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Chapter : 10
Letters and Greetings
Fortunately for Lowell, the inside of the mansion was in much better condition than the outside. In particular, the areas that appeared to have been used by Leon while he stayed there were even distinctly neat compared to their surroundings.
“Your bedroom is the far-left room on the second floor. I’ve already moved all your luggage there, so once you’re done unpacking, come down to the first floor.”
While Lowell was feeling relieved on her own, Leon turned and headed toward a room lined with empty bookshelves.
“Oh, okay!”
Leon’s attitude was unusually dry for someone giving a tour, but at the time Lowell was so impressed by how clean the interior was that she answered brightly to his retreating back.
A short while later, when Lowell went up to the second floor, she immediately figured out which room was Leon’s. After all, in a dust-covered corridor, there was only one room with a clean entrance. Anyone could tell it was where Leon stayed.
He really takes good care of his own things.
Thinking about that—whether it was a merit or not—Lowell lifted her skirt slightly so it wouldn’t drag across the dusty floor.
“By the way, you.”
About thirty minutes after Lowell started unpacking in her room, a familiar voice came from behind her.
“…You startled me. When did you get here?”
When Lowell turned around in surprise, she saw Leon leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.
“That reverse teleportation spell you cast on me when I moved coordinates near the ducal estate—did you do that by memorizing the incantation?”
“What?”
Lowell had clearly asked when he arrived first, but Leon answered her question with another question, making her frown slightly.
Still, since Leon stood there silently for a long while, looking genuinely curious, Lowell gave the first answer that came to mind.
“I just happened to read about it in a spellbook that day, so I kind of tried copying it.”
“Kind of? So you didn’t memorize the incantation.”
“There’s an incantation for reverse teleportation? It worked without one, so I thought that was normal.”
As she said this, Lowell stood up and tried to pull the curtain cord wrapped high above. Since it didn’t look like Leon would help her tidy up, she had to do it herself.
But the cord was quite high, and no matter how much she stood on tiptoe, she couldn’t reach it.
“Kgh.”
Maybe she shouldn’t have used magic. As she always did when grabbing something out of reach, she pulled the curtain cord with mana, but the thick layer of dust piled on top scattered, making her cough.
“…Interesting. You struggle so much with memorizing incantations, yet using mana without one comes so easily to you.”
After Lowell finally stopped coughing, Leon muttered as if to himself while staring at the curtain cord floating in midair.
“Are you… trying to say I’m stupid in a roundabout way right now?”
Only then did Lowell lower her hand, letting the cord drop, and glare at Leon.
“I didn’t think you’d say it yourself.”
“What?”
After that, while Leon came into her room and helped her unpack, Lowell kept grumbling, and Leon let it go in one ear and out the other.
As Leon pondered Lowell’s mana, not a single word of her complaints reached his mind.
“Ahh, did you sleep well?”
The next morning, Lowell stretched widely as she went down the stairs. Even though it was her first night in a new home, she had slept deeply and felt refreshed all over.
“I did. The letter addressed to you is on the table, so go take a look.”
Unlike Lowell, who clearly looked just awake, Leon was neatly dressed. Sitting on the sofa in the study as he said this, he even looked like someone working.
“Huh? It’s already here?”
Rubbing her eyes as she absentmindedly descended the stairs, Lowell’s eyes sparkled at the word letter. She ran straight into the study and opened the letters placed in front of Leon.
Perhaps because she’d sent the address as soon as she finished unpacking yesterday, the letters had arrived sooner than expected.
“—To Lowell,
Lowell! Or should I call you Lady Riefmann now? Are you enjoying married life? I’m still getting used to spending my days without you.
…[omitted].
When things like that happen, I really feel your absence, and it makes me sad. This letter has gotten too long. I’ll write again soon.
—Missing you dearly,
Aria Heinstein”**
It was a letter filled with Aria’s warmth. Lowell smiled softly as she traced each word.
“—To Lowell!
Lowell! So your husband is Sir Riefmann? You said he was an ordinary man! That was a lie! There’s nothing ordinary about his looks!
…[omitted].
So when we meet next time, you have to tell us everything, starting with how you two met!
—Your very angry colleagues!”**
In contrast, this letter—covered with traces of being written and erased multiple times—felt as if resentful voices were vividly ringing out.
I should think in advance about what to say next time we meet.
With that thought, Lowell let out a sigh mixed with a laugh.
However, unlike Lowell, who had even burst into laughter, Leon, sitting across from her, felt rage rising under his skin. The much shorter letter in his hand began to crumple.
**“As if dealing with the knight order weren’t enough, you marry a commoner.
It seems you’re determined to disgrace the Riefmann name.
I will send money and servants to staff the mansion by noon.
Do not further damage the family’s dignity.”**
Ha. You told me never to live under the Riefmann name again, and now you talk about family dignity.
A sneer slipped through Leon’s teeth.
“By the way.”
Just as Leon was about to completely crush the letter, Lowell suddenly stepped into his field of vision.
“What do you usually eat for breakfast?”
“…What?”
“It doesn’t seem like there are any servants here yet, so I was thinking of making something. I’m not very good at cooking, but I can make something edible.”
At her completely unexpected words, Leon froze, forgetting even about the letter in his hand. He didn’t even notice Lowell’s face, chin lifted and eyes shining, drawing closer to him.
“…You don’t need to make anything. Servants will arrive by noon.”
He came back to his senses only when the prolonged silence made Lowell’s gaze shift from his face to the letter he was holding.
“Oh? Really?”
In truth, Lowell had assumed Leon had spent all his money buying the mansion, so she reacted with slightly exaggerated surprise and stepped back.
“They’re servants sent by the Riefmann family.”
Leon quickly saw through her assumption and added that before a bigger misunderstanding could form.
“Ah.”
Lowell nodded lightly. A thought crossed her mind—They said he was cast out, but he’s still family, so they’re taking care of him after all.
“And I don’t usually eat breakfast.”
With just that, Leon left.
Because of that, Lowell nearly blurted out, Then what am I supposed to eat for breakfast?—but she managed to keep it to herself.
“……”
After that, when the servants sent by the Riefmann family arrived, the first dinner Leon and Lowell shared together was, quite literally, filled with silence.
Their relationship wasn’t close, so perhaps it was inevitable—but the servants blatantly scanning them added another layer to the situation.
I feel like I’m going to choke.
Feeling suffocated, Lowell almost wanted to stand up and carry the dishes herself.
Meanwhile, Leon, whom she glanced at slightly, looked as if all of this was familiar to him—or at least as if he were perfectly acting like it was.
Hmm…
Still, when a few more dishes were served, Lowell gained something like an insight.
If rumors spread about our relationship, it’d be troublesome for both of us.
Watching Leon’s flawless performance made her realize she might have been too careless until now.
It’d be a problem if word reached Miss Aria that my married life is nothing but silence without a single conversation, too.
Thinking that, Lowell put more strength into the wrist holding her knife as she cut the meat.
Until the meal ended, Lowell, feeling oddly serious, spent the time deeply pondering what it meant to put on a perfect act.
“Wait—what did you just say?”
“I said let’s sleep together.”
So when Lowell said that to Leon that night, it didn’t feel strange to her at all. To Lowell, sleeping together was just one step on the path to a perfect performance.
But that was only her perspective. After changing clothes and returning, Leon could only feel dizzy when he found a woman in a nightgown standing in front of his bedroom door.
“Why would I sleep with you—”
“Lower your voice!”
Before Leon could finish his sentence, Lowell pressed a finger to his lips, stopping him.
While he stood there blankly, Lowell carefully scanned their surroundings as if she were heading into a battlefield, then grabbed Leon’s clothes, pulled him closer, and whispered into his ear.
“The servants are watching us strangely.”
At that, Leon moved only his eyes, staring ahead. Sure enough, there were gazes fixed on them, as if observing.
But before Leon could even form a judgment about those eyes, Lowell tugged at his clothes again, drawing her upper body closer to his, cutting his thoughts short.
“If people find out that a married couple sleeps in separate rooms, what do you think they’ll say? So let’s sleep together. I won’t do anything.”
For a brief moment, Leon noticed his own reflection trembling in the eyes that were now right in front of him.
“……”
“Let’s go in.”
Letting go of the speechless Leon, Lowell opened the door, a satisfied smile on her face.
The moment Leon saw that smile, he felt a dizziness he couldn’t quite explain. At the time, though, he didn’t know what that dizziness meant.
“Aren’t you coming in?”
He firmly believed that he didn’t know—at least, that’s what he thought back then.
