Chapter 12

"That person, it seems, is actually very fond of women who are dressed in a flamboyant manner."

Lucretia blinked. This was completely different from what she had said earlier.

"However, he is also extremely afraid of being disliked by others. After all, he has had six engagements broken off. He considers beautiful women to be his eternal dream, an unattainable mirage that he can never touch."

"I see," Lucretia thought. It must be that he just went along with things to avoid being disliked, but his true feelings were different.

"Sir is fond of women, but he is extremely inexperienced. If you appear before him in a fashionable, feminine dress, and give him a gentle smile, he will immediately fall and become your devoted admirer."

Lucretia imagined it and felt a bit embarrassed.

"…Will Sir like me?"

"Of course. Please wear a flamboyant dress. The colors should be soft, like blue-gray, pistachio green, or light peach. Emphasize feminine curves with frills and lace."

"I… understand."

For Lucretia, who had been steeped in the teachings of poverty since birth, this required some courage, but since she had come to marry, she wanted to be well-liked by Ramilio as well.

"Then, let's go with a fashionable, voluminous silhouette dress. The colors will be the three you mentioned, and we'll arrange one of each. And then…"

The tailor showed her a catalog and drew a simple sketch, promising to finish it quickly.

When she turned around, Ramilio's aide was no longer there.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for leaving him. What is his name?"

"Bosco. He's a handyman who has served since his father's generation. He's not someone you need to thank especially."

"But he gave me very helpful advice! If I really do get Sir's approval, I must thank him. Of course, you too."

"You are too kind."

Lucretia's impression of the gentle butler continued to rise.

—Now, once the clothes are ready, it's time for accessories. I should have more undergarments, corsets, and stockings brought, and also need extra hats and shoes.

Lucretia, with the butler as an intermediary, made one reservation after another.

***

The number of servants in the Seravalle Duke's household had drastically decreased.

"Hey, Dad, hasn't the food gotten really bad lately?"

When Rosa mentioned this during dinner, the butler and the waitstaff nearby stiffened.

"I've been thinking the same thing. Hey, what's going on?"

"Well, the cook quit today… I'll find a replacement as soon as possible."

Even after this exchange, the food situation did not improve.

It seemed that while the Duke was busy with financial planning, rumors of financial difficulties had spread through the mansion. Servants were resigning one after another, and the mansion had become eerily empty.

The Duke, concerned about his reputation, wanted to hire new servants, but unfortunately, he had no funds.

—They all refuse to lend me money. I'm the Duke's family. There's no more beneficial investment than lending money to the royal family.

The Seravalle Duke's household had never been short of money. Whatever they wanted, merchants would arrange it immediately, and servants would line up to be hired, even for low wages, because being a servant in the Duke's household was considered an honor.

Even if they didn't have enough funds, some bank would lend them money, and the payments would somehow be taken care of.

Faced with this unprecedented hardship, the Seravalle Duke was thoroughly frustrated.

For some of the persistent debt collectors, he had resorted to asking Lucretia to handle the requests. The agent had immediately rejected it, so he tried sending the bill to the ugly Duke, but there was no response yet.

Every day was frustrating for the Seravalle Duke.

"Lucretia was a good person, but the Duke and Rosa…."

When he overheard a servant saying this in private, he flew into a rage from stress and beat the servant until he bled.

The servant, completely enraged, hurled more insults.

"May you be cursed, you scum who hide behind the glory of the royal family! I know what you did to Lucretia!"

The Duke, enraged, tried to have him thrown in jail, but the servant escaped before that happened.

Since then, the servants in the mansion seemed to be spreading bad rumors about the Duke. The Duke fired them as soon as he noticed, but as a result, the mansion became even emptier.

Bad things come in threes.

The Seravalle Duke faced various other problems besides the servant issue.

One of them was handling letters.

The Duke held a mountain of letters and was at a loss.

Until now, Lucretia had handled them, but now they were coming to him.

—Damn, how troublesome.

Most of them were invitations to dinner parties and tea parties. The Duke, who had been away from household management for a while, found it difficult to determine which were important and which could be ignored.

—Damn. It would have been easier if Lucretia had handled them.

Considering the tight financial situation, the Duke decided to keep only two invitations that he deemed necessary and declined the rest.

As a result, he inadvertently declined invitations from Rosa's friends.

"Hey, Dad, why haven't I been invited to any tea parties lately?"

It was only when Rosa complained that he realized what had happened.

"I'm sorry, which ones are your friends?"

The Duke showed her the letters he had set aside to decline, and Rosa stared at one of them.

It was a letter addressed to Lucretia.

Mrs. Vaja from the Lai Embassy—though the name was unfamiliar to the Duke, he knew that Lai was an important country.

The letter stated that the recent engagement cancellation was a bolt from the blue, and she wanted to invite her to dinner to find out what happened.

"…Why is this person only inviting my sister? I'm the new fiancée, so it should be me who gets invited, right?"

Rosa said, tinged with jealousy.

"Probably because the engagement hasn't been officially canceled yet. Once the Marshal and his wife return, you will be the new fiancée."

The Duke's words seemed to encourage Rosa, and she smiled brightly.

"Hey, Dad, can I write the reply to this invitation?"

"You? …Can you write it?"

"Don't underestimate me. I know how to write letters."

The Duke thought for a moment.

Rosa had a legitimate noble bloodline, and her mother was a high-ranking noble.

Logically, she should be better than her sister, who had a lower birth.

While her sister tried to appear more intelligent by speaking cleverly, Rosa was humble and did not act that way. However, if given a task, Rosa could certainly handle it well.

"Sure, you're the next Marshal's wife. Mrs. Vaja will see from your letter that you are far more sensible and thoughtful than Lucretia."

"Yay!"

The reply came quickly. It stated that they wanted to invite the new Marshal's wife, Rosa, to a dinner party, along with Falco.

"Can I go, Dad?"

Rosa had already made her debut in society and had been attending various court events following Lucretia. The Duke thought it would probably be fine.

"Of course. Show them your charming side. But make sure to familiarize yourself with Lai's etiquette before you go."

Rosa cheerfully replied, "I understand."

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