TMDFC 11

Chapter 11

Aster and Lauren sat facing each other once again at the low table.

Since they had decided to call a reporter, they now needed to get their stories straight. Honestly, it wasn’t easy for two people who had married out of mutual understanding to pretend they were deeply in love.

Still, Lauren muttered that it was fortunate.

Aster’s eyebrow lifted.

“I was too busy managing my territory to appear in public, and you said you stayed inside your estate after the war.”

“So?”

“That means even if we act a little differently from the rumors people have heard, they’ll accept it quickly and think, Ah, so that’s how it was.”

Indeed. It made sense.

But that alone wouldn’t be enough to convince people.

What they needed was a believable story—a reason compelling enough that people would think, They fell in love enough to risk a secret marriage.

That was why the two of them sat together, putting their heads together.

“Usually, a ‘love story’ starts with where the couple first met, right? Do you happen to have some kind of first love we could use as reference?”

Aster shook his head with a bitter expression.

From what he explained, he had lived in military academy dormitories from a young age and had very few chances to meet anyone. Naturally, he’d never even developed feelings for someone.

Lauren tilted her head.

“But you attended social gatherings, didn’t you?”

“I did. Though I hated them and always sat in a corner.”

Wait.

Aster paused and looked at Lauren.

It had been a long time since he’d last attended any gathering. Eventually he got tired of them and stopped going altogether.

But Lauren had said she never appeared in high society.

Then how did she know he attended?

The question briefly crossed Aster’s mind—

Only to disappear instantly at Lauren’s next words.

“By any chance… you don’t prefer men or anything, do you?”

“No!”

“If not, then why are you shouting? Well, whoever you like has nothing to do with me anyway.”

At times like this, she drew boundaries with frightening precision.

Even though she was the one who proposed marriage first.

Aster unconsciously pressed a hand to his forehead as a headache flared.

That woman was impossible to understand.

He wanted a drink. Water, alcohol—anything.

His insides felt ready to burst.

A long sigh escaped him.

“What about you? Do you have one? A first love.”

“I do. At least one.”

He expected her to continue.

Instead, Lauren shut her mouth.

She eagerly questioned other people’s lives but clearly had no desire to talk about her own.

For some reason, that irritated him.

“The easiest story is probably that we met by chance somewhere. Since I never left my territory… maybe you visited nearby? Lots of soldiers came to Siaz Territory to recover. It could’ve been for recuperation—or visiting the wounded.”

Saying first loves weren’t important, Lauren changed the subject.

Entirely at her own convenience.

Aster felt too drained to protest anymore.

If he complained, she’d probably think he was sulking.

Trying to calm himself, he rubbed his face with both hands and leaned back on the long couch, stretching out his legs.

A fatigue he rarely felt washed over him like a tide.

“I can’t leave the capital. Except when imperial orders send me to war.”

Aster muttered quietly, resting against the arm of the couch.

Lauren’s eyes widened.

So that was why a duke managed his territory through paperwork instead of visiting personally.

He had restrictions.

Then what should they do now?

Without thinking, Lauren bit her nail.

They had already summoned a reporter, and things weren’t going as planned.

The situation made her anxious.

“…Was Siaz Territory in the south?”

Aster, who seemed lost in thought, asked.

Lauren felt slightly offended, but there was no helping it.

Her father, Emel Siaz, had been famous because he was an excellent administrator.

A small southern barony vaguely known as a recuperation area wouldn’t have attracted the interest of a war hero duke.

She answered obediently.

As she pondered what to do, Aster suddenly let out a quiet sound.

“Come to think of it, I once went south to suppress a surge of bandits.”

“When was that?”

“…About three years ago?”

Aster said he’d forgotten because he’d fought in too many places.

Lauren frowned.

Three years ago.

Because it hadn’t happened in Siaz Territory, she’d only heard rumors at the time.

Was it the neighboring estate? Or the one beyond?

There had been an uprising—people protesting because taxes were so high they couldn’t survive no matter how hard they worked.

So that ended up being reported as bandit activity, and the army was dispatched…

One of the servants had relatives in that region.

Lauren remembered worrying because they’d lost contact.

Thankfully, the relatives had survived—

But many others must have died or been injured.

After all, Aster Lilliwood, the undefeated war hero, had been sent there.

Lauren raised her head, intending to say something—

Then stopped.

Aster’s face had twisted slightly, and he was pressing hard against his left shoulder.

“Aster… are you alright?”

The question escaped her before she could stop it.

Because he looked like he was in pain.

Aster met her gaze and pulled at the corner of his lips.

He was probably trying to smile.

But with his stiff expression, it failed.

His subdued green eyes somehow looked darker.

“Hm? Ah, I’m fine. It’s nothing.”

Aster looked toward the ceiling and took a deep breath before running a hand through his hair.

His grip tightened over his shoulder, then loosened.

He smiled faintly at her again.

His face looked noticeably better than before.

“If we say we met then, wouldn’t that work? I was separated from the main force and stranded for a while.”

Stranded?

A capable soldier like him?

Lauren tilted her head—

Then realized.

Even an “undefeated war hero” must have been injured before.

Perhaps that was when.

Judging from his distorted expression and the way he pressed his shoulder, it wasn’t hard to guess.

“We can say you cared for me then. My disappearance from the main army became widely known in the capital. People argued for quite a while that my command authority should be taken away because of it.”

I see.

But something else bothered Lauren more.

“Was there someone who looked after you?”

“…No.”

At his short answer, Lauren let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

He must have suffered.

If he’d been stranded, he must have been lonely.

People naturally feel lonelier when they’re hurt.

The man she’d come to know wasn’t a “murderous monster,” even if he was a war hero.

Considering he was still alive despite enduring all her scolding, clearly he wasn’t.

If I had really been there beside him then…

She wasn’t a doctor.

Still, perhaps she could have helped so he wouldn’t feel alone because of pain or suffering.

Aster spoke of those days casually—

But judging from his expression and behavior, it surely wasn’t because he was truly unaffected.

“Garnet and Letty eventually found me. If they’d been any later…”

He stopped.

“No. It’s nothing.”

Aster lowered his legs from the couch and stood.

Then he took alcohol from the cabinet.

His drinking was because of trauma.

That incident was likely a painful memory.

Normally Lauren would have said something—

But this time, she simply watched silently.

“Want a drink?”

Lauren shook her head.

“Right.”

Twisting his lips into a faint smile, Aster emptied the glass in one swallow.

Lauren looked away.

The reporter would come tomorrow afternoon.

Letty laughed, saying she’d been told to bring a camera without fail.

“Good,” Aster chuckled.

They had prepared everything possible.

Enough that they could hand over the script directly to the newspaper.

Still, speaking face-to-face was different.

Photos would be included too.

If unexpected situations arose, Aster said with a crooked smile that he’d leave them to Lauren.

“You’re better at improvising than I am.”

Lauren thought he seemed capable of that too—

But nodded anyway.

“Using my head this much has exhausted me. I should rest.”

Aster stood, telling her to rest as well since they had an important event ahead.

Lauren welcomed the suggestion.

Her own head was throbbing too.

As for today’s work—

Well, Letty would handle it.

She’d originally known how to work somewhat, and after further training, she’d become competent enough to manage anything that didn’t require direct approval from the duke or duchess.

Maybe I’ll skip dinner.

She should ask Anna and Lize to prepare warm bathwater and something soothing to help her sleep.

Lauren smiled inwardly, realizing she’d completely gotten used to being waited on.

She stretched her stiff back.

Nearby, Aster whispered something to Letty.

Letty frowned but nodded.

He once said his inflexibility as a soldier had made life difficult for others.

Perhaps Letty had worn expressions like that back then too.

Strangely, Lauren found herself curious about what the two were discussing.

She’d never cared about such things before.

Maybe Aster and Letty have simply become too comfortable with each other.

As Lauren absentmindedly thought that, Aster turned toward her.

For some reason, embarrassment flushed her face.

Not as if he could’ve read her thoughts—

Yet her cheeks grew warm.

She fanned herself with her hand.

Aster, who had tilted his head slightly, eventually let out a quiet laugh.

Whenever he smiled like that, it felt as though he could see straight through her.

And for no reason, that irritated her.

“What is it?” Lauren asked sharply.

She hadn’t meant to sound that way.

The crooked smile on Aster’s lips softened slightly.

Perhaps it was just her imagination.

“Oh, right. Could you make a list of the places Siaz used to invest in?”

“…Yes, I can. But why?”

“I’m thinking of trying some investments on this side too. They seem profitable.”

From what Aster had investigated, the current Baron Siaz—Lauren’s uncle—had no intention of investing anywhere.

Taxes had risen considerably, but the money was apparently spent entirely on rebuilding the estate or buying jewels and dresses.

In that case, perhaps it wouldn’t be bad for Lauren to fill the empty position of investor again.

A beat late, Lauren seemed to understand.

Her pale violet eyes widened, and her red lips parted.

Aster gave a small laugh and left the room—

Thinking her shocked expression was rather worth seeing too.