A few days later.
“Grand Duchess!”
The castle was very noisy from early in the morning. It was because of Ben who came down in haste after organizing the mansion in the capital.
“Seeing that you are safe, this butler is finally relieved.”
Ben wiped away the tears with his handkerchief.
“When I heard the news of the subjugation, Susan and I couldn’t sleep at all. Are your ankles okay?”
“It’s okay. I just put on a splint.”
Numerous employees of the imperial mansion who followed the butler were busy carrying in their luggage.
In the first place, the summer social gatherings in the Capital has ended, and soon in winter, I will have to stay at Berg as Stern, so I sent a communication to tell them to organize the imperial mansion and come down.
I knew they wore a magic crystal ring for transportation, but I didn’t know they would come down like the wind.
“Have you already organized everything?”
“I stayed up all night and did it all. I was so worried that I couldn’t sleep.”
Ben changed the subject and delivered the news from the capital.
“Even in the capital, there is only talk about the demon subjugation. Grand Duchess. It snowed heavily in the capital as well. Everyone was amazed…”
‘Somehow.’
I was puzzled because the amount of tribute that the Great Temple had foretold in a letter earlier was much greater than I expected. It seemed that the heavy snow had gone there, and even the nobles of the Imperial Palace were quite frightened.
“Then… Shall we repair the inside of the castle first?”
Berg’s castle, which had been rather quiet due to the small number of employees staying, quickly became busy with roaming workers. After going through several seasons, all the curtains that were dusty were taken down and washed, and new curtains I had already picked out from last spring were hung on the windows.
The carpets on the floor were also changed to different colors. The castle was chaotic all day to demolish the building where the knights’ quarters were located.
“I told the kitchen to keep desserts cold.”
“It’s still hot in the morning.”
Susan faithfully carried out my orders, but didn’t like me working as before.
“The Grand Duchess has worked hard at the outpost, so you should rest well.”
“I’ll be very lazy from tomorrow. What should I do?”
Susan smiled as she spoke with enthusiasm.
“It’s so good to hear that.”
Stern, who suffered enough to die in the demon subjugation battle, said she was going to rest; no one could complain. Knowing that even the emperor couldn’t even say anything, I thought I’d stretch it out to my heart’s content.
“So, did you fix the castle first?”
“Because when work is piled up, I don’t feel like taking a break even if I take a break.”
“You are very similar to Linon.”
As I listened to Susan, I closed my eyes. The hot towel on the back of my neck felt like a pillow.
“…I slept a lot last night, but why am I so sleepy?”
“Get some sleep. Grand Duchess.”
Those words sounded like some kind of magic. After only closing my eyes a few times, I really fell asleep.
When I opened my eyes again, I was on the bed, and Lesche’s arms were wrapped around my waist. Slowly blinking my eyes, I moved my head a little and brought my lips to Lesche’s lips. A light kiss. Looking at Lesche sleeping, I couldn’t help but draw a smile.
He said he’s leaving tomorrow.
I have to get up early and see him off. I told him to be careful and come back early. I hugged Lesche’s body and closed my eyes.
It was quite late at night.
***
“Why did he leave at dawn…?”
I woke up early in the morning and Lesche was already gone. I wanted to wake up early to see him off, so it was a pity that I couldn’t see his face.
“Grand Duchess.”
Linon came to me with a puzzled expression when I was only looking out the window.
“I am sorry to interrupt your rest, but from now on, I have not been able to arrange arbitrarily.”
“What can’t you organize?”
“I know it’s customary to make a tribute to Stern right after the subjugation, but I’m not a gift organizer….”
“I understand, so don’t pretend to cry.”
Linnon immediately politely put his hands together.
“Yes.”
“I should go down first.”
I got on Abigail’s back and went down to the first floor.
And I fully understood Linon’s words.
“It’s amazing….”
Almost all the Knights of the Glick Empire were recruited, and before the subjugation, the seventeen families participated without exception. Was it because of the situation in the early and mid-stage that was not optimistic even though the Imperial Guard was urgently dispatched? The tribute to Stern was truly a mountain. There were a lot of things sent from the Great Temple, and the gifts honored in the name of the emperor were enormous.
Other royal families in the neighborhood and noble families that didn’t belong to the seventeen families were also sufficient to keep up appearances.
Considering that it was the scale of the crisis of the continent’s destruction, which would be newly published in the history book, it seemed appropriate.
The employees were busy moving around and organizing the gifts.
After organizing the heavy, expensive and formal offerings such as sapphire-studded swords, large marble sculptures, and expensive ornamental plants and precious fabrics brought from the south, the rest were filled with more quaint, literally ‘gifts’.
Tightly woven lace in the shape of a rose vine, flowers made by folding blue satin, large ribbons dyed in 17 different colors for the same design, silk stockings finished with satin, etc….
Then there was one with the family name that caught my eye.
Berg.
“…?”
Turning to the side, Linnon immediately coughed. Only then did I know Linon struggled to hold down his expectant expression. What to expect, a thought ran through my head.
“Linon?”
“Yes, Grand Duchess.”
“Why did Berg send this to me?”
“That’s because we can’t lose to any families!”
“Hahaha.”
I laughed out loud.
“Do you know that I am the Grand Duchess of Berg, right?”
“Of course it is carved into my bones, Grand Duchess. And that’s it. All of this was ordered as your own private property.”
“What kind of wealth do you use…”
I burst into laughter and opened the box.
“A ring?”
Inside the red velvet box was a sparkling ring with a diamond the size of a finger and a half. I put it on my finger and opened the next box.
“Another ring?”
Curious, when I opened the next box, another ring came out.
I raised my head. Linnon, who had been holding back his laughter, straightened up. I blinked and looked down again. There were still countless boxes with Berg’s signature on them. Every time I unwrapped them one by one, beautiful rings came out without fail.
The large jewels gleamed beautifully under the flowing sunlight.
At this point, I was confused.
What the rings meant…
“His Highness has been preparing them for a long time. That’s why he ordered too many.”
“What….”
Unable to resist, my face turned red. I remembered the time when Lesche hugged me tightly. It felt like my heart was about to explode. It felt as if soft, fluffy hair was wrapping my heart without a break. My heart was pounding, and a smile spread across my lips.
“Grand Duchess?”
Linon said in a bewildered voice.
“Why don’t you smile when His Highness comes back, instead of here?”
“Can’t I even smile?”
“It’s too much for me, isn’t it? Susan? And the Grand Duchess’s face is so red right now.”
“Quiet.”
“Yes.”
Even after quieting Linon, the tickling feeling did not go away. I lightly scratched my red cheeks with my fingers.
In the midst of this, all my nerves were focused on the rings, and I had no choice but to laugh.
‘When did he (Lesche) start preparing?’
I didn’t know about it at all.
After putting all the offerings in place, I went up to the bedroom without delay.
I lay on the bed and spread my fingers. Hundreds of rings. I couldn’t fit them all on my fingers, so I picked out only rings with red gems.
In the Glick Empire, a ring was a gift with a very clear purpose.
It was only given to a lover or fiancée. My heart was pounding like a person who had been running for a while.
“I can take the splint off in a few more days.”
At the doctor’s diagnosis, I looked down at my ankle.
“Are the bones good?”
“Yes. It stuck very well.”
“Then tell the healing priest it’s okay to return to the Great Temple.”
“Yes, Grand Duchess.”
A few days later, the doctor removed the splint from my ankle and said:
“It’s better not to overdo it for a day or two and stay on your knight’s back.”
“Get up. Miss.”
Abigail put out her back right away and I burst out laughing.
During the day, I was carried on Abigail’s back and looked around the castle. Because these days, changing the interior of the castle has been my hobby. Many of the items brought in as tributes were expensive decorations. The scale of Berg’s castle was enormous, so if I changed them one by one, time went by quickly.
Of course, wherever I went, my hands were full of rings.
***
“Your Highness.”
Lesche lifted his head and looked around the castle.
“The castle has changed in a few days.”
Ben smiled at Lesche’s words, who had just returned from the capital.
“Yes, Your Highness. The Grand Duchess said that she was bored and replaced many things. She continues to be carried on Sir Abigail’s back.”
“Is she still being carried around?”
“Yes. That was just an hour ago.”
Lesche frowned.
“She should be resting. Where’s the doctor?”
“Of course the doctor said that, but….Your Highness, the rest we think of and the rest that the Grand Duchess considers seem to have different meanings.”
Lesche fully understood what Ben was saying immediately.
He remembered the time when Seria and he had just gotten married, which was an unexpected marriage. (*when Seria was bleeding out at the altar without Kalis.)
At that time, Seria said that she would somehow repay the grace that saved her life, and took the job of decorating the castle. Because it was better in many ways to be physically tired than to be engulfed in miscellaneous thoughts.
He didn’t expect her to perform her duties so perfectly.
At that time, Linon did not listen to Seria’s opposition and followed her around saying that he liked her.
It was already dark outside because it was rather late when Lesche returned home. Ben accepted Lesche’s coat and walked with him.
“Is Seria in the bedroom?”
“She was in the bedroom a while ago.”
“I see.”
Lesche glanced at the stairs.
“I want to take a bath first.”
“Yes. I have it ready.”
After taking a bath, Lesche put on a gown and walked to the bedroom.
