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Chapter 167
The head maid believed that the woman Leroy had set his heart on couldn’t possibly be a bad person.
She thought that the woman her master loved must be worthy of that love and that she would cherish and respect him just as much in return...
In her own way, she was wishing for her master’s happiness.
“Well, as long as they’re happy, that’s all that matters in marriage.”
Muttering with a sense of relief, the head maid turned on her heel to find the butler, who had disappeared in the meantime.
She was eager to share the good news with her colleagues, who must have been worried sick seeing their master suddenly return as a married man.
***
Something felt off.
“Madam, please try this too. It’s a pie made from Birne berries, a local specialty. They’re in season now, so they’re very sweet.”
As expected, something felt off.
“Madam, do you like the tea? If you have any preferred tea leaves, please let us know. We’ll make sure to keep them in stock at all times.”
She couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong, but she was certain that this whole situation was very strange.
“Oh, madam! Just leave it! I’ll clean it up!”
Iona had stopped midway as she reached for the napkin to wipe away the crumbs from the pie that had fallen on the table.
A maid quickly approached and cleaned up the area in her stead.
Iona awkwardly withdrew her outstretched hand.
She wondered why they wouldn’t even let her clean the table herself, as if she had no hands of her own.
She had never experienced such overprotection before and it made her feel as if she were sitting on pins and needles.
Avoiding the fervent gazes of the maids directed at her, Iona subtly turned her head.
She looked around for someone to rescue her from this uncomfortable situation, but all her personal maids had mysteriously disappeared.
She couldn’t fathom why those who were supposed to be with her in shifts had all vanished at the same time...
‘No, it certainly wasn’t a coincidence.’
She was astute enough to realize that someone had intentionally created this situation.
The problem was that the intention behind it was different from what Iona had anticipated.
The past two days since Iona arrived at the duchy had been strangely peaceful.
There was no sign of the subtle snobbery, ambiguous pranks, or mocking whispers she had been bracing herself for.
So when Iona realized that only the duchy’s maids were left by her side, her first thought was, ‘Finally, it has come.’
But instead of the troublesome questions or malice she had expected, what was laid out before Iona was a table full of meticulously prepared refreshments.
When Iona hesitated to eat the desserts, the maids made several trips to the kitchen to bring back something that might suit her taste.
Their pure, sparkling eyes and considerate demeanor, the kind of sincerity that couldn’t come from ill will, eventually made Iona acknowledge the truth.
The maids thought very highly of her.
‘The problem is, I have no idea why.’
Since arriving here, Iona had literally done nothing.
She hadn’t resolved any difficulties for the maids or distinguished herself in any event to earn their goodwill.
Puzzled by their unexplained kindness, Iona suddenly recalled what Leroy had said to her before.
‘You don’t always need to gain something to like someone.’
Iona thought it wasn’t exactly wrong, but wasn’t this a bit much?
Iona, who had planned to slowly get accustomed to the duchy, found herself lost amidst the unexpected hospitality.
Thinking back to the times she had stayed only a few days like a stranger before leaving, she found it even harder to adapt to her new circumstances.
‘There must be something I don’t know.’
Iona was convinced that Leroy had orchestrated this situation from behind the scenes.
Otherwise, there was no way the employees would treat her so attentively.
Feeling the need to clear this up with Leroy, Iona clenched her fist and stood up.
“I’m going to see the Duke. Do you know where he is right now?”
The maids seemed a bit flustered when Iona suddenly asked for her husband.
They blinked in confusion before exchanging glances and then excitedly shouted.
“He’s probably at the training grounds!”
“I think he went to meet the captain of the knights. He’s been away from the estate for a while!”
“Oh my, so this is what a honeymoon is like!”
Some of their words seemed a bit strange, but it felt too awkward to correct them.
Feeling uneasy, Iona left the room.
Even though she hadn’t asked them to follow, all three maids in the room trailed after her.
Iona considered sending them back but decided to let them be. It would serve as a good example when explaining the current situation to Leroy.
“Madam, if it’s not too much trouble, may I ask you something?”
“What is it you’re curious about?”
“We heard that the Duke proposed to you in front of everyone at the royal ball. Is that true?”
“……”
Had word of that already spread this far?
After a moment of silence, Iona acknowledged it calmly. Denying it would be foolish.
“…Yes, that happened.”
Somehow, the maids’ admiring gazes seemed to deepen.
The questions about the proposal didn’t end there.
It was as if they had been waiting for this moment, and they began bombarding her with the questions they had been holding back.
“Did the Duke really kneel and present you with a ring? Really?”
“What was everyone’s reaction around you?”
“Did you have any inkling that the Duke would propose that day?”
Though flustered by the barrage of questions, Iona soon began answering them calmly one by one.
“Yes, he really did, everyone was surprised, and although I was sure I’d marry the Duke, I didn’t expect the proposal itself. I hadn’t imagined he’d prepare something like that.”
“Right? We were also shocked when we heard the story. We thought the Duke would propose quietly somewhere.”
Iona had thought the same.
If the crown prince hadn’t insisted on asking her to be his partner, Leroy wouldn’t have proposed to her in such a flamboyant manner.
In hindsight, it was a wise decision as it prevented her from appearing to prioritize the crown prince over him.
“No, I think I understand. He wanted to declare his love for you in front of everyone. Love can often inspire that kind of possessiveness...”
A maid who had been listening quietly clasped her hands in front of her and shared her different opinion.
Clearly, these maids had a major misunderstanding about her relationship with Leroy.
Of course, it was true that her relationship with him had recently become quite passionate, but these maids were already taking the exaggerated rumors and blowing them even further out of proportion.
With a vague smile, Iona quickened her pace.
Her determination to meet Leroy and clarify the situation grew stronger.
Thanks to her steady, brisk pace, Iona soon arrived at the training grounds where Leroy was supposed to be.
She shaded her eyes from the sun with her hand and squinted around.
The training grounds were spacious, and either because of this or because Leroy had already moved elsewhere, she couldn’t spot him.
Just as she was about to call out to someone nearby to ask about Leroy’s whereabouts, a familiar title caught her ear.
“What, so you’re saying you haven’t even sparred with Lady Iona once?”
Iona’s gaze snapped to the direction where her name was mentioned.
Three burly knights stood with their backs to her, and one of them looked particularly familiar.
As she quietly traced her memory, she recalled that this knight was one of the escorts who had accompanied her on this journey.
He rebuked his colleague, who was spouting nonsense, in a tone of exasperation.
“You idiot, what do you mean spar? Should I, as her escort, just throw a glove at the Duke’s wife and challenge her to a duel? Do I look like I want to lose my hard-earned job?”
“Aren’t you curious, though? They say she was quite the force in the capital. Don’t you want to see how strong she really is? How long did it take us to get here anyway... It’s disappointing, Sir Ventil, that you didn’t even cross swords with such a renowned knight.”
The knight who shouted this scuffed the ground in frustration.
Another silent companion stroked his chin thoughtfully and chimed in.
“But I’m curious too. If she comes to the training grounds later, maybe we could have a sparring match. Or is that too rude to even think?”
Iona revisited a thought that had crossed her mind many times today.
This estate is indeed strange.
Why are the knights tasked with protecting the Duke and Duchess more curious about their lady’s combat skills than her character?
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