Chapter 51

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Chapter 51

“Ugh…! Stop, stop tightening it! It hurts!”

“No, Madam. Are you about to enter Loengram Castle in this outfit and with this face?”

“I understand! Just do it in moderation. It’s already tight enough!”

“Why are you making such a fuss again! You didn’t say much before even though it was tighter than this!”

“It was then! Ah, my head! My head!”

“Be patient. Do you think it’s easy to be pretty?”

“…I don’t really want to be pretty by doing this.”

While she was wrestling with Pompa in the carriage for a while, the carriage passed through the gates of Loengram Castle and ran through the city to arrive in front of the mansion of the Marquis of Loengram. Located at the end of the castle and the deepest part of the castle, the Loengram mansion had a high spire made of milky marble and a thick fortress around it.

Min-ha got nervous without realizing it and bit her lip slightly. Then she said Madame Pompa, who was sitting next to her, tapping her hand lightly.

“Your makeup will be ruined, Madam.”

“…Yes. I know.”

Looking at herself through the window, she replied. She had become completely different from how she had seen herself just a few hours ago.

The carriage, which had been running for a long time even after entering the entrance of the mansion, eventually stopped in front of the main gate of the mansion. Then, as if waiting, an old gentleman wearing a black tailcoat and monocles, along with several servants and maids following him, came out of the mansion. They bowed to Seth and Noah in front of the carriage.

When the old gentleman bowed politely and opened the door of the carriage, Min-ha got down with a blunt expression and peered at Seth walking into her carriage. His figure got closer and closer, and there was the sound of a light knock on the carriage door.

She answered the knock in a trembling voice.

“…Yes.”

As though he was waiting for the answer, the carriage door opened.

What she saw was Seth, who was gazing at her with a friendly gaze. As he stared at the beautifully adorned and dressed Min-ha, she deliberately raised one of her brows exaggeratedly before extending her hand toward him.

“Beautiful wife, shall we get off now?”

“…Ah yes.”

‘Wha, what… He is so cheesy.’

Trembling slightly at his words, she gently grabbed his hand and got off her carriage.

At the same time, the old gentleman who had met Seth a while ago led the maids and approached her. Then, as he did with Seth, he politely greeted her.

“I see the Duchess of Persen. My name is Aron Smith, and I serve as the butler of the Loengram mansion. Please, feel free to call me Smith.”

“…Yes, nice to meet you.”

“It’s truly an honor to meet such a beautiful and noble person.”

The old gentleman, who introduced himself as the butler, politely bowed his back and took her fingertips before placing his lips on the back of her hand.

Although she had already been attacked by Gawain several times, Min-ha still struggled to resist withdrawing her hand at the unfamiliar greeting.

‘Now, I am not Kim Min-ha, but the haughty Minase Persen.’

Brainwashing herself like that, Min-ha deliberately pretended to be arrogant and overbearing by imitating her tone and expression. Fortunately, her appearance did not seem awkward. After greeting her, the butler naturally released her hand and stepped back.

Then, Seth asked him in a blunt tone.

“Where is the Marquis of Loengram now?”

“The Marquis is in the drawing room. He’d been waiting for the Duke and Duchess of Persen since early morning.”

“Where will we be staying during the stay?”

“All preparations have been made so that you can stay in the red acacia annex to the east of the main castle.”

“I hope I don’t run into unnecessary encounters with other nobles while staying in the mansion. And, if possible, it would be better for Noah and I to stay closer to her room.”

“The others who arrived first were taken to the white acacia annex in the west. However, I didn’t know the Duke would ask for the residence of the Duke and Duchess to be together… I apologize. I’ll tell the maid.”

“Well, if it’s not ready, it’ll be enough for me and her to stay in the same room. There’s no reason to bother the maids.”

“Thank you for your kind understanding, Your Excellency.”

“And, I feel sorry for the Marquis, though I think Noah is tired and needs to rest for a long time because he has been riding a carriage for a long time in a young and fragile body. Can I send him to a separate annex first? From what I’ve heard, it seems that the preparations for the annex were inadequate.”

“Oh, no. Though this old man was not aware of the arrangement, all the rooms in the annex were prepared so that there would be no problem for the esteemed people.”

“If that’s the case, then I’m sorry. I must have overestimated my concerns.”

“Of course not, Your Excellency.”

“Then, could you lead me to the drawing room? The Marquis of Loengram must be waiting.”

“Yes, this way.”

Seth had a conversation with the butler in a cold and oppressive tone, to the extent that it was difficult to see him as the same person who had been dealing with Min-ha a while ago. After the conversation was over, the butler took the lead as Seth stared coldly at his back.

Min-ha thought that the conversation between the two of them was strangely tense, and she gazed at him carefully as if examining Seth’s mood.

However, the expressionless face of Seth, who met her gaze, did not look particularly strange. Rather, his eyes looking at her seemed to have a slight smile on his face.

Min-ha opened her mouth, staring at the man who held out with one arm folded toward her.

“…Are you all right?”

“What do you mean, wife?”

“I think you had a very sharp conversation a while ago.”

“The lovely wife is quick-witted.”

“Is it okay to argue like that? Noah will have to be alone in the annex without us, but if those people have a bad heart…”

“It’s fine since the Persen knights will be by Noah’s side. Rather, it would be more convenient for you and me to feed the Marquis of Loengram, who’s trying to bother me, with a shot like that in advance.”

“I’m in trouble… Do you mean they’re planning to do something over there?”

When she asked about his words with a serious expression on her face, Seth shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing. He then moved his face down towards Min-ha’s ear and whispered in reply.

“It’s all right. No matter what happens in the future, all you have to do is just trust me.”

“….!”

“Did you get the answer, Madam?”

As he asked that, he reached out his hand and tapped her arms as though urging for an answer.

‘…Is he really certain it is going to be okay?’

Min-ha let out a short sigh and put her arms around his arm as if nothing could be done. However, the moment she folded her arms, Seth gave a slightly surprised expression.

Why did he look like that…? It was him who told her to do it first, but when she put her arms around him, he was surprised like this, so she asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“…No. It’s… it’s just different from what I expected.”

“Different? What do you mean?”

“I thought you were just going to grab my arm, though it feels good for you to put your arms around mine like this.”

“Ah, I—I’ll let go.”

“No, I think it’s okay to go like this.”

Although he spoke as if teasing her, when Min-ha said she would let go, Seth walked ahead while holding her hand so that she could not loosen his arms.

Min-ha was drawn to his speed and tried to change her posture while walking side by side. However, every time she did, Seth held her hand tightly as if to discourage her action. The more she struggled, the closer she became to Seth and her arms were locked.

In the end, she eventually gave up resisting.

‘…I cannot help it.’

It seemed that the Loengram servants around them were talking very loudly with their eyes because of the way their posture was so close together.

‘I think I would just pour oil into the conversation if I struggle here for no reason…’

With that in mind, Min-ha calmly hung on his arm and started walking.

Thinking that the appearance of Seth loosening his arms naturally was quite impudent, she went into the Loengram mansion with him.

Following the guidance of the butler, Min-ha was walking down the long hallway leading to the drawing room with her and Seth’s arms intertwined.

The walls and floors made of the same milky white marble as the exterior of the Loengram mansion, and beautiful paintings and decorations on each wall in the hallway were enough to fascinate Min-ha, who usually liked beautiful things.

But now, with her lips were dry from the tension of meeting a stranger, she had no time to admire them one by one.

Glancing at the nervous battle between Seth and the butler a while ago, it seemed that even the slightest fault she made would cause trouble to Seth.

‘Still, how can I naturally act as if I were Minase Persen from birth…?’

The thought gave her a headache.

At that moment, Seth suddenly grabbed her hand. When she looked back, startled by the touch, he was already smiling slightly before he lowered his lips to her ears and whispered again.

“Are you nervous now?”

“….!”

“It’s okay. There is nothing to be nervous about.”

“But…”

“The more nervous you are, the more brazen and arrogant you might act. That’s okay. No one here is higher than you.”

“….”

“So, you can be a little more confident, wife.”

Seth relieved her tension with the kind words as though he had noticed her worries, and only then did Min-ha get rid of the worries that had been filling her head.

‘I wonder if it was obvious…’

When she had previously asked him how he knew her so well, he replied, ‘Because I’m always watching you.’

Is that really why?

Rubbing her face for no reason, she thought that this image of herself would be obvious to not only Seth but also the others as well.

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