On the way back, as Kalcion piercingly looked at Selina, the side of her face was hot.
“What?”
She asked shyly.
“I’m curious.”
“About?”
“How can you notice and pick up on such unexpected things? You’re not even professionally trained in interrogation.”
Selina, not noticing what she had done so expertly, only tilted her head.
“Did I do something so strange? I suddenly started my period, so it just came to mind. As a result, I don’t know anything more.”
Although there was no need to dig further into Irell’s case now, her hand did not immediately drop as she had been clinging to it for a long time, so she just hung on to see if there was at least one more thing she could figure out until the end.
Almost everything was revealed, but on the night Irell died, she couldn't figure out what and how it happened or why she decided to die.
That was the part she was disappointed at.
However, Kalcion focused on something completely different.
“You started your period?”
“Ah.”
With her acting career, her period schedule was like public knowledge because her body condition was not just her own, ao she forgot that it was a personal thing that she didn't have to tell anyone. Someone might say, ‘Yes, that’s right, congratulations,’ but someone might think, ‘Why did you say that to me?’ and would think it was strange.
Kalcion was a male who didn't have a period, so that could have been even more strange for him.
“Did I speak too casually?”
While she smiled shyly and tried to change her words, Kalcion held her hand tightly.
“I was so indifferent while sharing the same bed.”
“There is no need to be that careful.”
Selina was taken aback by his excessive reaction.
A man who was affectionate and attentive was good, but it was not acceptable for him to care that much.
“No, no. I learned that if you are a man who shares a bed, it is a part that I should take care of.”
But surprisingly, he was stubborn about that part. Like the atmosphere that respects each lover even after marriage, she couldn't help but ask if it was a rule unique to this world… who the hell taught this man?
“…By whom?”
“By my mother.”
“I heard that you didn’t even meet her face that much. Did she teach you that?”
“She did.”
The mother and son had a sense of distance, but what kind of relationship does it have to teach something like this?
The more she listened, the more confused she got. Since he had already talked about it, she wanted to hear a little more detail, but they arrived at the entrance of the inn in the meantime. She didn't have time to ask questions.
The maids were waiting for the two of them at the entrance.
“Meal is ready.”
“I'm going to wash up. Selina, if you're hungry, eat first.”
“I'll wait.”
Even though she was hungry, it was not to the point where she couldn't wait for him to wash up. As he gave the maid a brief instruction before going to the bathroom, he whispered in the maid's ear so she couldn't hear what he had said.
‘You can just talk. Why are you whispering in his ear?'
Selina pouted her lips and moved into the dining room.
Before long, Kalcion came in with water droplets in his hair. Thanks to meeting with the advance party, he also shone when he changed into neat clothes that were washed. Her pouty feeling was relieved when she saw that face.
“You washed very quickly?”
“Because I can't keep you waiting too long.”
It was a reasonable amount of consideration for her even if they weren't close to each other, but Selina couldn't hide her smiling lips. Since tomorrow's departure was due, they had to finish their meal quickly and go to bed.
She finished her meal lightly, but another plate was brought out.
“It’s dessert.”
“What dessert?”
Neither Selina nor Kalcion liked sweets, so desserts were generally omitted. Sometimes when she ate spicy food, she would end it with fruit.
The dessert the chef brought out was a hotcake topped with rich whipped cream that must have been whipped up with a whisk at the maximum speed of a human arm. Judging from the sweat on the forehead and the face, she wondered if the chef boiled down the syrup himself.
It was not a mansion or a castle, but a meal prepared by borrowing the kitchen of the inn. It would have been difficult just to make a meal for dozens of people, although to make a dessert with all their heart that they didn’t normally need to make…
What was going on suddenly made Selina puzzled.
Kalcion explained.
“During your period, they say that sweet things are attractive.”
“Could this be what you said to the maid earlier?”
“If anything, surprises are better.”
“Who? No, wait. Could this be from your mother too?”
Kalcion nodded.
Selina thought that she had misunderstood his past.
“From what I've heard and understood, it seems that the duke was thoroughly raised as an heir to the Duchy. You didn’t do anything childish.”
“That’s right.”
“But you even learn sweet words to say to loved ones, or even take care of desserts for their menstrual period? Is this also included in the successor training?”
“It wasn’t in the successor training. It was close to my mother's complaint. Eat first before it gets cold.”
She took a bite of dessert as he made her. Even though it was made in a hurry, it was wonderfully delicious. Even if she didn’t like sweet things, it was just the right amount of sweetness to suit her taste buds.
Looking at the well-fed Selina, Kalcion smiled in satisfaction.
“This is what it means to be full just by looking at it.”
“You heard a lot of talk about this and that somewhere. You have to put it into practice now.”
“It’s probably time to put it into practice.”
Could it be that the target was wrong? Wasn’t he supposed to do this to his lifelong companion? However, along with the dessert, the words dissipated in Selina's mouth.
“My mother was a very dissatisfied person.”
Kalcion, who was staring at Selina with warm eyes, suddenly brought up a story.
“She didn’t like the weather in Renbird, the way people dressed, even every single piece of furniture in Renbird castle.”
She was the kind of person who wanted to be a socialite in the capital, so it was reasonable.
“The most dissatisfied thing of them all was my father.”
“Because he made her live in Renbird Castle?”
“Including that. I guess she just didn't like everything about my father.”
“Why did she do that when she chose to marry him?”
Besides, it was an arranged marriage. If he supported the colossal extravagance and tolerated cheating confidently, wasn't it the best she could do as a partner in an arranged marriage…?
“I never thought to ask that far. I thought it was my role just to listen and answer.”
Kalcion was also young, so he would be like that.
“What was your mother so dissatisfied with?”
“There is no end to it, but it was mostly about manners.”
“Looking at the duke, I don’t think the previous duke didn’t have particularly bad manners.”
Even if he was educated, there was a lot to learn by watching. Kalcion was cautious about dealing with women almost instinctively. While sleek etiquette should be trained, the attitude was embedded in the body without knowing it.
Had he grown up like this, his father would have been a cautious man, too.
“It seems that in my mother’s eyes, I was infinitely lacking. On her birthday, it's not just throwing a party and giving her jewelry, but sending flowers to her bedroom as soon as she wakes up in the morning.”
“Mmm.”
It's a part related to sincerity, so even if it's an arranged marriage, she can feel sad.
“The small thing is that when he sees her face for the first time, he has to praise her, whether it’s the face, the jewelry, or the hair.”
“Hmm.”
That was close to the wisdom of life that made the atmosphere good.
“Ah, one of the things I remember because she said it three or more times. After the wedding, he had to give a gift every day for a week until the first anniversary, and every month and a hundred days thereafter.”
“…What?”
Selina's understanding was put on hold. Wasn’t that a bit excessive? There was a sense of excessiveness in a similar context to serving dessert during period.
“Is there such a law in the first place?”
“At least I haven’t seen it in the code of law.”
“It’s not even common manners.”
“I think it was popular with the central nobles.”
“Ah…”
That was likely since everyone would be begging ‘me too, me too’ when hearing the rumor that one person received a huge gift. Selina knew that the previous duchess was a person who lived a life of wild dreams, but when she heard it, it was fluttering.
“That wasn’t a law, I think she was envious… but at what age did she get married to envy that?”
“Twenty.”
“…That’s understandable.”
It was a normal age to be immature. An age where the expectation of being loved still remains. The age at which she wanted to receive everything that others received.
“Ah… perhaps.”
Thinking so, a hypothesis popped into her mind, but she couldn’t be sure. It didn’t make any sense.
“Maybe your mother had feelings for your father.”
“What?”
“You don’t expect anything from people who you don’t have a feeling for at all. If there is no expectation, there is no disappointment, and if there is no disappointment, there is no anger.”
The greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment… so did the anger.
“At first, they don’t know because it was just a marriage of convenience, but they might have developed feelings without even realizing it. Since they don't know how they feel, they only get more nervous about not doing what the other wants.”
It was a love story of a couple who didn’t realize it until the end.
As she was talking, she got confused.
“…So, the bottom line is, don't bother giving me everything your mother wanted. I'm not the type to take care of things like this.”
“Did I just burden you?”
“No, it’s not. It's not a burden… It's a matter of taste.”
As much as the previous Duchess wanted to receive it, so other noble ladies who joined her society might want it. There was a trend for ‘how to express love’ in any world. After she went back, Kalcion would meet a new girl as he couldn't leave the Duchess's place empty.
Even if it was an arranged marriage, wouldn't it be better if the couple’s relationship was better?
…However, in Selina's mouth, the words, ‘I think it would be good to do it for others,’ could not come out.
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