22.
By midday, the carriage that had left the mansion earlier was returning through the front gates.
“…….”
Standing by the window, he looked down with a frosty expression.
A moment later,
his wife stepped down from the carriage, a gentle smile on her lips as she patted the maids’ shoulders and whispered words of comfort.
The sight suddenly called to mind something he had overheard from her just last year.
“…I truly don’t understand.
Why should I waste my time serving such lowly creatures?
It’s not as if their lives will change because of it.”
“What good does it do for the poor to learn about tea parties?
With their means, the best they could afford would be cheap, inferior leaves.
Better they spend that money on something useful for their households.
Refined tea etiquette was never meant for people like them.”
Up until last year, she had treated the imperial charity event with indifference, unable—or unwilling—to grasp its true purpose.
And now—
“My grandfather is the Chief Justice, and I am his granddaughter.
So I want to share something people will actually find useful—legal advice, practical knowledge about lawsuits.
To do that, I need to understand where people struggle when seeking counsel.”
To see her, once so scornful of the lowborn, now earnestly devoting such thought to their sake—
it was a change so stark, one could almost believe another soul had taken residence within her body.
When she had made up her mind about him and demanded a divorce, that he could understand.
Such things fell within the realm of reason.
But this—this sharp contrast of black and white—could not be explained away so easily.
No way.
It was an incomprehensible transformation.
He had thought at last he might grasp the truth of her heart, only to find himself plunged deeper into a maze.
What in the world was happening inside his wife’s mind?
What thoughts was she turning over now?
She had once been a woman who laid her heart bare without a trace of concealment.
Two years it had been.
Two years since their marriage—and for the first time, he truly wondered who his wife was.
Or perhaps the moment had come earlier—the moment she had hurled herself into danger to save him.
***
As Nina stepped down from the carriage, she patted Jessie and Yona gently on the shoulders.
“I know it must have been a sudden request, but thank you for agreeing.
You worked hard today.
Soon, I’ll ask my grandfather to recommend a lawyer from your jurisdiction—so don’t worry about the fee.
Just go and get proper counsel.”
“…Thank you.”
“Truly, thank you, milady.”
The two, who had clearly suffered much worry, grew misty-eyed at help they had never imagined receiving.
Nina only smiled faintly and shook her head, as if to say it was nothing.
Of course, it wasn’t purely from goodwill.
By doing good deeds, she could make one more person believe in the change she claimed for herself.
After sending the two off, still bowing their thanks, she turned to Hoshi.
“…So what you’re saying is, the fault doesn’t lie with the clients alone?”
It was one thing that the two couldn’t explain themselves clearly and rambled, or that they failed to understand the legal terms, dragging out the consultation.
But to hear that even the well-educated lawyers bore responsibility…
“You know as well as I do, madam, most lawyers come from noble houses without titles.”
“So?”
Hoshi gazed at her for a moment, then tilted his head and asked softly,
“Tell me—what kind of eyes do you think they turn on foolish, lowborn clients?
How do you think they treat them?
You, of all people, should know.”
The words pierced her like a needle to the chest, dragging her mood down.
As if he were saying-You did the same.
So why pretend otherwise with such hypocritical airs?
…Come to think of it, I really did ask the most obvious question.
Just as she once had, they must have laughed at the clients’ ignorance, dismissed them, tried to lecture them as if they were children.
That alone would have been enough to make any petitioner fluster and tongue-tied.
Nina fixed her eyes on Hoshi and said quietly,
“You don’t believe for a moment that I’m sincere about this, do you?”
He smiled
—harmless, like some grazing herbivore.
But thanks to what he had just said, she now understood, at least in part, why he had chosen to cooperate with her today.
He hadn’t stepped forward to help because he was genuinely interested in her charity lecture.
No, he had only found her eccentricity amusing enough to watch—and, while he was at it,
he could gauge her intentions and report them back to her husband.
Smiling brightly, he asked with childlike innocence,
“Is my trust really so important to you, madam?”
“…Of course not.”
She had already known that Hoshi hadn’t acted out of pure motives, and she had long suspected what kind of person he truly thought her to be.
But knowing it in her head didn’t make it any less unpleasant to hear him say it aloud with such barbed sweetness.
Still, what could she do?
It was the prejudice she had sown, now come back to her.
After a brief silence to shake off the sting, she said lightly,
“Well then, what now?
I don’t mind continuing the conversation in the study over a bit of supper…”
Hoshi glanced around at the dusky courtyard, tinged with blue in the fading light.
“Since the day is nearly over, I’ll gather my thoughts and give you a full report tomorrow.
But you must take a proper meal tonight, madam.”
“Very well, we’ll do as you say.
In any case, thanks to you, I now have a fair grasp of the problems.
I appreciate your help.”
“You honor me, madam.
If I’ve been of service, then I’m the one who’s glad.”
Nina looked at the insincere smile on his face, a smile utterly devoid of true feeling, and thought to herself,
Enough.
Some things are hopeless, and better left abandoned.
Men like Hoshi, skilled at concealing their hearts, were naturally suspicious.
To struggle for such a man’s trust would only be a waste of effort.
What mattered was her husband.
If she could aid in his designs, then she might avoid that bleak future—her family ruined, her body consumed by cold, and her end a lonely death.
That alone was enough.
***
Following the evenly spaced glow of the lamps, Hoshi strolled along.
Hmm, hm-hmm.
He hummed a light tune, his face alight with a smile that, for once, seemed genuine.
Anything to do with the Duchess of Bayern was always amusing—endlessly intriguing.
Especially the way her desperate efforts, no matter how she strained, only drove her farther from the future she so longed for.
The Nina Bayern he knew was a fool.
At least… she used to be.
Pausing before Ash’s study, Hoshi straightened his attire, then knocked smartly on the door.
“My lord, it’s me.”
When permission to enter came a moment later, he stepped inside, his smile broadening.
“Nothing unusual to report?”
Ash turned from the window, his ash
-grey eyes as calm and still as twilight itself.
Not the faintest trace remained of the turbulence Hoshi had glimpsed earlier, outside the duchess’s chamber.
“There was nothing of concern, my lord,” Hoshi replied smoothly.
When the maids had left to seek legal counsel under the duchess’s guidance,
the coachman had watched her discreetly.
He reported no suspicious behavior.
I can’t help but wonder… what on earth happened in the month I was away?
When he’d first heard reports of the duchess’s “latest scandal,” he had assumed the mansion would be in an uproar.
He’d expected the Duchess of Bayern to be raging like a mad dog.
Instead, it was as if she had resolved to become an entirely different person.
At first, he thought she was merely shaken by the disgrace she’d brought upon herself while drunk.
After all, she was the precious daughter of House Taylor-surely she had been drilled thoroughly in the duties of a noble bride.
And when she began reforming the estate once she took the reins, he had almost admired it, thinking-Yes, noble blood does tell.
But that was all.
A mistress without gossip or scandal was dull to watch.
Then came that moment at the Grenville estate—when she had hurled herself forward to shield the duke.
That was when she became fascinating again.
Weren’t noble ladies supposed to crumble in despair over something as small as a scar from a popped blemish?
And yet she had stood tall, even while bearing dozens of wounds.
Exhilarating, really.
Even the duke, it seemed, had found himself newly interested in such a wife.
How astonished Hoshi had been, catching him eavesdropping on her conversation, when once the mere sound of her voice had made his skin crawl.
One thing was certain.
Winds of change were blowing between the duke and his duchess.
Whether things proceeded as expected—with divorce—
or by some miracle, turned entirely around between them—
Either way, it was entertainment money couldn’t buy.
He would sit back, enjoy the spectacle to the end, and in the end follow whatever decision his master made.
The future could never be foretold.
But somehow, he felt certain it was only going to get more entertaining from here.