Episode 32

“It is said that a mud fight broke out in the western territory due to a huge love affair.”

“Are you saying that the Countess of the West’s husband and her male lover fought while grabbing each other’s hair?”

This is a hot topic.

“There was a problem with illegitimate children in the East.”

“The countess of the eastern district is angry and is looking for a new wife. The words she left behind are a masterpiece.”

“My husband has a second wife, so I’m going to go find husband number two.”

Each and every one of them was jaw-dropping. The wind never blows.

Husband number 2.

Come to think of it, I also need to prepare for life after my upcoming divorce, right?

‘It’s okay to live alone without getting married. But if a man catches my eye… … .’

I imagined the future.

Where will I live when I leave Betra?

What kind of future awaits me?

As soon as I returned to the Duke’s residence, I brought the globe from the study.

“Anna, is there anywhere you want to go?”

“Actually, I don’t know because I haven’t been interested in traveling.”

“Then how about a completely different feeling from Vetra? Like the North?”

“It might be cold, but it would be fun to see the aurora.”

Just imagining it makes my heart flutter.

“Once the contract marriage is over, I will leave Vetra and see the wider world.”

“You sound like someone who wants to leave quickly.”

Not necessarily.

“Oh my? Who’s out there?”

Anna seemed to sense a presence at the door of my room and approached. But when she looked out into the hallway, there was no one there, so she turned back to me.

“I think I saw something wrong.”

“Come and see other travel destinations. How about going to a different country altogether?”

That day, we spent a pleasant afternoon choosing candidates for future travel destinations.

***

“I prayed to God, but it was no use,” Ollie sighed.

I understand why the Duke is lying on his desk like a beaten piece of dough, depressed, wondering what else he’s heard.

‘But why did that bolt from the blue hit me?’

This is the only thing I didn’t want.

Ollie, who was watching the peacock heading towards the low pressure, shook his head with difficulty.

“Your Majesty. There’s no other way. Write a letter to the boy at the Academy and ask him to return to the Duke’s residence.”

“If it’s that kid.”

“It’s no use disliking it. If you want to resolve this situation.”

“Is that really all?”

Ezekiel, who had been hesitating terribly, finally gave up and picked up his pen.

“This should work.”

***

Imperial Piedmont Academy.

All students at this coeducational school lived in dormitories.

Naturally, all sorts of incidents and accidents occurred among students living in the same space.

“Yeah. I failed. Write it again.”

One child threw the letter down coolly without any change in expression and crossed his arms.

The child sitting across from him was in despair.

“Is this a dud too?”

“You read it yourself.”

“I really don’t know!”

The child’s expression finally changed as he uncrossed his arms and scratched his head. Anyone could tell he was upset.

“Your hair is as shiny as a horse’s tail? Is this a confession letter? Are you kidding me? The metaphors are terrible. The grammar is also a mess.”

“Is that so?”

“What should I do with that idiot?”

The child glared at the other person and sighed deeply. The other person, almost on his knees, pleaded.

“Please! Michele, you’re the only one I can consult!”

Soft black hair and green eyes.

Ezekiel’s young nephew, Michele Betra, who will become the successor to the Duke of Betra next year, gave advice while studying.

“Be direct in your conversations, don’t beat around the bush, and sting like a bee.”

“What if I confess my feelings directly to the girl I like and she rejects me?”

“If you keep going around in circles like this and doing low-quality plotting, I’ll just leave.”

“But Michele, I’m too embarrassed to speak directly…….”

“Then let him go. He’ll live alone for the rest of his life. That’s all my advice.”

Michele stood up without hesitation.

“Eww! Wait a minute! If you confess successfully, I’ll buy you a steak as a thank you!”

“I’m already the twentieth person to have a steak reservation. Five seniors, ten classmates, and five juniors are looking for me.”

My trouser legs were caught.

“Teacher! Teacher Michele! I really want to make my confession a success and make it one day! Please help me! Hehehe!”

“Tsk tsk.”

Michele Vetra, a twelve-year-old boy who had just managed to break free from his clinging friend, sighed as he recalled the countless confession letters piled up on his dormitory desk.

He was a renowned problem solver within the academy.

Nicknames include ‘God of Relationship Improvement’, ‘Expert in Solving Twisted Relationships’, and ‘Academy’s Confession Totem’.

Although it was vacation, he was not going home, half voluntarily and half involuntarily.

Michele, who stayed in the dormitory and helped his peers in similar situations to confess,

“what.”

I read a letter from my uncle Ezekiel. It was short and concise.

[It’s a crisis.]

“Damn it! What the hell did you do with that three-inch tongue?”

After a while.

As soon as Michele came out of the room, the students clung to him as if they had been waiting for him.

“Ugh. What could be the problem! Michele!”

“Your attitude and tone of voice are the problem.”

“Michele, you said you read my love letter well last time.”

“I don’t want to see your love letters. If you add another flirtation about your hair resembling a ponytail, I’ll use it as a kindling.”

“too bad…….”

It was truly a blunt speech.

Michele pushed past everyone who stood in his way and boarded the carriage to the duke’s residence.

His peers, who had heard his blunt advice, sat down in the academy hallway, their hearts pounding.

Michele didn’t care at all.

‘It’s what they wanted, you know.’

To rule the mighty land of Vetra, you must not be looked down upon by others.

Michele is heavily armed with a long-honed sarcasm.

He spoke directly to me a few times within the academy, and strangely, people praised him, saying that it was refreshing.

When I came to my senses, it was a bit unexpected that there were so many people who wanted to hear proper advice from him.

I didn’t know it until now, but he was surprisingly good at giving people harsh advice.

Especially in the area of love.

‘Why doesn’t my uncle resemble me?’

Michele opened the stuffy carriage window wide and thought of his uncle’s face.

Ezekiel was a good man.

As the leader of the empire’s greatest commercial city, my uncle had a certain amount of influence.

‘The problem is that if you’re talking to someone close to you, there’s no answer.’

Have you ever seen someone speak in a public tone about a private conversation?

That was Ezekiel Betra.

His uncle didn’t laugh at his joke that when proposing to his lover, he would say, “Follow me, I have some paperwork to report to the marriage department under the direct control of the palace.”

Rather, it was a face that seemed to ask, “What’s the problem?” Just the thought gave me goosebumps.

“I need to see what my uncle did next to deserve this crisis.”

Michele, sitting with his legs crossed, was already feeling overwhelmed.

“Surely… I heard you had a contractual marriage, so I don’t think things have gotten weird between you and your wife already.”

He is a necessary person to protect the Duke’s family and to make Michele the successor, so he shouldn’t be like that.

‘Please, just that.’

The carriage carrying Michele and all her worries safely headed to the Vetra estate without any obstacles or accidents.

***

Within a few days, Ezekiel became suspicious.

I was walking leisurely as usual and trying to sit down at an empty table… …but I encountered an unexpected situation.

“Ezekiel?”

Why is this guy here and sitting down earlier than me? He usually either comes late or doesn’t come at all.

“ma’am.”

Moreover, his gaze was unusual. The slightly reddened eyes softened their usual sharpness.

As soon as he saw me, he looked at my complexion anxiously.

“Why, why is that?”

“No. Nothing.”

“You’re here earlier than usual? You must be hungry.”

The strange behavior didn’t end there. His unwavering gaze seemed to pierce my face, which was chewing my rice.

‘Why do you keep looking at me?’

“To be honest, what’s going on?”

“no.”

“That steak. It’s already been sliced.”

Ezekiel, who had been mechanically cutting with a knife, paused. He must have just realized he was slicing a plate.