CH 38.2

As she constantly imagined the worst situation, the Grand Duke, who had been silent for a while, spoke out.

“I will be vacating the castle soon.”

Anne’s head, who had only stared at the plate, finally flashed up. It’s nice to see that face even now, but it feels really bad to have reacted only after hearing her husband’s departure. That was the case even with those eager eyes.

“Where . . . How long are you going?”

The voice that came out of her tiny red lips was faintly filled with hope.

Suddenly, his appetite plummeted. The Grand Duke, with a frown on his forehead, picked up a wine glass and poured in the alcohol, rinsing his mouth. As the bitter taste lingered on his tongue, he swallowed it together.

“Something troubling has happened. From next week onwards, I will be participating in the monster subjugation for about two weeks, so please be aware of that.”

“Yes. Have a safe trip.”

Anne nodded her head slightly. The regular monster subjugation in the northern part was known even to those from the capital.

“Wait and decorate the greenhouse until I return. Don’t go out recklessly.”

The Grand Duke’s words meant that she should take care of her favorite flowers well, but it sounded to Anne to just grow flowers and be quiet. She didn’t notice that he had put extra emphasis on ‘waiting’.

The Grand Duke, who had developed even further, spoke to her kindly for about a week after that, or visited Anne frequently even when it was not time to eat. He was still blunt, but he didn’t seem overbearing.

He was behaving strangely like someone who really had a date to die. He would suddenly go for the subjugation, so Anne did not completely abandon her vigilance despite his change. He will just reassure her in a soft tone, then speak harshly again.

The Grand Duke she has seen so far was a man who remained that way.

* * *

On a lazy afternoon when the sun rose in the middle of the sky, Anne went for a walk with the Grand Duke.

When the Grand Duke came to her for tea time and asked how she was managing the greenhouse, Anne responded that if he was curious about it, why not go and see it in person? It was just passing words, but he replied that he would for some reason, then followed her and came out to the garden.

“Have you been interested in greenhouses?”

“I wasn’t interested in it, but it’s been refurbished, so I’m going to take a look. It’s cold here, so when I see flowers, I thought I would feel warm.”

The blizzard, which had been raging hard for days, stopped for a moment before bringing another, even bigger blizzard. The cold wind was still there, but it was not unbearable, so the castle employees were busy cleaning and washing the blankets, and sweeping the fallen leaves in the garden.

Anne walked with the Grand Duke through a passage made of smooth stone. The floor was clear of snow so her shoes did not slip, but she had to walk with caution as there might be some thin ice. It was the first time she had walked shoulder to shoulder with him like this.

Inevitably, in the awkward silence, Anne opened her mouth first.

“I heard that the Second Knight Division will not be going out tomorrow. Was there not enough power? I heard that even now, the border area is struggling quite a bit because of the monsters.”

Compared to the name Grand Duchy, the number of people in the Knights Divisions were insufficient. Splitting such a knighthood in two was questionable, to say the least.

“They have small guts, so it’s just to save themselves. One group is enough. And we need knights to protect the Grand Duke’s castle, so it’s better to leave some behind.”

“I see.”

Hearing his confident reply, Anne turned her eyes to the frozen lake. She seemed to be able to see the water flowing as soon as the slightly thin ice melted. The lake, which she had always passed by, seemed to be quite beautiful when the sun was shining.

Anne turned her head to see the Grand Duke properly. He was looking straight ahead with indifferent eyes. Changes in the seasons seemed invisible to him.

“But why hadn’t the greenhouse been maintained until now?”

“Because there was no one to manage it until now.”

“It would be very beautiful if it was managed properly.”

As she muttered to herself, she heard a sound, and the presence of the person next to her stopped. Even standing in the middle of the oval bridge, she had to look up because his eyes, even while standing below her, were far above her line of sight.

As Anne tilted her head, she could see his expression darkening sharply.

“I don’t like flowers. No, I hate them.”

Then why did you come with me?

“Angroanne.”

He called her name out of the blue.

“Do you think of me as your husband?”

“. . .”

Anne, blinking at the sudden question, hesitated to answer.