A leisurely morning at the Valencia Duchy, no different from usual.
“…”
Rebecca, the only young lady of this vast mansion, was extremely bored.
– …Huh?
– You’ve been busy lately with the hunting competition, so take it easy and rest today.
It made sense. Unlike usual mornings filled with heir duties, today she was free.
It was a joyous occasion.
As her mother said, she had been living a very busy life lately.
Heir lessons, preparations for the upcoming coming-of-age ceremony and birthday, and the recent Imperial-hosted hunting competition.
Among her noble peers, she was likely the busiest.
For someone who had been running non-stop, having free time was something worth applauding.
“…”
But even with free time, she had no leisure activities to do.
The only things that came to mind were swordsmanship and reading, but those were things she did regularly anyway.
If given free time, shouldn’t she do something she couldn’t normally do?
If she spent her free time the same as usual, the point of having free time would be lost.
“…Why isn’t he coming?”
And as she thought about this and that, Albert came to mind again.
Her fiancé, whom she hadn’t seen since the hunting competition. For some reason, he hadn’t visited the Valencia Duchy Mansion since that day.
Of course, he had sent her a letter saying he wouldn’t be able to visit for a while due to personal matters.
But it had been a week since the hunting competition ended, and he still hadn’t shown up, which meant something important must have happened.
Honestly, she didn’t like that she kept thinking of her annoying fiancé every time this happened.
What was so great about a fiancé who always teased and embarrassed her?
…Not that Albert was ugly—in fact, he was quite handsome.
“…Annoying.”
She just wasn’t in a good mood.
She didn’t like that she kept falling for his tricks, even though she knew what he was going to say.
She didn’t like that she blushed at the cheesy romantic lines he spouted.
She didn’t like that she outwardly rejected him, saying she didn’t like him, while secretly thinking he was fine.
Why couldn’t she, who was perfect in everything, ever win against her ordinary fiancé? She needed to seriously think about it at least once.
“…”
As she reflected on everything that had happened so far.
“…Huh?”
No matter how much she thought about it, the same pattern of defeat kept coming up.
She always had the upper hand at first, but then she’d lose focus because of her fiancé’s flirting and end up defeated.
The same flow of defeat every time.
At this point, cracks were starting to form in her once-flawless pride.
Why couldn’t she stop the same defeat from happening? Why couldn’t she avoid a situation she knew how it would unfold?
She wasn’t stupid. Why did she keep falling for the same tricks over and over?
It wasn’t like she didn’t know how her opponent would attack next.
The pride of the girl who had been called a genius since childhood was being crushed.
“…Really annoying.”
But what was more annoying than her pride being crushed was the fact that she was still waiting for her fiancé.
Like a puppy wagging its tail waiting for its owner, her mind was filled with thoughts of her fiancé.
This phenomenon had gotten worse recently, ever since the hunting competition when she had been carried back on her fiancé’s back.
– Who gave it to you? Are you asking how long I’ll carry it around?
– …
– I’ll cherish it more than my life, so don’t worry.
– …Don’t cherish it more than your life.
What on earth had possessed her to say such embarrassing things?
Even if she had no choice but to be carried due to mana exhaustion, how could those words have come out of her mouth…
She couldn’t even blame it on being drunk, like at the Imperial banquet. During the hunting competition, she hadn’t even had tea, let alone alcohol.
At that time, she had been in full control of her senses, and it was undeniable that she had clung to her fiancé while being carried.
Moreover, the root cause of her mana exhaustion was her rushing to find her fiancé out of worry.
As soon as she heard her fiancé had gone missing in the forest, she had rushed to the Imperial Knight Commander to ask about his whereabouts.
After hearing from the commander, she had run through the forest without letting her haste magic falter.
Even a child who hadn’t learned to speak properly would say this situation was entirely her fault.
For these reasons, her mood wasn’t good.
She didn’t like that she was spending her rare free time worrying like this.
This bumpy feeling in her heart.
It seemed like it would only go away if she found out why her fiancé, of all people, hadn’t come to the Duchy Mansion.
“Mother.”
“Rebecca? What is it? I gave you free time for a reason.”
So she immediately went to her mother, the Duchess of Valencia.
“I want to visit… Count Zernias’ mansion.”
The reason, of course, was to visit her fiancé’s family.
The words about going to her fiancé were so awkward that she even stumbled over them.
“Our daughter, were you bored because your fiancé hasn’t come to visit?”
“…”
Her mother already knew why she was making this request, even though Rebecca hadn’t said anything.
How did her mother know her daughter’s heart so well?
Was every mother in the world like this, or was it just her mother, the Duchess of Valencia?
“…Yes.”
She couldn’t deny her mother’s words.
The reason she had started thinking about her fiancé today was because she was bored.
She was standing in front of her mother because she wanted to go to the person who could make her less bored.
“When you first met, you were growling at him. I guess it turned out like this after all.”
“…”
Hearing her daughter’s honest answer, her mother couldn’t hide her smile.
She could roughly guess what “like this” meant, but she tried to shake it off.
“…I understand your feelings, daughter, but as your mother, I recommend not meeting your fiancé for a while.”
Contrary to Rebecca’s expectation that her mother would readily agree, her mother’s response was unexpectedly negative.
“Can I ask… why?”
Of course, it wasn’t easy for Rebecca to guess the reason, so she asked her mother why she didn’t want her to visit her fiancé’s family.
“I understand you want to see your fiancé… but apparently, he’s come down with a bad cold. Wouldn’t it be better to visit after he’s recovered?”
Her mother answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“…”
“Why that reaction… Don’t tell me you didn’t know?”
As if it were strange that Rebecca, the fiancée, didn’t know.
“Oh dear.”
Realizing she had misspoken, her mother immediately covered her mouth with a look of regret.
“…A cold, you say?”
“…”
But that didn’t change the fact that Rebecca had already heard about her fiancé’s condition.
Her mind was still filled with thoughts of her fiancé, but now they were slightly different.
The realization that she now knew why her fiancé hadn’t visited the Valencia Duchy Mansion for a week.
The anger that her mother knew about Albert’s severe cold, but she didn’t.
The suspicion of why he hadn’t mentioned his condition in the letter he sent her.
These thoughts and emotions filled her mind.
“…I’ll be back.”
“Rebecca?”
“I need to go to Count Zernias’ mansion. I’ll be back.”
“…”
At this point, her mother’s permission no longer mattered to her.
The only thought filling her mind was that she needed to see her fiancé in person.