"Your Majesty, you must be busy, but since you are here, I don't know where to put myself."
The Marquis of Elodie greeted the Archduke and his wife with a bright smile. The servants of the mansion also stood in a long line and bowed their heads towards them.
"I have a schedule, so I can't stay long. Please understand."
Fernan is rude, but after answering politely, he entered the mansion.
The Marquis, who came out of the main hall belatedly, greeted Fernando.
"Come here, Grand Duke. I don't know if this bothered a busy person or not."
"I'm sorry that you told me to come and go, knowing you were busy."
When Fernando responded with no sincerity, the Marquis' face distorted for a moment. The Marquis, who soon regained his casual smile, continued his blunt speech.
"You have come here, but it is a pity that we cannot serve you a meal. How about enjoying a tea party at the sponsorship instead?"
Due to schedule, they had to return to the Imperial Palace before evening.
The Marquis gently stroked his beard and continued speaking.
"At the same time, my knights are training in the field, so if the Archduke would attend, it would be a great honor for them."
After speaking, the Marquis turned to Julia, who was standing next to Fernando.
"Julia, take the Archduke and visit the mansion. Don't call me when the tea party is ready."
At the words of the Marquis, Julia glanced at Fernan. Standing without inspiration, he nodded as if he was in the lead.
Yulia, who was going up the stairs with him like that, was enveloped in a slightly strange feeling.
This mansion was the place where her childhood was filled with pain and scars.
It was a place I never wanted to return to, but being with Fernan made me feel reassured for no reason.
Maybe it was because I was a little excited that he gave me time.
"This is the place where I have collected my portraits."
Julia, who guided him to the gallery, looked back at the paintings on the wall in turn.
Where portraits of the Marquis family hang. It was the most elaborately decorated gallery in the mansion by the Marquis.
As a result, it was also a place that Julia did not even set foot in when she was young.
She turned her head as she thought that bad memories would come back to her, and found Fernando stopped in front of a painting.
"Ah, that… ."
The painting he was looking at was a portrait of Julia. In the picture that looked very young, she was sitting expressionlessly.
Despite the opposition of the Marquis, the portrait of Julia has been hanging here for a long time.
It was meant to be shown to guests who came to the mansion.
Fernando didn't even look at the other paintings, but stared at Julia's portrait for a long time.
Julia, who looked at his side profile in a curious way, was captivated by a subtle feeling.
The Julia pictured in the portrait was when she was thirteen. It was also around that time that he first met Fernando.
Maybe he will remember me. A weak anticipation swelled in Julia's heart.
But he didn't say anything and just stared at the picture.
Julia, who kept her mouth shut, cleared her throat a little and spoke slightly.
"I heard that in the other room there are also works by famous artists. Would you like to go?"
At that moment, Fernando, who looked away from the painting, looked at her.
"done. Just leave."
As if there was no more business, he immediately left the gallery. After hurriedly following him, Julia gently touched the warm cheeks for some reason.
When I returned to the main hall, the servant informed me that the tea party was ready.
As they headed to the sponsorship together, Julia carefully opened her mouth.
"Your Majesty, you must be busy, but thank you for taking the time today."
Fernan nodded without answering. His eyes, which received the sunlight, had an unusually soft light.
Julia raised the corners of her lips slightly and moved with excitement.
"You have come. Come on, sit down."
When they arrived at Howon, the Marquis, who had arrived first, guided them to their seats.
On one side of the vast patronage, a dozen knights were conducting training.
After talking for a while about how knights were trained, the Marquis quickly turned to my business.
"So, for some time now, we have expanded the scale of the cigar business. If the Archduke is also interested... ."
Fernando had an unimpressive face to the point of being rude throughout.
Although there was hardly any reply, the Marquis was anxious to speak to him.
He was a father who was always overbearing and fearful to her, but for this moment, it seemed a little insignificant.
Surprised by herself for having such a thought, Julia quietly shut her mouth.
After spending some time like that, the Marquis suddenly asked her.
"Really, Julia. Would you like to follow me for a moment? I bought some jewelry and some dresses for you. I don't know if you like it."
The Marquis made up a friendly smile and was conscious of the side where Fernan was.
Fernando was just watching the training of the knights without any reaction.
The Marquis, who left the patronage after asking for his understanding, led Julia to an uninhabited annex.
The Marquis looked around and immediately revealed the main point.
"Okay, how is the Grand Duke these days? Do you feel anything suspicious?"
"… Do you feel suspicious?"
When Yulia couldn't understand the meaning of the question, the Marquis frowned and added, as if frustrated.
"I'm asking if it seems like you're particularly outgoing or meeting an outsider."
Julia's eyes slowly widened. I never thought it would.
But if you think about it, it doesn't seem like it's very likely.
Even after several months of marriage, he still didn't seem willing to spend the night.
When Julia was speechless with a complicated face, the Marquis continued to speak as if urging.
"Why no answer, huh?"
At that moment, Julia quietly shook her head.
"I don't know much about that. Aside from being so busy... ."
"Hey, what the hell are you doing in the Grand Siege? You don't have to know where your husband is and what he's doing."
The Marquis who wrote Omansang shouted out loud. Julia bit her mouth with a slightly withdrawn force.
The Marquis kept his tongue shut as if he didn't like the way he looked.
"Did you use the medicine you gave me last time?"
"… … ."
Julia remembered the medicine that the Marquis had given her the day she visited the Grand Duke. After putting it on the shelf because it was somehow suspicious, I completely forgot about it.
"That's still… ."
"Why are you procrastinating? Why, then, does this father have to throw it directly into the mouth of the archduke? I don't know what you can do on your own."
The marquise's shouts continued for some time. Julia kept her mouth shut as usual, and she silently accepted her father's words.
The Marquis, who had barely calmed his anger, let out a long sigh and opened his mouth.
"Julia, listen to me."
It was hard to know where to start and coax this naive and stupid girl.
The Marquis decided that it would work better to threaten him, as he has always done.
"Have you not forgotten what your father told you? If your marriage with the Grand Duke breaks down, you will no longer be my daughter-in-law."
The Marquis continued speaking in a tone full of meanness.
"If you don't want to be abandoned and rot for the rest of your life, like your mother, you can have a baby by any means you can, whether it be roasted or boiled."
Julia's hand trembled. It wasn't because he was frightened by his marquise's menacing Joe, but because of the displeasure that filled a corner of his heart.
Whenever I was told to somehow have children, I felt like I was a livestock, and it was painful.
I wanted to cover my ears right away, but there was nothing I could do but bow my head.
"I know very well that the Archduke is not a kind person to you. He's a guy who fights with his eyes wide open even in front of His Majesty, isn't it?"
The Marquis clicked his tongue in annoyance. The Marquis had already experienced how cruel Fernan was many times.
It was shortly after he had improved in the war, that is, before this marriage was decided.
The Marquis had once secretly brought a woman into Fernan's bed by the emperor's order.
The woman was a countess, a woman rumored to have passed away after losing her husband.
If it was revealed that he had committed such a woman, no matter how hard he might have been, his impeccable reputation was bound to be damaged.