I Married the Mad Duke Who Killed My Husband - Chapter 22
“Whether he was simply infatuated with me or had other motives, I couldn’t tell, but the second son of the Romenel Count family was persistent. However, his persistence didn’t seem to match his meticulousness, as I could see him lurking around outside my room window.
Because of this, I spent time lounging in Cassion’s room or examining dam construction documents together to avoid unnecessary encounters.
Of course, I didn’t get the room owner’s consent.
“Geez, no matter what, wasn’t that expression in the morning too much?”
I may have barged in without warning and rolled around on the bed, and even fallen asleep a few times because it was comfortable! But isn’t that kind of look too much?
I pouted, remembering Cassion gritting his teeth and asking if I’d finally woken up, his red eyes so bloodshot that even the whites were red, blurring the boundaries of his irises.
“When we return to the Duke’s mansion after the banquet today, I’ll have no regrets.”
Hmph. I felt sorry for pushing the bed’s owner out and sleeping soundly, so I followed him around apologizing without even changing out of my nightclothes!
Instead, he got upset and left, saying he was going to have a morning sparring session with the Second Prince.
I quietly pulled back the curtain and looked down from the window to see the Second Prince and Cassion talking about something. What sparring? They’re just chatting.
“I should head back to my room too.”
Surely Lex Romenel won’t be wandering around the garden or corridor near my room today. He must have gone to prepare for the banquet.
“Duchess! You’ve finally come, we were about to fetch you.”
“Huh?”
As I was sneaking towards my room assigned by the Imperial Palace, carefully checking my surroundings, the maids who were already in the corridor approached me with bright expressions.
It’s still morning.
It’s not too late to start getting ready, as we’ve already chosen the dress and accessories to wear. But they seemed impatient, as if time was running out, and led me to my room.
“What’s wrong with you all? Did something go wrong?”
“Not exactly, but… His Highness the Second Prince has sent a gift.”
“A gift? For me?”
What an unexpected gift. I turned over the small card handed to me by the maid, recalling the Second Prince I had just been watching from the window. The content was nothing special. Just an apology for the incident at the palace and hopes that I would enjoy today’s banquet.
“Open it.”
Actually, I could guess the contents of the gift without looking. A long, large box as tall as a person, and jewelry boxes. And this timing. It must be a dress and accessories suitable for wearing to the banquet. But I had already prepared clothes with Cassion by calling a tailor. However, I couldn’t return the Prince’s gift…
“…Wow.”
I definitely can’t return this! The dress and accessories sent by the Prince look much more luxurious. He probably knows the atmosphere of the banquet in advance, so he must have sent appropriate clothes, right?
“Which outfit should we help you prepare for, Madam?”
“This one.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, I pointed to the box of clothes sent by the Prince.
He likely had a plan in mind already, but now we’ll need to change it on the spot. Nevertheless, this dress is certainly worth the adjustment.
I can take the dress I prepared with Cassion and wear it later. It’s not a big deal.
***
“…Why are you wearing that dress?”
“What’s wrong with the dress?”
“It’s not the one we prepared together.”
It was a big deal. Of course, I look perfect as always. After I finished dressing up to match the dress and accessories sent by the Prince and twirled around, the maids who were helping me even gasped in admiration. But I’m not sure if the Second Prince only sent the gift to me, as Cassion appeared wearing the clothes we had prepared together and started nitpicking.
“I was originally going to wear that one, but His Highness the Prince sent a new dress and accessories as an apology for the luncheon incident. This seems more suitable for the Imperial banquet.”
“That dress doesn’t match my clothes.”
“Come on, it’s not like we have to wear couple outfits to this banquet. What does it matter? The previous outfit didn’t particularly match colors either.”
I felt a bit guilty for changing without saying anything after we chose it together, but what can I do? Anyone can see this is better.
I was about to say that if he’s so bothered, he should run to his friend and ask for new clothes too.
But because of his eyes looking at me with a hint of betrayal, I only made excuses. I wonder if I’m imagining that I keep shrinking in front of Cassion these days.
“Isn’t it pretty? The maids said it suits me well.”
I twirled in front of him just as I had done earlier in front of the maids. The dress, with a hem that was neither too heavy nor too light, puffed up and settled down appropriately. Cassion watched my movement with a somewhat dazed expression and seemed about to give in, but then his face turned sulky again.
“The embroidery is silver thread.”
“So what?”
“The embroidery on my clothes is gold thread.”
This is becoming a petty argument. I clearly saw that Cassion was also enchanted by this dress!
“We can match gold and silver, can’t we? There’s no time to change again anyway, so stop saying weird things and just escort me!”
What is he so dissatisfied about? Is he the type who doesn’t like owing his friend anything? Or was the dress we chose together really striking to Cassion’s aesthetic sense? I made a mental note to ask the Second Prince to send gifts as a pair for this couple next time, if I get to see him while encouraging Cassion to escort me.
I know that expression is simply sulking, but wouldn’t it look to others like he’s about to chop someone up? We can’t enter the banquet with that expression.
“Darling, are you going to leave me alone?”
“….”
My hand, wrapped in silk gloves so soft they barely felt like I was wearing them, reached out into empty air. Cassion stared at it for a moment before finally sighing, relaxing his expression, and extending his arm to support my hand. That’s better.
We walked down the corridor towards the hall where the banquet would begin.
“By the way, how did they know my measurements? The maids hardly had to adjust anything, and the dress fits perfectly and comfortably. I noticed during the dance at the last reception too, His Highness the Prince seems to be used to dealing with women. Or is he just good at dealing with people in general?”
“…In public, they call that kind of person a playboy.”
What’s with this guy? First the dress, and now this. I guess he just doesn’t want to lose to his friend.
“It’s different. He’s not making advances, he’s just being mannerly. It might be a good stepping stone, even if he doesn’t have much public support yet.”
“Can we stop talking about the Prince?”
Go ahead and grind your teeth. Teeth are precious, you know. Even if he’s a friend and superior aiming for the same goal, is there a need to burn with such rivalry? I, being broad-minded, should just ignore it.
“By the way, why is your scent so strong today? Did you spill perfume all over yourself?”
Actually, Cassion started nitpicking about the dress as soon as he saw me, but I have something to say too.
Despite sparring with the Prince almost every day, he usually doesn’t have much of a body scent, but what’s with this mismatched strong fragrance?
He’s dressed well, and his hair is nicely styled to show off his handsome forehead, but the finishing touch is clumsy.
“…In the bathroom, I accidentally spilled some when opening the bottle.”
“I see. It’s fortunate that the hall will be large and crowded for the banquet. Though it might be a bit tough for me standing next to you.”
He looked somewhat shocked by my words.
I told him it wouldn’t be noticeable in a large place, so why is he reacting like that? Well, judging from how he often asks if I’ve put on perfume or something, he does seem sensitive to smells.
“The Duke and Duchess Yeager have arrived!!”
But regardless of whether he was shocked or not, our feet had diligently moved us to the entrance of the hall, and as the attendant who confirmed our arrival shouted loudly, the entrance fanfare rang out.
I straightened my posture a bit more, smiled gently, and walked closely next to Cassion.
“…The illegitimate child of a fallen Viscount family…”
“Both of them…”
Whispers could be heard as gazes poured in from all around. Unlike the reception at the mansion where only those with meetings or plans to build connections had come, there were quite a few hostile gazes here.
Especially the gazes of the core nobles of the First Prince’s faction were as sharp as if they were looking at insects that shouldn’t have entered their noble domain.
“The reaction is better than I expected.”
But well, it’s so predictable that it’s almost boring.”
