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Chapter 12
Adelia returned to the laboratory and repeated several pattern experiments and observations.
She was so deeply absorbed that she didn’t even notice lunchtime had long passed. Only when her stomach let out a loud growl did she realize she had completely forgotten to eat.
When you’re hungry, studying becomes impossible.
So Adelia stepped outside to get some lunch.
On the way, she quietly peeked into Professor Siern’s lab. He was asleep, legs stretched out on the table, so she decided not to disturb him and simply left.
The weather was beautiful.
Adelia stretched toward the sun and looked up at the sky. Light shimmered in her sparkling green eyes.
“Senior said this… fake marriage alone is enough, but still… I’d really like to repay what I’ve received.”
At first, Roerston’s proposal had been absurd—but for Adelia, it wasn’t a bad offer at all.
No, the conditions were too good.
If she hadn’t known him, even indirectly, she might have thought he was a scammer trying to sell her off to a tuna fishing boat.
So if she could repay him even a little, she felt her heart would be much lighter.
Lost in thought, Adelia pushed open the door of a shop filled with a delicious smell.
“Oh my, Adelia! Hello!”
Startled by the sudden voice, she froze and gripped the doorknob with both hands.
“Hahaha! You still jump like a squirrel, just like in your first year!”
Adelia blinked at the woman laughing heartily.
“Mrs. Smiths? What are you doing here…?”
Mrs. Smiths.
Until this year, she had been the owner of the most famous pastry shop in front of the academy.
Her meat pies, made with a special secret recipe, sold out like wildfire during exam season. Her jam pies were so popular they ran out every single day.
Sometimes, exhausted senior students would order a “special pie,” and countless rumors surrounded what was inside it.
Some said it contained pickled sardines. Others insisted it was eel soaked in heavy spices. And some even claimed it held something unbelievably spicy—something never seen before.
Adelia herself had often saved her allowance to buy pies or cookies from Mrs. Smiths’ shop.
She had known her since childhood, so of course they recognized each other.
“But why are you here?” Adelia asked.
“My foolish son came back home,” Mrs. Smiths replied. “He has no intention of getting a job, so what can I do? I figured I’d make him run the pie shop instead.”
“Oh my, then…?”
“He can’t do much, but he’s fairly good at cooking. So I handed the shop over to him and opened a new one here. I heard you joined a research lab, but I didn’t expect to see you this soon!”
Mrs. Smiths burst into laughter again.
Adelia, both happy and a little dazed, lingered in front of the pie display.
“So how have you been lately? Still studying… what was it, microorganisms? Mold or something?”
“Yes, that’s right! I’m learning in Professor Siern’s lab.”
“Professor Siern… ah, the strict one, right?”
Adelia’s eyes sparkled.
“You know him too?”
“I don’t, of course! But some of my customers recently graduated from his lab. Whenever they look exhausted, it’s always because of Professor Siern, apparently.”
Goodness… Adelia thought.
Even after graduating, it shows on their faces…?
That sounds amazing!!
As her eyes began shining a little too brightly, Mrs. Smiths waved her hand as if she already understood.
“Yes, yes. It suits you perfectly. You’re that strange child who likes things the harder they are, aren’t you?”
Smiling shyly, Adelia picked a small jam pie and a meat pie set. It seemed to be a new menu item since the shop relocation.
“More importantly, there’s something I’ve been curious about,” Mrs. Smiths said.
“Yes?”
“Adelia, I’ve been hearing that you became the Duchess of the Ipsel family. What on earth is that about?”
Adelia’s eyes widened as she waited eagerly for her pies.
Mrs. Smiths continued while pulling freshly baked pies from the oven.
“Everyone who comes by talks about it. I even wondered if there was another Adelia.”
“Ah…”
“It’s not you, is it?”
Adelia rolled her eyes once before answering.
“…It is me.”
Mrs. Smiths’ eyes grew wide. Her lips parted in shock as she tried to speak.
“My goodness… is that really true?”
“Yes, it is.”
Mrs. Smiths was clearly flustered.
Thanks to her excellent skills, she occasionally supplied pies to royal palace parties. Because of that, she was familiar with all sorts of trivial palace gossip.
I heard the princess insisted she would only marry the Duke of Ipsel… Did she give up?
Placing the pies onto a tray, Mrs. Smiths even filled a pitcher with apple juice—though Adelia hadn’t ordered it.
“Now tell me everything,” she said.
Around that time, Roerston was having new clothes tailored for a party a few days later.
The owner of the tailor shop he always visited kept time reserved specifically for the Duke of Ipsel. That made it very convenient—he could walk in anytime and immediately have measurements taken.
“The schedule is a bit tight. Will that be alright?” Roerston asked.
“Of course. Two days is no problem.”
The tailor glanced over the measurement sheet and had already begun selecting fabrics.
Sitting on a flawless leather sofa, Roerston took a sip of tea brought by a maid and looked around the shop.
Fine leather, luxurious fabrics, ready-made hats, and shoes were elegantly displayed.
“Young master—no, I suppose I should say Your Grace now—you used to cry when you first came here because of the smell of leather. It feels like just yesterday.”
The elderly tailor spoke with a smile.
Perhaps because he had visited for so long, Roerston sometimes felt as if this place were like a relative’s home.
While the tailor waited patiently, Roerston examined several fabrics, touching and comparing them.
Then he picked one and smiled faintly.
“That was a long time ago. You still remember? Your memory is impressive.”
“I also remember when you had your first suit made. The previous duke carefully chose the fabric. You were so small then, and now you’re already married… time truly flies.”
“Don’t you want to see my wife?”
The tailor looked up, a pleased smile forming on his wrinkled face.
“Of course I would. I’m curious about what kind of person she is.”
“She’s a bit of an odd one—but interesting. She was my junior.”
“Oh dear, you shouldn’t call your newlywed wife an odd one.”
“But she really is. Isn’t she, Rudolf?”
Rudolf stood there indifferently, as if it had nothing to do with him.
After all, he knew he would end up listening to Roerston praise his wife anyway.
Roerston often spoke highly of Adelia to others.
Not only was she intelligent, but she looked cute when sulking, and her calm way of learning things she didn’t know was admirable.
When people teased him, saying he must be deeply in love with his wife, he never denied it.
He was so natural about it that it wouldn’t be surprising if rumors spread through high society that he was a devoted husband.
In fact, that had been his plan all along.
However, recently, a small problem had appeared.
“You have no idea how smart she is. Back at the academy, people even joked that she needed her own grading system.”
“Oh?”
“Even an A+ wasn’t enough for her. They say there wasn’t a single subject she struggled with. No matter how smart someone is, they usually have at least one weakness, right?”
Whether he realized it or not, his praise for Adelia went on endlessly.
It was almost the same as when Adelia talked about microorganisms.
Though, of course, the tailor didn’t know that.
“But sometimes, the way she acts is just like a squirrel. Especially a squirrel that can’t find where it buried its acorns and ends up wandering around. Watching her is incredibly amusing.”
