled the blanket neatly over herself, looking as though she would fall asleep the instant she closed her eyes.
“All right. Come in.”
Paul opened the door and nearly jumped.
Even after giving her advance warning, just as he’d feared, the lady of the house was still half sprawled across the bed, greeting them with a listless expression. He nervously glanced at Jester.
Fortunately, Jester didn’t seem particularly bothered.
“I’ll… be taking my leave then.”
Unable to endure the icy atmosphere between the couple, Paul hurriedly slipped out of the room.
With his support retreating so suddenly, Jester awkwardly shuffled toward Casia while cautiously watching her expression.
Does this man really need to bring the butler along just to visit my room?
Thinking back to her previous life, she couldn’t help feeling it was strange. The man before her ought to have been much more overbearing and unreasonable.
“What brings you here?”
“Well…”
“Ah, you mean inspecting the territory?”
Recalling what Paul had said outside the door, Casia asked.
Jester nodded, once again studying her expression.
Paul had been urging him for quite some time to conduct an inspection now that the estate finally had a lady of the house. When Jester had insisted on going alone, Paul had nearly exploded.
“The whole point of the inspection is to formally introduce the lady to the people,” he’d argued. “What meaning is there if she’s not there?”
Unable to refute that, Jester had reluctantly given in.
Would Casia, who looked as though she didn’t even want to lift a finger, really agree to accompany him?
He had already resigned himself to the possibility that she would refuse. If she did, he had decided he would simply let it go.
Casia fell into thought.
Originally, she had intended to abandon every duty expected of a lord’s wife.
But what she had grown weary of was Jester—not the honest, kind-hearted people of the territory.
There were several familiar faces she wanted to see again.
‘Now that I think about it… Mrs. Margaret, who worked as tirelessly as I did, will soon die from overwork.’
There were so few people living in the tiny territory that Casia knew most of their circumstances in remarkable detail.
Only after the kind and gentle Mrs. Margaret died unexpectedly had Casia learned that the woman had worked herself to death, taking on exhausting labor in place of her sick husband.
How deeply she had regretted failing to notice those swollen, roughened hands from sewing all day.
‘With five children to feed… even a little help would have made all the difference.’
Remembering Mrs. Margaret’s face, Casia nodded toward Jester.
“All right. I’ll go. But Paul told you that Viscount Habelrn is coming to visit, didn’t he?”
“Ah, yes.”
“He should arrive tomorrow. Would it be all right if we inspected the territory after we’ve welcomed the viscount?”
“Of course! Whatever you want! Yes… whatever you wish…”
Overjoyed by her positive answer, Jester nodded enthusiastically before realizing how obvious he looked. Embarrassed, his voice gradually faded.
Watching him silently, Casia slowly slipped back beneath the blanket.
“If that’s all you wanted to say, then please leave. I was just about to take a nap…”
Jester hesitated.
He had actually come hoping that, under the pretense of inspecting the territory, they might at least exchange a few words—or perhaps even take a walk together.
“Well… the weather isn’t very cold today…”
What was that supposed to mean?
His hesitant tone sounded suspiciously like an invitation to go for a walk together.
Smiling faintly, Casia simply turned over and pulled the blanket over herself.
“I’m sleepy.”
The carriage of House Habelrn arrived at the Greje estate.
Jester, the lord of the territory, stood waiting with his wife Casia and the handful of servants from Greje Castle who had gathered to make the welcome appear more respectable.
“It’s been so long.”
Watching the Habelrn carriage approach in the distance, Casia murmured excitedly.
Standing beside her, Jester quietly turned to look at her face.
Today, she seemed like an entirely different person.
Aside from the day she had first arrived at Greje, her expression had hardly changed. She always wore the same listless look, as though everything in the world was too much trouble.
Looking at her, it was impossible to tell whether she was seventeen or thirty-seven.
But today was different.
Her hair was neatly braided. She wore light makeup. A soft blush colored her pale cheeks, and her gently smiling lips made her finally look like a young woman her own age.
The excitement shining across her face was beautiful.
“…You and Viscount Habelrn… were very close?”
But the thought that she was wearing such a happy expression while waiting for another man—
A childhood friend, no less.
Though it bothered him greatly, Jester tried his best to sound indifferent as he casually asked.
Casia chuckled.
“Yes. At first, I didn’t even know he belonged to a noble family. He played around so wildly. I was shocked when I later found out he was actually the son of a viscount.”
“…”
“His way of speaking can be a little rough, and he isn’t very noble-like, but he’s kind. He was always very good to me…”
As she quietly recalled the past, Casia narrowed her brows slightly before smiling again.
Jester stared blankly at her.
His face slowly twisted into an expression of displeasure.
Having witnessed every word and every change in expression between the two, Paul nervously broke into a cold sweat while watching Jester.
“Are you sure he was just a friend?”
“…What?”
There was something odd about the way he had asked.
What did he mean, “just a friend”?
Casia immediately frowned and turned toward him.
“If he wasn’t a friend, then what was he?”
“Hm.”
She found the question absurd.
She wasn’t stupid.
She knew exactly what Jester was implying.
The very man who had secretly carried on with Vita while claiming they were “just friends” now had the nerve to suspect her relationship with Drayan—a man he had never even met.
She had never given Jester any reason to be jealous in her previous life, so she had never realized he was this type of man.
Now that she had, his reaction was almost laughable.
So he was this narrow-minded.
Shrugging her shoulders, Casia looked at him with open disdain.
“Perhaps whatever you’re imagining is correct.”
“W-What?”
“What’s wrong? What exactly were you imagining?”
Casia narrowed her eyes.
With one hand resting on her waist, she looked up at him defiantly.
Jester swallowed hard.
“They say people only see what they’re looking for.”
Shrugging once more, Casia shook her head.
After pondering her words, Jester flushed red and hurriedly protested.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“What isn’t? I didn’t say anything.”
“Ha…”
It’s over.
Our relationship is completely ruined.
Starting with that disappointing first night together, then the misunderstanding involving Vita…
Perhaps this was only natural.
He had done nothing but give his wife reasons to dislike him.
“My lady… about that… please hear me out again.”
“Oh my, they’re here.”
Jester’s quiet attempt at an explanation was drowned out by Casia’s delighted voice.
The Habelrn carriage had finally arrived.
The elegant carriage bore House Habelrn’s crest with unmistakable dignity.
As the mustached coachman pulled on the reins, the horses reared their front legs with loud neighs before coming to a halt.
The two well-groomed horses and the lavishly decorated carriage looked exceptionally luxurious.
The carriage that had brought Casia from Ruberno had been even more magnificent.
Compared to those, Greje was in an entirely different world.
Imagining the wealth enjoyed by such powerful families, Jester let out a small sigh.
At that moment, Drayan stepped down from the carriage.
Standing before the servants, Jester moved forward to welcome Viscount Habelrn.
“Viscount Habelrn. Thank you for honoring us with your visit…”
He stopped mid-sentence after noticing where Drayan’s eyes had gone the instant he stepped out.
Instead of meeting the gaze of the lord of the territory and exchanging formal greetings as etiquette demanded, Drayan was already smiling from ear to ear as he greeted Casia, who stood behind Jester, with his eyes.
Jester glanced back.
Casia’s reaction was even worse.
She raised one small hand and gave Drayan a little wave, smiling so beautifully that even Jester momentarily forgot what he had been about to say.
If she looks this beautiful even to me, then how beautiful must she look to him…?
Forcing a smile onto his face, Jester turned back to Drayan.
“…Thank you for your visit. We’ve been looking forward to welcoming you.”
“The pleasure is mine. Thank you for such a warm reception.”
Since there was quite an age difference between them, Drayan treated Jester with impeccable courtesy.
Jester had expected someone with an unruly personality to be little more than an immature brat.
Instead, Drayan was surprisingly refined and perfectly capable of observing noble etiquette.
On top of that, he was extraordinarily handsome.
Like Casia, he had fair skin, bright blond hair, and blue eyes—the very image of an aristocratic gentleman.
He was tall.
He smiled warmly.
Drayan had done absolutely nothing wrong, yet Jester found himself disliking him anyway.
He imagined himself as an angry wild boar charging into a village in the middle of winter, while Drayan resembled an elegant deer.
As the pet of an angel like Casia, Drayan seemed infinitely more suitable.
Realizing the absurdity of his own thoughts, Jester smiled bitterly.
“May I reunite with my old friend?”
Drayan asked, gesturing toward Casia behind them.
Reunite? Just go inside, unpack your luggage, and eat something.
Suppressing the urge to snap those words aloud, Jester calmly stepped aside.
“By all means. My wife has been looking forward to your visit as well.”
He deliberately emphasized the words “my wife.”
Though he outwardly smiled as he granted permission for them to greet each other, inwardly he was trembling with anxiety.
Since Drayan had greeted even him with flawless courtesy, Jester assumed he would surely show Casia the same formal respect, regardless of their childhood friendship.
He was mistaken.
Brushing past Jester without hesitation, Drayan strode straight to Casia, pulled her into a tight embrace, and exclaimed,
“Sia, I missed you so much I thought I was going to die!”
Needless to say, Jester’s mouth fell completely open as he stared at the unbelievable scene before him.
