Chapter 16
So bringing Laria in as my daughter-in-law has put out the immediate fire, at least.
Duke Icard—Kalaudin Ivern Icard—sat lost in thought as he rolled and smoked a cigarette. Having lost his beloved wife in his early twenties, he was now a handsome man in his mid-thirties.
It’s still too early to confront Duke Orlando head-on.
Duke Orlando was his political enemy, a man who openly kept him in check. But for now, Orlando’s power base wasn’t large enough; this was a time for caution.
They’re the type to trample you the moment you show even a hint of ambition…
That was why, the moment Laria became a helpless orphan with nowhere to go, he married her off to Evan. In doing so, he was able to deflect the suspicious gazes that accused him of harboring ambitions toward the imperial family.
Of course, if he truly wanted to seize the imperial throne, he would ultimately have to secure Princess Elani. Which meant that if Laria—who, as he knew, was living on borrowed time—would simply die at an appropriate moment… then every plan would be perfect.
While Laria maintained her position as Evan’s wife, he would continue to build his power, quietly eliminate his enemies, and then welcome Princess Elani as Evan’s second wife.
From what he had overheard by chance, Laria truly did seem to be terminally ill. She didn’t appear to want anyone to know, but he had seen her coughing up blood often enough. Lisa, the maid he had assigned to watch her, had also reported symptoms of hemoptysis.
“From the very first time I met you, Father, I wanted us to get along well.”
Yet every time Laria coughed up blood, his feelings twisted in an unexpected way.
Though he knew the truth, whenever that small girl wore a lonely expression and secretly wiped the blood from her lips, it stirred something pitiful in him. Watching her force blood up from her frail body and still, determined not to cause trouble for the ducal household, excuse herself from the horse-racing event the moment her coughing began—it was enough to make anyone feel sorry for her.
With a sigh, he glanced at one corner of his desk. The drawing Laria had made of the three of them could hardly be called skillful, yet somehow it unsettled him every time he looked at it.
“It hasn’t been long yet, but I want us to grow closer!”
He had brought her in knowing she would die, yet he couldn’t understand why she liked them so much. Bright and cheerful, she was clever enough to even catch his dry sense of humor.
Because of her, for the first time since Matilda’s death, he had tried making a joke in the ducal residence. Seeing Laria burst into laughter at it had secretly filled him with a sense of pride.
She was far better than he had expected—but he still couldn’t fully trust her. That was why he had sent a watcher along on her outing today. The fact that she had won such a large sum at the races bothered him. There was no harm in being cautious.
I brought her here in the first place just to quietly waste away as a title-only young duchess.
As suspicion and pity toward Laria tangled together and clouded his mind—
“Father!”
A knock sounded outside the office, as if she had read his thoughts.
“It’s Laria.”
It was her bright voice. She had said she was going into town, but it seemed she’d returned sooner than expected.
He stubbed out his cigarette.
“Are you busy?”
“No.”
At his curt reply, the door opened cautiously and Laria scampered in.
“If you’re not busy, would you like to have some tea with me?”
“All right.”
He gathered the papers he’d been reviewing and sat at the table. Behind Laria, Lisa—the maid assigned to her—brought in tea and pastries.
“I bought some ganache that’s super famous in town!”
Laria smiled brightly, plopping down on a chair and holding out the plate Lisa handed her.
“Lisa and the two guards had such a hard time standing in line. But it looks really good, doesn’t it?”
Without a word, Kalaudin cut off a small piece of the ganache with his fork and tasted it. A gentle sweetness spread across his tongue. Honestly, it was good. He did like sweets.
“I wanted to come with Evan, but… he won’t leave the knight order. I even sent someone to call him, but he said he wouldn’t come. He likes sweet things, so I thought he’d show up right away.”
She spoke gloomily and let out a deep sigh.
“I see.”
Kalaudin said so while taking another bite of the ganache.
“So you went out just to buy this?”
“Well, I did want to have a family tea time, but…”
Laria held out something with her small hands. It was a book.
“What’s this?”
“A gift, Father.”
She smiled softly as she spoke.
“I was lucky and won some money, right? I wanted to buy gifts for my family with it, so I went into town. The ganache was bought with the ducal budget, but this—I really paid for it myself!”
The title of the book was The Birth of a Family.
Kalaudin accepted it with a conflicted expression.
“Evan really likes books. And when I saw your office, it looked like you enjoy them too.”
“……”
“It’s a new release, and they say it’s very popular. I was lucky enough to grab the very last copy!”
“Where’s the ‘son’ in this book?”
It was a neat little pun, playing on the word nam-a (“male child” / “remaining”). Laria blinked for a moment as she processed it, then burst into laughter.
Seeing how amused she was, Kalaudin felt quietly pleased with his sense of humor.
But he couldn’t enjoy it for long. In the middle of laughing, Laria suddenly covered her mouth with a handkerchief. After a few light coughs, she couldn’t stop the blood seeping out and sprang to her feet.
“Ah—Father. Cough—then I’ll… cough… be going now.”
Just as suddenly as she had arrived, Laria staggered out in an instant. In the meantime, she had apparently finished all the ganache—the plate was spotless.
Not long after Laria left, Lisa returned alone. As the maid assigned to monitor Laria, she had come to report the day’s events.
“The young madam visited various places in town today, however…”
Rolling her eyes nervously, Lisa spoke in a subdued tone. Since Matilda’s passing, all the servants had grown tense around the increasingly cold Kalaudin.
“She only touched dresses and accessories here and there, but in the end, she didn’t buy a single thing for herself.”
“……Is that so?”
“Yes. Then, my lord, she insisted that she absolutely had to buy a limited-edition ganache because she was going to have tea time with you and the young master. She said the young master likes sweets.”
“Hm.”
“While we were buying the ganache, she told us to keep it a secret and carefully held onto an envelope stamped with a bookstore’s seal that she had purchased. That is all.”
“……You may go.”
Kalaudin stared for a moment at the small remaining piece of ganache on the table and the book titled The Birth of a Family.
He had suspected some ulterior motive when Laria refused to be accompanied by Evan or himself on her outing—but it had all been to buy gifts for her family.
“There’s just something I need to do… I want to go alone.”
So that was why she had trembled yet insisted on going by herself to the very end. And he hadn’t even understood—he had pressed her for answers instead.
Even grown adult servants trembled before him. How frightened must that sickly little girl have been?
For the first time in a very long while, Kalaudin felt something like guilt. And yet, she had still bought gifts and smiled as if nothing were wrong, cheerfully suggesting tea time.
“Duke.”
Lisa respectfully changed the subject.
“Did you not say before that you wished to find a personal physician to be exclusively in charge of the young madam’s condition? Shall we begin posting notices?”
He had planned to assign a personal physician anyway—to determine Laria’s exact condition and predict the day of her death. If Lisa was her day-to-day watcher, then the new physician would serve as a watcher of her body.
“Yes. Post the notice.”
As Kalaudin scratched his chin in thought, he called out to Lisa just as she was about to leave.
“Lisa.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Buy everything Laria touched.”
His voice sounded sharp enough that Lisa flinched.
“……Pardon?”
“What kind of duke’s daughter-in-law touches things and leaves without buying them? It’s embarrassing.”
“Ah… um… yes.”
“And what would that do to the reputation of House Icard? While you’re at it, buy two or three more of similar items and bring them to her as well.”
