The next day, Yulia, who woke up earlier than usual, hurriedly prepared to go out.
Dressed in a white dress with delicate frills, she looked at myself in the mirror.
He was still unfamiliar with the sight of three maids clinging to each other to help decorate.
Before marriage, when I was working as a marquisist, I could not have a dedicated maid. It was because her marquis was displeased with her aristocratic life.
Julia was not the marquis' wife, but the daughter of the marquis' mistress.
Because her mother was a commoner, she could not officially become the second wife of the marquis. According to the procedure, she would not have been able to become a writer after Julia too.
However, after giving birth to her eldest son, the Marquis' wife was sterile and could not have any more children.
For that reason, the Marquis officially enlisted Julia as an illegitimate child.
'Yulia, you are the best product to be used for a worthy cause.'
As you can guess from the word 'commodity', the word 'valued work', which the marquis always spoke as a habit, meant arranged marriage.
A father who wants to make a profit by offering his daughter as a commodity.
To her father, Julia was just a tool to boost her position by selling it to a good place.
I know that marriage is mostly a political means for nobles, but she still wanted a marriage that combines love.
Growing up in an environment where there was no love for family, I wanted her family to be full of love.
So, when this marriage was decided, Julia first came to believe in the existence of God.
The man I've never forgotten... Because he became my husband.
"Your Majesty, do you want to see Your Majesty off?"
At the sound of the maid's words that awakened her thoughts, Yulia broke up from her long-standing memories from last night.
When I looked up, the maids who had finished dressing up were smiling brightly. Yulia, who was somehow embarrassed, responded by stroking her hair.
"yes. I don't see you often, so I wanted to say hello."
"You thought well. Your Majesty will be very pleased."
Yulia smiled awkwardly and got up from her seat. She was a little embarrassed because what she was just about to say hello was interpreted with a grand meaning.
Still, if you try little by little like this, wouldn't you be able to get closer to him?
'It would be nice if your Highness also wanted to get closer to me.'
Unlike Julia, who had never forgotten him, Fernando didn't seem to remember her.
But the promise that day was already kept. This is how we meet again, because I gave him my name.
Julia came out of the bedroom and went straight down to the lobby on the first floor. Users were seen standing in a line in front of the entrance door.
The users who discovered Julia bowed their heads all at once. She nodded her head lightly.
After a while, Fernando passed through a long hallway and entered the central staircase.
"… … ."
Dressed in a black uniform adorned with gold threads, he entered the hall with a leisurely pace. Julia stared blankly at that figure.
The splendid robe that was beautifully worn over broad shoulders and a strong body suited him very well.
From the first time I saw him a long time ago, he was a beautiful man with admiration.
"I see you, Grand Duke."
Fernando was passing by the users indifferently, and found Julia and stopped abruptly.
His cold gaze rested on her.
"What are you doing here?"
At his words in a tone colder than his gaze, Yulia frowned for an instant.
It was because the eyes looking down at her tall height felt somewhat intimidating.
Yulia looked up at him, who looked cold, and answered with a bewildered face.
"that is… I want to give you my morning greetings."
"Greetings?"
A smirk soon hung over his sculptural face.
"I don't know what you are hoping for."
Julia's eyes were wide open, and she just stiffened.
Did you think it was an act of wishing for something? Julia hurriedly opened her mouth to clear up his misunderstanding.
"I, there is no other meaning. I just want to see His Majesty's departure... ."
"Yeah, it seems like you're starting to want to be the hostess."
In a clearly sarcastic tone, Yulia kept her mouth red with her ears reddened.
Shouldn't this be the case... . My heart started beating like crazy with the embarrassment that ran through my head.
I could feel the users looking at me with a smirk on my face. Julia bowed her head.
Fernan, who looked down at her like that, continued speaking with a slightly softened, but unfeeling tone.
"If there is anything you want, do it. Whether it's remodeling a castle, buying jewelry, or throwing a party, it doesn't matter."
"… … ."
"But, I don't want to see you in the morning, so please refrain from doing this."
His expressionless face was telling. Don't ask for anything from me.
Because there will be no love or warmth between us.
Fernando passed the frozen Julia as it was.
As the users who were noticing dispersed to other places one by one, Yulia was left alone in the lobby.
'… Am I doing something wrong?'
After marriage, the number of times I met and talked with Fernan was only a handful. Because he was always busy, and he didn't always talk much.
In the meantime, I couldn't remember what I had done wrong.
He was a man who left the castle behind his bride, saying that he had a business to do even on early morning days. But Julia was okay with that.
Until a little while ago he looked down at me with cold eyes.
"… … ."
Standing blankly for a while, she struggled to capture her expression. But her sunken heart could not be hidden in any way.
Fernan's cold voice rang in his ears as he was forced to walk. It felt like my heart was getting colder.
* * *
Marquis Elodie looked around the drawing room slowly, savoring the tea.
The interior was dreary and gloomy. Just like Fernan, the owner of the castle.
The marquise, biting his tongue, glared at his daughter.
"What does the little guy called your husband do so that his nose doesn't show up?"
"… You have a lot of government affairs."
Yulia answered with a smirk and grabbed the teacup. Her father, whom she had not seen in a long time, was still difficult and uncomfortable.
The Marquis reproached Fernan with a displeased face, but soon changed the topic.
"But why are you so skinny? There's nothing more ugly than a skinny girl."
"that is… I guess it's just that I don't have an appetite."
The Marquis, whose eyes twinkled at those words, looked at her up and down and asked.
"Are you sure you aren't pregnant?"
"yes?"
Surprised, Yulia put down her teacup and shook her head hurriedly.
"Oh, no. Absolutely not."
"Or maybe not, what's so surprising? Without body pain."
At the light bruise of the Marquis, Julia shrugged like a habit. He didn't want to talk anymore on this subject, but he didn't seem willing to stop.
"Is the annexation going on periodically?"
It was not suitable for conversation with his father, but Julia just nodded without showing any displeasure.
I couldn't tell the truth. If she knew she hadn't even spent the first night, the father would surely go wild.
There was not even a chance to get close to Fernando. He was still busy, and the only dinner he had with him often ended without a word.
It was an undeserved dream to be annexed in such a situation.
"Didn't you tell me my sister? It is said that this marriage is perfect when you have children."
"… … ."
"If you have a child, the Grand Duke will not think nonsense. When a young blue-eyed guy is so arrogant, I don't know what he's thinking."
Julia lowered her gaze and touched her hand. He didn't know how to react whenever the Marquis spoke critically of Fernando.
"I'm glad you're half-half-faced though. What would have happened if there was no such thing as wood stone? ttt."
"… … ."
"So, from now on, hold on tight so that the Archduke doesn't come out."
Yulia nodded her head with a reluctant expression, hoping that this difficult time would end soon.
The Marquis looked at her with a very unsure face, and then pulled something out of his arms. It was a small vial of thin liquid.
"Take it. It is often used by men when they are looking at their body. Even a single sip shows a special effect, so only a small amount should be used."
Julia blinked her eyes as if puzzled. There was a look on her face that she couldn't understand why she gave me her good medicine.
Seeing this, the Marquis frowned as if frustrated, then spoke in a meaningful tone.
"The Archduke has a lot of government affairs, so he probably doesn't have enough time to rest. After that, your stamina tends to drop."
"… … ."
"Before the annexation, secretly feed the Archduke. It won't make a difference if you get it in water or wine."
Julia took the medicine bottle in a bewildered way. After her little one knew that she still didn't know the meaning of this medicine, but she didn't open her mouth anymore.
Julia felt a bit reluctant, but because she was in front of the Marquis, she took the medicine and put it in.
However, I was still very impressed with the idea of secret feeding, so I decided to call a pharmacist later to check if the right medicine was right for me.
Not long after, the Marquis left the castle saying that he had to go see Fernando in person.
"… ha."
Returning to the bedroom, Yulia sighed and put the medicine in the locker and closed it tightly.
After dealing with a difficult and awkward father for a long time, there was no energy in his body.
* * *
Fernando was conducting government affairs in his other mansion north of Caesar's Castle.
The relatively small size of the mansion was an extremely private space where only a few users and his lieutenants could enter and exit.
The reason for a separate mansion was simple because it had an anti-duke castle that was comparable to the imperial palace.
They needed a private space that no one could invade.
And now, Fernando was facing uninvited guests who had invaded his space at will.
"Haha, no matter how long I waited, I didn't think that you would come, so I came directly to you. Wouldn't that be rude?"
The Marquis Elodie entered the office with a friendly smile. Then, when I saw Fernan staring coldly at me, I was startled.
Fernando put down the paper he was reading and chin. meant to sit down. The marquise's smile distorted as if he was treating his subordinates.
"You're busy, so let's keep things simple."
Fernando arrogantly crossed his legs and stared at the Marquis. The Marquis made up his friendly face again and took out the letter from his arms.
"I know you have a lot of government affairs, but you shouldn't treat the one who brought your Majesty's message like this."
The marquis smiled triumphantly, laying the letter down on the table. Fernan twisted one corner of his mouth.
"Your Majesty is also very indifferent. Sending a frail marquise to this far place to deliver only one letter... . Yes, now that I see you, you get along very well from start to finish."
The marquise's face turned red in an instant. The Marquis, who had been silent for a while, forcibly bent the corners of his mouth, as if he had touched his pride properly.
"haha… What would you do? Your Majesty's one and only nephew is not loyal to the imperial family, so he is trying to correct his discipline by using this old man."
"Loyalty… ."
Fernan half-closed his eyes and smiled. As Fernando's power grew stronger, the emperor would try to press him in this way.
Fernan, who tilted his head slowly as if tired, looked at the face of the Marquis quietly.
Dark brown hair and blue eyes. Naturally, my wife, Julia, came to mind.
"Just being married to the wife of a marquis was too much loyalty to me."
For the loyalty that the emperor said, Fernando became a commander at the age of seventeen and participated in the Imperial War.
The result of years of fighting for the empire, overcoming the brink of death, was an unwanted marriage.
The emperor's dog, Marquis Elodie's wife.