“Well! Claude, it’s been a while!”

“Yeah. I was wondering if I could see you this year… I never thought you would be in the county, Duchess.”

The next day after returning to the Count’s territory, Claude, a childhood friend of mine, visited me.

Opal was happy to see him for the first time in a year, but Claude laughed awkwardly.

Certainly, if your childhood friend suddenly became a married woman, you may be confused.

Especially since this marriage had no engagement period and the ceremony was sudden.

“Stop it, Claude. Just call me by name as before.”

“So… Who is the Honorable Duke?”

“Oh… my husband is in the capital. This time it’s a little… difficult for him to accompany me. The Count’s territory also, is for my personal use. Rather than talking about such a boring topic, Claude! you have successfully graduated from college, congratulations.”

“Well thank you…”

When asked about Hubert, Opal didn’t know how to respond, and the situation was awkward.

Claude then laughed and changed of topic as she wanted, and then he talked about university’s funny events as usual.

Despite that, the air between them is different from before. Probably because the positions of each other have clearly changed.

A Duchess and the third son of a Baron family who just graduated from college.

Opal is now aware of her true feelings.

(I…I loved Claude…)

At first, Claude came to play as her brother’s friend, but he opted to play with Opal instead, as she was persistently going around behind them.

When Claude entered the boarding school, she was lonely and spent many days crying.

Despite that, he came to see her every long vacation he had, because he understood the loneliness of Opal.

When her mother died, he attended the funeral and asked to be absent from school to come comfort Opal, who desperately cried.

She just unconsciously covered her love all this time, thinking that Claude wouldn’t forgive her for the rumors.

In addition, Claude’s mother said she was lonely enough to die from sadness because he was unable to return to his hometown. If she confessed her feelings to him, and if he were to accept, he would have to abandon his mother. And his mother doesn’t have any family out of him, because she got married against the wishes of her family.

(Well, before any of that, the main reason I think was that… Claude was like a sibling to me until now… but if… I’d noticed my feelings before… what could have become of me now…)

Opal always notices the most important things when it becomes irreversible.

No matter how much you regret, time goes forward without returning, so Opal must also move forward.

Opal renewed her determination to do what she had decided until the end, and that even if her feelings are being overlooked by this important friend, she would have to continue forward.

“Then I’ll be back soon.”

“Thank you, Claude. Please… Come to see me again”

“Don’t thank me. And maybe… I won’t be able to see you again next time.”

“Why? And what about the social season this year? Won’t you go?”

“I don’t intend to go to such a tough place. I don’t think any proper lady would welcome the third son of a poor baron family in the first place.”

“Such a thing……How could you say that…”

Claude shook his head and silenced Opal that was about to deny it.

We both know that it is true.

“Be happy, Opal.”

“…Thank you. Claude, you should be happy too.”

“I’ll make an effort. Well then! Good bye!”

Claude jumped out to the entrance, leaving with those farewell words.

Waving to Opal as she saw him off, he ran to the stable.

The horses of Claude’s mansion don’t take a minute from here.

Opal wanted to ask Claude what he was going to do, but in the end she couldn’t speak.

A deep sigh left out Opal’s mouth and Opal returned to the living room. Trevor came in after a knock.

“How is Claude?”

“Well, but our relation doesn’t work as it used to. It seems like he’s shy around me.”

“That’s unavoidable. By the way, about the Duke’s territory keeper…”

“Did you find someone nice?”

“It’s pretty tough to find someone for the position. The Duke doesn’t allow me to fire Omar in the first place, so I can’t call for a person in a big way.”

“Well… I’m currently renting one of our subordinates to fill the position, but the problem is when things go wrong and need someone with experience to put things in the right direction…”

“But then, why don’t we let Trevor manage it from afar? He should just check regularly.”

As Opal and Trevor were talking, Nadja, who had been waiting in the corner all the time, spoke.

Although this should not be allowed, Opal doesn’t care.

Unfortunately, the solution proposed is unrealizable.

“Nadja’s plan is very good, but I can’t really do it.”

“Why?”

“Now, as a temporary measure, I am the Duchess, with the help of the Trevor we are overseeing that territory, but Trevor was originally hired by my father, Count Holloway. Even so, it is a breach of contract with my father to have him oversee the duke’s territory, and to have Trevor who’s my father’s people manage the Duke’s property is regarded as an act of surrender.”

“Your idea is good Nadja, but we can’t do it. Even so, thanks to you, I came up with a good idea.”

Trevor agrees with Nadja and a new idea came up from it.

“What kind of plan is it?”

“As Nadja says, I can’t be the manager so I’m returning Omar to the Duke. I looked at the books of the past, but when the predecessor Duke was alive, Omar seemed to be working well. So there’s no reason not to use him. We will be in control of Omar and from the outside, it’s all right for a Duchess to oversee her husband’s territory.”

“I?”

“Yes. It seems that the Duke is not interested in his territory, so there should be no problem. You do not like the royal capital too much. So, as the Duke never visits his territory, you can spend leisurely your time there and you’ll be far from the Duke. How is it?”

“That’s true…”

Listening to Trevor’s proposal, Opal thought that it was a good idea.

Although the scale is very different, I originally planned to live in a land inherited from my grandmother.

For that reason, I also learned how to manage a territory from Trevor.

It would be difficult for Opal to manage it all alone, but it might very well be possible to supervise Omar.

“I’m not very confident, but it’s worth a try… By the way, what about that issue? Are you working properly on it?”

“Yes. I’m reluctant, but I’m helping the people’s farming this year. I’ll be a good temporary manager to stop the bad habits.”

“Now, let’s consider positively returning Omar to the Duke. To be precise, how do we stop his escaping habits.”

Opal seemed to see a bright future far away from the Duke, so she joked happily and ended the story.

After that, she has to survive her uncle’s visit tomorrow.

(My uncle hasn’t agreed, even if I don’t object.)

The next day, the people of the territory welcomed her uncle who came as promised.

Her uncle visited her, the younger brother of her deceased mother, since her mother’s funeral he hadn’t come to the territory, but Opal used to visit him often.

The smile of her uncle, who was received with a big welcome, reminded Opal of the happiness they had when her mother was alive.

(If my mother was still here…)

Opal who noticed that she was lost in thoughts, clenched her hands and stopped herself from becoming sad about the past.

Then, they moved to the study room, and the discussion with Trevor was carried out about the issue with Omar and how Opal will take care of managing him.

Opal had dinner with her uncle for the first time in a long time and listened to various foreign stories.

In the Taisei kingdom, which is just across the sea, a plague spread a little while ago, and even the king has died.

Taking advantage of the turmoil, a battle for the throne started. The successors were an illegitimate prince and his brother, and it seemed to be developing into a civil war.

Despite the fact that his legitimate successor is his younger brother, some of the leading aristocrats want to put in the throne the prince who is a commoner’s son.

“Once the plague has finally come to an end, there should be no time to fight for the successor.”

“And you, uncle, are you okay?”

“Oh, by the time the plague began to spread, I had already traveled to another country. But I’m wondering if that illegitimate prince is real. I once met his royal brother. However, he was a great person, and that would be an obstacle for the nobles who are hungry. The problem is that people who are exhausted by illness, to get their minds out of the sad reality, spread stories of a tragic love between the predecessor king and a commoner woman as a plausible rumor. I’ve been at his side while that happened. If this situation continues, the throne of His Highness will be in jeopardy. Become people will side with the commoner one always.”

“But that might lead to a battle…”

“Since the Kingdom of Taisei is rich in resources and is also a technologically advanced country, the interests over it are great. It is unavoidable that greedy ones will rush to take the throne, but if it becomes a war, it will greatly affect development. I wish they could at least avoid a battle…”

“Is there any way? I wish I could find out if that prince was a fake.”

“Oh, Opal. It’s not clear yet, so you shouldn’t say that elsewhere.”

“I know. I’ve grown up, so I won’t behave like I used to.”

Opal said it purposefully and raised her chin, and his uncle smiled.

Like the old-fashioned behavior ? He may have noticed that she was talking about that fateful night.

“I think you’re impulsive as you used to be, but I’m going to sit down in this country from now on, so always rely on me if something happens.”

“Thank you, uncle. It’s very encouraging to have you here.”

Opal couldn’t sleep well after going to bed.

Despite that, Opal realized that she had to wait for Hubert’s response, and she scorned herself to calm down.

Results will be available in a few days.

Translated by Djurasico (dot) home (dot) blog