Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Duchy of Esteban’s butler politely greeted Elysia, who had arrived from the carriage.

The butler looked to be younger than forty. His hair was all grayed out and the fine muscles that could be felt even though he was wearing outerwear, seemed to be someone who was very thorough in self-management.

“A formal greeting to you. My name is Philip, the general butler. Please call me Philip.”

“Nice to meet you, Philip. I look forward to working with you in the future.”

“Please speak at ease, Madam.”

“I will.”

She wasn’t married yet, but she was well known for Lloyd or Philip as Madam.

In Lloyd’s snarky style, when she heard the name Madam, there was no part that touched her much, but when the word “Madam” came out of Philip’s mouth, it felt so real that it struck her that she was getting married.

The employees, who were waiting in line for Elysia to enter the hall on the first floor, greeted her politely.

They all had very healthy-looking bodies, and it didn’t seem like a false rumor to say that all of the employees did basic physical training.

“Are all the employees of the mansion gathered?”

“That’s right.”

It had about half the number of employees at her family, the Duchy of Lowell,

It was questionable how they could manage the mansion larger than the Duchy of Lowell with this much personnel. Is one person doing the work of two people? Looking at the employees, it seemed possible enough.

Philip noticed Elysia’s question and added an explanation.

“Since we do not accept outsiders as much as possible, the number of employees is small. Still, there is no big problem in managing the house, but if the Madam wants, we will hire more.”

“I don’t think it’s time to discuss this. I’ll ask you again later.”

“Yes.”

Following the butler’s hand gestures, the employees greeted Elysia one by one.

‘I haven’t married yet… Why is everyone’s face like that?’

It was ironic that she was already greeted one by one even before she officially became the mistress, but the employees’ expressions were even more bizarre.

Everyone was polite, but there was no way Elysia could not see the twitching. She did not know that all the employees of the Duke of Esteban were looking forward to the day Elysia came.

It was because it wasn’t for a day or two that they were worried that his icy-like personality might prevent him from marrying for the rest of his life.

Finally, the two maids who will serve Elysia greeted her.

Gray, who had been Elysia’s full-time maid from the Duke of Lowell, followed Elysia to the Duchy of Esteban and withdrew with the maids to attend to her.

“Then, would you like to see the mansion?”

“I do.”

The ㄷ-shaped building was separated into two parts, the furthest for the main building, and the other buildings beside it was the whole building used by the Esteban Knights.

She acknowledged it.

The range the Knights used was fairly wide.

There were also buildings for employees, guest annexes, and several other buildings for various purposes. Among the residences in the capital city, the Duchy of Lowell’s house was one of the spacious ones, but the Duchy of Esteban’s house was overwhelming.

If the mansion in the capital city, not the estate, is of this size, what would the mansion in the estate be like?

Elysia thought that the Lowell family was not far behind in terms of financial resources, but that idea has changed a little today.

As she listened to Philip’s continuous voice, she learned the structure of the mansion.

On the first floor, dining rooms and parlors were located, and Cassian and Elysia’s bedroom was on the second floor. While Cassian’s office and study were on the third floor, and Elysia’s office would be on the same floor.

Der, who was eagerly moving its steps at her feet, rubbed its face against her legs as if bored and whined.

“Now, I will guide you to your room.”

As Elysia hugged Der, she thought it was finally over, and she followed Philip.

After she looked around at the Duchy of Esteban, it was really luxuriously lavish. There were many noble families who decorated with jewels everywhere to the point it was inducing a furrowing brow.

However, the Duchy of Esteban’s color itself was unified in cream color, and expensive decorations and sculptures were placed here and there, giving it an antique feeling.

If there was one peculiar thing, it was a magic stone that could be seen everywhere.

Like a doorknob or a window, everything called a door was studded with magic stones. There were several magic spells for security, and the level of the magic circle was quite high.

So much so that she wondered what kind of wizards they hired.

She thought there were no surprises anymore, but when she got to go up the stairs to the second floor, she corrected her thoughts.

Elysia followed Philip and stopped in front of the room closest to the stairs. Since it is the household where the head of the household mainly lives, a higher level of magic is at stake.

‘I don’t think I can solve this either…’

There was no doubt that it was made by requesting the magic tower.

She had a rough guess of who it was. There were fewer than five people to engrave this kind of magic.

Seeing this, Elysia put it on the scales to see which would be more secure, the defensive magic that Ramote had placed on the Duchy of Lowell or the magic of the Duchy of Esteban—

The magic hanging on the Duchy of Lowell’s house was just a magic to block attack magics and dampen the impact on the building. On the other hand, all kinds of defensive magic were engraved in this place, that hers felt ignorant.

If she were here, at least, she would not lose her life at the hands of an assassin.

Elysia paused to follow Philip again with a tired face. For some reason, he stopped in front of a familiar door…

“This is the bedroom the Madam will use.”

This is weird.

She felt a strange feeling as she saw the room behind, where the butler was standing. Elysia hesitantly asked, “Philip. This room…”

Contemplating whether it was true or not, Philip coughed and answered.

“Hmm… that’s right. It is His Excellency’s bedroom.”

Elysia wiggled her eyebrows and entered the room.

She had been in Cassian’s bedroom, by using the ring. If there was a difference, all the furniture in the room, such as curtains and beds, had been replaced with new ones, and it was transformed into a space that gives a slightly brighter feeling.

One of the spaces connected to the bedroom, which until recently had been vacant, became her own dressing room.

There were rows of new clothes hanging in it.

‘No, why don’t I have my own room! Does one bedroom make sense?’

It was common for couples to have their own bedroom, even if they stayed in the same bedroom more often if they got along well.

Elysia tried to ask Philip for an explanation, but she stopped.

It was Cassian, not Philip, who could decide this.

“Philip. When will His Excellency return home?”

“He will be here soon.”

“You’ve worked hard. I want to take a break, so you can go.”

“If you need anything, please let me know.”

Elysia was lying on the bed, which somehow seemed bigger than before.

She had already been worried about how she would see that handsome face every day, but this was torture. She jumped to her feet at the presence she felt in front of the door. He appeared sooner than expected.

Cassian gazed at Elysia’s expression and noticed why she was doing this, before approaching her.

“Please explain. Duke.”

“It is as it appears. In the Duchy of Esteban, couples originally shared one bedroom.”

Do you know that Elysia? She nodded her head with a sound and glanced at him.

“…Do you think I would believe that?”

He spoke casually enough to be passed on as something true.

“Your room isn’t ready yet. Be patient.”

Cassian swallowed the word that he was going to share the room with her.

Actually, it wasn’t very wrong.

He had accepted the butler’s suggestion, ‘How about preparing the Madam’s room again as a shared room?’ The place that was supposed to be Elysia’s room was going to start redecorating by tearing off the wallpaper.

“I don’t care if it’s a guest room.”

“That’s not possible. You’re the future mistress of the Duchy of Esteban.”

“Then, I’ll go back home…”

Elysia couldn’t finish her words and bit her mouth.

She knew she couldn’t go back and forth at will. From today until the end of the contract period, she will stay in this mansion.

She then opened her mouth with a smile as she had a sudden thought.

“There were a lot of other rooms on the second floor beside this one. The second floor is a space used only by members of the family, right?”

Saying so, Elysia got her body up as if she was going to another room at any moment. Cassian naturally wrapped his arms around her shoulders as he walked along with Elysia to look around the other room.

Because she was wearing a half exposed back dress, he struggled to hold back his hands.

Elysia lifted the hand that had wrapped around her shoulder and smiled a victorious smile.

“I’m going alone.”

But, Cassian raised his hand again and turned her around.

Elysia peered at his smile and raised her eyebrows. She had a strange conviction that something was not going to go her way.

“I’m sorry, but you can’t do that. There aren’t any rooms available in the main building.”

“What do you mean? I looked around today.”

“I guess you haven’t opened the door. It’s all closed.”

“….”

It was undoubtedly intentional.

What the hell is that useless precision detail?

Cassian’s face was just as calm as if there was something wrong with what he was saying. Even though she wanted to confirm if it was true, Elysia did not feel a single lie in those purple eyes.

“If so, I can use the annex. You won’t tell me that there aren’t any rooms there either.”

“You can’t do that. I brought you here for a purpose. The annex is dangerous.”

By now, Elysia was staring at him with an astonished expression on her face.

Looking at Cassian’s attitude, he didn’t seem likely to back down easily. She had already arranged her things, so she raised her hands in a sign of surrender, wondering what to do more.

It was not only once or twice that she spent the night in this room, but it also felt different.

“Do whatever you want. Are you going to shower first? I need to wash myself.”

“Together?”

“Of course, separately. Don’t tell me there is only one bathroom…”

Cassian closed his eyes and smiled.

The Duchy of Esteban is famous for being the largest mansion in the Capital. He’s also a Duke. So, why is there only one bathroom on the floor where the Head is staying? And, when did all those rooms and bathrooms shut down…?

Even if Elysia wanted to spit on his smiling face, Cassian was smiling so beautifully that she could not even curse at it.

She came to a conclusion about his attitude that dared to use the same bedroom.

“…You perverted man.”

“It’s the first time I’ve heard of such a thing, but I’ll have to work hard to live up to expectations.”

Replying with a slight smile, Cassian wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her body tight to him.

Elysia swallowed her saliva at the sensation of the firm body against her.

“By the way… what do you think about what I said? You haven’t answered anything yet.”

Noticing the playfulness in the purple eyes, she thought perhaps the one bathroom is fine.

“Do you want to wash together?”

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