Chapter 57
Chapter 57 – Advice
-“I already turned it down properly, so even if the Duke receives a letter, you must not accept it, okay?”
At those words, Loic looked a bit confused.
-“Are you really okay with this?”
-“Of course! I already have Cecilia, don’t I?”
At that time, the Duchess had even warned him not to let anyone sent by the Marquis past the castle walls, even if they came without an invitation.
Letters kept arriving from the capital, but thanks to the firm and clear Duchess, it didn’t seem like a big problem.
“I think we need to increase Her Grace’s security.”
Loic, who had been lost in thought, spoke slowly.
In the beginning, he tried to keep the Duchess’s presence low-profile.
That’s why he assigned only Norton as her guard—he was worried a grand escort might attract dangerous attention.
But they couldn’t keep sending her around in an unmarked carriage like some noblewoman’s wife forever, especially on official visits.
“You send donations to the orphanage every season? What kind of things?”
Not long ago, after visiting the children at the orphanage, the Duchess looked over the donation list and said she wanted to prepare them herself.
‘She looked so excited when she asked, I couldn’t say no.’
Many families around the orphanage were victims of the monstrous war.
Maybe assigning a full knight unit would be better—to make sure no one dared to approach her recklessly.
“Will you assign the 1st Knight Order?”
Norton asked, and Loic frowned.
If he sent Demiche…
“Ha! Don’t worry, Your Grace! I’ll protect you! Hey, you there! What’s with that look? Do you have a problem with Her Grace?”
He could already picture the chaos clearly.
“No, I’ll think about it more.”
Just then, after Norton left with a bow, Perel stayed behind, fidgeting like he had something to say.
“Do you have something to say?”
“Um…”
After confirming Norton was gone, Perel hesitated a little more, then finally spoke.
“Maybe… you should be a little more open with your feelings?”
“What? Be clearer.”
Loic’s tone dropped, and Perel swallowed hard.
“Her Grace.”
Loic’s eyes trembled slightly at those words.
“She’s doing her best, isn’t she? She takes care of the staff, and she’s trying to get closer to you too.”
Perel glanced at Loic’s hand—the one the Duchess had grabbed earlier.
Even just a moment ago, she had taken his hand warmly.
“She holds your hand so sincerely, but you just stand there like a rock.”
“Did I really seem like that?”
Loic was shocked at the unexpected scolding.
“I was trying to be careful for her…”
But thinking about it, he had been rather distant whenever she reached out to him. Maybe she found it awkward.
“What if she misunderstands my distance?”
Encouraged by Loic’s silence, Perel’s voice grew bolder.
“Today would’ve been perfect for a date. You’ve been married for almost three months, and you haven’t gone out together even once.”
At the word date, Loic’s neck turned bright red.
As Loic rubbed his face awkwardly with a large hand, Perel looked away in embarrassment.
He didn’t really want to meddle in his boss’s marriage.
But someone had to help—Loic was amazing at everything except romance.
“At the very least, tell her she looks beautiful today. Or give her some compliment.”
“I can handle that myself.”
“But—”
Loic, ears red and now annoyed, noticed Perel was getting smug and narrowed his eyes.
“And are you really in any position to give me relationship advice?”
Loic tilted his chin up and gave Perel a smug look.
“At least I’m married.”
The unspoken part was obvious:
“Unlike you.”
‘Hey! I’m still single because of you!’
Perel’s cheeks twitched with frustration, but he couldn’t say it out loud.
“Get out.”
In the end, Perel had to leave the room with nothing to show for it.
Meanwhile, I stood in front of the main castle, watching workers load boxes onto a line of carriages.
They were filled with goods for the orphanage the Duke supports.
Cecilia and Leta were checking the list carefully to make sure nothing was missing.
The visit to the orphanage had been delayed longer than I expected.
The list of items to bring to the orphanage had been completely revised.
Previously, the items sent from the Grand Duchy were mostly food and daily necessities.
“Other things are bought separately using a different budget,”
That’s what Perel answered when I asked why there were no school supplies.
Honestly, I couldn’t blame the assistant for feeling a bit awkward — there were so many tasks for him to handle already.
‘From now on, I’ll just take care of it more carefully myself.’
I had plenty of time!
And cute children are precious!
Thankfully, I got along quite well with the orphanage director.
When I asked in writing if there was anything the children needed besides basic living essentials, I soon received a detailed list.
It included priority school supplies and books based on age, and even toys like dolls and games that the kids would enjoy.
I even asked the maids around Leta about what items kids liked most to finalize the list.
Then, with Cecilia’s help, I found a good seller, ordered the items, and waited for them to arrive — which took quite some time.
‘I couldn’t touch the orphanage’s budget, so I paid for everything out of my personal funds.’
Still, seeing the packages loaded neatly onto the carriage made me feel proud.
‘The kids will love this, right?’
Just as the loading was finishing up, four or five knights were seen walking over from the main castle.
Even from a distance, the curly blond hair stood out clearly.
It was Tiern Bierri and the 9th Knight Division.
“…Greetings to Lady Annette.”
I looked up silently at Tiern, who stood at the front.
His long eyelashes were lowered, but I could still feel the unfriendly gaze beneath them.
“Sir Tiern.”
I kept it short and simply greeted him by name.
“For a while, the 9th Knight Division will be in charge of protecting you, Lady Annette.”
“I heard from the Grand Duke. I’ll be in your care.”
I awkwardly smiled.
‘Ugh! I should’ve just said no!’
The Grand Duke had gently suggested increasing my guards.
I wasn’t thrilled, since more guards would make me more noticeable, but I accepted since I understood his concern.
‘Still, assigning the 9th Division wasn’t a good decision.’
I didn’t want to seem picky, so I pretended to be okay with it.
‘But this is just uncomfortable!’
While I was nervously fiddling with my dress hem…
“I didn’t know the supplies for the orphanage hadn’t been delivered yet.”
Tiern glanced at the carriage and muttered coldly.
“The children must have been waiting a long time.”
It was sarcasm disguised as casual talk.
‘What, is he blaming me for the delay?’
I had heard a bit from the Grand Duke…
That the 9th Division cared a lot about the orphanage and often accompanied the deliveries.
He even said they could be helpful to me, so I hadn’t said anything more about it.
‘I had my reasons too, you know? It’s unfair to mock me like this.’
“Is that so?”
I calmly looked at Tiern.
“I tried to prepare everything faster than the knight division, at least.”
It was a jab, pointing out that the knights only showed up well after I had come out.
Seeing the frowning knights, I just shrugged.
“Shall we get going? I’ve got all the time in the world, but as you said, the children must be waiting.”
At that, Tiern bit his lip and turned to his knights.
“Get ready.”
The knights quickly moved to prepare their horses, and Tiern turned dramatically, cape fluttering and eyes full of resentment.
“Wouldn’t it be safer not to have a bodyguard like that?”
Cecilia, standing behind me, pouted.
“To me, Sir Tiern seems like the biggest threat.”
“Cecilia.”
I gave her a warning look, but truthfully, I didn’t disagree.
When I climbed into the carriage, Tiern reluctantly offered his hand.
The death glare he gave while helping me made my neck feel cold.
‘Suddenly I miss Norton so much.’
With the sound of horse hooves in front and behind, we departed for the orphanage.
The orphanage wasn’t huge, but the building was decent.
“Greetings, Lady Annette.”
As I got off the carriage, the headmaster and teachers lined up and bowed.
“Nice to meet you.”
Behind them, the children stood in neat rows.
They must’ve been told to behave, since they all looked stiff and nervous.
Some of the older kids in the back were tall enough to look like the staff.
‘Right… some of the children who lost their parents were already quite grown.’
“Oh! It’s the Goddess!”
As I was scanning the group, one child in the front caught my eye — and suddenly raised their hand.
