Chapter 30

For several days, I followed Roana around, preventing her from causing trouble. I also ordered everyone who came and went from the ducal estate not to give her any alcohol, for the sake of Adel’s education and emotional well-being.

 On top of that, “Lady Roana! How about having tea with me after lunch today?”

My persistent clinging seemed to have finally exhausted Roana’s patience.

“Just leave me alone!”

Crash!

As always, Roana started throwing whatever she could get her hands on. It was a frequent occurrence, but this time, she seemed to be genuinely furious. Or maybe she had completely lost her mind and snapped.

I stared blankly at the broken and scattered odds and ends around me. Usually, when Roana threw things, she at least avoided people. But now, she didn’t care about that either and was dangerously throwing things like vases and other objects. Her attitude was even sharper than usual, even though she should have been in a more sober state of mind due to the ban on alcohol.

‘No, is it because of the abstinence that she’s like this?’

Fortunately, since the first day, I had always brought a knight with me when I went to see her, so most of the things she threw were bounced away by the knight’s hand.

“Calm down, Lady Roana.”

“Everyone get out! Get out!”

I let out a small sigh as I watched Roana, who showed no signs of calming down.

“I have no other intentions, Lady Roana. You don’t have to be so wary.”

“What?”

“I just want to have a little conversation with you.”

Roana, who had been throwing a fit, stopped and glared at me with a face full of scorn and contempt. My body flinched at the suddenly changed atmosphere, but I calmly motioned for the knight who was about to block me to step back.

Roana clenched her fists and staggered towards me. For a moment, I wanted to step back. But before I could, she grabbed my shoulder.

“Do you think I don’t know anything?”

“What?”

Roana gritted her teeth and spit the words into my ear in a murderous voice.

“Not only did you rape my younger brother, but you also threatened him with a fake pregnancy to steal the position of the Duchess. Do you think I’ll look kindly upon you?”

“…”

Of course, I had a good idea of why she hated me so much. Thanks to that, I was less shocked, but her blunt words were not something I could just brush off.

However, there was no way to clear up that misunderstanding right away. As I kept my lips sealed, she continued to pour out her anger.

“Did you think I would be like Adel? You’ve shrewdly lured in my naive youngest brother, and now it’s my turn?”

Roana roughly let go of my shoulder and shouted.

“Adel might have been possible because he didn’t know anything, but I’m not! So get lost!”

Even after she had vented for a long time, her eyes were still sharp. I could even sense a hatred so great that I was grateful she didn’t use physical violence on me because of the misconception that I was pregnant. Roana said her piece and then stormed out of the room, huffing and puffing. Her close attendant, Bibi, followed her with quick steps, looking at me cautiously.

“…”

I could fully understand her anger. Even though it was a misunderstanding, it was by no means a pleasant event, so if I were in her shoes, I wouldn’t have been able to see me in a good light either. Besides, am I not still here because I haven’t been able to clear up that misunderstanding myself?

But.

‘If they’re such a precious family, she should have taken proper care of them instead of getting drunk and throwing a tantrum!’

At the same time as I understood her, I was also angry at her actions, which I couldn’t accept. I stood there for a long time without a word and ran my hand over my face.

***

I returned to my office with a complicated mind and buried myself in the reception sofa instead of my chair. The perceptive Annie placed a cup of peppermint tea on the table, which was good for calming down, and quietly stepped back to stand guard.

‘Haa…’

I felt a constant surge of wanting to question her right to hurl such insults at me.

‘While she just left Nine and Adel alone all this time!’

She had abandoned Adel, who should have been receiving a lot of love, and didn’t help Nine, who had to shoulder the responsibilities of the Duke’s position right away. And yet, she was only worrying about them with her words…

But then I remembered Roana’s self-deprecating expression as she grabbed her empty right sleeve.

I swallowed the harsh words that were at the tip of my tongue.

“Phew.”

I got up and took a sip of the peppermint tea, and my anger gradually subsided. With a cool head, I slowly organized my thoughts.

‘I have to change my plan a little.’

Her hostility was more solid than I thought. I guess I was a little too naive about the anger of someone who was misunderstood.

‘I’ll probably never be able to get close to Roana until the misunderstanding about the love potion incident is cleared up.’

Still, one fortunate thing was that it seemed like Roana could get her act together if there was a proper trigger. Since she was still so broken but had some lingering concern for her family, there was a glimmer of hope.

‘First, I have to make her stop drinking.’

Her drinking was nothing more than an escape from reality. But she couldn’t keep her eyes off reality forever. Moreover, her drunken rampages were a problem directly related to the dignity of the Duke’s family.

But more than the dignity, what concerned me the most was that her behavior would not be emotionally good for Nine or Adel.

‘But how should I…’

As the Duchess, I had enough justification to correct Roana for the sake of the Duke’s family’s dignity. But for me, who had only just gained the authority to make decisions in the household, to suddenly meddle with a direct family member? And right after that commotion?

Even though the way people looked at me had changed a lot from the beginning, it was a very risky thing to do. It was different from the things I had been doing so far, like chasing Roana around to get closer to her or making her stop drinking in the castle. It could be seen as the Duchess confronting a direct member of the Duke’s family.

‘Is there a more personal way to solve this?’

And a way that the people of the Duke’s family, Roana, and even the people of the territory would understand and accept, saying, ‘Then there’s no other way.

‘…’

As if there would be.

My head started to hurt, so I got up from my seat and left the office. I was planning to hug Adel to calm my mind and continue to think about it.

***

Adel had recently started learning the sword. I stopped by Adel’s room and heard from a servant that he had just left with a wooden sword, so I turned my steps toward the training ground.

Adel was in the second training ground, swinging his wooden sword with a serious face. My attire was very conspicuous in the training ground, so I backed away so as not to be seen by Adel. I didn’t want to break his concentration.

‘I guess I’ll have to come back later.’

I was disappointed that my plan to hug Adel and think was thwarted, but I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the child concentrating.

Still, since I was already out, I thought I should take a walk, and just as I was about to move, “Wow!”

“…”

The sound came from the first training ground. I quietly moved toward the source of the commotion.

There were already several people gathered where the noise had been heard. In the center, two knights seemed to be fighting with their hands grabbing each other’s collars, and other knights and servants were surrounding them.

‘They really love a good fight here, too.’

There were so many people watching the fight, but no one was thinking of stopping them. But since there was a commotion like this, the captain or vice-captain of the knights would soon come and sort things out. I stayed put to mediate so that the situation wouldn’t get worse.

‘Huh?’

But the two people who were grabbing each other’s collars said something to each other and then drew their swords and pointed them at each other. Even in that situation, the people around them just stepped back to secure a space for the two of them to duel, showing no signs of stopping them.

I was startled and grabbed a knight who was standing in front of me.

“Wait, shouldn’t we stop them?”

“Yes? …Oh, Lady Chacha!”

“Hurry. Go get the person in charge.”

I was about to rush out to stop the two people who had even drawn their swords, but the knight quickly grabbed me.

“It’s alright, Lady Chacha. The problem is being resolved now.”

“What?”

I looked at the two people who were fighting in the center again. They had drawn their swords after grabbing each other’s collars, and he was saying that it was being resolved? Of course, they were a little restrained for people who had drawn their swords in a fight.

As I tilted my head in confusion, the knight who was holding me explained.

“It’s how we solve things in the North.”

The knight said that in the North, when there was a conflict of opinion within the knight order, it was common to settle it with a duel. He said that since the North had a strong survival-of-the-fittest mentality, it was common for people to push their opinions by winning a duel.

“It’s a culture you won’t see in other regions.”

“Certainly…”

I had just learned this, but the knights in the North were strictly ranked according to their skills. But in other regions, politics were usually involved, so positions were rarely determined solely by skill.

And in a place like that, they would try to solve things with a duel like in the North? It would clearly be seen as a subversion of authority. It was definitely a culture that could only be seen in the North.

“Do they all accept the result if one wins the duel?”

“Of course. There’s nothing more dishonorable than losing and not accepting the result.”

“I see…”

While I was listening to the explanation, the knights’ duel was over. The loser’s expression was momentarily resentful, but he soon acknowledged his opponent’s skill and bowed respectfully. The two who had been fighting just before now looked relieved, as if there was no longer any bad blood between them.

Suddenly, a thought came to my mind.

“…This is it!”