Chapter 19

Chapter 19

“Surely…it seemed so. Milady must have had a hard time.” Rona murmured.

“Yeah, I did.” I said as I realized that Rona was still standing beside me. It seemed that I was really lost in the brief flashback just now. Recalling that night, my mood turned gloomy.

“…” Rona suddenly became quiet.

“What’s wrong?”

“As expected, Milady and Master are destined to be together.”

“What?” ‘Why are you suddenly saying that?’

“What do you mean by destiny?”

“Even though both of you are only physically attracted to each other at first, it will certainly turn into true love later. Like a fairy tale, it’s so beautiful.” Holding her hands tightly together, Rona continued with a thrilled face. “In addition, it was so touching to see a beautiful wife looking after her sick husband with utmost care.”

Regardless of the disproving look on my face, Rona was once again unraveling her own fairy tale behind my back.

“Huh?” I turned my face to Rona as I thought I heard something weird in her fairy tale. “What will it be later?”

“True love.” Rona’s eyes sparkled as though she had embraced a true religion.

Listening to her embarrassing remark, I unconsciously licked my dry lips with my tongue. ‘Love…True love…’ The more I thought about it, the more I felt that it would be impossible between us. ‘Amoide and me? It won’t ever happen.’

‘Love…hmm…’ There was no such thing between us, to begin with. On our first meeting, we didn’t share physical intimacy at all. That night, I was worried about my husband’s health while he just helped me out to survive.

At that moment, my conscience was pricked. Though I couldn’t tell Rona the truth. Never. Definitely. I couldn’t tell her that I hadn’t spent my first night with my husband yet.

“Now, I can finally understand what Milady is trying to do.” Rona nodded with a grim look.

‘What is she thinking about?’ Out of curiosity, I was about to ask Rona what she meant by, but she was faster.

“Milady is going to be a devoted wife to His Grace, right? It’s the power of true love!”

“Well, something like that.” I felt that she understood it wrongly, but it didn’t matter anyway. Since ancient times, there was a saying that love can save everything. So, it wouldn’t seem strange that I suddenly care too much about Amoide. It was plausible to use “love” as the excuse to get involved with him, like Rona’s imagination. However, the next thing she said was beyond my imagination.

“Milady is trying to be more proactive to conceive a baby, right?”

“…What?” I asked stupidly and immediately blushed when I realized what she meant. ‘Rona, you’ve gone too far!’ I only intended to show an amicable atmosphere between Amoide and me, leading the others to believe that our relationship had improved. ‘Seems like I overdid it.’

“Rona!” I tried to cover her mouth while glancing around.

“It’s all right Milady. It is not something to be shy about. In fact, the number of nights Milady shares the bed with Master is too little to conceive a baby…”

‘Seriously, there’s no way to stop that small mouth from chattering all the way.’

“Since both of you are burning with passion, Milady and Master should do it more often!”

“You lewd devil!”

“It’s okay, Milady. It’s something natural between couples.” Rona was so excited that she just kept on babbling her words.

Eventually, I decided to give up. ‘Yeah, it’s up to you to believe what you want. It doesn’t really matter. I just need others to believe that I have a good relationship with Amoide.’

“Milady and Master are just like the main characters of the novel I read yesterday.”

“What kind of novel?” I looked into her dreamy eyes and prodded carefully.

“The Duchess Who Refuses to Love.”

“What is it about? Why did she refuse?” It was the first time I heard that kind of title. Somehow, I felt a sense of déjà vu. Anyway, it seemed that the title of novels in this world wasn’t much different from my past world. Provocative and a bit cliché.

“It’s a heart-warming story! At first, the main characters were bound together by a contract and only shared physical intimacy. However, as time passed, they gradually opened their hearts to each other and…”

“So, their physical intimacy led them to fall in love with each other?” I asked, suppressing my laughter.

“Yes!” Her eyes sparkled as if there were stars twinkling inside. “Although they bickered quite often, they had good chemistry. On the first night, they even broke the bed…”

“The bed broke?” As I listened to Rona, a chuckle escaped my mouth. “No way, there’s no such thing.” I lightly slapped her arm. “It’s all made up.”

I laughed till tears formed in my eyes. No matter how strong the male lead was, there was no way he could break a sturdy bed. The author only exaggerated it to make the story more interesting. ‘And that’s why it’s dangerous to learn about things like this only from books.’

“It’s true, Milady. The male lead is an outstanding knight, so he is physically fit and has a lot of stamina… So, he didn’t even get tired at night.”

“Really?”

“He could even do ‘it’ continuously for a few days…”

“How many days…?” I couldn’t stand it anymore and laughed. “Rona, it’s all made up. You shouldn’t believe that it happens in reality. The author exaggerates it too much.”

“Not really!”

“How do you know that?” I felt something was off when I saw her affirm it seriously. “Rona, don’t tell me…you and Robert…”

‘How can it be?! She’s still a kid!’

“N-no, not yet.” Looking at me with a straight face, Rona shook her hand wildly. “The male lead in the book is a knight. Master is also a knight. He is the Commander of the Knights of the Sun. They are the best knight order in the Empire.” She suddenly brought up the story about Amoide’s knighthood. “Master is such an amazing man.”

Somehow, I felt bitter when I heard Rona’s words. Amoide was the youngest commander in the Empire’s history, and he started leading the best knight order when he was just eighteen.

The successors of this family had been the commanders of the Knights of the Sun for generations. It wasn’t an inherited position. They rose to the position with their own effort since only the strongest knight was qualified to lead the best knight order.

“Master was already exceptional swordsmanship since he was young. Hence, he rose to the commander position quickly.”

“That’s right.”

Nevertheless, he had been on a long-term medical leave since he fell ill. In other words, the commander position of Knights of the Sun had been vacant for five years. Until now, Marquis Deaz was the one who took over his responsibility.

“But why are you suddenly talking about this?” I blurted out the question that had been lingering in my mind.

“The stamina of the knights is beyond normal! Especially the knights with excellent swordsmanship. So, if Master is completely cured…”

“Stop.” I hurriedly covered Rona’s mouth.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” She covered her mouth and looked at my countenance. Though soon, she smiled mischievously. “Currently, Milady only shares a bed with Master on certain days. But when Master become healthy again, Master will probably-”

“Stop!” I hurriedly blocked her words. “Where in the world did you hear that?”

“All the maids I work with were talking about this.”

Oh my god. I suddenly felt dizzy.

“Don’t worry, Milady. Physical intimacy is as important as emotional affection.”

“…Really?” I asked as I already gave up.

“Of course! Some noble couples didn’t even get intimate physically during the day, but they won’t even come out when they enter their bedroom at night… And that’s how they got three children!” Rona’s eyes glowed with high hopes.

I tried to turn away from her. The big picture in Rona’s mind. ‘Rona, I told you it doesn’t work like that in reality…’ Yet her eyes were so hopeful that I couldn’t bear to tell her that. More importantly, it was impossible because we had to look up at the sky in order to pick the star.

[ T/N: A Korean expression that means achieving a certain result requires effort, preparation, opportunities, or adequate conditions provided. ]

However, her misunderstanding was not that bad, so I decided not to resolve it. ‘Yeah, from now on, I’ll act like a duchess who is having a hard time because her husband bullies her every night.’

“Oh no, I must have lost my mind.” Rona suddenly exclaimed. “Actually, Dr. Raymond said that he would visit Milady soon. That is why I am looking for Milady…”

“And I just talked about useless things.”

“Oh my God, Milady’s first night is not a useless thing. Milady even put your heart into it-”

“But why is he looking for me?” I quickly cut her words because it seemed that useless things would spout out again.

“Maybe it is because Milady collapsed last time.”

“I was just too anxious that day.” ‘It seems that Camilla was really concerned about what happened last time. Well, it’s understandable since this is a precious body that’ll bear this family’s successor.’

“If Milady is tired, should I just ask him to come again later?”

“No, it turns out well since I also have questions to ask him.” After getting Camilla’s permission, I managed to act close with my husband somehow. ‘So, it’s time to proceed to the next step of the plan. Investigate the reason behind Amoide’s illness. Since the cause is unknown, I need to dig up information from his doctor as much as possible.’

*****

“How is Milady feeling today?” After greeting me courteously, Raymond took off his hat and sat across from me at the tea table.

“I’m very healthy, Raymond. Thank you for treating me when I collapsed last time.” I answered with a big smile.

Smiling back, he replied, “I’m glad Milady looks good. May I check Milady’s condition for a moment?”

I grinned at his words. “Sure.”

Raymond took out a stethoscope and began to examine me carefully. In the meantime, I carefully observed him. Raymond was a handsome man with a warm look. Both of his hair and eyes were brown. When he talked, he always made the listeners feel comfortable with his moderate voice and calm tone.

However, his gentle expression always disappeared completely during emergency treatment. Whenever Amoide collapsed, Raymond would stay up all night watching his condition with utmost care.

Maybe that was why even Camilla treated him respectfully. He was one of the people whom the meticulous Camilla trusted and relied on.

‘And also…the one who is most likely to be closely related to Amoide’s death.’

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