# 37
The Marquis quickly regained his composure and extended his hand towards me.
“It is an honor to meet you, Duchess. My wife has spoken of you with great admiration, and I have been looking forward to this moment.”
The Marchioness poked her husband with her elbow, silently warning him against unnecessary comments. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my lips from curling into a smile.
“It is also an honor to meet you. I heard a lot about you from the Marchioness, and I was looking forward to speaking with you.”
“Huh, is my wife talking about me?” asked the Marquis, amused.
“Yes, you say you are a kind and caring husband.”
"God, this is embarrassing. She doesn't often compliment me directly, but I love her for that too."
The Marquis laughed softly, his demeanor as refined as his appearance.
The Marchioness, perhaps embarrassed to speak, cleared her throat and spoke.
“It's hot in here. Let's move to the dining room. We have prepared a meal for the Duke and Duchess, and I hope you enjoy it.”
As we walked into the dining-room, I glanced at the Marquis and Marchioness. The Marquis took his wife's hand gently, and though she gave him a quick glance, she said nothing.
I admired their bond, imagining my future family one day. When I start a new life in another country, I would love to have a romantic experience like this. Of course, that future seemed distant – Harold's recovery would take years.
Lost in these vague dreams, I flinched when Harold suddenly grabbed my hand.
“…!”
My heartbeat quickened, and I looked at him with wide eyes.
He smiled lazily, his gaze soft.
“I just felt like holding your hand. Do you mind?”
“No… I was just surprised,” I muttered.
“You're still surprised, even after all the things we've done together?” His joking tone made me blush and memories of that morning came flooding back.
“Harold...!” I whispered, confused.
“Is there a problem?” he asked, feigning innocence.
“What if we heard the Marquis and Marchioness?”
“That's why I whispered to you.”
“…”
Did he? His voice sounded like thunder in my ears. I tilted my head, confused, and looked ahead. Even as I looked ahead, Harold's presence loomed large in my mind.
His words brought back vivid memories of that morning, leaving my thoughts in chaos.
'Oh, seriously. Get used to this? It won't happen.'
Even after days together, I still couldn't get used to being close to him.
I still sincerely wanted Harold to recover quickly, but my sensitive nerves were struggling to handle his presence.
I had completely misjudged myself, thinking that I would eventually get used to it. If I think about it, even with his perfect face, I didn't fit in completely, so what made me so confident before?
“Duchess, you look tired. Are you okay?”
The Marchioness's worried voice brought me back to reality.
We were enjoying tea after the meal while Harold and the Marquis discussed business.
“I guess I didn't sleep well last night.” I said, smiling reassuringly at her.
The Marchioness studied my face closely and narrowed her eyes.
“Is the Duke very demanding of you?”
I gasped in surprise, my eyes widening."What?"
“I know the Duke well. When he wants something, he will stop at nothing to get it. If you are not careful when you talk to him, things will always go his way.”
"Yes, this is correct." I admitted hesitantly.
Harold had a way of getting me to agree to his suggestions, even when I was hesitant. And every time, I regretted it later.
But, to be fair, Harold didn't necessarily bother me. His goal was to make sure I was okay during treatment, and I was the one who wasn't coping and was struggling.
'So the problem is really me,' I thought, feeling frustrated.
The Marquise clicked her tongue in annoyance.
“However, to make his wife look so exhausted? This is what happens with these dark-haired men.”
To her, I probably looked exhausted. I didn't bother to check my reflection in the surface of the tea. I already knew I'd gained some weight recently, based on how tight my clothes were.
“If you ever feel like you can't be by his side, come to me anytime,” she said sincerely, squeezing my hand.
“Thank you for your kind words,” I replied.
The Marchioness left when a servant arrived to speak to her, leaving me alone in the sunny garden. I was sipping my tea when I felt a presence.
Is the Marchese already back? But it wasn't her – it was Dante. He smiled warmly when he saw me.
“I heard the Marchioness is here, but I see we have a wonderful guest in her place!”
“The Marchioness has left for a moment. She will be back soon.”
I explained.
“Ah, I see. Duchess, may I accompany you in the meantime?”
"naturally."
Dante sat in the Marchioness's seat, surprisingly not stumbling or faltering once.
He shared with me stories of his trip to the capital, most of which focus on people's happy moments.
“On my way, I saw a farmer couple taking care of a newborn calf. They called it ‘Gold’ because it was very precious to them. The mother cow had given birth late in life, so they were happy that it was healthy. Isn’t that cute?”
I remembered how Dante's eyes sparkled when he volunteered to help others. Even now, as he shares this story, his eyes sparkle with the same warmth.
“Mr. Dante, you seem to remember other people’s moments of joy more clearly than anyone.”
I spoke my thoughts out loud, and Dante's crimson eyes widened.
“You're the first person to react like this to my stories! Usually, people find them boring for some reason.”
“I enjoyed it. I like quiet stories like this.”
“Right? I never thought I would meet someone who understood me so well...!”
Dante seemed genuinely excited that someone would appreciate his stories.
If it had a tail, it would be wagging violently right now.
“Oh, by the way, the festival is coming up soon. How do you plan to spend it?”
Soon, the largest festival of the year in the empire, the Demir Festival, will begin. It was a celebration of the harvest season, lasting for three days of eating, drinking, and celebrations.
Just thinking about the upcoming festival made my lips curl up a little.
“I'm going with some new friends I've made. They're great people; when I told them I hadn't been to the Capital Festival since I was a child, they enthusiastically offered to show me.”
“They seem like good people.”
“Yes. I felt bad that they were giving up time with their families for me. But they joked that I would have to pay a fee, so I agreed.”
...Wait, fees?
I looked up sharply from the tea.
“How much did they ask for?”
“They said a hundred gold pieces. Why do you ask?”
“….”
A hundred gold coins? This is about a month's living expenses for a common middle-class person.
No matter how I looked at it, these “friends” didn’t seem like friends at all – they were clearly taking advantage of him.
“Mr. Dante, why don’t you go with someone from the Maier House staff instead?”
“I would rather go with someone who will enjoy the festival with me.”
“…So, would you like to go with me? I’ll go alone this time.”
I will have a bodyguard accompanying me, in case anything unexpected, of course.
“It would be an honor for me to go with you, but are you sure that the Duke will not accompany you?”
“Harold is too busy to come with me.”
To be honest, I didn't even ask Harold if he wanted to go to the festival.
It wasn't that I was avoiding him. Although I felt overwhelmed by his constant affection, I preferred spending time with others rather than being alone. Harold was the person closest to me here.
But recently, I was too restless at night to bring up the topic, and before I could suggest it, I knew Harold was busy at work.
It's not like Harold can suddenly free up his schedule to attend the festival with me, right?
He's been so busy lately that we haven't even been able to share meals together.
When exactly did this start? Ah, I remember now – it was about a week ago when I started asking the staff for festival recommendations.