Of course, the older sister was Iris, the mistress. Or is calling her a mistress weird? She is the Duke’s true love, Iris.
The older sister was doing something very intellectual: reading a book while drinking black tea. The book seemed to be a collection of poetry.
Not to brag, but I have good eyesight, so standing at the entrance of the salon, I could see the title of the book held by the older sister sitting in the chair by the window farthest away. Bathed in soft sunlight, the older sister looked thirty percent more beautiful than when we first met.
I mean, poetry collections are just hard-to-understand poems, right? My younger brother Edil reads them sometimes, but I fall asleep within three lines. They are pretty, but they only write things in such a roundabout way. Reading a collection of poetry means the older sister must be very cultured.
Ha! Could she be a former young lady whose family fell into ruin somehow? Childhood friends with the Duke, and after this and that, when they reunited, she had to become a mistress because of “censored” reasons?! No, “censored” doesn’t mean anything shady, it’s just where I insert some random imagination!
Ugh… That is way too sad. And on top of that, having an air wife like this forced upon her by royal decree. My delusions in my head just will not stop, but—
Well, what should I do now? It is fine to just turn right around and go home, but I want to get along with the older sister… Still, she might curse me out as a “homewrecking cat.” It would be a bit sad to be cursed at by a beauty.
“W-w-what…”
“What?”
“Wh-wh-wh-what should I do?”
When I looked back at Rosa, she had her usual expression. Could it be… did she arrange this so we would run into each other on purpose? If so, I think it would be more effective when the older sister and the Duke are together, but…
“It would be bad if I disturbed the older sister.”
“Then, would you like to return to your room?”
“Ah, no. A little bit more like this…”
“Eh?”
“Well, because no matter how much you look at beautiful things, it is fine, right?”
Rosa did not seem to understand, but I had only seen the older sister on the first day when she said, “I will not love you.” She really is a pretty person, though. Today she is wearing a dress with a deeply split back, and her lovely white skin is peeking through. Even though the sun is still high, I am starting to feel like I am looking at something forbidden!
As I stood at the entrance of the salon without going in, staring intently at the older sister gracefully reading, she suddenly looked over at me and our eyes met.
Oh my, I was startled. Surprisingly, the older sister seemed to be smiling and beckoning me over.
“R-R-Rosa, is that a hallucination?”
“She is beckoning to you.”
“Th-then I will go over!”
“Umm, are you going? If you are going, Madam, I will follow you.”
That is true, too. It would be better to get along with the older sister. Even as an air wife, I can read the room and show that I have no hostility. Avoiding her would be like saying I have some lingering feelings about it. I have to show that I am not an enemy and that I am rooting for her.
“Excuse me.”
“You can just come in without worrying about me being here. You are the wife, after all.”
“No, no, someone like me is just an air wife. Thank you for inviting me in.”
Thank you for paying attention to such an air wife. Moreover, calling me by a title like “wife” that hardly fits. You can just call me air wife, you know.
When she invited me to sit across from her, she raised an eyebrow playfully.
“Is that Landre’s poetry collection?”
I read out the name just as I saw it. If you want to get along, you have to show interest first!
“Yes, I especially like Landre. Do you like it, Madam?”
“As for poetry collections, I fall asleep within three lines for all of them.”
“Is that so? That is a pity. There is nobody around me who likes them and Glen does not like them either, so it is boring.”
The older sister spoke to me in a friendly way without throwing anything or cursing at me, which made me so happy.
By the way, who is Glen?
Glen, Glen, Glen… Ah, the son of a maid named Marie (three years old) was named Glen, wasn’t he? We became friends when I was walking around the mansion. The Duke of Durtal’s mansion allows you to bring your children if you have nowhere to leave them, so young Glen (three years old) was brought along too. Of course, there is someone to watch the children.
Still, poetry is way too early for a three-year-old!
“Hahaha… Poetry is too early for a three-year-old…”
Was she giving young Glen a gifted education? Young Glen is friendly and came right up to me right away, after all.
When I said that, the older sister let out a “Muguh” and lightly choked on the black tea she was drinking.
“Are you all right?!”
“…Cough I am fine. Wait… to you, is Glen three years old?”
“Eh, yes. He looks three years old to me?”
The older sister was about to drink the water handed to her by Rosa, but she choked again. It is true that young Glen is not shy and has a large vocabulary, so maybe he does not seem three… but still, poetry is too early, I think.
“Kegeh, goheh, i-is that so…”
“W-wait, um, are you alright…?”
Older sister, please do not push yourself to speak! I wondered if I should rub her back, but since she is wearing a backless dress, I would be touching her skin directly. As I hesitated, the older sister, bending over from coughing violently, sent her earring flying forcefully, sliding smoothly across the cleanly wiped floor.
“Ah!”
The earring slid well and ended up right under the sofa where I was sitting. When I panicked and stood up, Rosa immediately said, “Excuse me,” and got down on all fours to search under the sofa.
“It seems to have gone deep inside. I will get it later.”
“It was a gift, so I hope it is not scratched…”
The older sister touched her other earring anxiously, her face still slightly red from coughing. Could that be a gift from the Duke? If so, I should get it out quickly.
“Ah, I will do it.”
I had Rosa move away, and then I lifted the three-seater sofa with one hand.
“Ah, I found it! Rosa, please.”
“Y-yes!”
After confirming that Rosa picked up the earring, I lowered the sofa. It is an earring embedded generously with small diamonds.
“Are there any scratches? Ah, are the diamonds broken?”
The older sister still seemed a bit dazed from the coughing sensation, so when I called out to her like that, she hurriedly checked the earring.
“I-it looks fine. Thank you.”
“I am glad. If it was a gift from the Duke, it would be terrible if it broke.”
“Umm, you lifted the sofa all by yourself… hey, is that light?”
“It is very light?”
“I-is that so…”
In the Blanchard Count family, anyone can lift this much with one hand. Though if you told them to spin it around, some people couldn’t.
Rosa was shaking her head desperately next to me for some reason, but well, it has nothing to do with me. Rosa might be on the older sister’s side, so maybe she didn’t move this light sofa to pick up the earring on purpose! There might even be a prank later where she hides it in my room! Pranks are fine, but it would be a problem if I incurred the Duke’s displeasure and my allowance was lowered!
That day, the conversation with the older sister ended with just that, which was a bit disappointing, but by evening, Sebastian brought some documents.
“Eh, this…”
Yes, the amount of money I can receive as an air wife was finally decided and written on the document. It is even higher than the amount we confirmed beforehand.
“Is it too little?”
If I say “give me more,” will I get more? But it is already higher than the amount I discussed with my brother and being greedy might not be a good thing.
“No, it is just as I imagined. Thank you. So, I just need to not interfere with the Duke’s life, stay away, and spend my days as an air wife, right?”
“Yes, although there may be exceptions, that is basically it.”
“I understand.”
I read the document from corner to corner with eagle eyes and noticed something just as I was about to sign.
“Is the Duke’s name Glen Durtal?”
“Indeed, it is.”
“O-oh, I see.”
Wait, could the “Glen” the older sister was talking about today not be young Glen (three years old)?! Could it have been Duke Glen (twenty-five years old)? That makes sense, too! After all, the place where young Glen (three years old) is kept is a faraway place that doesn’t overlap with our daily lives.
Umm, then did I treat the Duke like a three-year-old child?! Moreover, I told a three-year-old that poetry was too early for him, didn’t I?! Did he think I was provoking him?! Eek, what should I do!
“Madam? What is the matter?”
“Ah, no. It is nothing~.”
Alright, I will gracefully gloss over this. I usually forget things after sleeping anyway. Let’s go to sleep early. As long as this document goes through, there will be no problem. Yep, it will be fine, fine.
Please let him not be angry and lower the amount!