Chapter 11

"Until now, you have been taken care of by the young lady, but she has already left this place."

Duke Selavalle's face grew even paler. He had not the slightest idea that his daughter had even been paying the servants' wages.

"Then, borrow some money from somewhere for the time being. If you say it's from the royal family, they will lend you as much as you need."

"Yes, sir."

As the butler withdrew, the Duke felt relieved.

-- That's right, even if we are a collateral branch of the royal family, we can still get the commoners to pay whatever we want. They will be happy to pay no matter how much we owe.

While thinking this, the Duke slowly recalled the days of the past.

The previous Duke Selavalle, who was his father, had been a playboy. To make up for the enormous debt he had incurred, the son, the current Duke, had to marry the daughter of a wealthy man, Lucrezia's mother.

The Duke knew that he had been able to live without worrying about money thanks to his father, and after his father's death, it was thanks to Lucrezia's management.

However, he had no idea that even the servants' wages had been covered by Lucrezia.

-- Where did she get all that money?

Duke Selavalle could not suppress his disgust.

-- What a creepy girl.

Indeed, the blood of the commoners, which he did not understand, should never have been allowed into the ducal family.

He deeply detested the bloodline of his first wife. When he was ordered to marry her, he felt nauseous.

Why did he, a member of the royal family, have to marry a girl whose family had been bankers just two generations ago? Blue blood becomes genuine after three generations. To him, his wife, though from a marquess's family, was no different from a commoner.

However, it was a fact that the Selavalle ducal family had been revived thanks to her dowry. He was grateful for that, but when she died of puerperal fever, he thought it was a fitting punishment, a divine retribution. It was an unbearable arrogance for a commoner to try to mix with the royal blood.

He thought it was presumptuous for Lucrezia to even claim to be the daughter of the Selavalle ducal family, and he had abandoned the newborn baby in the mountains.

According to the custom of the country, children are not raised by their parents but are immediately handed over to wet nurses. A certain percentage of the children entrusted to wet nurses die. It is that difficult for infants to grow up safely.

Duke Selavalle thought he had gotten rid of the trouble, but eight years later, just as he was about to inform the marquess's family that 'the child had died' at an appropriate time, it happened.

Lucrezia had returned unexpectedly.

Even if he claimed she was a fake, with her beauty that resembled her mother and her silver hair and golden eyes like Duke Selavalle's, anyone would think they were related.

-- Why? I definitely left her in the mountains that time. No one saw me. There was no way anyone could have known about my connection to her...

Thus, Duke Selavalle found himself in the position of having to raise the creepy girl.

"How long are you going to be a nuisance to me? Just disappear...!"

He clutched his head, muttering to himself. His eyes were filled with unhidden hatred.

***

Lucrezia, who had withdrawn cash from the bank, decided to get some new clothes. No matter how much her husband said it was fine, it was embarrassing to wear only the one set of clothes she had.

"What kind of clothes does my husband prefer?"

While giving instructions on the design of the clothes to the tailor, Lucrezia asked, and the elderly butler gave her a charming smile.

"Whatever she wears, as long as Lucrezia is happy, he will be pleased."

"Oh, that's nice. But I don't have a particular preference for clothes. If I make them according to my taste, they might end up being too plain."

Lucrezia was worried about how it would look to Lamirio.

-- Does my husband dislike plain women? If I wear the clothes he likes, will he consider getting engaged?

"Although it goes against the teachings of frugality, I am thinking of dressing up a bit to suit my husband's taste."

"That is a very lovely sentiment. Please convey these words directly to your husband. I am sure he will be more pleased than by any clothes."

"R-really?"

Lucrezia blushed, thinking she couldn't ask such a bold question.

"If you visit him, he is probably relaxing in his study now. Please do so."

Following the butler's advice, Lucrezia went downstairs with the tailor.

Lamirio was at his desk in the study, looking at something absentmindedly. A tea set was placed beside him, so he was probably on a break.

"Husband—"

When Lucrezia called out to Lamirio, his voice cracked.

"H-husband!? Y-you mean, me?"

"I think it's correct to call you husband since we are getting married..."

"You're going to call me husband!?"

Is it really that surprising? Lamirio put down the document he was holding with a somewhat awkward movement.

"N-no, if you like it, it's fine... W-what do you need?"

Lucrezia repeated the question she had asked the butler.

"I wanted to know your preference in clothes. My taste might be a bit too plain, so I thought I would try to have them made according to your preferred image."

"C-preference!? I don't have any preferences!? Ah, no, I mean, it doesn't matter what you wear as long as you wear it... Yes, just wear what you like!"

Lamirio, who was unusually flustered.

"I think the clothes you wear are quite nice, simple and the material stands out... I don't know if 'material' is the right word, but I think you would look good in anything."

"Oh, that's nice. I also like these plain things. It seems we have similar tastes."

"Y-yes, that's true. Haha..."

Unexpectedly receiving a warm response, Lucrezia returned to her room happily.

"Then, please make the dresses in grey and brown. Use as subdued colors as possible, remove frills and lace, and minimize the puffiness of the skirt as much as possible..."

Just as Lucrezia started giving instructions to the tailor, someone knocked on the door.

The visitor was a young man who had been with Lamirio. He was probably someone close to him.

"Excuse me, madam. I thought I would convey a message."

Being called 'madam' made Lucrezia blush.

-- It feels ticklish when someone says it.

"What is it?"

"It's about your husband's preferences. I thought I could offer some detailed advice, so I took the liberty of coming here."

"Oh, you two are close?"

The aide nodded.

"We have known each other since childhood, so I know everything about him."

Lucrezia leaned forward a bit.

"Can you tell me?"

If you click on the stars at the bottom of the screen and change the rating to ★★★★★, it would be a great encouragement.