"It's an extremely fatal weakness! She finds hunting hard and socializing isn't her forte."
Of course, whistling was part of a bigger deal but Sarah didn't bother explaining.
Not noticing her quick switch to a composed attitude, Kallen swallowed back his curses.
"This is your last chance. Tell me something useful."
"Eek! I'm sorry! Please spare me!"
Sarah cowered with intensity.
"I'll tell you everything! My lady sleeps a lot in the morning! Since you don't know she's a heavy sleeper, this is useful information, right?! And... she dislikes sweet potatoes, cucumbers and onions! If you poison her food, just know that she'll avoid those...."
'Should I kill her?'
Angry at the onslaught of useless information, Kallen single-mindedly worried.
He already knew that she valued her people. However, servants were just expendable people that she could hire whenever she wanted.
And Maevia was a noble since birth.
Right, she was her cherished maid after all.
...and she was that crazy lady's maid.
Kallen hesitated once more. Maevia was like the goddess of spring, so beautiful that it overshadowed her insanity. Even worse, she might become grand duchess Kallakis.
All the men who proposed to her knew that she had a picky taste, but a miracle like the grand duke liking her wasn't impossible.
That and the fact that those two danced together at the imperial ball.
In the beginning, Kallen didn't believe in the rumours about Maevia Morgana. He underestimated her, thinking she was as comical as Gilbert.
However, he had no choice but to acknowledge her after seeing her train the prince in person.
While he, a lower-ranked noble, took his first steps into the imperial palace after enduring all kinds of humiliation, she was enjoying her picnic on a mat spread out under the imperial family's sole sacred tree.
Adding fuel to the fire, she even had her mouth opened wide as the prince fed her.
–How is it, Lady Maevia? Is the power of the sacred tree effective?
-You're fanning slower, what a downgrade. Is it difficult?
–T-that isn't the case!
'...don't mess with me.'
After comparing his options, Kallen finally made up his mind.
Since his face was covered, he could just pretend to be a servant of Gilbert's, threaten her and let her go afterwards.
After all, Gilbert wasn't even able to leave the grand duke's residence at the moment.
If he puts on a good act, there's no chance of him being discovered.
When he relaxed his shoulders to ease his tension, he was abruptly kicked by someone.
Pok, the sound was overshadowed by Sarah's shriek.
"Kya, miss!"
He rolled to the floor, a grimace on his face. But when he saw the two in front of him, his expression quickly changed to that of a docile lamb and stayed quiet.
Those cold eyes looking down on him belonged to grand duke Kallakis.
Nevertheless, they still had a fair amount of distance between them, so Kallen was confused.
Instead, the person closest to Kallen was Maevia Morgana.
'Who kicked me? Who the hell?'
He stared at her blankly, unaware of his hood that came undone.
Not even sparing a glance at Kallen, Maevia approached Sarah.
"Let's go back, Sarah."
The maid immediately followed after her. The feeling of being disregarded was strange, but he did not complain.
It was because of the Grand Duke Kallakis.
Just the look in his eyes changed the atmosphere around them. Kallen felt as if he were swept away by the rapids, endlessly sinking into the depths of the water.
Even being driven off a cliff would not give him any more hope.
The grand duke was different from anyone he had ever met.
An existence that couldn't be classified as 'human.'
Kallen was crushed by fear. He felt like he was being squeezed in between two walls.
"Tch."
The light sound of someone clicking their tongue drew his attention to the grand duke.
At last, Kallen was freed from that invisible clutch, barely managing to breathe.
"Co, cough…."
His vision blurred. As Kallen sat down, inhaling and exhaling roughly, Sarah clung to Maevia as if she were the only thing that she could see.
"M-miss, sob, I was scaaaared...."
"Sorry. I'll handle this industrial accident."
Maevia patted Sarah's shoulders and passed by Kallen.
Even in the dark, her eyes glistened like bright stars during a spring night as she bumped him.
Despite his dizziness, he was still able to clearly see her face.
The energy he felt never subsided.
He felt the blood flowing through his entire body cool down, true fear sweeping over him, as if some transcendental being passed him.
Aedis took Sarah and I back to the Marquis' estate. He called a carriage to get back to his place since it was night.
Not receiving the marriage report was not one of my worries, but I somehow still felt anxious.
Why are you being so diligent?
I worried that he already did his one year's worth of physical activity within a few days.
With how things are going, he'll continue to isolate himself when we get to the north.
However, it's not the time to worry.
First, I told Sarah to go take a break. Then, I went to see my mother.
My mother, who had her lemon-coloured hair neatly tied up, called out to me with her eyes focused on a document.
"Maevia."
"Yes, mother."
"When will you be leaving?"
It was a straightforward question.
As soon as I sat down, a maid approached me with a glass of fruit juice with ice floating on the surface.
The tiny ice cubes moved around, clanking against the glass.
"I'm thinking of staying at the grand duke's residence in the capital from today onwards. I'll give my farewells before departing."
It had been around the time Gilbert arrived at the capital with a marriage contract in hand.
I told my parents I had no intention of marrying that damn guy but that I wanted the grand duke instead.
Of course, they freaked out.
I had to explain to them that he wasn't some dying old man like depicted in the rumours.
They didn't believe me, but they still sent a spy up north.
Obviously, the grand duke was a veiled figure that no one had information on. Though, I'm glad they found out that he wasn't actually some old guy.
Since then, my parents dismissed the situation, telling me it was my own wedding so I should do whatever I want.
However, they still worried about me.
Her attention no longer on her papers, my mother stared at me.
"There are many capable people at the Marquis' estate. Why don't you bring a few with you?"
"Just Sarah is enough."
"No it's not", my mother said in a stern tone.
"Even if the entire northern area belongs to the grand duke, it's still too far from the capital. No matter how fast the messenger we send is, it'll take a whole week to deliver the news. How can we possibly sleep soundly if we don't know whether or not you're okay?"
"Oh my, you won't be coming?"
"What?"
I tilted my head as she blinked.
"Spring, summer, fall, winter, I was thinking of inviting you for all the seasons of the year."
"..."
"Was I being too greedy...", I murmured to myself before I heard a sigh.
My mother put down all of her papers.
"Do it."
"Pardon?"
"Inviting us."
It was almost like I just asked her to come visit me in the north for no reason at all, yet she still answered hurriedly.
Taking a sip of my drink, I laughed playfully.
"But consider this, wouldn't it be tight for my mother to visit the north four times in a year?"
"Don't we already have enough money and power to do so?"
She was right. Whether it's money or power, if you don't use them often they'll get rusty.
"It's not as bad there as you think it is."
"I hope so."
Even though our one conversation has ended, she still hasn't picked up her documents.
Instead, she raised her glass as if she was going to get to the main point now.
"So, Maevia, why are you unhappy?"
As expected of my mother.
The smile on my face was wiped off.
Even after I leave the capital, I'll continue to harass Kallen.
"You see, Gilbert has this subordinate named Kallen that's worth less than a dog…."
I was excited to tell my mother about everything.
That night, I headed for the grand duke's mansion in the carriage that Aedis sent.
All I took with me was simple luggage, the rest of my things will be brought by the servants in the morning.
"Gasp!"
As I got off the wagon, the grand duke's people helped me. Sarah, who refused to take a vacation or a salary raise and said she was already glad to be 'forgiven three times even though she wasn't an educated person', gasped loudly.
The carriage stopped at the entrance of the grand duke's mansion. Wondering what was going on, the sight of a red carpet rolled out in front of me came into view.
On either side of the carpet that looked vivid enough to be alive were Aedis' subordinates in their pitch-black uniform.
...what are you doing?
"M-miss?"
Instead of telling the flustered Sarah to call me 'your excellency' from now on, I moved forward.
I stepped across the carpet laid in front of me in a relaxed manner.
I don't believe it was Aedis who ordered this, so who could it be?
I didn't need to think long. Two men waited for me in a line in front of the entrance.
One of them looked like an adult while the other seemed younger than me.
They both fell to one knee, a knightly position.
"This is the first time I've greeted you, your excellency. My name is Vega and I'm temporarily in charge of the grand duke's residence."
"My name is Prokeon and I've just become a knight this year! Please step inside. I'll be devoting my life to guiding you."
This is our first meeting yet you're already devoting your life to me.