After finishing the day’s work, Redross was alone at the table.    

He is used to sitting alone at the table these days.

He used to eat dinner with his mother, but while this marriage was going on, he didn’t notice it.

His mother, who declared that she doesn’t want to be there anymore, had left for a villa.

Since he wasn’t going to live with his mother forever anyway, he sent her to enjoy her retirement in a place with good air. 

From his perspective, his father, who told him not to look for him and went on  an aimless trip, would be able to at least meet his mother one more time somehow.

As he saw the freshly steamed soup being served , he suddenly remembered Brelin’s jewel-green eyes.

‘I wondered if she has eaten a proper meal.’

“Mrs Ballon .”

waiting next to him, she approached him and bent down.

“ Yes, Master.”

“ What is my wife doing ?”

“It looks like she went to bed early .”

“ Did she eat dinner ?”

“ No. I know she went straight in after lunch “

‘You must have been tired because there were many things going on with the ceremony’            

‘It didn’t matter if she went in because she had no appetite, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t invite her for a meal.’

It is also true that he somehow felt relaxed after writing a contract and heard that he would divorce her when the time came.

Now that he doesn’t have to think of her as the mistress of this family forever, there is no reason not to be polite.

Redrose didn’t hold up his spoon and told Mrs. Ballon.

“If she didn’t sleep yet, tell her to come for a meal.”

Mrs Ballon’s eyes widened .

“… yes ?”

“Didn’t you hear?”

“No, it’s not like that… Even while preparing for the wedding, she was very disrespectful, and you wanted to see her face less… I just thought that you would be  always like that… I did not realise it.”

“I am not blaming you. Send someone.”

“yes.”

The short servant standing next to Mrs. Ballon often disappeared to call Brelin.

Mrs. Ballon stared blankly at her master who had not touched his meal unexpectedly, and she suddenly opened her mouth.

“And Master.”

“What?”

“You asked me to report on lady Brelin’s  behaviour.”

 To be honest, he knew that the instructions to ‘observe and report my wife’s behaviour’ was not a something that would serve as a role model, even for his  subordinates.

However, she is a woman who likes to seduce men with her naivety.

He wanted to know what was going on when he couldn’t keep an eye on her.

As if to say, he nodded lightly, and Mrs. Ballon hesitated and opened her mouth.

“I think that Lady Brelin seems to have come with a strong determination.”

“Determination?”

“It’s no different… .”

Mrs. Ballon could not bring up the story of serving a meal that even a servant could not touch in front of Redross, who seemed to have a different attitude from yesterday.

So, she skipped that part and went straight to the point.

“I gave out a dinner menu, and she enjoyed it. The part that surprised me was her manners of eating that she showed me today. She was far superior to any other lady.”

Redross turned her gaze to her at her unexpected story.

“Brelin ,not someone else?”

“Yes. Perhaps, as the hostess of the duke family, she made up her  mind. It felt like she recieved deep education”

Mrs. Ballon doesn’t compliment people easily.

Even now, she doesn’t like Brelin’s origins and talks about it in a somewhat distasteful tone.

However, she was that objective and didn’t judge by fabricating facts.

‘I don’t even like her, but it was so perfect that I had to say it.'(mrs.Ballon)

Redros thought it was very strange to hear such compliments.

The reason why she is so widely known as the daughter of a merchant’s family is that, wherever she went, she never bowed to the formalities of the place.

Dining etiquette? That was a luxury for Brelin.

Anyone would laugh if you expect  something like that from someone who doesn’t follow the basic formalities properly.

Didn’t she flirt with passing men, and those who wait for her after finding all their faults she  hit them on the cheek and stepped on them with her shoes, saying they looked down on her?

Such a scandal continued until just before the wedding.

She also wore an engagement ring and met with other men.            

Even if you marry her and have children, you  won’t be able to tell  who the father will be.

It wasn’t something to think of as just a bad rumour.

Dozens of times have actually been witnessed.

She was that kind of person, and since his mother couldn’t oppose it,  she packed up and left.

But when she gets married, she suddenly reads the ancient language, and learns perfect dining etiquette.

He also learned that she had borrowed ledgers that recorded the financial condition.

‘Well. Isn’t she just like a different person?’

After thinking about it, he shook his head lightly.

“What else?”

“Nothing special happened.”

“Any contact with the outside world?”

“There were no letters from outside, no letters out, no guests.”

“I see.”

The conversation between the two ended there. The servant, who went to pick up Brelin, returned quickly and came to stand next to Redrose.

“Did she say it will take time to get ready?”

“No, it’s not like that… There’s no answer, even after I knocked on the door.It seems that she fell asleep first.”

‘Already?’

‘Well, the lengthy procedure for weddings and receptions was yesterday, and she started living in this house from today. She must have been nervous and tired.’

He nodded his head and finally started eating. It was regrettable that it cooled down compared to the first time the food was served, but the soup boiled on fire for a very long time had a flavour that he never got tired of.

 He never neglected to train his body and was a big eater by nature.

Redross, who thoroughly enjoyed the fresh meat he could taste before the full-fledged winter, wiped his mouth thoroughly and headed to the bedroom.

Originally, the contract with Brelin was that.

Marry Brelin. And instead of interfering with any other privacy, always sleep next to her.

It is a contract that shows a strong will to have a successor.

In fact, he didn’t even see it as that bad by itself.

Unless she was thinks of meeting a bunch of other guys.

Indeed, it is impossible to pass on succession to someone who wouldn’t devote himself to this family.

Redrose opened the door to the bedroom with a complex mind.

Unlike yesterday, when Brelin took off her clothes and seduced him.                                        

‘I thought it wouldn’t be strange  even if she did it again’.

However, Brelin seemed to have fallen asleep while reading three huge files lined up on the bed.

He went close and looked into them. Financial statements that summarize expenditure and income were listed for each year.

Even as a duke, he had a headache reading it, so he did not bother to look at it every time.

Although it is a table that is organized in a good way, it does not have to be made easy for outsiders to read, so it is a document created using a document-based language that managers use in common.

It means that it is not an easy book to read.

‘I can’t believe she fell asleep reading this…’