Chapter 45

The cracked and split portions smoothly reattached themselves, making the stone statues look like a gargoyle again.

“This should last him for a little while. He fainted, but he’ll come to his senses in a few days, so ask him to grant your wish right away. Then, I’ll take care of it.”

I was never aware that he could faint.

“I’m grateful that you bought me time, but didn’t you say he couldn’t grant my wish while under a seal earlier?”

Wouldn’t it be the same if the seal was not released after waking up?

“Are you going to release the seal? Is that possible?”

“If that’s what my wife wants, there is nothing I can’t do.”

Hnng.

“And you’re going to kill him aren’t you?”

Aedis laughed. “I’ve been thinking about how to kill him.”

“Hey, then, when he dies, what if he changes my wish to a curse?”

In case you didn’t know, I’d have to live with a stone statue on my side for the time being.

***

As soon as I returned to the castle, I took shelter from the stone statue in my private bedroom.

Aedis and I shared a bedroom because I thought Aedis would disappear if I looked away.

Of course, Aedis had much to say when I told him I wanted the statue in my private bedroom.

“You’re being too generous. It’ll bow down to thank you even if you put it in the fireplace.”

“My room is still empty anyway. I’m always with you in your room.”

I spoke even though I knew Aedis would respond with an iron wall-like rebuttal.

But surprisingly, he agreed.

“Okay.”

He no longer expressed his opposition.

‘Huh? Did it work?’

The first thing I did when I got back was warm up my freezing body.

I seated Aedis first and leaned against him.

By the time Procyon and Regen came back, my mood had completely uplifted.

Procyon cried, asking how we could go without saying anything, but when Aedis, who was acting as my backrest, stared coldly, Procyon quickly ran away with his tail beneath his legs.

Of course, I didn’t let Regen follow Procyon.

I gave him a seat next to Aedis and gave him hot cocoa, so he couldn’t hide his excitement.

The next day, the weather was much better.

Even though only 24 hours had passed, the sun was clearly visible.

In that brief moment, I desperately searched for a sunny spot like a hungry sunflower and photosynthesized.

While basking in the sun, I checked the ledger Count Elliot had brought again, but the budget was still too tight.

Wasn’t it a little weird? The Kallakis family couldn’t run out of money.

As if he knew what I was wondering about, Aedis, who was half-forced to photosynthesize with me, replied.

“It’s because he’s a very careful penny pincher. If he had time, he would have evaded taxes.”

I put down the ledger with cloudy eyes, and this time I took a look at the list of employees I received from the butler.

There were about 100 employees working in Cyclamen Castle, which was a meager amount compared to the employees serving at the Imperial Palace.

Nobles sometimes showed off their family’s great wealth by hiring more employees, so it wasn’t strange if they hired more manpower.

As I tapped the papers with my fingertips, Sarah stuck her head out.

“Your Grace, I’m here to report,” Sarah said cheerfully, even though Aedis was around.

Aedis was seated beside me, and she seemed quite used to him now.

“Come and sit down.”

Sarah had adapted quickly to the northern part of the country, so much so that even the butler and the chief maid were amazed.

After just a week, she had figured out the structure of the castle.

Sarah sat down, cleared her throat, and began her report. “I found it out by asking around and spying. First of all, everyone said that they were glad that Your Grace came to Cyclamen Castle. Daisy, in particular, made a song of 5 verses to praise your beauty, and she wanted to sing it someday…specifically at a birthday party….”

“…That’s enough,” Aedis grunted at Sarah’s long words.

Nevertheless, she continued, “Oh, the lady-in-waiting, too, was relieved that the system didn’t suddenly change, so she was able to serve without mistakes.”

I had only brought Sarah with me from the Morgana family.

If many of the Morgana family’s attendants had been brought in, there would have been a fight to take the lead.

“Is there anything else? Something interesting,” Aedis asked.

“Well…”

Sarah looked at Aedis’s eyes.

Aedis raised his head half-heartedly.

Sarah nevertheless touched her lips several times and reluctantly said, “There is…”

“What is it?”

“Well, no one says anything about the Grand Duke. Oh, no, so…It’s not that it’s amazing because no one says blasphemous words!”

“I know.”

“Really, I never heard the title of the Grand Duke at all out of their mouth. Everyone praised the Grand Duchess’ beauty. Even though they saw that the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess were together, they never turned their eyes to where the Grand Duke was.”

“….”

I knew Sarah was uncomfortable with this situation.

Aedis was neither feared nor disliked.

The employees utterly erased his presence.

“So I looked up a maid, one year younger than me. I have no choice but to mention the Grand Duke.” Sarah’s expression was gloomy. “The result was bad.”

Sarah nodded her head. Then mouthed the words so that only I could see them.

‘She said she didn’t want to be killed or be cursed.’

I recalled the gifts and letters I received. Among them, two letters were particularly impressive.

A letter from the Count, who wanted to greet the new Grand Duchess, but passed out five times and said he couldn’t go.

A letter from the Baron, asking me not to call him because he’ll prove his loyalty by dedicating half of his fortune…Not a word of appeal.

As soon as I saw it, I thought it was absurd and threw it into the fireplace.

Other vassals were very afraid of Aedis, unlike Tollyman Elliott.

Still, those two were a bit too much, I concluded.

“A maid also worked with her older sister for five years said that was the first time she saw him that day.”

‘Why is it not surprising…’

In the meantime, Aedis’s service was held by the butler.

Even the maid, who was supposed to serve me, would step back when I was with Aedis.

There was sufficient circumstantial evidence.

She turned the document upside down and stared at Aedis with the intention that he would not look at it anymore.

The black hair that had been exposed to the sun was shining like powdered obsidian.

Your hair looks very good…

“Aedis, have you ever cursed?”

“I’m still lazy.”

I finished grasping the situation.

As Tolyman Elliott put it, everything was rolling in moderation ‘except for Aedis.’

Aedis hadn’t done anything in the meantime.

He didn’t bother his employees, but he didn’t even try to improve his image.

So the problem grew, the rumors grew, and the looming fear in the employees grew.

It was scary because they didn’t know Aedis very well, but since they had to work in this place where Aedis was, they erased his existence altogether.

“Good job, Sarah. You can go now.”

After letting Sarah go, I sipped tea.

They say they used a rare flower that only blooms on the shores of the Hollow Territory.

It was a tea that Sarah often brings these days.

I liked the light blue color and sweet scent.

Sarah went out, and Aedis and I were alone, so we got a quick cup of tea.

Aedis tilted his head.

“Why don’t you say anything?”

Huh?

“Do you have anything you want to hear from me?”

“I thought you’d try to fix the problem right away.”

His eyes narrowed as if I was accusing him.

What do you think I am?

“Of course, it’s a problem. It would be better to do it in a moderate or hard way, but you’ve already done enough for me, right? I won’t push you too hard.”

In , Aedis spent an awful lot of time in his room, but now, he was able to come out to the terrace like this.

Yesterday, we also took a walk.

This alone was a significant development.

Yes, yes, I already tried a lot.

I overworked him. He might try to lock himself in again, refusing me altogether, but I would make sure that wouldn’t happen.

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