Chapter 114
The scattered guests began to whisper and gossip about the young duke who had thrown a violent tantrum even at his cousin's wedding. Lady Carol, having missed the scene in the garden and heard only secondhand accounts, quickly rose from her seat looking not a little surprised.
Lady Caroline had likewise heard the story from others without knowing the full situation herself, but unlike Lady Carol, who had moved at once, she remained seated in her place, keeping her eyes fixed only on the entrance through which the rumored young duke would return.
Lady Carol passed straight through the seats where Lady Caroline and the other guests sat and exited the hall. Then, scanning the corridor connected to the garden, she discovered a room with its door ajar.
She had not intended to peep. Lady Carol was a well-educated woman, so no matter how curiosity got the better of her, she would not ordinarily overstep her bounds. It was simply that the door had been left open with an ambiguous gap, so without realizing it she stole a glance inside—and saw Sasha nestled in the arms of her husband, that huge man.
No, but looking closely, it appeared less like an affectionate embrace than simple soothing and cajoling. To be precise, Sasha was comforting her husband.
“If I crossed the line, I am sorry.”
Yielding to Sasha's hand as she caressed his cheek, Isaac spoke as if mumbling. Yet the unpleasant emotion he was experiencing for the first time did not easily fade, and he could scarcely suppress his anger.
“No. You intervened well.”
She spoke calmly in a voice cooler and more subdued than usual. Even so, she avoided meeting his eyes, for she was ashamed in many ways.
Even if it had been that Jeffrey Grayson, and even if Isaac had already heard about him from her to some extent, it was different from witnessing it firsthand. Sasha found it somewhat humiliating. At the same time, a strange doubt about Jeffrey refused to settle, and she was mulling over that unpleasantness.
Jeffrey had been insufferably arrogant and rude as always, acting recklessly toward her. Yet separate from that, there had been something excessively conceited about him.
“It’s all right.”
Just as she was about to think deeply on the matter, Sasha quickly cut off her musings and turned her gaze to the huge man before her. And with a face that looked composed, she told him it was all right.
At this rate, she probably shouldn’t even bring up having a friend paint a picture. While making such a judgment, she belatedly met his blue eyes, which showed no reaction, head-on.
“You may be all right, but I am not.”
Isaac recalled Jeffrey Grayson's face that he had seen moments ago. The very picture of a pathetic man with an underdeveloped mind. But the problem was that he held too much for his station. Because of that, he was a man without the slightest humility, one who had likely never experienced great humiliation.
Isaac had encountered many men like Jeffrey. He had seen how they would throw away what they possessed, driven by their damned pride, and commit the most senseless acts.
If he told Sasha, she would call it an overreaction. He was indeed somewhat oversensitive. But it did no harm to be careful.
In any case, instead of pouring out all his concerns to her, Isaac pretended not to mind, pressing his cheek against her palm and rubbing it gently. Contract marriage or whatever it was, she was his wife, after all. He would duly care for and protect his wife.
“……Isaac?”
Isaac had been burying his cheek in her palm with a somehow crestfallen face, but when he suddenly tensed his whole body and turned to look in that direction, Sasha asked in puzzlement.
Even after a woman’s long hair hurriedly vanished through the gap in the door, Isaac stared intently at the doorway for a long while before belatedly shaking his head.
“It’s nothing.”
A shock.
Lady Carol quickly left that spot, her heart full of surprise. In the meantime, she could not control an uncontrollable smile, paying no heed to what kind of eyes Isaac had looked at her with as she continued walking.
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The wedding reception ended without incident. The guests began to leave the mansion one by one, and among them Caroline stayed last, remaining at the manor for four days. Sasha knew that this was her way of showing consideration for her and Isaac. Indeed, Caroline’s mere presence had been somehow reassuring to Sasha.
Once even Caroline had packed her things and left the previous evening, Dilton Manor became utterly quiet. Caroline had said she planned to meet friends and stay at their houses before returning to her home in the western region.
It was a peaceful morning. Waking from sleep, Sasha turned to the side with a blank face. Naturally, Isaac had woken long ago and vacated the bed. That man acted as if lying beside her was an unusually awkward matter, no matter where they were.
But now there was a tension different from before. When their eyes met, neither Sasha nor Isaac looked away; they gazed steadily at each other. An oddly sticky and tense atmosphere hung between them, as though either could lean in and kiss the other at any moment. Whenever they were alone, the mood naturally turned into something like that.
The wall that had once stood between them was already gone. It had vanished long ago, so either of them need only step toward the other.
Over the past four days, Isaac had been the first to retreat from that tension each time. Sasha knew it was his patience and consideration.
Clack—the door opened, and a maid entered carrying wash water.
“Put it down over there.”
“Yes, my lady.”
While the maid entered and set down the wash water, Sasha headed to the desk. Letters that had arrived early that morning were placed there. Most had come from acquaintances, including Lady Carol, who had attended the wedding. As she read Lady Carol’s letter asking where they planned to go for their honeymoon, Sasha unconsciously withdrew the smile she had been wearing.
Sasha then picked up a letter that lay there without any decoration. The sender was Mr. Turner, the attorney.
A letter from that attorney had finally come.
Expecting a perfunctory greeting tossed off with excuses about being too busy with lawsuits these days, Sasha opened the letter, only to pause momentarily after reading the opening lines. The letter was not long.
Mr. Theodore has been sued by Mr. Mom for intimidation and assault, so he is occupied resolving the matter. I will continue to send updates by letter.
And I have confirmed the news of your marriage in the newspaper. Congratulations, Lady Grayson.
That was all the letter contained. As Sasha stared blankly at it for some time, clack—the door opened and someone entered the bedroom.
Only the master could enter this bedroom without knocking. Sasha. And Isaac, who had married Sasha.
“……Ah. Forgive me, Lady Grayson. But it is urgent…… from the royal family…….”
Sasha lowered the letter she had been reading and looked at the envelope clutched in Isaac’s hand. It was a golden envelope symbolizing the royal family, and even at a glance the seal looked unusual.
“So Your Majesty has finally sent for you.”
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In Selman, succession of a title could only be accomplished with the permission of the royal family, the highest and most exalted authority. The same was true of the countship Isaac was to receive. It was a petition the Count had sent to the royal family weeks before. Her Majesty the Queen had finally responded.
The letter’s contents were nothing much. It merely stated a date and time and instructed him to come; at a glance, it looked no different from a summons.
The remaining time was quite pressing, so Sasha and Isaac had been frantically preparing this and that for two days to have an audience with Her Majesty the Queen. And when the day finally arrived, Sasha, dressed in a neater and more elegant dress than usual, boarded the carriage alongside Isaac, who wore his formal uniform.
The carriage departed Eris Hall and proceeded straight toward the central district of the capital, where the royal palace stood.
“You said it isn’t your first time meeting Her Majesty.”
“Just because it is my second time doesn’t mean I am not nervous.”
Sasha spoke as if teasing the nervous Isaac, and Isaac replied with a slightly sullen face. As she said, it was not Isaac’s first time seeing the King. He had been a promising soldier bearing everyone’s expectations on his shoulders; indeed, he was a man who had achieved distinguished military merits, received decorations from the royal family, and even seized the honor of the youngest promotion to captain.
In the brief span of their bickering, the carriage arrived at the royal palace. After passing stringent inspections, Sasha and Isaac alighted from the carriage they had arrived in and transferred to a royal palace carriage.
When the carriage arrived before the main palace, waiting palace attendants approached to receive them.
“Her Majesty is waiting.”
The attendant, who had bowed politely the moment he saw Isaac and Sasha, opened his mouth to speak. Isaac and Sasha soon ascended the stairs leading to the main palace. However, before stepping through the door, the attendant gently blocked their path.
“A moment.”
Sasha looked at the attendant’s hand extended toward her as if blocking her way with dignity. So it was. It was not Isaac, but her who was being stopped.
“A separate room has been prepared for you, my lady. Please wait there.”
For such an honorable occasion, it was only right that a husband and wife attend together. No, it was practically mandatory.
“……Why?”
Isaac seemed to know him as well. Before the attendant could open his mouth to say anything, Sasha intervened.
“Very well. Would you show me the way?”
Isaac turned to look at her, but she had already unfolded her arms and was smiling quietly. She gestured with her eyes as if to tell him to do well.
Isaac had no choice but to follow the attendant, though he kept looking back at her.
When Isaac and the attendant turned the corner and were completely out of sight, a palace maid revealed herself. Sasha meekly followed her into the interior of the palace. It seemed to be a place prepared within the main building for certain guests.
The noblewomen gathered in the room had been chattering about something the moment they saw Sasha, but they all fell silent. They were all unfamiliar faces, yet a few among them opened their eyes wide as if they recognized Sasha at once.
Something was strange.
A woman standing near the door greeted Sasha, as if belatedly coming to her senses. “Hello, my lady.” She, too, had an unnatural expression on her face.
Sasha returned the greeting and then seated herself on a sofa at a moderate distance. The noblewomen began to chatter again as if nothing had happened. However, with the person in question right before them, they could not speak as openly as before, so they whispered amongst themselves with utmost secrecy.
……It was truly a rather unbearably unpleasant feeling.
“……My lady.”
Everyone’s gaze was directed at Sasha while pretending not to be. One would have to be rather dull not to notice.
Sasha soon noticed that several ladies had been reading a newspaper. It was the morning edition.
No, for a morning paper, the print was somewhat…… strange.
Sasha spoke to the lady seated near the door. It was the same woman who had been the only one to greet her.
“If you don’t mind, may I look at it with you?”
Sasha asked directly.