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Chapter 13
“Not bad.”
Aster muttered as he read the newspaper article. Lauren, skimming the same story in another paper, nodded in agreement. Back when he had kicked the table while talking about money, she had thought everything was ruined—but it seemed the threat had worked well. As expected, a certain degree of rule through fear was apparently necessary.
“The photo turned out well too.”
Lety, who had been examining the newspaper with interest, looked up and smiled. Hearing his comment, Lauren reluctantly shifted her gaze to the photograph she had been avoiding.
Leaning against Aster, she had her eyes lowered and wore a peaceful smile.
She hadn’t realized she had looked like that.
For some reason, her face grew warm.
“If only you’d dress like this whenever you have official engagements. It’s a waste of that face.”
“What?”
“Nothing at all.”
Lety sighed dramatically while looking at Aster, who was still dressed in a shirt and comfortable trousers. When Aster narrowed his eyes, Lety casually brushed it off as if it were meaningless chatter.
Aster let out a breath and laughed dryly, but he didn’t scold Lety or show irritation.
That someone like him was supposedly a murderer.
Lauren simply couldn’t believe it.
Watching Lety avoid Aster’s gaze, Lauren let out a small laugh.
“Don’t worry, Lety. From now on, he’ll have to wear them whether he likes it or not.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Really?”
The two voices overlapped the moment Lauren finished speaking.
Aster looked annoyed, but Lety seemed excited.
“After showing people that appearance, you’ll have to dress properly whenever you attend official events with me. It says so right here in the article: ‘What is certain is that Aster Lilliwood has changed after marriage.’”
“Tch.”
Aster clicked his tongue sharply.
Lauren found even that amusing.
Outwardly, Aster seemed sharp-tempered and untouchable—a brute no one dared approach—but in reality, he wasn’t like that.
It had only been around two months since she entered the ducal estate, but by working, studying, and spending nearly all her time with him, Lauren had come to understand that well.
Perhaps because of that, he wasn’t as frightening as before.
“The first time is hard. The second time will be easier.”
Lauren spoke in a sing-song voice toward Aster, who was leaning back on the long sofa and roughly brushing back his hair, before turning back to the newspaper.
In the photograph, Aster’s lips carried a faint smile as he rested his head lightly against Lauren’s. His gaze toward her was gentle.
Yes.
Someone capable of making that expression couldn’t possibly be a bad person.
Those rumors had to be wrong somehow.
Lauren raised a hand and carefully traced the black-and-white image of Aster.
The thought that she was one of the few people who knew this side of him made her heart beat strangely fast.
“I should call Jasmine, Aster. How about taking this chance to have a few outfits tailored for you too?”
“I’ll contact her immediately!”
Somehow, Lety seemed even more excited than anyone.
His light footsteps as he left the office almost looked like dancing.
Aster pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed.
“It’s been a long time since that idiot looked this happy.”
“Did this really have to happen?” he grumbled.
His tone sounded dissatisfied, but he wasn’t actually angry.
Lauren could tell that much now.
The laughter she had tried to suppress slipped out anyway.
Aster’s calm green eyes turned toward her.
“You seem amused.”
“I’m sorry. But even if you dislike it, there’s nothing you can do. Your photo is already in the papers.”
“I know.”
Aster answered shortly, the corners of his mouth twisting.
With articles spread this widely, the Emperor would summon him sooner or later.
At the very least, he would need to dress properly then.
Just as Lauren said, he had to show that he had changed.
The “murderer” who appeared at official events wearing only a shirt and chilled the atmosphere simply by existing—at the very least, now had to look somewhat presentable.
His movements were rough as he pushed back his golden hair.
Inside his wardrobe hung only a few old ceremonial outfits and, at best, the military uniform he had worn after the war.
Maybe preparing proper formalwear this time wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Even knowing that, he wasn’t enthusiastic.
Things one wasn’t used to—
shouldn’t be done.
Even so.
Lowering his head, Aster clenched the hair he had brushed back.
His lips, bitten down hard, had turned pale from lack of blood.
He didn’t dislike the changes Lauren had brought.
Though perhaps he shouldn’t feel that way.
“Aster?”
“It’s nothing.”
Lauren called his name as if checking on him.
Aster smiled and said he was fine.
Because the smile was forced, it became a bitter one instead.
But Lauren merely tilted her head and said nothing further.
Even if they were married, their relationship existed because of mutual need.
What Lauren and Aster ultimately wanted was freedom.
She had escaped her uncle’s grasp.
Aster had escaped the Emperor’s pressure to marry.
That alone was enough.
At least, logically, he knew it was.
He didn’t know how others lived, but unlike his parents, there was no need to cling to each other constantly and whisper love.
To begin with—
he didn’t even know what love really was.
The reason his gaze kept drifting toward her was because she was excessively capable.
He liked competent people.
That was why he kept Jasmine, Calvin, Lety, and Garnet close.
He had even considered discarding them if they ceased being useful.
After all, he was the selfish “murderer.”
No one would dare criticize him.
The people Aster kept near him and relied on heavily were those who had either been with him for years or had watched his back on battlefields.
Because of that, not one of them excelled in administration.
Aster’s gaze shifted toward Lauren, who was absorbed in paperwork.
Her pale violet eyes sparkled as if reviewing documents was something she genuinely enjoyed.
The fountain pen, looking too plain for someone like her, danced across the papers.
She was truly capable.
She could identify problems with a brief glance at documents and solved them rationally.
She was someone he needed right now.
That much was certain.
Too valuable to lose.
So—
he was merely playing along.
Aster lowered his eyes to the newspaper and thought.
“A guest has arrived. Someone without an appointment.”
Visitors to the ducal estate were extremely rare.
Most visitors were merely merchants delivering supplies or vassals reporting on the territory’s affairs. They met Calvin or Lety and left, so they hardly counted as guests visiting the Duke and Duchess.
To begin with, considering Aster’s reputation as a “murderer” and Lauren’s absence from high society, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say neither of them had visitors.
Yet Calvin had deliberately come to the office.
Lauren looked up at him.
Irritation was visible on his usually gentle face.
It was rare for Calvin to reveal emotions so openly.
“Didn’t they say who they were?”
“They only insisted they needed to see you, my lady. They said we would regret not letting them in.”
Lauren nodded at Calvin, who explained that he had shown the visitor to the reception room, and stood up.
Who could it possibly be?
No one came to mind.
Calvin, guiding Lauren, knocked on the reception room door.
The hurried voice of the waiting guest startled Lauren enough that she stepped back instinctively.
The person waiting behind the door—
was someone she knew very well.
“Lauren!”
“…Delania.”
The person who sprang to her feet upon seeing Lauren was her cousin.
Thinking about it, even at the Siaz baronial estate far from the capital, newspapers from the capital still arrived, though with delay.
When Lauren lived there, it was to hear news from the capital.
Her uncle had continued receiving newspapers for appearances’ sake.
In reality, no one read them.
One thing was certain:
Delania Siaz had seen the newspaper featuring Lauren and Aster’s interview.
Thinking no one in the Siaz family would read it had been careless.
Life at the ducal estate had become so enjoyable that Lauren had forgotten the most important thing.
She clenched her hands tightly.
Realizing the unexpected visitor knew Lauren, Calvin excused himself to prepare tea and left.
Lauren’s stiff gaze turned toward her cousin.
Delania smiled at her.
Her dark chestnut hair—so dark it looked almost black—was braided neatly.
Her brown eyes gleamed with something sharp.
“You seem to have been doing well.”
Lauren only stared silently, biting her trembling lips.
Why was she here?
Her pale violet eyes swept over her cousin.
Delania had dressed rather extravagantly for visiting a ducal estate.
The dress looked strangely familiar—
because it had originally belonged to Lauren.
Of course, Delania had altered it so heavily that little of the original remained.
“You really haven’t changed. A woman who claims to be a duchess still dresses like a governess? Are you sure being a duchess isn’t a lie?”
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
“Aren’t you even going to invite me to sit?”
Despite saying that, Delania dropped heavily onto the sofa without waiting.
Lauren inhaled slowly.
She didn’t want Delania to notice her agitation.
Delania was frighteningly perceptive in unpleasant ways.
Perhaps she already knew.
After shutting and reopening her eyes tightly, Lauren sat opposite her.
“Do you know how angry Father was after you disappeared?”
Delania complained, pouting her full lips.
Lauren already knew without being told.
Still, she couldn’t answer.
Ever since they were young, she and Delania had hardly shared real conversations.
Delania wanted to belittle Lauren, who had once been the Siaz family’s heir.
Lauren, uninterested in such things, had ignored whatever Delania said.
After her parents died and her uncle stole the title of Baron Siaz, things changed.
Everything Lauren had worked for became meaningless.
Delania had rejoiced in that.
Taking Lauren’s dresses and jewelry, giving her a room suitable for a servant—
all of it had been Delania’s doing.
And now, what was she trying to say?
No one knew better than Lauren that her uncle, Trace Siaz, would be furious after her escape.
And because she knew that—
she had chosen to stand beside Aster Lilliwood, the man called a murderer.
“Why did you come here?”
“Oh my, I’m your older sister, aren’t I? Isn’t it natural to visit my younger sister?”
“Delania. Get to the point.”
At Lauren’s cold voice, Delania smiled.
“You really never accept greetings, do you? Fine. Then I’ll say only the ‘point’ you like so much.”
Delania’s beautifully painted lips twisted.
Leaning far across the table, she reached toward Lauren.
Her cold, carefully manicured fingertips tapped Lauren lightly on the cheek.
“Because you ran away…”
Delania’s narrowed brown eyes fixed steadily on Lauren.
“…I ended up in a very difficult position, Lauren.”
