“…Are you saying that I will work for the lady in the future?”

“Exactly.”

Marsha looked around the room carefully and realized something.

No matter how early it was in the morning, it would be normal for someone to wait for Iona, but they were the only ones there.

“Am I the only one taking care of the lady?” Marsha asked in an improbable voice.

“As you know, life is full of enemies.”

Marsha hardened her expression at Iona's plaintive reply. 

Iona could feel Marsha's gaze linger on her stained cheeks.

"I heard you're marrying the duke."

“Yes, that's true.”

“Even the baron's wives don't use people like this.”

“When I get married, I will increase the number of employees. There are only a few months left, so I hope you could suffer until then.

"You're not complaining about having too much work, are you?”

Masha sighed in frustration. She thought that the same was true of the other person, but Iona smiled slightly instead of pointing it out.

Marsha asked, turning cautiously to the door.

“Is the Count aware of this?”

“Well, maybe the butler didn’t tell you, but father knew this.”

“There is no way the Count will allow me to attend the young lady.”

“I don't know what he has to do with it. I've already decided to bring you in, and I don't need anyone's permission for that.”

At Iona's firm answer, Marsha suddenly raised her head. She seemed to wonder if what she had just heard was correct.

Bringing Marsha was worth it for Iona. Until Marsha left the capital a few years ago, Iona knew no other option but to obey the Count.

At the time, Marsha was one of the few people who stood up for her, who could not even protect herself.

Now and then, Marsha remained in a low position compared to her career, precisely because of her unflattering personality.

Marsha herself didn't particularly see this as an advantage, but at least Iona benefited from it.

The reason she took care of Iona's life was none other than that inflexible way of life.

She was a woman who could not turn a blind eye to a bullied child.

In the end, because of that, she was transferred to a distant villa outside Hayden's eyes.

'Come to think of it, Marsha was the only one who said the right thing about my married life.'

{ “There is no way that His Majesty the Emperor could not have expected this outcome.” }

[Your Noona: Everything inside {...} happened in Iona's previous life.]

Whenever Iona was treated inappropriately by the duke's family, and whenever Iona tried to endure it as if it were natural, Marsha was angry instead of her.

Her biggest complaint was that Iona's loyalty to her master was not being reciprocated at all.

Iona agreed inwardly, but the voice criticizing the master could not come out of her mouth.

Masha said as if she took pity on Iona.

{ “You must put yourself first. Like everyone else.” }

Iona felt like she could understand a little bit of that now.

'Masha, you were right.'

'But the reason I couldn't follow it was that I wasn't a proper human being. To the extent that I dare not escape from a family who does not love me and a lord who will not reciprocate my loyalty.'

'To the point where I realized something was wrong only after I was saved by the man who should have hated me...'

“…Did I hear you wrong?”

“No, you heard right. Let me tell you in an easy-to-understand way. If I had cared about the count's feelings, I wouldn't have brought you here.”

'I had no intention of repeating the same mistake twice.' 

That's how Iona got the qualification to call Marsha back to her side.

Looking at Marsha's bewildered face, Iona continued to speak seriously.

“It’s late, but I have something to tell you. Marsha, thank you very much for taking care of me when I was lacking in the past.”

“…I don't remember doing anything so great.”

“No, it comforted me for a long time to be told to cherish myself, whom even I did not value. I can't say anything in return, but I swear to your goodwill that things will never be the same again. And…”

“…”

“And ...I will definitely use you too.”

Marsha's eyes were agitated as she looked at Iona.

Then, as if to cover her red-hot eyes, she hurriedly nodded. But what appeared beneath her wet eyes was a smile of relief.

***

As Iona expected, Hayden didn't say a word about Iona inviting Marsha.

In fact, Iona's choice was well within the range he could have predicted.

Since it was Hayden who had sent Marsha down to distant regions in the past, Marsha was the first person Iona would count on when she was trying to choose someone who was out of his command.

Hayden, assuming that he would not raise his work as much as possible until marriage, placed Marsha directly under Iona. But it was fortunate for Iona and Marsha. 

Her meeting with the duke was right around the corner.

“It’s funny because he seems to think that this marriage is good for him too.”

“The Count?”

“Yes, he must be expecting a closer relationship with the imperial family in the future.”

Iona said that and opened her closed eyes.

Iona's elaborately decorated face shone softly in the mirror.

It was the result of all sorts of tricks Marsha had been working on for the upcoming meeting.

Although the makeup on top of her skin was awkward, it was true that it made her look objectively more worthy of attention. As Hayden wished, the bruise on her cheek was also completely covered.

Marsha asked as she finished Iona's makeup.

“Come to think of it, I heard that the marriage was arranged by the imperial family? I was surprised when I first found out…”

“You managed to hear the news from afar? Well, we haven’t even had a real ceremony yet.”

“I was always paying close attention to the news of the young lady. I was very worried because I wanted to see if the Count was going to make my lady swallow poison for the rest of her life.”

Iona let out a smile.

The reason Iona hadn't had a marriage partner until now was because, Hayden did want to waste dowry of her.

In the world, he made up his lie, saying that he wanted his adopted daughter to succeed as a knight.

“Are you glad that I found a marriage partner in time?”

“I hope he must be a good fit for you.”

Marsha muttered in a worried voice and touched Iona's hair.

She said he was a very nice person, so Iona wanted to tell her not to worry about anything, but she eventually chose silence.

It was because she knew she couldn't reassure Marsha with words.

"It's all done."

Marsha said, removing her hand from Iona.

She didn't have the keen eye to pick out the slightest blemish in her appearance in the mirror. But Iona stood up, looking only at the left cheek, which Hayden would examine carefully.

It had been a long time since she had worn a dress rather than a knight's uniform, but it wasn't too awkward. After all, it wasn't that Iona was completely negligent in filling the vacancy as Duchess.

It was when Iona, who had finished preparing, put her foot through the open door.

Immediately, someone threw a sarcasm.

“Does drawing lines on a pumpkin turn it into a watermelon?”

Yvonne laughed as soon as Iona appeared as if she had been waiting at the door.

“How can you look like a lady without any fancy makeup, but for you even if you decorate it, it's not working much. Why is your makeup so thick? The duke will be frightened when he sees it. I guess you can't help being born cheap.”

Saying that Yvonne glanced at Marsha who was standing behind Iona.

It seemed that Yvonne didn't like that Iona had a maid to help her dress up. Or maybe it's because the other person was Marsha.

Iona looked back at Marsha and asked as if she had just remembered.

“Marsha, come to think of it, I left my sword behind.”

“Shall I bring it out now?”

“Please.”

When Iona ignored Yvonne's words and looked for the sword first, Yvonne put on a very puzzled expression.

Although she had witnessed her challenge Nils to a duel, she didn't seem to think that Iona would even lay a hand on her as a lady.

As if Iona was bluffing, Yvonne raised her voice even more.

"You… …Will you hit me? How can a knight beat a woman?”

“I guess you forgot that I am a woman too?”

Iona said that and strode towards Yvonne.

When the distance suddenly closed, Yvonne couldn't hold back her instinctive fear and stepped back.

When her back hit the wall, Yvonne was startled and sat down on the floor.

“Kyaaak!”

'I don't know why she got into a fight in the first place when she is such a coward.'