Becoming wealthy was Marie’s first wish. Her family was her most precious possession, and since money was necessary for their happiness, becoming rich was an eternal desire. However, recently, the order of her wishes was beginning to change.

“You promised you wouldn’t work today and would play with me.”

“I have too much to do. If I delay any longer, I’ll be exhausted in the future.”

“Fine. Paperwork is more important than me, right? Leave. And don’t come back.”

“Princess…”

“Why are you still here when I told you to leave?”

“Princess seems to be mistaken, and I wanted to correct you.”

“What do you mean by that… huh?”

“….”

“….”

“There is nothing more precious to me than you.”

After seeing and hearing such unfamiliar things, she naturally began to think, ‘I want to be in love too…’

Marie forgot what she was doing and began to imagine. What kind of man would she fall in love with in the future? Would he be as kind as that man? He should be. No, he would be because she would choose a man like that.

“I just got goosebumps. Where did you learn to speak like that?”

“I spoke from my heart.”

“I understand, so go and work. Marie!”

The imaginary flowers that had bloomed in abundance scattered in an instant. Marie, who had come to her senses, replied vigorously.

“Yes, milady!”

“Prepare some refreshments and bring them to my study.”

“Yes!”

Bringing refreshments to the study was now part of her daily routine. As she was about to go to the kitchen, a worried voice caught Marie’s attention.

“Are your parents well?”

‘He used honorifics!’

Marie was so surprised that she froze. It wasn’t just once or twice, and she never knew how to react when this happened. Marie was fidgeting and mumbling when,

“I heard they were attacked by bandits. Is that why you went to your hometown?”

“Fo, fortunately, they are both healthy now. Thank you for your concern, Sir Archenas.”

“You don’t have to be so formal. You can just call me by my name.”

Call him by his name! How could he say something like that?!

Marie’s face turned pale in shock.

“Rather than that, how about Madam?”

“Yes? M-madam?”

Was it okay to refer to a man as ‘madam’? If he told her to do it, she will, but… It was a bit awkward. She hesitated, not knowing what to say, and then she heard a deep sigh from beside her.

“Oh, I’m just kidding. How about sir aide? Iris calls me that, too.”

“That sounds nice. Will you call me that from now on?”

“Yes, Sir Ar, no, sir aide.”

Marie bowed her head and quickly left the room. Her mind was in turmoil. What would she call him when the princess becomes the duchess? Let’s say she called her lady the master, but if they got married, she was worried about what to call him after that. It wouldn’t be right to keep calling the aide who became her lady’s husband ‘aide.’

Mistress? Duchess*?
[ TL/N: Since Carinne will be the head of the family, the author used the words usually used for male heads, hence, Marie thought she should call the aide the female counterpart XD ]

They all sounded strange. Maybe she should ask Duke Tricia, but was he even home?

She recalled what had happened a few days ago.

The Duke had returned looking rounder and deeply tanned. He had apparently been sunbathing on the southern beach of Radian, but the details were buried in her lady’s angry voice, so she hadn’t heard them clearly.

The Duke seemed quite surprised to see the aide when he returned.

First, he was surprised that the aide had come to the Second Duchy of his own free will. Second, he was surprised that the aide was not a noble. Lastly, he was so surprised that the aide and her lady were dating that his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

At first, he seemed wary of the aide, but after he treated him respectfully and flattered him well, he seemed to like him. Recently, he had even started calling him his future son-in-law.

What kind of flattery did he use?

“It is an honor to meet you in person, Duke. I have heard much about you from the princess.”

“Re, really? What did she say?”

“She said that you are a father she deeply respects, and that she will follow in your footsteps and become a great leader of the Second Duchy.”

If her lady had heard that, she would have fainted. Anyway, he was tall and handsome, and he was also affectionate and quick-witted. The aide was a man who lacked nothing. Marie would have to find a man like that for herself.

As she passed by the drawing room, something caught her eye.

‘Oh my, what’s that?’

Marie approached the entrance to see what she had spotted. Moments later, her eyes widened in surprise as she recognized what it was.

* * *

After Marie left, Carinne patted Archen’s shoulder and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

“You need to take it easy and rest.”

His handsome face never grew tiresome to behold. Carinne started to get up, but then she sat back down, propped her chin on her hand, and gazed at him. When their eyes met, he smiled gently. She couldn’t help but smile back.

For a while, they simply smiled at each other in silence. It was an afternoon of unparalleled peace and happiness. She felt as though she could stay in this moment forever.

‘I should thank Duke Lucas.’

She didn’t really mean it, but she was feeling so good that she thought she might as well. Thanks to the Duke’s jealousy or ill humor—or whatever it was—he had fired Archen, which had allowed Carinne to spend time with him without any obstacles.

The day Archen had been more or less kicked out of the Duke’s mansion, Carinne had impulsively stamped her seal on the contract, and she had kept every promise she had made. She had added another zero to his salary, reduced his workload to a minimum, and made weekends mandatory days off. The Second Duchy would cover his living expenses, aside from medical bills.

As for his room, he was sharing hers since hers was the largest room in the mansion.

It was a way to keep her promise and be with him at the same time—killing two birds with one stone. They ate their meals together, except when Carinne woke up late in the morning. She was also planning to buy him some new clothes soon.

“Speaking of which, when should we go shopping for clothes? Maybe tomorrow?”

But Archen looked away and pretended not to hear as if the idea was distasteful to him.

“Why not?”

“I don’t think I need any new clothes. I have enough as it is.”

“Are you kidding me? I’m going to throw out all those old clothes with my own two hands.”

She meant it. As soon as Carinne bought him some new clothes, she planned to get rid of his old ones. She had discovered while helping him unpack that he owned surprisingly few belongings.

Judging by the amount of luggage he had brought with him, one might have thought he had spent only three nights and four days at the Duke’s mansion, not three years.

Especially when it came to clothes, he had worn the same white shirt and blue coat every day since she had known him, so she had assumed he was particularly fond of that outfit. But it turned out that it wasn’t a matter of preference; it was simply the only outfit he owned.

When Carinne asked him what other clothes he had, he replied with a blank expression.

“I have a similar set for summer.”

Carinne had been so shocked that she had unpacked his entire suitcase and checked every single item. And she had made another astonishing discovery: every item of clothing he owned was identical. Coats, shirts, pants—three sets for summer and three for winter, to account for laundry time.

When she had asked him why he didn’t own any other clothes, he had seemed unable to understand her question. He had enough to get by, so why would he need anything more?

The image of him living in that suffocatingly small room without complaint came to mind.

Any normal person would have felt stifled living in such a place. He was human, after all, so he couldn’t have chosen that lifestyle voluntarily. He must have started out doing it involuntarily and then, without realizing it, adapted to a life of austerity.

Carinne shivered again and vowed to buy him some decent clothes.

“I’ll have a nice suit made for you. And at least three sets of clothes for each season—spring, fall, summer, and winter. And you’ll need a new wardrobe, too.”

Archen raised an eyebrow at Carinne’s determined expression.

“At this rate, you’ll be building me a house next.”

“I won’t do that. You have to live with me.”

Carinne knew she was only joking, but her heart still skipped a beat. The thought of being separated from Archen was unbearable.

“Don’t even think about moving out.”

Archen smiled faintly at Carinne’s flustered expression. His sapphire eyes crinkled at the corners, taking on a gentle glow.

“Even if they built me a palace, I wouldn’t leave you, so you don’t have to worry.”

It was the second time he had said something like, ‘Do you like me that much?’ It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing to show affection while they were dating, but Carinne couldn’t help feeling a little embarrassed. She laughed self-consciously.

“I should go now.”

“Stay a little longer. Marie isn’t back yet.”

She was as persistent as a fly. When Archen tried to get up, Carinne wrapped her arms around his waist and clung to his back like a magnet. Even though they were standing, it felt like she was lying down. When she hugged him, she felt doubly cozy, as if she were inside a house within a house.

If she could, she would forget all about Ian and Giles and run away to a deserted island to live with Archen.

Just then,

“Milady! Come downstairs and take a look at this!”

Marie’s earsplitting voice echoed from the first floor.

—