Chapter 016
“Um, Madam? Did I perhaps just commit some sort of rudeness…?”
As I blankly stared at Roman’s face, he asked me with a rather flustered expression.
Snapping back to reality at his words, I quickly shook my head and replied,
“No. I was just lost in thought for a moment.”
“I see.”
Roman responded with a gentle smile, adding warmly that he often found himself in the same situation.
‘I feel strange.’
Watching him, I was enveloped in a peculiar feeling.
If I hadn’t died and escaped the palace, that would have been my first meeting with him.
‘I wonder what he was feeling as he waited for me then.’
Would he have sincerely helped someone like me, who had escaped alone after pushing his master into a deadly situation?
Perhaps it was fortunate that I died that day.
Even if I had survived, I wouldn’t have been in my right mind.
‘Let’s stop thinking about that. Such things won’t happen again.’
I pulled myself together just before I could fall into depressing thoughts.
“Well then, I’ll be on my way. You seem busy, and I feel like I’ve taken up too much of your time.”
I glanced at the piles of documents in Roman’s arms before speaking.
After all, even if I knew of his existence, there was no way I could talk about that topic.
I bid him farewell and turned to walk away but I heard hurried footsteps behind me.
“Please wait, Madam!”
Turning around, I saw Roman had already sprinted up to me, slowly catching his breath.
After hesitating a few times, he finally got to the point.
“Um, if it’s alright, may I give you a tour of the mansion?”
“But aren’t you busy right now?”
“No, not at all. I just need to drop these documents off in the Duke’s office.”
“No, I—”
Just as I was about to say it wasn’t necessary, I caught a glimpse of the earnest look in Roman’s eyes, which made me hesitate. After a moment of contemplation, I nodded and accepted his offer.
“Alright then. I’ll leave it to you.”
“Thank you! I’ll do my best to guide you.”
With a bright smile on his face, Roman dashed off to place the documents in the office and quickly returned to stand in front of me.
“Let’s go this way first.”
Roman confidently took the lead.
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About an hour later.
It turned out that accepting his offer was a good decision.
Roman kindly guided me through the mansion, choosing important places that were easy to remember. At this point, I felt I had seen enough.
“Walking around and explaining everything has taken too much time. Are your legs alright?”
“I’m fine. I was so focused on your explanations that I didn’t even notice any discomfort.”
As we walked back to the main building, we encountered several staff members in the mansion.
They seemed startled at first when they saw me, but they quickly greeted me with tense expressions.
“Oh! H-Hello, Madam!”
“Yes, hello.”
As I acknowledged each of their greetings, I suddenly sensed a persistent gaze from the side.
When I turned my head, I saw Roman looking at me with wide eyes, a hint of surprise on his face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Uh? Oh, I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
As I stared at him, unable to respond easily, Roman finally spoke slowly.
“You were so kind to the servants… It’s just that you’re different from the others I’ve seen. I apologize if I was out of line.”
He repeatedly apologized, and I replied nonchalantly.
“It’s fine. Why worry about something like that?”
I had a vague sense of why he was reacting this way.
The people he referred to were likely the same type I had seen at the banquet before. Roman, who was close to the Duke, would undoubtedly be aware of the treatment his master received.
‘And he probably thought I would be similar to those nobles.’
Having been in a long relationship with Delos, who was known for mistreating those below him, it was understandable that he would be worried about my sudden marriage to the Duke.
“I think I understand what you were worried about, but I simply want to get along well with the people here.”
In the Duke of Feldro’s household, there was a strict rule to not look down on subordinates due to their social status.
Because of that, both Cesar and I interacted more freely with the staff compared to other noble families.
Naturally, after marrying Delos, I had to establish boundaries and adopt a more formal demeanor.
“It seems that you really can’t trust the rumors people spread.”
As we continued walking, I heard Roman muttering something quietly beside me.
When I glanced at him as if I hadn’t heard anything, Roman’s mood seemed to have slightly darkened.
The gentle smile remained on his face, but it wasn’t as bright as before.
At that moment, he hesitated before speaking up.
“The truth is… more than half of the servants in this estate are people who lost their homes due to the war.”
Hearing his serious voice, which was different from before, made my eyes widen.
“They all carry painful stories, so I may have acted rudely without realizing it.”
“…”
Roman turned fully towards me, looking me directly in the eyes. Then he bowed deeply, bending almost in half, and spoke.
“If you ever find yourself in a difficult situation, please call on me anytime. You are now also one of the masters I must serve.”
As he spoke slowly and clearly with a smile, it seemed much more genuine than the smile he had when we first met.
I was momentarily taken aback by this display of infinite trust.
“Thank you. I look forward to working with you too.”
I returned his greeting with a smile.
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That night.
I had expected the Duke to return around dinner time, but he arrived late at night.
However, instead of the Duke coming directly to my room, someone else arrived.
“The Duke asked me to inform you that you should go ahead and rest.”
It was the butler, Heinz.
Heinz, as polite as he was when we first met, asked if there was anything else I needed.
“No, I’m fine. But where is he right now?”
“He is in his office.”
“I see…”
After acknowledging his words, I returned to my room and lay down on the bed.
‘Is he not coming because he feels uncomfortable around me?’
On the surface, we had now become a couple, but since the marriage was one-sidedly pushed through by me, it was understandable.
Suddenly, I remembered what the Duke had said to me before we got married.
“Just because we are married doesn’t mean your life as a noblewoman will change. I won’t pay attention to what you do here, so live as you wish.”
His words meant that I wouldn’t have any obligations or responsibilities as the Duchess of Ballestain.
“That can’t be.”
The reason I had decided to marry him in the first place was to prevent the hardships he would face in the future.
Especially since, around this time, the mockery and scrutiny from the nobility would begin in earnest as he ascended to his position.
Of course, there wouldn’t be any bold nobles openly ridiculing him, but as I had seen at Delos’s birthday banquet, there were plenty who would casually throw around derogatory remarks behind his back.
‘To make those kinds of people come to their senses, my role is crucial.’
Although I was also in a position where gossip circulated in social circles, having the name Feldro and the Duke attached to me would change the narrative.
Just showing that I got along well with the Duke would naturally cause those who had been dismissive of him to think twice.
“But how do I get along with someone like him…?”
I let out a small sigh as I imagined the Duke, who seemed to be wrapped in thorns.
