Chapter 12

The Northern Grand Duke’s Wife, I Can’t Do This Because It’s Too Cold

“So, how was the last day?”

“It was just okay. The last day of the Ice Festival is usually the least fun, Madam.”

“Why? The endurance contest on the ice was pretty entertaining.”

“Oh, goodness, don’t talk about things like that in front of Madam!”

The maids, who had been doing my hair, suddenly began arguing noisily among themselves.

‘An endurance contest on the ice?’

So they held such a cruel competition, too.

Standing barefoot on ice in this weather……

Just imagining it sent chills down my spine.

Were Northern people’s tastes really this hardcore?

I was still disappointed that I hadn’t been able to go out on the last day.

Well, I had been completely exhausted and barely able to function for several days afterward, so there was nothing I could do about it.

Suddenly, I remembered the moment I had gone up on stage on the first day of the festival.

No matter how much I thought about it, it had been strange.

Why had my body suddenly become warm?

Yes, it had almost been as though someone had cast a spell on me……

“Madam. Madam!”

“Hm?”

“Did you know that people in the North have been talking about you nonstop lately?”

About me?

I looked at Lara, who was smiling awkwardly as though she were embarrassed by what she had just said.

The other maids seemed to remember something, too, because they covered their mouths and tried to hide their amused expressions.

For a moment, I pictured the scene of Mikhail and me holding hands while I gave something that could barely be called a speech.

Surely they were still talking about that?

“They say you’re the enchantress who completely changed the Grand Duke.”

“We never imagined he would become such a romantic, either.”

“An, an enchantress…… what?”

I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t even speak.

What on earth had they seen that made them call him a romantic?

When I reacted so awkwardly, the maids became excited among themselves and began telling me all sorts of things.

“He spends the whole day holding Madam’s hand!”

“And he personally makes sure you take your medicine every day! He even worries about your heating and clothes every day.”

I suppose that was how it could look to other people.

Mikhail did treat his wife well, at least in appearance.

The truth was……

He was doing all of that because he was afraid I would freeze to death.

After all, I had already run away from home because I was too cold.

Everyone was seriously misunderstanding the situation.

‘Well, there’s nothing bad about looking close in public.’

There was no need to exhaust myself by correcting them.

“That’s enough about that. Any news from the capital?”

I asked seriously, just in case.

No matter how I thought about it, it felt like it was about time for the female protagonist to appear.

When was the novel supposed to start, anyway?

A commoner girl suddenly becoming a princess overnight.

Shouldn’t I at least have heard some gossip like that by now?

“Hmm, as for news…… Ah! There’s something my cousin in the capital told me.”

“What is it?”

When one of the maids spoke with such suspense, I leaned closer with an equally serious expression.

‘If she’s being this secretive about it, then surely!’

“I heard that His Highness the Crown Prince passed by the other day, and apparently he was incredibly handsome!”

“……”

The expressions of all the maids, including mine, instantly went cold.

Yes.

What a truly top-secret piece of information.

‘The Crown Prince……’

He had appeared several times in the novel as Mabel’s older brother.

Even so, he had been a supporting character with more importance than me, I suppose.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about him.

He was just the typical overprotective little brother-type character.

Though he wasn’t even Mabel’s biological brother, he treated her extremely well.

He had even helped her in her little game of keeping both Mikhail and Daven on the hook.

“Have you ever seen him, Madam?”

“No? Since he’s Daven’s cousin, I suppose he looks similar to him.”

“Gasp…… Madam!”

Lara waved her hands around dramatically at my words.

Was I wrong?

Actually, the novel hadn’t even described his appearance properly, so I didn’t really know.

“His hair color is different, and as for his face, they don’t look alike at all.”

“Really?”

Well, just because they were cousins didn’t mean they had to resemble each other.

Come to think of it……

If Daven took after his mother a lot, then it made sense.

‘His mother’s side was originally commoner, after all.’

That had been the decisive reason he had been passed over for the Crown Prince’s position.

Even so, sending him away as though they were exiling him at such a young age……

It was too cruel.

‘If you look at it that way…… is it actually fortunate that Mikhail’s family has no Imperial blood mixed into it at all?’

It was an unusual case, but the Rithervan family had been granted the title of Grand Duke and their territory by the First Emperor after achieving great military merit in a war.

Because of that, they had also faced the threat of their family being wiped out relatively early for various reasons.

But at least Mikhail wouldn’t have been dragged into the struggle over positions like Crown Prince from a young age.

Unlike Daven.

‘I’m getting depressed again all of a sudden.’

Meanwhile, the maids had already finished styling my hair.

They naturally moved on to the next part of getting me ready.

“Anyway, I’d love to see His Highness the Crown Prince at least once!”

“I’d like to see Grand Duke Moltian. I didn’t get a proper look at him when he visited last time……”

“Me too! His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Hey! In terms of looks, our Grand Duke Rithervan is the best in the entire Empire.”

They really never stopped talking.

Girls, is it really okay to say things like this right in front of me?

‘It’s the same with the way Aron and Chloe treat Mikhail. The North really does have a surprisingly free atmosphere.’

As I stood there listening to them argue, I felt like we might have to hold a popularity contest sooner or later.

Apparently, people here had different tastes, too.

“What about you, Madam?”

Me?

All the maids turned their sparkling eyes toward me.

‘……What should I say?’

Should I just say my husband?

No.

I had my own preferences when it came to looks, too.

Suddenly, I wondered if I could simply be honest about something this minor.

“I’d have to say Daven……”

“What?”

Bang!

The firmly closed door suddenly burst open with a loud noise.

‘Oh, great.’

Mikhail had apparently just finished training, because he strode toward us wearing his training clothes.

Judging by his frightening expression, he had definitely heard everything.

I instinctively froze with an awkward smile on my face.

“The captain seems to be finished already, so take them away.”

My wife, right in front of me, and they’re saying all sorts of things.

At Mikhail’s terrifying voice, the maids began trembling.

In the end, I quickly grabbed Mikhail by the wrist first.

“Let’s go, Mikhail.”

At this rate, they were going to stop breathing before anything else happened.

I hurriedly dragged Mikhail out of the room.

We had barely taken a few steps when Mikhail suddenly stopped in front of a large window.

Just as anxiety washed over me, his bright red eyes stared directly at me.

“Can a childhood friend really be your type?”

……

It was a statement that could certainly be misunderstood, so I decided I should at least explain myself.

“I was going to say Mikhail rather than Daven. But you suddenly came in……”

“Really?”

“Yes, yes.”

I nodded several times, feeling the danger of the situation.

What did my preferences matter right now?

I needed to survive first.

Only then did I see Mikhail’s expression relax slightly.

He definitely looked frightening because he was always angry……

But when he stayed still, he really did have a perfect face.

For a Northern Grand Duke, he was actually rather pretty.

It was just that he wasn’t my type.

Still, it was true that Mikhail had more fans in reality.

“That’s good news to hear.”

Mikhail muttered with an eerie smile.

What…… exactly was good news?

I began to feel uneasy again.

Just before the Ice Festival ended, an invitation had arrived at the Grand Ducal House of Rithervan.

The chief butler, Felix, immediately brought it to Mikhail as soon as he realized that the invitation had come from the South.

For some reason, Mikhail had a pretty good idea who the sender was.

Sure enough, the moment he opened the letter, one of his eyebrows shot upward.

“Huh?”

With an expression that seemed to say, Well, look at this, Mikhail slowly read through the carefully prepared letter.

There was an unpleasant scent coming from it.

When he brought the stationery closer to his nose, he realized that it had been drenched in the fragrance of flowers.

He immediately threw the letter down onto the table.

Mikhail, who absolutely hated flowers, furrowed his brows as deeply as he could.

“Daven Moltian.”

How dare he invite my wife to the festival?

And it wasn’t even addressed to him.

The letter had been sent to ‘Aisha Rithervan.’

「The nostalgic scent of your homeland awaits you.」

“He’s blatantly provoking me.”

Mikhail let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.

It was a blessing that the invitation had not reached Aisha’s hands first.

With his anger rising all the way to his chin, Mikhail hastily wrote a reply refusing the invitation and sent it to the South.

Of course, Daven wasn’t someone to take lightly, either.

He immediately realized that it was Mikhail, not Aisha, who had sent the reply, and sent another letter.

「I can understand why you would do that. Once Madam visits the South, she won’t want to return to the North ever again.」

To anyone else, it would have looked like two grown men engaging in some ridiculous battle of pride.

But neither of them backed down, and they exchanged several more letters.

In the middle of it all, Mikhail made sure to include the good news he had heard earlier in his reply.

「Apparently, your wife’s taste in men lies with me, out of everyone in the Empire. Since there’s nothing for her to see there, is there really any reason for her to go to the South?」

By that point, their exchange was no longer even remotely formal.

It had become little more than a challenge filled with provocative remarks.

When no further letter arrived for a while, Mikhail privately considered himself the victor.

With a slightly buoyant mood, he headed toward his room.

When he pushed the door open, Aisha came into view, sitting on the sofa and reading something.

Aisha noticed Mikhail standing there in confusion and spoke with an even brighter expression than usual.

“Mikhail! An invitation came from Daven.”

“……”

“It’s for a flower festival. He says he really wants me to come.”

Judging by the condition of the invitation, folded into a small size, it was obvious that Daven had secretly sent it directly to her.

Aisha’s face was already filled with a strange sense of anticipation as she looked at Mikhail.

He pressed a hand against his forehead.

To think he had fallen for such a shallow trick.

So, you’re not giving up, huh?

Mikhail muttered to himself.

“What a despicable bastard.”

I’ll settle this face-to-face.

With a smile on his lips, Mikhail clenched his fist tightly.