I Had No Complaints About This Marriage - Chapter 30
At times, she resembled a goddess of the forest—yet the moment she bit into a cookie with pure delight, she transformed into something akin to a bright-furred squirrel.
Even in the most secluded corner, she stood out, as vibrant and unpredictable as her nature.
“Oh my, the Young Duke of Telloien!”
“I never expected you to come here…”
The voices of the other ladies, which normally would have drawn at least a polite smile from him, barely registered in his ears.
“It’s been a while.”
Only when someone touched his arm did he snap out of his daze. A young lady from some household had approached to greet him, but her face didn’t leave an impression—he couldn’t even recall her name. For Herman, who could roughly recall the backgrounds of nearly every noblewoman in the empire, this was a rare experience.
“Esina.”
After offering a perfunctory apology and gently pushing past the lady, he called out to Esina.
“…Herman.”
She greeted him with a smile that was both awkward and strangely knowing…
Wait.
The rumor—the one about him having an illegitimate child—had spread from the department store.
A dreadful assumption surfaced. Without realizing it, Herman’s expression darkened as he asked,
“…Esina.”
“Yes?”
“Is there a chance my wife has also heard that rumor?”
“Well, that is…”
“Ah. The head maid.”
Herman’s gaze shifted to the head maid, who had just entered carrying refreshments. After all, when it came to the mistress’s affairs, the head maid was more likely to know than the butler.
The kindly-faced head maid responded promptly to her master’s summons.
“Yes, Young Duke.”
“Has Esina been… showing any signs?”
“What kind of signs, my lord?”
“Discomfort, or acting strangely in any way…”
The thought of Esina—so bold one moment, then clamming up and shrinking the next—gnawed at him. Was she just enduring it all silently where he couldn’t see?
The head maid hesitated briefly before answering.
“Huh? No, she hasn’t shown any… Oh.”
The next moment, the head maid’s expression abruptly darkened. Seeing this, Herman felt an inexplicable urgency rise within him. A dry thirst crawled up his throat as he calmly pressed further.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, it’s nothing serious, just…”
The head maid’s unusual hesitation began to grate on his nerves. As Herman struggled to maintain his patience, the butler shot her a pointed look, prompting her to reluctantly speak.
“…Now that I think of it, the young mistress did…”
* * *
Tap.
Esina, seated on a stool, lightly flicked a glass vial filled with finely ground red powder.
Petal dust. Specifically, from those crimson flowers she had admired in the greenhouse—dried and powdered with medicinal herbs, or so she’d been told.
“……”
Her gaze drifted to the row of similar vials lined up beside it. This wasn’t the only one that had arrived.
[“We heard the new bride adores Flemmel flowers…”]
[“For the Lady of Telloien—a wedding gift of her favorite blooms…”]
[“These Flemmel flowers were cultivated in our homeland…”]
Glistening letters with variations of these phrases accompanied the vials, which now numbered well over five. The moment she realized how many had piled up, a suspicion prickled at her.
Ever since the wedding banquet—where her ignorance of high-society etiquette had unintentionally deflected every backhanded compliment—Herman had taught her a few tricks of aristocratic conversation. Enough to recognize malice and retaliate with precision.
‘This… can’t be a good sign.’
It wasn’t as if she’d received such gifts during the wedding itself. And come to think of it, weren’t these the same flowers people had sneered about earlier?
That’s when Esina slipped into the estate’s study and skimmed through a botanical guide.
Flemmel flowers. True to their crimson hue, their meaning: “A love that bleeds.”
Romantic at a glance, but in practice, they were used to declare a breakup—a blunt “Being with you will only bring pain.”
The reason for the outrage at the department store became clear. There she’d been, gleefully clutching flowers symbolizing rejection in front of women who’d once clung to Herman. To those obsessed with hidden meanings, it must’ve looked like…
‘…I was flaunting that my marriage forced your relationships to end?’
Though unintentional, she’d essentially poured salt on their wounds.
Chagrined, Esina reassessed the gifts.
Ellecde
Thank you!!!!! Agh the misunderstandings are making me want to read more