TFCMD~10

Chapter 10

Morning.

As usual, Lorren headed for Aster’s office.

The moment she knocked, the door swung open.

Letty—who normally greeted everyone with an easy smile—looked thoroughly flustered.

“This is troublesome.”

Aster muttered the words in a low voice, deeply frowning.

He looked tired.

A newspaper lay spread out on the table before him.

Naturally, Lorren’s eyes drifted toward it.

“Sit.”

But the place Aster indicated wasn’t the desk where she usually worked.

It was the seat across from him.

Lorren sat down and watched him lift a hand toward Letty.

“Tea.”

That alone was unusual.

Aster rarely drank tea in the first place.

And when Letty made it—

It tasted terrible.

“Better than nothing.”

Only then did Lorren notice the glass sitting in front of him.

Alcohol.

In the morning…?

She was about to comment when Aster slid the newspaper toward her.

Lavender eyes moved across the print.

While waiting for her to finish reading, Aster quietly sipped from his glass.

“Aster, this…”

“I didn’t exactly hide the information,” he said flatly. “But I didn’t think they’d print something this ridiculous.”

Lorren looked at the newspaper’s name and immediately rubbed a hand down her face.

Ah.

Now she understood.

Letty’s panicked expression.

Aster’s irritation.

Even terrible tea would help in a moment like this.

She picked up the now-cold tea and drained it in one gulp.

‘The Butcher Aster Lilliewood’s Secret Marriage!’

‘Exclusive Report! Who Is the Mysterious Duchess Hidden Behind the Veil?’

The sensational headline alone was loud enough.

They had been hit properly.

The Butcher Lilliewood’s Secret Marriage.

That part itself wasn’t important.

As Aster said—

People would find out eventually.

The problem was everything else.

The article overflowed with speculation about the mysterious “duchess.”

About Lorren.

Maybe she was a prostitute.

Maybe a mistress.

Maybe some nobody who threw herself at the butcher duke to change her fate.

Maybe Aster secretly married because he feared the Emperor’s anger after rejecting the imperial princess.

The paper itself wasn’t respectable to begin with.

A third-rate gossip rag.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

Unfortunately—

It was incredibly popular.

People love scandal.

A famous person’s downfall.

Dirty romances.

And the war hero branded as a butcher choosing a woman who had seemingly appeared from nowhere?

People would devour that story.

“I’m sorry,” Aster said quietly. “I couldn’t stop it.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Aster lowered his head slightly toward her.

Lorren shook hers.

He hadn’t written the article.

And it was already too late.

The papers were already out.

Retracting them now was impossible.

What mattered was finding a solution.

That paper’s reach was enormous.

The rumors had already spread.

“How about publishing a rebuttal article?”

Aster muttered it while biting lightly at the inside of his lip.

Lorren, who had been glaring at the newspaper, suddenly looked up.

Her lavender eyes sparkled.

“That’s actually a good idea.”

“Hm?”

“Letty. Bring me every newspaper that comes into the estate.”

“Every one?”

“All of them. Even the ones servants read.”

Letty rushed out immediately.

Lorren smiled and turned back toward Aster.

The speed of her mood shift was almost absurd.

Aster let out a disbelieving laugh.

“You’re not angry?”

“I am.”

She answered simply.

“But being angry doesn’t change anything.”

Better to think of solutions.

Aster couldn’t argue with that.

At the same time—

Her mental resilience was ridiculous.

Truly impressive.

“Aster, can you help me with something?”

“What?”

“You said rebuttal articles.”

She leaned forward slightly.

“So let’s do it properly.”

Aster frowned.

“Explain.”

“We reveal exactly who I am.”

She smiled.

“And show everyone how much we love each other.”

Aster stared.

“That’ll work?”

“We also threaten legal action against whoever leaked the story and against the newspaper for false reporting.”

She thought for a second.

“Actually… making an example out of the source by suing them for real might be good.”

Lorren grinned.

Aster wasn’t convinced.

Rumors, especially ugly ones, rarely disappeared.

He knew that better than anyone.

Butcher.

That word had followed him for years.

Still—

Seeing Lorren smile like that made success feel strangely possible.

Because she really was capable.

Aster crossed his arms and leaned deeper into his chair.

Lorren absentmindedly traced the rim of her empty teacup while thinking.

What exactly went on inside that head?

Without noticing, Aster’s lips curved.

A knock interrupted them.

Letty returned carrying an absurd stack of newspapers.

Following Lorren’s instructions, he laid them across the desk with each newspaper title visible.

There were many.

Very many.

Lorren selected several and placed them on the lower table.

“These two or three should work.”

“What’s your criteria?”

Aster asked.

“Gossip papers won’t print proper corrections.”

She tapped each paper.

“These publish serious reporting.”

“This one is mostly read by nobles.”

“This one is popular among commoners.”

Then her eyes brightened.

“Oh—and this newspaper owns a camera!”

“A camera?”

Letty’s eyes widened.

Lorren blinked.

That reaction was… unexpected.

Letty awkwardly avoided eye contact.

“Well…”

He shrank slightly.

“A camera is that thing, right?”

“The one where if you photograph someone…”

He lowered his voice dramatically.

“…their soul gets taken?”

“Absolutely not!”

Lorren nearly shouted.

Aster stopped mid-sip.

Letty looked increasingly guilty.

Lorren narrowed her eyes.

Was he secretly this gullible?

He seemed competent at work.

This was shocking.

“I genuinely don’t know how to respond to something that stupid.”

“But Miss Doris always says it!”

“Oh really?”

Aster smirked.

“I should include that in my next letter.”

He looked delighted.

“Leonora would enjoy hearing this.”

“Wait—Your Grace!”

Aster laughed.

Letty looked horrified.

Lorren tilted her head.

Leonora?

A lover?

Interesting.

Even more surprising—

Letty believing camera superstitions.

“Older people say things like that sometimes,” Lorren explained.

“Photos blur around people because exposure takes time.”

She placed her hands on her hips.

“It has nothing to do with souls.”

Letty obediently listened.

“Technology constantly improves.”

“People once feared trains too.”

She pointed toward the newspapers.

“And now?”

“Photography is the same.”

“Decades ago, taking one photograph took twenty minutes.”

“Now it only takes moments.”

“Right now newspapers use illustrations and people commission portraits.”

Her eyes gleamed.

“But someday photographs will replace them.”

“Definitely.”

Letty couldn’t argue.

Because she wasn’t wrong.

Aster quietly finished the last of his drink.

Then he stood.

Throwing an arm around Letty’s shoulders, he smiled.

“Enough.”

“Go make appointments with those newspapers.”

“The sooner the better.”

Letty escaped his grip immediately and hurried out.

Lorren watched him leave and sighed softly.

“You know a lot.”

“Hm?”

“About cameras.”

Aster sat casually on the edge of the desk with his arms crossed.

He looked relaxed now.

Different from the sharp smile he had given Letty.

Maybe it was her imagination.

Maybe not.

Whenever he smiled—

Her mind wandered.

To sunlight.

To wind moving through hair.

To meaningless memories.

She forced them away.

“There were technologies the Siaz family invested in.”

She smiled faintly.

“Photography was one of them.”

Money had always been scarce.

When she first started learning estate work, she once asked her father why they invested instead of spending everything on their people.

Lorren remembered.

A snowy day.

The fireplace burning hot.

Steam rising from tea.

Small things.

Her lips tightened.

In the end—

People were built from small things.

Memories mattered.

Even painful ones.

“Technology makes life easier.”

Her face brightened again.

“Right now photography and electricity are still luxuries.”

“Things for rich people.”

She looked directly into Aster’s green eyes.

“But wait a little longer.”

“Soon enough, everyone will think they’re ordinary.”

“And everyone will use them.”