“Hah, hah…”
Iris leans against the sofa with flushed cheeks and is out of breath.
“Are you done yet?”
“Hah… wait just a little longer…”
Even her voice is hoarse.
Just how much did she laugh?
Sebastian, who has returned with the signed documents, also has a twitching mouth.
“Hah, hah… I really laughed so hard my stomach hurts. To think you even thought the Duchess was a three-year-old child. Ah, I call little Glen ‘little Glen’, but I certainly don’t think he’s actually three years old, you know? The Duchess said that Landry’s collection of poems is too advanced for a three-year-old.”
Iris finally raises herself up from the sofa.
Ever since she came to report that she met that woman in the salon today, she suddenly started laughing and has been like this for thirty minutes. Every time she tries to talk, she bursts out laughing again. She is completely out of breath.
For Iris, who always wears a calm smile, this is very childish and unusual, but since the conversation isn’t progressing, I am starting to get annoyed too.
“Still, that’s true! I understand how she feels. A childish man who blurts out ‘I will never love you’ on the very first day and at your first meeting is less than three years old.”
“Iris seems very eager to ruin my mood.”
“Oh my, little Glen. Don’t be so angry. Besides, if I leave, the one who will be in trouble is little Glen.”
Since that is true, I have no choice but to bite my back teeth.
A woman who plays the role of a mistress as thoroughly as Iris is very precious. I have hired other women as mistresses before, but because problems arose, Iris is the only one left.
The problem is that they develop romantic feelings for me.
“It seems the Duchess genuinely thought of you as three-year-old little Glen.”
“Yes, when she walked around the mansion, she met a maid’s child and was playing with him. The child’s name is Glen, and he is three years old. By the way, that servant was hired two years ago, so she didn’t name her child after my Lord’s name.”
“Why did that woman go all the way to a place like that? She wouldn’t go to a remote place where servants leave their children without any reason.”
At the words of Sebastian and Rosa, the maid assigned to that woman, I instinctively press my hand to my temple. Iris starts laughing out loud again.
“The Duchess is a physical monster.”
“We who were guiding her ran out of stamina first.”
“Is she really a young lady of noble birth?”
“They look very alike, so she is almost certainly the Count Blanchard’s child.”
It’s not like I suspect she is some substitute child picked up from somewhere. A normal young noble lady would run out of energy before the servants when walking around the mansion.
Still, she is that Count’s daughter. She looked like a slender, fragile young lady, but she is definitely not an ordinary noble lady.
“She didn’t seem to know my Lord’s name, and she was quite flustered when signing the contract.”
“Pfft. For the cool little Glen to lose to a three-year-old child! Oh, that’s so funny.”
“…Has she only explored the mansion this past week?”
“Yes, she cheerfully greeted every single servant she passed.”
“She’s awfully energetic for someone who calls herself an invisible wife.”
“She leaves her room only after checking from the window that my Lord has gone out. When I strained my ears because she was mumbling something, she seemed to be paying the utmost attention not to match the color of her clothes with my Lord’s.”
Sebastian and Rosa report to me in turn.
“…What on earth does that woman want?”
“Come to think of it, that girl. She lifted a three-seater sofa all by herself. Easily, too.”
“What does that mean? Every single sofa in the salon requires at least two men to carry them, right? A three-seater is large and should be even heavier.”
“But she definitely lifted it with those slender arms, and with just one hand, didn’t she?”
Iris confirms this with Rosa, and Rosa nods.
“Hey, little Glen. I think that girl is a pretty good person. I talked with her in the salon today too, and she knows her place, doesn’t seem interested in you at all, and wanted to get along with me. She didn’t show an ounce of jealousy, either. If she had feelings for you, she would have tried to kick me out first.”
“She was surprised by the amount on the contract, but there was nothing else particularly suspicious.”
“She sent a letter to her younger brother, but there was nothing suspicious in it either.”
“She’s probably just putting on a good front for now. She’s a noble lady who keeps talking about money. Sooner or later, she’ll try to steal the mansion’s furnishings or ask to increase the amount. Or else, she’ll start coming onto me.”
Up until now, all the noble ladies have been like that. They pretend to be understanding at first, and then gradually get closer.
When such noble ladies get close to me, I fall into a feeling like my heart is being stroked by a cold hand.
It’s not that I’m afraid of them.
The situation of being liked is what terrifies me.
If I am liked, won’t I let my guard down and think I am a person worthy of being liked and loved?
And eventually—I will become like my father.
Loving so much that he couldn’t trust and began to doubt, restricting her outings, sticking to her day and night until he locked her away, resorting to violence under the delusion that she was fancying other men to completely control her, and even trying to lay hands on his own child.
How horrifying. The blood of such a man flows inside me.
Why did my half-brother make someone like me get married? Is he saying it’s fine even if I turn out like that?
When I remember my father, the former king, my hands and feet turn cold.
The former king loved only my mother, who was a secondary consort, while his marriage to the primary consort was political. Because of that, he didn’t do those horrifying things to the primary consort, who is the mother of my half-brother.
My half-brother hasn’t seen it, which is why he can hold illusions about marriage and love.
“Little Glen, you really are cowardly. You won’t turn out like your father. You are a very rational person.”
“No, I will. I definitely will. Because I’ve seen it.”
“You open your heart to me, but you aren’t like that toward me, are you? You let me live freely.”
“Iris is like a friend. No, even closer than that. Should I call you a comrade-in-arms?”
“I think of little Glen like a cute nephew, and I consider myself a comrade-in-arms too. I just want you to be happy without fearing the past and yourself. And you know, I think that Duchess will probably be just fine, and that she’s different from all the young ladies in the past.”
Iris smiles mischievously. She looked like a reliable, much older sister.
“I appreciate Iris wishing for my happiness, but I must not love anyone. Because it brings misfortune to that person.”
If that woman truly remains an invisible wife, it will be fine. But if she stops being invisible, I must chase her away no matter what.
Especially since she has received such high praise from Iris and has easily worked her way into the servants’ hearts.