RHRTD 07

Chapter 07

“……What?”

The next day.

Ines could hardly believe her ears when she received the unexpected news first thing in the morning.

A young-looking knight bowed respectfully before speaking.

“His Grace gave an order last night. He commanded that all the servants, except for the minimum personnel necessary to maintain the castle, be dismissed. We are currently recruiting new servants, so if you could wait just a little longer, we will assign you a personal maid again……”

“Ah, no…… That’s all right.”

It wasn’t as though Ines had ever had a personal maid in the first place, so that wasn’t a problem.

Something else was bothering her more.

‘He’s dismissing all the servants? Why?’

It was an extremely drastic order for the master of the house to give immediately after returning from five years away.

Now that they had been disgracefully dismissed from a noble household, it would be difficult for them to find similar positions elsewhere.

Ines didn’t particularly care what happened to the people who had tormented her, but……

Wouldn’t this be inconvenient?

If so many people were dismissed all at once, wouldn’t it be difficult for the castle to function properly?

“And there was also an order to move your room, Your Grace’s wife.”

“What?”

The knight belatedly glanced at Ines before adding cautiously,

“Ah, it wasn’t an order exactly, but a recommendation. His Grace instructed us to always prioritize your wishes above all else. If you don’t want to move, you may continue staying here. However……”

The knight glanced awkwardly around Ines’s shabby room.

Judging by his expression, he seemed genuinely shocked by how miserable the room was.

It hardly looked like a room befitting the Duchess.

In the end, Ines was moved to a new room before she had even eaten breakfast.

‘What on earth is going on?’

Her new room was the finest room in the castle after the Duke’s room.

As far as Ines knew, even Selena, the former Duchess, had never used this room because she had been the Duke’s second wife.

Faced with this sudden stroke of unexpected good fortune, Ines was left bewildered.

‘Is it really okay for me to accept all this?’

She felt uncomfortable and uneasy, as though she were wearing clothes that didn’t fit her.

At the same time, she couldn’t help feeling strangely touched.

‘Why is he treating me so well?’

……No, more importantly, why had he driven all the servants out?

There was only one person who could answer all these questions.

“Where is His Grace right now?”

The training grounds were bathed in warm spring sunlight.

Even though it was only the day after their return, the knights were already hard at work training.

Zekard, who had been sparring with his subordinates for the first time in a long while, suddenly turned his head.

“Ines?”

When he abruptly stopped his sword, his opponent looked puzzled.

But Zekard offered no explanation and simply left the training grounds.

Sure enough, a short while later—

“Is His Grace inside?”

Ines had really come all the way to the training grounds to look for him!

She nervously peeked around the entrance, looking almost like a cat.

At the sight of her adorable appearance, a smile had already spread across Zekard’s face before he even realized it.

“What brings you here?”

“Ah, Your Grace.”

Perhaps because she recognized a familiar face, Ines’s expression brightened when she spotted Zekard.

She pursed her plump lips thoughtfully for a moment before timidly speaking.

“Could I speak with you for a moment?”

Of course.

He was more than happy to.

In fact, he was practically grateful.

He had been forcing himself to hold back, trying to give Ines time to adjust to his return, and yet she had come to him on her own.

“Of course.”

With a gentle smile, Zekard naturally led Ines toward his room.

Meanwhile, Ines was extremely flustered.

‘……I didn’t mean for this to happen.’

She had only intended to thank him for changing her room.

But for some reason, Zekard seemed so pleased to see her that she couldn’t bring herself to simply thank him and leave.

In the end, Ines found herself sitting across from Zekard once again in his room.

“First, I wanted to thank you. I didn’t expect you to take care of my room when you’ve only just returned.”

Since he hadn’t said much to her yesterday beyond what he needed to discuss, Ines had assumed that he wasn’t particularly interested in her.

But he had even taken such careful care of her living arrangements.

She was secretly touched.

“It was only natural. Ines is my wife.”

“……Even though I haven’t agreed to extend our contract yet?”

“You have been my wife for the past five years. And although we haven’t extended the contract, neither have we terminated it.”

He wasn’t wrong, so Ines had nothing to say.

“It is the treatment you deserve as my wife. So please, don’t refuse it.”

He was being so insistent that Ines couldn’t possibly refuse.

With no other choice, she quietly answered that she understood.

Ines took a sip of tea, feeling awkward as she thought to herself.

‘……He really is a strange man.’

Knowing that she was receiving special treatment made her feel strangely ticklish inside.

It almost made her feel as though she were someone precious to him.

Of course, that couldn’t possibly be true.

“But I heard that you often skip breakfast.”

Zekard’s words pulled Ines out of her thoughts.

“Yes? Yes…… I suppose I do.”

“May I ask why?”

Why would he ask about something like that?

“It’s just…… I don’t feel very well in the mornings.”

Ines didn’t have any particular illness, but she wasn’t exactly healthy either.

Besides, she had never particularly enjoyed eating in the first place, even as a child.

Zekard’s expression darkened after hearing her answer.

Ines flinched.

‘Did I say something wrong?’

She seriously wondered whether there was something in her answer that had offended him.

Finally, Zekard spoke with a grave expression.

“You’re too……”

Too?

“You’re far too thin.”

Ines felt all the tension drain out of her.

She couldn’t believe he had been seriously thinking about something like that.

“I’m still relatively healthy. I’ve never really suffered from any major illness.”

But even after hearing Ines’s answer, Zekard’s expression did not soften.

“My heart aches.”

“What?”

Zekard spoke with a deeply sorrowful expression.

“To think that my wife has been suffering like this, and I knew nothing about it. I am deeply at fault.”

No, I don’t think that’s really……

“Now that I have returned, all of your suffering is my responsibility. No, this was something I should have taken care of long ago. I made you suffer because of my shortcomings. Please do not forgive me.”

His words were so earnest that they were almost solemn.

Ines felt her vision grow hazy.

“P-please don’t say things like that.”

It would be a lie to say that Ines had never resented him during the five years Zekard had been away.

But that didn’t mean she had ever wanted things to go this far.

Ines spoke gently, as though trying to calm him down.

“You must have had a hard time on the battlefield. How could you have worried about what was happening here as well? It couldn’t be helped. And I wasn’t really suffering that much, either.”

At Ines’s gentle voice, Zekard raised his head and looked at her.

The moment she saw his blue eyes, Ines paused.

There was some deep, indescribable emotion swirling beneath them—something Ines couldn’t even begin to imagine.

Huh?

“Then, could you grant me one request from now on?”

Although Ines had no idea what was going on, she instinctively took a small step back.

“……If it’s something I can do, I’ll try.”

As though he had been waiting for those words, Zekard immediately answered.

“Please eat your meals with me from now on.”

“Meals……?”

Zekard smiled brightly, as though he had never been gloomy in the first place.

“Seeing you skip your meals pains me greatly. So from now on, I want to personally take care of everything for you, myself, making sure you have everything you need.”

Ines was horrified.

“There’s no need for……”

But when she saw Zekard’s expression darkening again with astonishing speed, Ines hurriedly changed her answer.

“All right. Fine. Let’s eat together.”

Only then did Zekard’s expression brighten again.

Looking at his face, Ines unconsciously thought of a witch from a fairy tale who was fattening up a child before eating him.

‘Is this really okay……?’

Then, Ines suddenly remembered something.

“Come to think of it, I don’t think the First Lady will be very happy about me joining everyone during meals……”

“Ah, that matter is fine.”

What exactly did he mean by that?

Instead of explaining, Zekard simply smiled.

“Then, it’s lunchtime now. Shall we have a meal first?”

“You wretched fools!”

Bang!

Selena Eberhardt slammed her fist against the door.

“How dare you……!”

She had currently been driven out of her former luxurious room and confined in a storage room in one of the annexes.

Unable to contain her fury, Selena screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Open this door immediately!”